Suggested outline by John Walsh from his courses off Intermeediate levels
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Outline the difference between Hardware-Software and Firmware, understanding the Operating System and what is part of Windows with deeper explanation of “My Computer' - Both Explorer and other parts of Windows apart from other Software.
ensure pupils have grasped what was discussed last week and if necessary clear up any worries. Go into Spyware and viruses etc and have the pupils ( hands on) carry out a demo of Spybot - AdAware and AVG etc, doing updates etc and also in AVG to do custom scanning such as on borrowed disks etc or emails. Explanation of Help Files and how to operate them.
Creating folders - understand Extensions or formats most commonly used - File association and how to alter the file association, difference between right click to a left click, tool bars on programs and altering them, Flash drives and how to operate them by putting data on and transferring etc also deleting data off them safely and removing them.
A bit more on Folders - drag'n'drop - Copying, cut and pasting - Word processing on both WordPad and Openoffice, a look at FastStone and Irfanview - finishing with a run through Photo Story 3.
A bit more on word processing with demos on adding images, tables and clip art etc - how to install OpenOffice and I usually give them written instructions on how to do this so they can take it home for installing Openoffice isn't the usual installation. Insure they understand how to get data off a disk and how to transfer it to where they wish.
Moving the understanding of the Internet and email to a level above the Basic levels, understanding the tool bars and the respective tabs searching and on emails how to add photos etc and creating their own stationary or whatever they wish to know. I usually have more or less an open forum on both these items to clear up any respective queries.
Explain the operation of Nero and then have them burn a disk of whatever they wish that may be to copy a musical disk or mostly to burn a copy of the programs on the computers at the centre so they can take them home. Show them how Limewire works and subject to time touch up on anything they need or don't feel confident with which can vary.
How to get into “Safe Mode” and from there to do a “System Restore” - Defrag in Safe Mode and finally how to restart a computer in “Last known successful Profile”. I usually keep this day open to allow individual problems and discuss the components ( to insure they understand what each component within a computer actually does and its importance to what they ultimately want from their PC) they need to think of when either upgrading or purchasing a new computer. Answer any questions they need clearing up over the course. I always start each week with questions.