A peripheral is any device you connect to a computer to give it extra powers: a printer, a headset, a webcam, a projector. Today you will learn what each device does, which hole (port) it plugs into, how to connect without wires, and how to print without wasting paper.
At a big trotro station like Kaneshie or Kejetia, every trotro has its own lane. The Madina bus waits in the Madina lane, the Kasoa bus in the Kasoa lane. Drive into the wrong lane and nobody gets anywhere. A computer is the same: every device needs the right port, and every port has its own shape so the wrong plug will not fit.
Remember Session 1: input sends information into the computer and output brings it out to you. In Session 6 you met storage, which keeps files. Some devices do both input and output. Write each device in the right box.
Word bank: scanner • webcam • microphone • printer • speakers • projector • headset with microphone • external hard drive • memory card reader • keyboard • mouse • touchscreen • game controller • graphics tablet
Look at the back of a desktop or the sides of a laptop. These are the ports you will find most often:
| Port | What plugs in |
|---|---|
| USB-A | Mouse, keyboard, pen drive, printer cable, webcam, wired headset. The most common port of all. |
| USB-C | Newer phones and laptops: charging, fast drives, even a monitor on some laptops. |
| HDMI | Monitor, TV or projector. Carries picture and sound. |
| VGA | Older monitors and projectors (picture only). Still common in schools. |
| Audio jack | Headphones, speakers (green), microphone (pink). Laptops often have one jack for both. |
| Ethernet | A network cable to the router: steadier internet than Wi-Fi. |
| Charging / power | The laptop charger or the desktop's power cable. |
• Plug a cable into a port. Usually works straight away.
• Steady, no batteries needed, hard to lose.
• But you are tied to the computer by the cable.
• Bluetooth: connects one device to another over a short distance (about 10 metres): headsets, speakers, mice, phones.
• Wi-Fi: connects devices to a network, for example a printer the whole room can use.
• No cables, but needs charged batteries and setting up once.
Connecting two Bluetooth devices for the first time is called pairing. After that, they find each other by themselves.
A Wi-Fi printer joins the same network as the computers, so everyone in the room can print to it without a cable. It appears in the print list like any other printer.
Your turn: Fatima's Bluetooth speaker does not appear in the "Add device" list. Give two things she should check.
In almost every programme, press Ctrl + P to print. A print dialog opens. It may look slightly different in Word, Chrome or Edge, but the choices are the same:
No printer? Choose Microsoft Print to PDF (in Word and most Windows apps) or Save as PDF (in Chrome and Edge). Click Print or Save, pick a folder and type a BIH file name. You get a PDF that looks exactly like the printed page.
• Always check the preview first.
• Print only the pages you need.
• Choose black and white unless colour matters.
• Use two-sided printing for long documents.
• Press Print once. Pressing again prints it twice!
A scanner turns a paper page into a picture or PDF file. Lift the lid, lay the page face down, close it, then use the scanner's app (or the Windows Scan app) to choose PDF or JPG and click Scan. No scanner? Many phones can scan documents with the camera app or with the Scan button in the Google Drive app. Lay the page flat in good light, keep the phone straight above it, and crop to the edges.
Your turn: Kwabena wants to print only page 3 of a 10-page document, in black and white. What should he set in the dialog?
Open the Plug It In 3D lab on your session page. Connect each device to the right port, pair the Bluetooth headset and set up the projector. Real devices your Hub does not have? You can still practise every one here.
Your mentor will move you round the stations. Tick each step when it works.
Print_Test_YourName.| Station | Done? | What I used / what I noticed |
|---|---|---|
| A. Sound: device and port | ||
| B. Projector: cable used | ||
| B. Mode best for showing the class | ||
| C. Printed or saved as PDF? | ||
| Plug It In lab finished |
| Job | Device (choose one) |
|---|---|
| 1. Put a signed paper form into the computer. | |
| 2. Show your slides to the whole class on the wall. | |
| 3. Talk and listen in an online lesson without disturbing others. |
Write the letter of the port from Figure 7.1 (A to G).
| Device | Port letter |
|---|---|
| An old blue-plug projector at school | |
| A wired mouse | |
| A flat-screen TV, picture and sound together | |
| A network cable from the router |
Question 1: What is the difference between Duplicate and Extend when you press Windows + P?
Question 2: Give three ways to save paper and ink when printing.
| Peripherals Competency | With Help | Almost Alone | All By Myself! |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. I can sort devices into input, output, storage or both. | |||
| 2. I can name the main ports and what plugs into each. | |||
| 3. I can connect sound and switch to a projector. | |||
| 4. I can print or save as PDF with the settings I choose. |
BIH JHS Tech Club · a Bozoma Innovation Hub programme · Your answers are saved only on this computer.