Thread: What should be in beginners computing course?

My main thing on the computer is images, Most people have
little or no knowledge about images and the programs that
are available for resizing editing and cropping.

How to create folders and documents, saving and naming.

Finding programs on line to help them.

Installing programs, uninstalling programs.

Getting over the fear of breaking the damn thing.

Learning how to use the right click functions,

Internet manners,

Search functions.

There are so many things it can do, it is hard to know where to
start.

Not to get upset when something doesn't go just right.

To pay attention to what the thing is trying to tell you. When a window
pops up, read it!


The computer runs on logic, common sense!

Are you going to teach to one operating system or to many? (ie, OS/X, Linux, XP, Vista,etc) ? A person with one OS will likely be totally confused by another.

My suggestion is to pick one, and teach to that.

Then focus on the specific tasks that most people want to do:

* Browse and search the internet
* Send and receive eMail
* Write and print letters
* Draw plans and diagrams
* etc.

Let's assume that you're teaching a Windows course, because that is the most widely used operating system. For each of the above solutions I'd split the session in two - one showing a free program (ie, Open Office), one showing a commercial program (ie, Microsoft Office). That would cover those who want a cheap solution, as well as those who need to interact with users of popular commercial software.

The topics suggested by Papa would fit well into that framework.

Thanks Papa and Ron. I will be using windows (XP I think) as that is what is available at the TAFE room. The computers there are loaded with Microsoft Office, so I'll use that for the base in teaching file creation and manipulation. I hadn't considered image manipulation, but that would be a good idea - at least how to store, organise and do a slide show. Thanks again.

As an IT consultant, the major thing I have found lacking with most of my clients, even ones that have been using PC's for years, is the HDD directory structure, how it works and where files are stored. Way too many just 'save' and 'open' and if for some reason the file they want isn't in the window that opens up, they are completely lost. That would be the first thing I would teach as I come across it time and time again.

teach them how to search for files

The power of the right click!

If you have oldies then teach right click copy...right click paste. I find that they have trouble (arthritis fingers) draging and dropping.

When they get photos put them in a named sub directory ie party, joans wedding, 20th anniversary. Do not leave photos in their email inbox...this will end in tears.

Shift-click
ctrl-click

ctrl-s whilst working on a file.


how to install Firefox and Thunderbird.
RSS feeds (if you can set up Firefox with live bookmarks of their interests you will be a hero)
intelligent bookmarking

How to set up a limited user for their every day use and only use the admin to do updates and install.



I could just keep going but I would probably start to want a consulting fee or profit sharing.

Wow your about to teach newbies or people who have an idea but need more
I guess it depends on what the course has been set up as.

1st lesson turning it on and off , including making sure monitor is on, shutting down windows, logging in if more than one user, logging off, Desktop, screen, Drive's how to use Window's Explorer. Where files are located stored.

2nd lesson if in doubt or need Help use the Bloody "Help" or press F1 a whole new world will open to them.

Worst thing is doing it for them instruct and let them do it.

Use firefox as a portable application so you can get them to set it up for their needs and then they can take it home.

Using the mouse. Left button, Right button

Can they type?

Turn it on Turn it off

Confidence, that they are nto going to break it

How to get out of a window

How to minimise a window and bring it back again

OPen programs

HOW TO USE THE HELP feature on most programs

How to send and recieve emails

I remember doing a beginner course, most of it was learning how to type and i could aready do that



Donna

Thanks for your ideas everyone. The course is essentially for newbies - people who can barely turn it on. The confidence issue is a big thing, I want to instill enough confidence so that people can experiment a little and to know that there is more than one way to do something. If it doesn't work, try something else. I'm going to assume they can type at least a bit, but I'll design exercises that don't require them to type heaps of text.

I spoke to someone the other day who went to a beginners course where she was taught to delete a file by dragging it to the 'picture of a rubbish bin'. When she got on her own computer at home, she couldn't find the picture, so she can't delete files. That's the kind of situation I want them to be able to get out of without panicking.

I agree about the directory structure - that is to be a major section of the course. Where to keep files, how to access them and several different ways to manipulate them - and how to search for them.

I've found that many people (particularly older people - I mean no offence, I'm not that young myself) try to rote learn. They get someone to show them what to do, write down each step, then go away and try to repeat it. It almost never works because the starting point is not the same. I want to give people enough ammunition that they can think their way out of a problem.

Thanks once again for all your help.

Despite the number of posts in favour, I'm not sure that you should spend a lot of time on directory structures.

1. They're a geek thing.

2. They suffer from perspective - my sensible hierarchy might be the opposite of yours

3. (the biggie) You're teaching on XP, and it has a very limited life in front of it. Vista discontinues "My Documents" in favour of "Documents", and I'm not yet sure what convention is used in Windows 7, possible to be delivered around one year from now.

Whatever you do, DON'T teach users to create their own directory structures outside the "My Documents" or equivalent hierarchy, such as C:\USERS\[username]\Documents on Vista. While it works on XP, it may lead to confounding security errors and other problems when they upgrade to a later operating system.

I was actually surprised to see the high number of requests around this subject. Looks like it needs to be discussed, but tread gently

The real basics - (having done this sort of thing in the past)

How to set your monitor resolution properly (explain that LCD monitors will give a lousy image at anything other than their 'designed' resolution). If I had $1 for every fuzzy monitor or monitor where circles display as ellipses....

How to secure your Windows box; the importance of a firewall, and an anti-virus setup (introduce them to the good free ones so they don't get suckered into Nortons via trialware)

How to install and use Firefox, including the Ad-block and No Script extensions. Tell them why they should use them. (a similie I have used is a picture that has three people on it...a European Supermodel, an average guy, and an unshaved, unkempt and mean looking guy. The people are labelled as Windows, Mac, and Linux respectively...I ask them which one would be the safest when walking alone down a dark alley on the bad side of town.)

Good luck with teaching the file/folder/copy/paste stuff. There are some people who cannot understand that their photos, letters, ancestoral tree, video of the grandkids, music and whatever are all just data to the computer. Something that I have tried is opening up various files in a hex editor - showing them that the computer does not 'see' a picture, just a stack of numbers. (Even so, I swear that some people seem think that the computer has a camera that takes a picture when you copy a photo).

And the most important lesson for the internet -

How to avoid being a sucker - not only 419 scams and phishing, but also how to use snopes.com...and to PLEASE ENGAGE BRAIN before forwarding those "If little Sally gets x-many emails, Bill Gates will donate..." type of chain emails.

I typically show a range of photoshopped images to illustrate why they should not take anything they find on the internet at face value.

However, for some people, the only way I would recommend that they use the internet is in hardcover.

Spend the time on the file system. For some unfathomable reason it takes a lot of time to understand it, but it's like riding a bike - once you've got, it's there for life and everything else pretty much makes sense.

I'd even go so far as to say if the 'students' are going to be using MS at home then do the teaching in Linux or vise versa. If they grasp the concept on an OS they aren't using and realize the pattern transfers to all other OSés then they're on the real road to self sufficiency.

Saying that what you learn on XP doesn't transfer to Vista or MS.next is just perpetuating the concept that computers are magic and not within the basic grasp of mere mortals. Get with it, a file system is not an impossible concept for anybody to learn, it just takes the right education.

On the other hand if you're dealing with people who don't understand what a shopping lists is or don't realise they need to vacuum the carpets or wash the dishes to keep the house clean, then spend the time convincing them they would be better off using the free computer at the local library!

Yes, as others have said, the file system.

I have taught the odd computer course myself. I found the best way to get non-tech-literate peeps to understand the file structure thing, is to use the analogy of a chest of draws.

\ being the top of the chest of drawers, each directory under this a drawer. You can have boxes inside drawers, these are subdirectories. You commence this by asking the question, do you keep EVERYTHING on top of your chest of drawers? Of course not. You logically sort things by drawers.

You then go on to talk about drawers reserved for Windows, etc etc.

HTH

Wongdai