National Teaching and Learning Change ProgrammeInformation and Communication Technology:
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• master file
  The principal source of data for an application. It holds data which is mostly static but which can be added to or amended by updating as necessary during processing. In a traditional commercial batch-processing application, such as a payroll, the master file (of all employees) is updated by reference to a transaction file of hours worked in the current month, leave, sickness, promotions, etc.
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• matrix
  A grid, e.g. of rows and columns, used to represent data.
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• maximise
  To maximise a window means to increase its size to occupy the full screen.
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• media
  The collective name for materials (tape, disk, paper, cards, etc.) used to hold data.
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• media player
  A software program which plays multimedia files, e.g. video and audio.
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• megabyte
  A measure of computer memory or disk space (storage) consisting of 1024 kilobytes. Abbreviated to Mb.
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• megahertz
  One million Hertz or 1,000,000 cycles per second, abbreviated to MHz. The speed of processors in computers is measured in MHz.
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• member
  Someone who subscribes to a mailing list.
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• memory
  The memory, or store, is part of the computer system where data and instructions are held for use by the central processor and where the central processor puts the results that it generates.
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• memory allocation
  Memory is allocated by the operating system to a program for storing variables, code and data.
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• memory management
  This is organising the flexible use of the computer
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• memory management unit (MMU)
  Memory management is organising the flexible use of the computer
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• memory refresh
  Random access memory (RAM) may be either static, which holds its memory so long as there is a power supply, or dynamic, which has to be refreshed by reading and rewriting the contents very frequently (about every 2 milliseconds).
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• memory stick
  A removable storage device, available in a range of sizes, for example, 8 Mb, 32 Mb, and 256 Mb. On a computer, the memory stick plugs into the USB port. Also used in camcorders, etc.
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• menu (1)
  A menu provides a list of options for you to choose from.
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• menu (2)
  A menu provides a list of options for you to choose from.
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• menu bar
  A line of menu titles across the screen (usually at the top, but sometimes at the bottom). These are the menus which the user can choose at that point. Clicking when the mouse pointer is on the appropriate word, or else pressing an appropriate key, selects a menu. The choice is usually displayed as a pull-down menu.
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• merge cells
  A feature of many packages, e.g. wordprocessing and web design programs, which allow the user to combine several cells into one.
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• meta tag
  A particular form of HTML tag which provides information about the document itself, rather than information for the browser on how to display the document.
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• metadata
  Metadata is data which describes other data and makes it easier for electronic files to be stored, categorised, searched and retrieved from a database or other place of storage.