Technology for ESOL

By Tim VanSlyke

Computer Basics &Operating System

Introduction

A basic level of computer proficiency is required for almost all career fields, especially if you hope to move “up the career ladder.”

This self-paced module is designed to introduce you to the basics vocabulary and concepts of using computers, and to give you some basic skills you will need to complete the other modules in this series: Word Processing for VESL and Internet/Email for VESL.

Although this is designed to be self-paced, you may need help getting started, so don’t be afraid to ask for help from the lab staff.

Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move forward within the slideshow.

Lesson I. Parts of the Computer

Basic Vocabulary:Hardware / Software Input / Output

 

Questions:Do you know the names for different parts of the computer?Do you know the difference between hardware and software?Do you know what Input and Output means?

Hardware and Software

Basic Vocabulary:

Hardware is a category that includes all the parts of the computer you can see and touch.

Software refers to the programs and applications that make the computer work.

 

Hardware: • Mouse• Keyboard• Monitor• CPU

Software:• Operating system: Windows, Mac OS• Applications: MS Word,

Internet Explorer

Input and Output

Basic Vocabulary:

Hardware can be divided into two categories:

 

INPUT: Devices that put information into the computer, or, in other words, devices we use to talk to the computer.

OUTPUT: Devices the computer uses to communicate information to the user.

Input and Output

Input Devices: Keyboard Mouse Camera Scanner

Output Devices:

Monitor Printer Projector Speakers

Practice 1.1: Mouse Skills

The mouse is one of the most important input devices for communicating with the computer. But the communication is two way…it is a dialog between you and the computer.

When you move the mouse, a POINTER moves on the screen.

When the pointer changes on the screen, the computer is communicating back to you telling you that you can do different things with your mouse.

Click the “Mousing Around” button here to practice ->

Operating System Basics

Vocabulary Icons Windows Start Menu Task bar Menus

The operating system is the software that controls your computer. It allows you to start and stop programs, open windows, save files, print documents and just about everything else you do with your computer.

Mac OS: Apple Macintosh Operating System

Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Operating System

Windows in Windows (os)

Windows: In the windows operating system nearly all programs and documents appear within a window with standard features such as:

Title bar Menus Minimize, maximize,

close buttons Resize handles

Title barMenus

MinimizeMaximizeClose

Resize handles

The Windows Desktop Start menu: Access

Programs and Settings

Taskbar: Shows open windows/programs and access to various settings

Recyclebin

Start menu

Taskbar

Recycle Bin

Practice 1.2 Create a folder (Cloze)

Follow the steps demonstrated to create a folder:1. Right-click on the desktop

2. Choose New -> Folder

3. Type the name of your folder (for example: “technology”)

4. Now double click the folder icon to open the folder window.

5. Minimize the folder using the minimize button.

6. Restore the folder by clicking on it’s name in the taskbar.

7. Use the resize handle to change the shape and size of the folder.

8. Drag the folder on the desktop by clicking and holding the title bar.

9. Close the folder using the close button.

Keyboarding

An important part of using computers is to be able to keyboard. The goal of this module is to teach you how to type/keyboard without looking at your hands. To do this, you need to “teach” your fingers where the letters are and how to type automatically.

For this module, complete Level 1 Stage 1 of the BBC Dance Mat Typing program to learn the home row:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/flash/stage1.shtml

Once you are finished with stage 1, you can continue with the slideshow, but feel free to come back later and complete the whole program in order to become a better keyboarder.

Lesson 2:Applications & File management

VocabularyApplication / Program

(example: Word Processor)Start / Run a programFileFile extensionsSave Files/DocumentsOpen and Close files

We use computer programs or applications to do things with our computer. If we want to write a letter, we use a Word Processor such as MS Word. If we want to search the Internet, we use a “Web browser” application such as Internet Explorer.

The “things” we create with applications are called FILES. We SAVE files to our computer so we can OPEN them later and work with them more.

Managing Files

Files are objects saved to computers.

For example:A letter you write and saved to the

computer.A song you download from the Internet.A picture you take with your camera.

Managing Files

Files extensions appear at the end of file names and tell the computer what type of file it is.

For example:A word processing document might be:

myfile.docA song you download from the Internet

might be songname.mp3A picture you take with your camera could

be familypicture.jpg

Practice 2.1 Start Microsoft Word

MS Word is a Word Processing application for creating business letters, résumés and other documents that combine text, images, tables and graphs.

To open MS Word follow these steps:1. Click on the START menu2. Click “All Programs”3. Point to the MS OFFICE folder4. Click on MS Office Word

Practice 2.2 Start an application

Follow the directions in your handout to complete these lessons while you work in MS Word and familiarize yourself with its toolbars.

Practice 2.3 Start using Word

1. Type your name at the top of your new document. [Press the ENTER key]

2. You see that ENTER automatically starts a new line. Now copy the following sentences into the next line.

Word processing applications like MS Word automatically start a new line when you are typing, you do NOT need to press [ENTER] when you are typing a paragraph.

Practice 2.4 Changing (editing) text & basic formatting

When you need to make changes to text, we call that EDITING. Before you can make any changes to text, you first have to tell the computer what you want to change. Therefore, any changes you need to make to text require that you first highlight the text.

Practice 2.4 (continued)Changing (editing) text & basic formatting

4. Now highlight the sentences below your name. (You can highlight whole sentences, whole paragraphs or even entire documents to make changes to everything you select).

5. Press the backspace key. (oops! You just deleted all that work. But don’t worry, any time time you make a change you didn’t intend to make, you can “step back” by pressing the “Undo” key. This is very important to remember. You usually don’t have to worry about making mistakes, because the Undo key allows you to fix them.

Practice 2.5 Saving a document

Follow these steps to Save Your Document:

Click the Office Button and choose “Save As” (when you choose Save As you need to tell the computer the LOCATION where you want to save your file and also give the file a NAME. REMEMBER! It is very important to NOT change the file extension).

For LOCATION click “Desktop”

For file name type a file name to the left of the period (before the extension).

Practice 2.6 Open a document

You can Open a saved document in the following ways.

Double-clicking its icon.

Within the application go to the FILE menu and choose OPEN

FILE -> OPEN

Go to the Start menu and select “Recent Documents”

In MS Office Word 2010, the File menu is now the Office Button. Here you will find the OPEN and SAVE commands.

Practice 2.7 Rename & save to a different location You can use the Save As command to change the name of your document or to save it to a new location (for example to your flash drive).

Follow these steps to save to your flash drive:1. Insert your flash drive into an open USB port.2. Wait for the computer to recognize your drive.3. Click on the “Save in” drop down menu and

choose your flash drive for the location.4. You can also rename the file or leave it the

same.5. Click “Save”

Use “SAVE AS” to change the name of your document and save it to a new place.

Open Office

If you don’t have MS Office Word at home, you can download a similar application for free. OPEN OFFICE is a free “suite” of applications that includes a Word Processor, a Presentation application (like PowerPoint), a Spreadsheet application (like Excel), and more.

To download Open Office go here: http://download.openoffice.org/

To learn more about Open Office take some time to go through the lesson on the LearnFree.ORG web site:

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/openoffice

Homework

Follow these steps to complete the homework for this lesson:

1. Create a new word processing document.

2. Type in the document your full name on the first line then [ENTER]

3. On the next line type the date: (month/day/year) [ENTER] [ENTER]

4. On the next line type two or three sentences about yourself. Do not press enter; let the computer wrap lines as needed.

5. Save your document to your flash drive show it to your instructor.

More PracticeComputer Training from Goodwill

computer basics

Internet basics

Email basics

MS Word

OpenOffice