Until now, your computer has worked alone inside our classroom. When you connect it to the Internet, it joins a worldwide network linking millions of schools, libraries, hospitals and homes on every continent. Today you will learn how that network works and how to drive the program that opens it up for you: the web browser.
Think about the road network in Ghana: small feeder roads connect villages to highways, and highways lead to big cities like Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. Trotros, taxis and lorries travel along these roads carrying people and goods.
The Internet is an electronic road network: millions of computers connected by cables, radio masts, Wi-Fi and giant undersea glass (fibre) cables laid under the Atlantic Ocean. Several of these cables come ashore on Ghana's coast near Accra and carry our messages to the rest of the world in a fraction of a second.
| The Internet (The Roads) | The World Wide Web (The Vehicles on the Roads) |
|---|---|
| The huge worldwide network of computers, cables, routers and radio signals. | The billions of web pages, pictures and videos that travel across that network. |
| Analogy: the roads, bridges and junctions. | Analogy: the trotros and lorries carrying passengers and goods. |
The Web is not the only thing on the Internet roads: email (Session 13), WhatsApp messages and video calls travel on them too.
To visit a website, you need a program called a web browser. It fetches web pages from servers and turns their code into the words, pictures and buttons you see. All browsers do the same job; they just look a little different.
Google Chrome (colourful circle), Microsoft Edge (blue-green wave, comes with Windows 11), Mozilla Firefox (orange fox) and Safari (a compass, on Apple Macs).
Chrome on most Android phones, Safari on iPhones, plus others such as Samsung Internet, Opera and Firefox. The buttons may sit at the bottom of the screen.
| Control | What It Does | When Should You Use It? |
|---|---|---|
| Back (←) / Forward (→) | Go to the page you were on before, or forward again. | Back: you opened a link and want to return. Forward: you pressed Back by mistake. |
| Refresh (↻) or F5 | Loads the page again from the server. | When a page loads badly, shows an error or seems stuck. |
| Address bar | Shows the address of the page; type a new address here. | When you know the website's address. Click inside, type, press Enter. |
| Menu (Chrome ⋮, Edge ⋯, Firefox ☰) | Opens bookmarks, history, downloads, zoom, settings and more. | When you cannot find a button: it is probably in the menu. |
Your turn: Which browser is on your Hub PC, and what does its menu button look like?
Every home in Ghana can have a GhanaPost GPS digital address (like GA-183-9024). In the same way, every page on the Web has its own unique address called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The main part of the address, the website's name, is called its domain.
The last few letters of a domain give a clue about what kind of organisation made it:
| Extension | What Kind of Organisation | How Far to Trust It for Schoolwork |
|---|---|---|
| .edu.gh (and .edu) | Ghanaian universities and colleges, e.g. ug.edu.gh, knust.edu.gh. | HIGH: written by teachers and researchers. |
| .gov.gh (and .gov) | Official government ministries and agencies, e.g. statsghana.gov.gh (Ghana Statistical Service). | HIGH: official rules, calendars and statistics. |
| .org / .org.gh | Often charities and non-profits, but anyone can register one. | CHECK: still check WHO wrote it. |
| .com / .com.gh | Companies and businesses (and many others). | CAUTION: may be selling something or full of adverts. |
Your turn: Who runs each website? Write the kind of organisation.
https://www.ug.edu.gh | |
https://statsghana.gov.gh | |
http://free-phones-winner.example.com |
These shortcuts work in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on Windows. Each one also has a button or a place in the browser menu.
| Skill | What it means | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Tabs | A tab holds one web page. Open several to keep pages side by side in one window. Click a tab to switch to it. | New: Ctrl+T Switch: Ctrl+Tab Close: Ctrl+W |
| Reopen a tab | Closed a tab by mistake? Bring it back, just as it was. | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Bookmarks | Save a page you want to return to (click the star ☆). Edge calls them Favourites. The bookmarks bar keeps them just under the address bar. | Add: Ctrl+D Show bar: Ctrl+Shift+B |
| History | A list of every page visited, newest first. Use it to find a page you forgot to bookmark. | Ctrl+H |
| Downloads | Files you save from the web. See where they went (below). | Chrome, Edge: Ctrl+J |
| Zoom | Make the page bigger or smaller to read it easily. | Ctrl++ / Ctrl+− Back to 100%: Ctrl+0 |
| Find on page | Jump to a word on a long page. The box shows how many times it appears (e.g. "3/12"). | Ctrl+F |
Chrome Incognito and Edge InPrivate: Ctrl+Shift+N. Firefox Private Window: Ctrl+Shift+P. When you close it, the browser forgets that window's history and sign-ins. It does not make you invisible: the websites and the network can still see what you visit, and downloads stay on the PC.
1. Sign out of every account (click your picture or name, then Sign out). 2. Never tick "Remember me" or let the browser save a password on a shared PC. 3. Clear your traces: Ctrl+Shift+Delete opens Clear browsing data (history, cookies). 4. Close the browser.
Work through all eight skills in order. Tick each one and write the time on the clock when you finish it. Your team earns a point for every skill done correctly, and a bonus point if every member of the team finishes. Warm up first in the Internet Town 3D lab on your session page: its missions practise tabs, the bookmark star and downloads.
en.wikipedia.org and press Enter. You reached the site without using a search engine.statsghana.gov.gh; in the other type ug.edu.gh. Switch between all three with Ctrl+Tab. Close one with Ctrl+W, then bring it back with Ctrl+Shift+T.Kakum National Park. Press Ctrl+D, change the name to Kakum - Club, choose the bookmarks bar (Edge: Favourites bar) and press Done.canopy. How many times does it appear? Zoom to 150% with Ctrl++, then go back to 100% with Ctrl+0.Kakum_Photo_YourName. Press Ctrl+J to see it, then open File Explorer (Win+E) > Downloads and find it there too.| Skill | Done? | Time | What I found |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2. Address bar and tab juggling | |||
| 3–4. Bookmark, Find and zoom | |||
| 5. Download and find the file | |||
| 6–8. History, private window, clear data |
| Statement | True | False |
|---|---|---|
| The Internet is the network of cables and computers; the Web is the pages that travel on it. | ||
| If you close a tab by mistake, Ctrl+Shift+T brings it back. | ||
| A website with a padlock in the address bar always tells the truth. | ||
| Unless you choose another place, files you download go into the Downloads folder. | ||
| In a private (Incognito) window, nobody, not even the website, can see what you do. |
Question 1: Naa used a Hub computer to check her email. List three things she should do before she leaves the computer.
Question 2: What does the padlock and https:// in the address bar tell you, and what does it NOT tell you?
Tick the column that reflects your confidence at the end of Session 11:
| Internet & Browser Competency | With Help | Almost Alone | All By Myself! |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. I can explain the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web. | |||
| 2. I can read a URL, name its domain and extension, and check for the padlock. | |||
| 3. I know how to type a direct URL into the address bar and use Back, Forward, and New Tab. | |||
| 4. I can use bookmarks, history, downloads, zoom and Find, and leave a shared computer safely. |
BIH JHS Tech Club · a Bozoma Innovation Hub programme · Your answers are saved only on this computer.