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Beginning Computer |
See also: Web Lesson |
This is a short lesson on computer basics, suitable for introducing a novice to the concepts underlying the way objects on the computer are related to each other and how these objects can be manipulated. As a bonus, I've added a chapter on getting around the Internet.
Chapter One: Types of computer items.
There are essentially only three types of items you see on your computer: Folders, Files and Applications.
Folders are easy: they are containers for the other items. Folders can hold files, they can hold applications and they can even hold other folders. The only thing folders do is make it easier to organize the stuff on your computer. Hard drives, floppy disks and CDs are really just different types of folders: they just hold other items. Folder icons look like folders (except for hard drives and floppies, etc.)
Files are pieces of data. A file may be a letter you wrote, a picture or some information saved off the web.File icons usually look like a piece of paper with the upper right corner turned down.
Files can't do anything by themselves. You can't read them or see what they contain unless you have the right Application. An application, like Claris Works or Netscape, lets you see the file and sometimes edit it. Application icons look like little pictures.
Usually, clicking on a file will call up the right application. Sometimes this doesn't happen, usually because you don't have the application. In that case you can try dragging the file over an application that you think might open it - like drag a letter over Claris Works. If the application turns dark, it may be able to open that file. (If it does open the file and it is gibberish- the application didn't really know how to do it, it lied.)
Files are opened in windows. Windows have the file name at the top middle, a close box in the upper left and sometimes two resizing boxes in the upper right. One application can usually open many windows so closing a window is not the same as closing an application. To close an application, use the "quit" menu item. Your list of open applications is shown by the boxes that appear at the bottom of your screen. The frontmost application will have a red line on one side. (It is not necessarily bad to have several applications open -it will save time when opening a file, for example- but it does use up memory.)
Chapter Two: Computer Grammar
Computers are designed to follow English language structures:
Subject - Verb - (Object) (SOV)
With your computer, it might be better to think of the "S"
as "Select."
You select an object - a file, a word, an internet address - and then you "do"
it by applying a verb. You can select a word and then make it bold, you can select
a file and then open it, you can select a page and then save it. "Make"
"open" and "save" are all verbs.
Verbs are often
listed in the menu. So, if you don't know how to do something, just start going through
the menu.
For example:
To color a word in a word document: (a) Select the word (b) Go through the menu until you find something that seems to be what you want to do.
If it doesn't color, then there are two possibilities: the menu
item was the wrong one or the item couldn't be colored for some reason. If it is
the first reason, and your word suddenly does something funny like becomes condensed,
then use the "undo" command in the "Edit" menu
to reverse the operation.
If the item can't be colored (usually the menu item will be greyed out), then you
have done nothing.
Sometimes your sentence will have an object: you may want to select a file, and drag it to the trash.In
this case, the trash is your object. Usually, the trash will change (become dark)
to denote that it is the object. If you select a word, drag it to another part of
your document, you will usually see an insertiion marker where it is going to end
up.
|
Select |
Act |
| a word | bold, make a link, delete, copy |
| a file | copy, set preferences, label, drag |
| a table cell | color it, set alignment |
| a location | add text, add an image, add a table, paste |
Sometimes there are shortcuts to the verb. Double-clicking on a file is the same as clicking once and then using the "Open" menu command. In a dialog box or a tool bar with buttons, the verb is selected by placing your cursor over it. Click once to select that action (such as "OK" in a dialog box). In Netscape documents, your links are selected when you put the cursor over them. Click once to activate the verb.
(Sometimes you can access other verbs with the mouse: hold down the control key (marked "ctrl") as you click your mouse button over a file and you will get a pop-up menu that gives you a list of things you can do. In Netscape, click and hold the mouse button down over a link and you will see a pop-up menu of other actions you can take with that link.)
Chapter Three: The Internet
Instead of the usual two parts of viewing a file (application and file),there are three parts to viewing a file over the internet (application, connection and file). As before, you have your application, Netscape, and your file - the page you are viewing. However, you will also usually have to have a connection between the two,such as America On-line. Netscape can view the files on your local hard drive without connecting, but it will not be able to access files stored on other machines in other parts of the world.
Whenever you are signed on with AOL, you are tying up your phone line. Calls may not be able to get through.
You travel around the internet by clicking on "links" - the (usually) blue, (usually) underlined (usually) words that you see on the page you are viewing. (Sometimes you will click on images , sometimes the words will not be blue or will not be underlined. In almost all cases, however, holding the cursor over the item will (a) change the cursor to a hand, and (b) show the URL in the lower bar of the window.)
After you visit a link, all other links to that same page will turn lavendar for several days. This makes it easy to track where you've been. The length of time it stays lavendar is set in the "preferences" menu item.
Another important part of your navigation is the "Back" button at the top of the window. This will take you back to the previous page or node that you visited. The "Home" button will take you to your home page.
The "Go" menu item at the top of the page will show you the last several places you've visited. However, if you've branched - gone down one tree, then back to a previous page, then down another branch - it will not show the different branches you've tried. This is an annoyance.
"Bookmarks" are pointers to pages that you deem important. To make a bookmark, go to the page (selection phase), and pull down the "Add Bookmark" menu item (verb phase). To go to a bookmark, just pull down the bookmark.
To get rid of a bookmark is a little more difficult. You have to open the "bookmarks" item under the "Window" menu, highlight the bookmark you want to get rid of, and hit the "delete" key. You can also use the commands here to create folders for the bookmarks and annotate them.
Tips:
You can use the "New Web Browser" item in the file menu to open a new window. This is helpful when downloading one page is slow and you want to download another page at the same time.
Under the same menu you can "Save As..." the page you are viewing to your own hard drive. This is useful when the page is an article you want to save. However, pictures will not save. If you want to save the formatting, save as "Source" (using the drop down menu at the bottom of the save dialog after you do "Save As..." You will have to drag the resulting document into Netscape in order for it to display correctly when you later go to read it.
To save a picture, click and hold down on it with the mouse. Select the "Save As..." verb there.
Technical stuff:
The address of a web page is called the URL (for Uniform Resource Locator). This is the thing that looks like
http://www.yahoo.com
Typing the URL into the field at the top of your window and pressing the return key will send you there, if you spelled it right.
Right now there are several types of URLs as indicated by the last suffix after the dot:
| Commercial = .com Government = .gov Organization =.org |
Network =.net Schools = .edu Military = .mil |
More of these domains are coming.
In addition, each country has its own unique suffix:
| Japan = .jp | UK = .uk |
Different countries also often have different suffixes for their domains: .co is usually used instead of .com.
so a Japanese company will end in ".co.jp"
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