Intro to Computers Instructor's Guide
Instructor’s Guide
For the Introduction to Computers Class
The Introduction to Computers class is targeted towards students who have had little to no experience with computers, or with Microsoft Windows. It covers the basics of navigating a Windows desktop, Word basics, and a brief preview of Excel and the Internet. The syllabus has been developed to correspond to key Massachusetts Technology Frameworks standards and is meant to be a first step into computer literacy, not the only computer class that a student will ever take. The class does not cover typewriting skills, or in depth coverage of the applications, for example. Hopefully, this overview class will get students excited about how much more is available to them through a dedicated Word, Excel or Web class and such skills can aid them personally and professionally.
How to Use this Guide
The Instructor’s Guide outlines how you can teach the 8-week Introduction to Computers Class. This document is meant to be used in combination with the Student Manual material. Most of the handouts and in-class exercises referenced in the Guide are in the Student Manual. It is suggested that when a student enrolls in the class, that you ask them to bring a ½” to 1” 3-ring binder to the class on the first day, where they can begin to collect the material that will be covered in each class. At the conclusion of the class they will have a complete Student Manual with which they can review what they learned and work on material that could benefit from extra practice.
Each of the 8 sessions is intended to be two hours long, and you’ll see that each weekly session outline has a breakdown of how long you should spend on each section of your in-class time. Please review the weekly outline at least a day before your class so you can adequately prepare anything that needs to be done prior to the class, such as:
- Personal additions to the material
- Copying necessary files to students’ desktops
- Making handout copies
- Ensuring your own familiarity with the material and exercises
Attendance needs to be taken at each class, and students must complete a pre-test and post-test in order to complete the class. Depending on how quickly students learn the material, you may be able to include additional lessons during the class, but most likely you’ll wish you had more time. Don’t be discouraged! Cover what you can, making sure students are “getting” the material. Students will get the most out of the class if they are able to review covered material outside of class, complete homework and if they’re able to continue on to more in-depth classes in each topic.
If you have any questions on how to use this Guide, the Student Manual, or other related material, or suggestions on how we can improve this curriculum please do not hesitate to contact TechMission at (617)282-9798.
Week 1
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Introductions 15 minutes
Introduce yourself as the instructor and tell about yourself
Have each student introduce themselves
Ask them: “Why they decided to take the class?”
Pass out manuals
Syllabus 10 minutes
Review briefly the syllabus
Have handouts for students
Rules and Class Structure 5 minutes
Explain to students that each class will have the following elements:
- A Review of the previous week’s materials
- Hands on exercises
- Homework each week
Go over the class’ attendance policy:
- If you miss more than two of the first four classes you cannot be part of the class
- If you miss more than three of all eight classes you will not be considered to have completed the class
- Please don’t be late to class!
- Notes on how to handle known future class misses…
Inform students on other guidelines and important information (you as the instructor can fill in additional details of your own teaching style and how you plan to direct the class).
Pre-test 20 minutes
Refer to Student Manual: Pretest (Pages 2-3)
Give instructions
Tell them they should not feel bad if they cannot complete items
Review of Pre-test 10 minutes
- Instructor should demo each item on the projector
- Ask for student participation
New material 20 minutes
§ Navigation of the computer
§ Show the task bar and what it used for (where programs show up when used)
§ Show the start menu and how to navigate to a program
§ Double-click on My computer
§ Show the A:/drive and C:/drive
§ Show them where files are stored for class (this will not pertain if using a disk) and where they should save files to for class
§ Basic mouse features
§ Double-click to open files
Single-click to edit in Word and on the Internet
§ Create a new folder on the desktop
§ Name it: Practice
§ Open Notepad
§ Minimize and Maximize file
§ Show how to maximize from task bar
§ Save the file the Folder just created
§ Name it test1
§ Close Notepad
§ Renaming files
§ Navigate to the Practice folder on the desktop
§ Change the name to: “Test Completed”
§ Customizing folder views
§ Change the view to list view
§ Demo the different way to view files
§ Keyboard familiarity
§ Practice using the home keys
§ Type the alphabet using the home keys
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
Refer to Page 7 of manual: In Class Exercise
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
Page 8 in manual
Discuss the instructions
Week 2
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
Discuss homework
Ask and review if any questions
In-class Review 10 minutes
Page 11 in manual
Review instructions
Go around and help students
Review in-class review 10 minutes
Demonstrate on the projector
Get participation from students
New material 30 minutes
§ Instructor should demo the new material following along on their in-class exercise: use file: Class 2 Editing (page 13)
§ Instructions are on the In Class exercise: Page 12
§ You should already place the file on each student’s computer or on the network
Opening Word:
Opening Programs from Start button and Choose Microsoft Word
-Discuss interface:
-Mention that there are many ways to do the same thing: menu, right-click, and toolbars
-Minimize, maximize, and close
Open a file:
Choose File / Open and choose file: Class 2- Editing.
Have the file already on their desktops
Show them how to use Lookin drop down box and shortcut panel along left hand side.
Mention that they could also double-click on the file
Editing a file:
Editing the document by correcting the spelling mistakes WITHOUT using spell check.
- Show them how to use the mouse to navigate to the area they want to delete and also the arrow keys on the keyboard
- Show them how to use back space
Formatting a font
Center and Bold the title: Jingle Bells and change the font to Arial
Teach them how to highlight the words they want to change to the font of
Teach them the shortcuts to highlight a word.
Change font by using format / font and toolbars
Do the same with Bold, Italic, Underline, Right aligned, left aligned and center
Save as and Save:
Save the document by choosing File / Save as. Name the file: updated editing
o Discuss the difference between save and save as. **Use Save As to save a new copy with all the updates. Use Save to write over the old file with new updates. Only one copy.
o Show that it saves a new file and still the old one remains.
o Now make changes and choose Save.
Creating a new file:
Creating a new document by choose File / New.
o Create a new file
o Show shortcut on the toolbar
Entering Text:
Type your name, Address, and one goal for the class.
Print Preview and Printing
o Show them how to use print preview
o Then print the document
o Show them what printer they should print to.
o Collect their work when done.
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
Instructions on Page 12
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
Refer to page 14 in manual
Review instructions
Week 3
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
Discuss homework
Ask and review if any questions
In-class Review 10 minutes
Refer to manual for instructions –Page 16
Follow Instructions
Review in-class exercise 10 minutes
Demonstrate on the projector
Get participation from students
New material 30 minutes
Instructor should demo the new material following along on their in-class exercise: (use file: In Class Exercise 3)
Instructions on page 17 in manual
You should already place this on each student’s computer or on the network
The new Material includes:
(Use the same file as the students: In Class Exercise 3)
- Cut copy paste
- Should show them how to cut, copy, and paste using the menu, toolbars, and the shortcut key
- Find and Replace
- Show them to find and replace
- This is useful in large documents for many occurrences of the same word.
- Discuss the “More” tab
- Match case
- Wildcards etc.
- Discuss the difference between Replace and Replace ALL
- Headers and footers
- Navigate to View/Header and Footer
- Discuss the header and footer toolbar and use it to:
- Add Page numbers to the footer
- Add Name and date centered to the header
- Discuss that you must be in Print Layout view to see the header and footer
- Or they can see it in Print preview
- Double-click on the footer or header to edit it.
- Page Setup
- File / Page Setup
- Change the margins to 1.5
- Discuss the Paper size tab (do not make changes)
- Discuss where to change the paper size
- Discuss the page orientation
- Checking spelling
- Tools / Spelling and Grammar
- Check the spelling of the document
- Finding help
- Choose a topic and show how to use the help
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
§ Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
- Need to have file: In Class Exercise 3
- Refer to page 17 for instructions
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
- Refer to page 18
- Discuss the instructions
Week 4
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
- Discuss homework
- Ask and review if any questions
In-class review 10 minutes
Page 22 in manual
Follow Instructions
Review in-class exercise 10 minutes
Demonstrate on the projector
Get participation from students
New material 30 minutes
§ Instructor should demo the new material following along on their in-class exercise: use file: (In Class Exercise 4)
§ Instructions and examples on page 22-23
- You should already place this on each student’s computer or on the network
- (Letter is in the wrong order-must move it fix it up)
Formatting a letter: (open file In Class Exercise 4)
Add Personal information at the top:
Name and Address (Centered)
Add 2 blank lines
Insert the date
Insert /Date
Add 2 Blank lines
Highlight the Address of the person you are sending this to
Move it under the date by click and dragging where the text should go.
Add 2 blank lines
Highlight “Dear…”
Move it under the address
Add 1 blank line
Re-arrange the paragraphs in the appropriate order.
Highlight the paragraphs
Change to Single-spacing
Format / Paragraph / Line spacing / Single-shaping
- Indenting first line of each of the paragraphs\
- Add your name as the president
- Center “Sincerely, Your name President”
- Add a Bulleted lists to what is enclosed.
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
- Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
- They need file: In Class Exercise 4
- Refer to page 23-24 for instructions
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
- Refer to page 25
- Discuss the instructions
Week 5
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
- Discuss homework
- Ask and review if any questions
In-class Review 10 minutes
Refer to page 27
Follow Instructions
Review in-class review 10 minutes
Demonstrate on the projector
Get participation from students
New material 30 minutes
§ Instructor should demo the new material following along on their in-class
§ Refer to page 28-29 for instructions and examples
Task:
Creating a poster for a Party, garage sale, or bake sale:
(See Example: Bake Sale in manual on page 29)
Introduce the drawing toolbar
Demonstrate how to enable the drawing toolbar
View / Toolbars / Drawing
Show how to use tools on Drawing toolbar:
Auto shapes
Word Art
Text box
Clipart:
Have them insert Clipart
Resizing and Moving
Demonstrate how the resize and move graphics.
Grouping:
Have them group a couple of their objects together
Show that it is easier to move when they are grouped together.
To select more than one object, hold down the Shift key
Right-click on the objects
Choose Grouping / Group
Page Border
Format / Borders and Shading / Page Border
Choose Art or just lines
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
- Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
- Refer them to page 28-29 in manual
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
- Refer them to page 30-31
- Discuss the instructions
Week 6
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
- Discuss homework
- Ask and review if any questions
In-class Review 10 minutes
§ Refer to page 37
§ Discuss instructions
Review in-class review 10 minutes
§ Demonstrate on the projector
§ Get participation from students
New material 30 minutes
§ Instructor should demo the new material
§ Follow instructions on page 38-39 in manual
Task:
Objective: to give a brief introduction to what a spreadsheet is and why people might want to use one. Give students an idea of spreadsheets so they can know if they want to take a class in Excel.
They may not have a spreadsheet on their own computers, but if they have Microsoft Works, it has a spreadsheet component.
Excel Intro
Why use a spreadsheet?
Revolutionized the way companies were able to do business (explain with example):
What would be the effect on profits if company sells plant in St. Joseph, MO?
How much money would I make if my commission went from 20% to 30%
Calculate mileage and cost per mile
Rows and columns
Cell address – see it in the box above the letter A
Click on several specific cell addresses
Click on cell B2 last
Open Excel and identify the following parts of the Excel window
(Use page 35 for help)
Workbook
Worksheet
Title BarMenu Bat
Toolbars
Formula Bar
Name Box
Scroll Bars
Sheet Tabs
Status Bar
Taskbar
Min, Mix and Close buttons for the file and the application
Gridlines
Columns
Rows
Cell
Try making a list of people in your family using their first name, last name and birthday like the example shown below. (Hint: To edit a cell you’ve already typed in, select the cell and press the F2 key on your keyboard.)
| A | B | C |
1 | Katie | Peterson | 7/10/74 |
2 | Mike | Peterson | 12/10/72 |
3 | Nikki | Parker | 11/6/54 |
4 | Robin | Parker | 5/13/61 |
5 | Lillee | Parker | 3/29/82 |
6 | Molly | Parker | 8/15/88 |
7 | Jesse | Parker | 8/4/91 |
8 | Nancy | Peterson | 2/23/50 |
9 | Henry | Peterson | 1/6/47 |
10 | Peter | Peterson | 2/15/77 |
Insert a new row and add headings to your columns by following these steps:
Click on the number for row 1.
Go to the INSERT menu and select ROWS.
Type the headings First Name, Last Name, and Birthday in the new row.
Select your headings, then click on the B button on the formatting toolbar so that your headings appear in bold as shown below.
With your headings still selected, click on the CENTER button on the formatting toolbar so that your headings appear in the middle of the cells.
| A | B | C |
1 | First Name | Last Name | Birthday |
2 | Katie | Peterson | 7/10/74 |
3 | Mike | Peterson | 12/10/72 |
4 | Nikki | Parker | 11/6/54 |
5 | Robin | Parker | 5/13/61 |
6 | Lillee | Parker | 3/29/82 |
7 | Molly | Parker | 8/15/88 |
8 | Jesse | Parker | 8/4/91 |
9 | Nancy | Peterson | 2/23/50 |
10 | Henry | Peterson | 1/6/47 |
11 | Peter | Peterson | 2/15/77 |
If the row isn’t wide enough to see everything you’ve typed, double-click on the line in between the column letters.
Order you list by name using the following steps.
Select all of your information.
Go to the DATA menu and select SORT
Pick the option to sort by Last Name, then by First Name in ascending order. (Make sure the button is selected that shows your list has a header row.)
You should see that your list is now in alphabetical order. Now try sorting by age.
The following table shows the example data sorted by birthday in descending order.
| A | B | C |
1 | First Name | Last Name | Birthday |
2 | Jesse | Parker | 8/4/91 |
3 | Molly | Parker | 8/15/88 |
4 | Lillee | Parker | 3/29/82 |
5 | Peter | Peterson | 2/15/77 |
6 | Katie | Peterson | 7/10/74 |
7 | Mike | Peterson | 12/10/72 |
8 | Robin | Parker | 5/13/61 |
9 | Nikki | Parker | 11/6/54 |
10 | Nancy | Peterson | 2/23/50 |
11 | Henry | Peterson | 1/6/47 |
Extra:
- If there is time, show the file “Extra-excel” and show how the data changes and how Excel can quickly chart (page 41)
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
§ Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
- -Follow instructions on page 38-39 in manual
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
Refer to page 40
Discuss the instructions
Extra Lesson if you are ahead of schedule and would like to do 2 weeks of Excel:
- Create spreadsheet of household costs – Have students do it at the same time
B2 = January, C2= February, D2=March
In Col. A type categories: Have class list some categories and write on board: Rent, electricity, phone, gas, cable
Type Total as last entry in cell
- Show AutoSum to total January column
- Change phone bill and watch total change
- Insert a row above Total and add another item to the list. Put in an amount and watch total change
- Talk about numbers that don’t change from month-to-month. Demo AutoFill for rent and cable for Feb. and Mar.
- Have students use autofill on their spreadsheets and then fill in other numbers for items for Feb. and Mar.
- Talk about formula for autofill – show formula in edit bar. Talk about how numbers in the cells don’t matter, the process is the same for adding the cells.
- Talk about how the program knows you want to do the same steps for Feb. and Mar but just change the column letter.
- Demo AutoFill across for total row, show how the cell references change
- Have students autofill their total lines
- Add Year-to-date Total in cell E2
- Highlight row 3 and autoSum the total
- Repeat for row 4 – talk about how this is not efficient
Week 7
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
- Discuss homework
- Ask and review if any questions
In-class Review 10 minutes
§ Refer to page 52
- Follow Instructions
Review in-class review 10 minutes
§ Demonstrate on the projector
- Get participation from students
New material 30 minutes
-Instructor should demo the new material following
Task:
- Introductions (go around the room): Where is your dream vacation spot?
- Talk about our philosophy of making students independent learners and to encourage students to use each other as a resource
- Brainstorm: What is the Internet?
- Talk about the difference between what the Internet tangibly is and what we can use the Internet for
- Give plain definition of the Internet – phone lines between computers; the phone is dead until it is connected
- Ask if anyone knows how to go to the Internet
- Scenario: We’re going to go to a foreign country and we want to find out when is the best time to go (check out the weather), what we might expect to find there (i.e. local attractions, festivals), and how to check for airfare information on the Internet.
- Lonely Planet is a good resource for this.
- Have them use google to find site
- Ask the class if anyone knows how we might find information on __________? (Answers will vary from typing in the country in the search box to going to the travel section)
- Direct them to the website location you would like them to go (i.e. Travel Guide after typing in the country’s name)
- Direct them to the weather box on the left-hand site and have them go to a specific city together
- Have them click on the “satellite” icon for a view of the satellite forecast
- Explain that you would like to know when the best time is to go to __________ and have them click on “Records and Averages:
- After you’re finished with this activity, explain to the class how the Internet is like a book and you are flipping pages and ask if anyone knows how to go “back” a page.
- Have them click on the “Local Attractions” hyperlink and direct them to a website that allows them to click on pictures and give them time to explore
- Now we want to find the cheapest airfare to go to ____________. Instead of pressing the “back” button multiple times, does anyone know a quicker way of going back?
- At the main yahoo page have them type in the website you found to search for airfares in the web address box. (Explain that web address tells the computer where to go on the Internet and use a visual aid of an envelope to explain that it is similar to when you address an envelope).
- Go through looking for airfare and have your students find out why some airfares are more expensive than others and explain that you can get cheaper fares on the Internet that cannot be found elsewhere.
- Job Search
- Recommended site because of its simplicity: www.boston.com (unless in another city)
- Click on Classifieds on left column
- Click on Search for a Job
- Go through how to select more than one category or location (hold down CTRL and click)
- Other Possible Activities
- Map Search
- People Search
- Topical Search (i.e. Olympics)
In Class Exercise 30 minutes
- Let them have time to do the in-class exercise
- See instructions on page 54
Review the exercise together 15 minutes
Review any questions 10 minutes
Assign Homework 5 minutes
- Refer to page 55
- Discuss the instructions
Week 8
(If you are behind from the other weeks, use the first part of class (1 hour) to finish the previous lesson. Then use 15 minutes or so to answer questions on any of the material covered during the last seven weeks, but make sure to leave time for the post-test and to bring closure to the class with a brief discussion and completing the evaluation.)
Before starting the class, take attendance on your class roster.
Review Homework 5-10 minutes
- Discuss homework
- Ask and review if any questions
Review Concepts from Weeks 1-7 30 minutes
Let students ask questions on any of the material
Use this week to review concepts from the following weeks
Post Test 30 minutes
§ Same as pre-test
§ See page 57-58
Review Post Test 20 minutes
§ Review the post test on the projector
§ Answer any questions
§ Have them compare how much they have learned from the beginning of class
Evaluation of class 15 minutes
- Have students to fill out the evaluation
Class Discussion 15 minutes
- How did you like the class?
- What did you learn?
- Thank students for coming!
