This course is a free course put together by the staff of Hawkesbury Skills, Inc. and the participants of the Work for the Dole Project known as Help IT. The work of the following people is gratefully acknowledged:
Hugh McKinnon, Faith Christie, Helen Phillips and the Work for the Dole team.

Thanks also to the recipients of this course who volunteered to be taught computing by a willing "bunch of Laymen". Hopefully it was useful to them as well as us.

Thanks again

Col Westwood,
WFD Supervisor.

Basic outline of Course

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS (Hardware and Software)
With the advent of Windows, it has been common for computer users to "get stuck straight in" to application programs such as word processors, etc. They haven't seen the need to understand the basics of computers or their operation. Windows has made this possible by providing a "user friendly" interface.

However, this is not necessarily a good thing. Windows is fine as long as everything "goes as expected", but as soon as something goes wrong the frustrations start and the user loses confidence.

To avoid this downward spiral, I firmly believe that a basic understanding of how a computer works is necessary so that the user will know what is happening when he or she gives it a command.

With this in mind, this section of the course will look at the insides of a computer (hands on) paying particular attention to:

The Mother Board, The BIOS, The CPU, Memory, Data Storage (Hard Disks and Floppy Disks), Video, Communications, Printer.

As far as software is concerned, a discussion of the various types of software is necessary and a distinction will be made between high level and low level languages and the following classifications of software:

Machine Language, Assembly Language, Programming Languages, Operating Systems, Word Processors, Spread Sheets, Graphics and Presentation Packages, Databases, Games, Special Purpose Programs (CADD, Accounting, Technical, etc.)
WINDOWS 98
In much the same way that basic computer knowledge is essential to confident computer use, then, so too is a knowledge of a computer's operating system.

This section of the course covers the drive/directory/ sub-directory/file structure and "booting up". The course will also cover the executable file extensions; ".com", ".exe" and ".bat" and file extensions generally (".dll", ".ini", ".doc", ".bmp", etc.)

An understanding of the features of WINDOWS is essential to an understanding of computers. Aspects to be covered in this section of the course include:
What is WINDOWS 98? (incl. operating systems, the mouse [incl. right click], 32 bit architecture, Memory usage [conventional, upper, extended, virtual and ".tmp" files], Multitasking and Object Linking, Shut down).
· The Desktop (including START [quick access to Programs, Documents, Settings, Help, Find and Run functions and Shutdown], program icons [My Computer, Network Neighbourhood, Recycle Bin, Briefcase and others], shortcuts, task & status bars)
· Windows Help
· Windows Explorer
· Long File names
· My Computer and The Control Panel
· The Clipboard
· Program windows including Title bar, Maximise, minimise, scroll bars, menus, toolbars, The Active Window, Alt-Tab, Alt, etc.)
· Drivers (Video & Printer)

THE INTERNET
This part of the course will cover the Internet and its uses. The points to be covered in this section are:
· Communications Concepts - Phone connections, Modems, Faxing, Windows 98 setups, Dial up networking
· The Internet Service Provider - how to find one to suit your needs
· The Browser Software - Internet Explorer vs Netscape Navigator, configuring your browser.
· "Favorites"
· The differences between "the Web", Email and others.
· The World Wide Web, URL addresses, Search engines and surfin'.
· Internet Mail (Email) and mail addresses.
· System "Cleanup" (Temp Internet Files, History, Cookies, etc.)

WORD PROCESSING
With all that under our belt, we're now in a position to examine a Window's based word processor. The points to be covered are:

· Insertion Point vs Cursor
· Selecting text.
· Insert, Del, Page up/down, Tab, Shift and Shift-Arrow
· Templates
· The File Menu (New, Open, Save, Save As, Page Setup, Print)
· The Edit Menu (Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste Special, Select all, Links)
· The View Menu (Page Layout)
· The Insert Menu (Page breaks, files, pictures, objects)
· The Format Menu (Font, Tabs, Borders/shading, Columns, Bullets, Styles)
· The Tools Menu (Spell Checker, Mail Merge, Customise, Options)
· The Table Menu (Insert Table, Insert/delete Row/column/s, Format Row/column/s, Convert Text to/from Table)
· The Window Menu (Opening and arranging new files/windows)
· The Help Menu
· The Tool bar (Usage and customisation)

SPREADSHEETS
Now its the turn of Spreadsheets. The points to be covered in this section are:

· The Similarities to a Word Processor
· The Differences to a Word Processor
· Work sheets
· The File Menu (New, Open, Save, Save As, Page Setup, Print)
· The Edit Menu (Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Series fill, Move sheet, Links)
· The View Menu (Page Layout)
· The Insert Menu (Cells/Rows/Columns, Worksheet, Page Break, Pictures, Objects)
· The Format Menu (Cells/Rows/Columns/Worksheet, Styles)
· The Tools Menu (Spell Checker, Protection, Goal Seeking, Options)
· The Data Menu (Sort, Filter, Get external Data)
· The Window Menu (Opening and arranging new files/windows)
· The Help Menu
· The Tool bar (Usage and customisation)
· Functions
· Graphs

POWERPOINT
The Presentation package to be discussed is Microsoft Powerpoint. The points to be covered in this section are:

· The Uses of a Presentation Package
· The Components of Powerpoint
· How to start Powerpoint and the New Presentation Button
· The Wizard
· Adding Slides
· Creating a Presentation

SCANNING, PRINTING and VIDEO CAPTURE
The course then turns to modules which cover the major Peripherals. The points to be covered in this section are:

· Intro to Scanning
· Installation of scanners
· Use of an Image Editor
· Printing basics
· Video Capture

PAINTSHOP PRO
Image editing software is represented by Paint Shop Pro. The points to be covered in this section are:

· The Graphics Formats
· Viewing and Image Manipulation
· Colour Adjustments and Image enhancements
· Layers and Masks

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
All that's needed now is the confidence to play. Create a standard letter as a template; Create a database of books in an Excel spreadsheet; Mail merge the two and you have as many individualised reports as you may need. Try some linking of files or at least use the clipboard to copy from one file (say a graphics program) to another (say a word processor). Create a news-letter…….. The list is endless. Just have confidence and play!!