Title Keyboard : All special keys : Enter, Del, Shift, Backspace ,Tab …

Contributors Dhanya.P Std II

Reviewers
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This topic describes the special keys on the keyboard of a computer

Brief Description
and their functionalities .
Goal To familiarize the special keys on the keyboard of a computer.

Prerequisites Familiarity with computer.

Learning Concepts that special keys on a keyboard has special functionalities.

Outcome
One Period
Duration

http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/computerlab/tutorials/keyboard/
References http://computer.howstuffworks.com/

Page Nos: 2,3,4,5,6

Detailed
Description Page No: 7
Lesson Plan
Page No: 7

Worksheet Page No: 8

Evaluation Page No: 8

Other Notes

Detailed Description

A computer keyboard is a peripheral , partially modeled after the typewriter keyboard.

 Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters.

Special Keys
Function Keys
Cursor Control Keys
Esc Key
Control Key
Shift Key
Enter Key
Tab Key
Insert Key
Delete Key
ScrollLock Key
NumLock Key
CapsLock Key
Pasue/Break Key
PrtScr Key

Function Keys
F1 through F12 are the function keys. They have special purposes. The following are mainly the purpose
of the function keys. But it may vary according to the software currently running.

# F1 Help
# F2 Renames selected file
# F3 Opens the file search box
# F4 Opens the address bar in Windows Explorer
# F5 Refreshes the screen in Windows Explorer
# F6 Navigates between different sections of a Windows Explorer window
# F11 Opens full screen mode in Explorer

Cursor Control Keys

These are Special keys on computer keyboards that move the cursor. They are

UpArrow Key Moves the cursor one line up.

DownArrow Key – Moves the cursor one line down.
LeftArrow Key – Moves the cursor one column left.
RightArrow Key – Moves the cursor one column right .
Home Key – Moves the cursor to the starting of the current row in a document.
End Key – Moves the cursor to the end of the current row in a document
PageUp Key Scrolls the document up one screenful.
PageDown Key Scrolls the document down one screenful.
Backspace Key – Moves the cursor one column back by deleting the contents on the previous column.

Esc Key
A key on computer keyboards, usually labeled Esc. Pressing the Escape key usually cancels or aborts
the current operation.

Control Key

A Control key is a key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, will perform a special
operation. The result of keeping the control key pressed down while pressing another character, is a control
key combination , which can have different meanings depending on which program is running.

For example, holding down control and pressing U, turns on underline in some word processors. The caret
(shift6) symbol represents the control key: ^Y means controlY.

Shift Key

The shift key is a modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper"
characters. There are typically two shift keys, on the left and right sides of the row below the home row.
On an English keyboard, characters that typically require the use of the shift key include the parentheses, the
question mark, the exclamation point, and the colon.
 On computer keyboards, , the shift key can have many more uses:

* It is sometimes used to modify the function keys. Modern Windows keyboards typically have only
12 function keys; Shift+F1 must be used to type F13, Shift+F2 for F14, etc.
* It can modify various control and alt keys. For example, if Alttab is used to cycle through open
windows, ShiftAlttab cycles in the reverse order.
* Holding shift while moving the cursor in a word processor generally selects a range of text.
* The shift key can also be used to modify the mouse on a computer. For example, holding shift while
clicking on a link in a web browser might cause the page to open in a new window, or to be
downloaded.
* Holding shift while inserting a compact disc in a Microsoft Windows computer will disable the auto
run feature. This ability has been used to circumvent the MediaMax CD3 CD copy protection system.
* Holding shift while clicking on "Restart" in Windows will restart Windows and not the entire system.
* In Windows Explorer and some other file managers, holding shift while deleting a file will
permanently delete that file rather than moving it to the recycle bin.
* Holding shift while scrolling will scan through previously viewed web pages.

Enter Key

A key that moves the cursor (or insertion point) to the beginning of the next line, or returns control to
whatever program is currently running. After a program requests information from you (by displaying a
prompt), it will usually not respond to your input until you have pressed the Enter or Return key. This
allows you to correct typing mistakes or to reconsider your entry before it is too late. In many applications,
pressing the Enter key moves the cursor to the next field. In graphical user interfaces, pressing Enter
activates the currently selected button or option.

Tab Key

A key on computer keyboards that inserts a tab character or moves the insertion point to the next tab
stop. Some applications respond to the tab key by inserting spaces up to the next tab stop. This is often
called a soft tab, whereas a real tab character is called a hard tab.

Spreadsheet and database management applications usually respond to the Tab key by moving the cursor
to the next field or cell. In dialog boxes and menus, pressing the Tab key highlights the next button or
option.
Insert Key
A key on computer keyboards that turns insert mode on and off. The Insert key does not work for
all
 programs, but most word processors and text editors support it. It is primarily used to switch between the
two textentering modes on a personal computer or word processor. The first is over type mode, in which
the cursor, when typing, overwrites any text that is present on and after its current location. The other is
insert mode, where the cursor inserts a character at its current position, forcing all characters past it one
position further.

Delete Key

On computer keyboards, the delete key (sometimes shortened "Del"), should, during normal
text editing, discard the character at the cursor's position, moving all following characters one
position "back" towards the freed place.

ScrollLock Key
The behavior of this toggle key depends on the particular software in use. The scroll lock key is intended to
temporarily stop the scrolling of text or halt the operation of a program. There are not many software
programs today that take advantage or have a use for this key.

Microsoft Excel is a good example of a software program that uses this key. If scroll lock is enabled on the
keyboard when you press any of the arrow keys such as the down or up arrow keys the screen will move,
however the selected cell will not move. However, if scroll lock is not enabled you will be able to navigate
through each of the cells using the arrow keys.

NumLock Key

A key that switches the numeric keypad from numeric mode to cursor control mode, and vice versa. In
numeric mode, the keys represent numbers even when they are combined with the Shift key, Function key, or
Control key. Otherwise these combinations may have different meanings.

The Num Lock key is a toggle key, meaning that it changes the current mode. If the numeric keypad is already
locked in numeric mode, pressing the Num Lock key releases it.

CapsLock Key
Pressing the Caps Lock key will set a keyboard mode in which typed letters are capitalized by default
and in lower case when the shift key is pressed; the keyboard remains in this mode until caps lock is
pressed again. This is also a toggle key.
 A keyboard key that is pressed to stop the execution of the current program or transmission.

PrtScr Key
(Pronounced PRINT screen.) A keyboard key (on most standard keyboards) that, when pressed,
sends the information displayed onscreen to the printer or to the Clipboard. The image then can be
printed or pasted from the Clipboard into a graphics program for manipulation and printing later.

Lesson Plan Outline

1. Take the computer to the class.

2. Engage the students by asking some questions based on the keys on the keyboard.
3. Open a word document and let the students experience the effect of pressing special keys on
different applications.
4. Open a browser window and repeat the same process.
5. Ask the students the difference in the implementation of the functionalities of special keys on
different applications.

Worksheets

Fill in the blanks with the following words. Use each word only once.

| |
| F1 F4 Delete BackSpace End |
| Start UpArrow Shift Pasue Pause |
||

1. Usually by pressing key , the 'help' menu associated with an application will be displayed,
2. To erase a character at the cursor position, we need to press key.
3. In order to stop a running program, we need to press key.
4. In order to print the characters displayed on the top of a key, we need to press key along with
that key.
5. In order to move the cursor one row up in a document, we need to press key.
6. The key is pressed to move the cursor to the end of the current row.
7. key is pressed to move the cursor to the start of the current row.
8. key is used to erase the character on the left of cursor position.
9. toggle key is used to toggle the insert mode on or off.
10. For opening the address bar in the browser, press the functional key .
Evaluation

In Class
1. Create a chart containing all the special keys in a keyboard and their normal functionalities.
In Lab
1. Experience the effect of special keys on different applications.

Other Notes

This lesson is independent of the Operating System . Exercise can be done with any application in any
Operating System.

Sites for Reference

http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/computerlab/tutorials/keyboard/
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/