Computer Lessons for Students
- Teach students how to use the computer.computer image by Orlando Florin Rosu from Fotolia.com
In the 21st century, the computer has become integral to the functioning of most businesses and governmental entities. It's vital that students learn the basics of using a computer, for many projects and future careers will require them to know how to access the Internet, use a word processor and utilize several different computer programs. - For younger students or those with no experience operating a computer, an essential computer lesson is covering the basics of computer usage and the terminology technically used to describe computer parts. Give each student a worksheet with a picture of a computer and all the different parts labelled, such as the system unit, mouse, keyboard and monitor. You may wish to ask the students to memorize the worksheet and later give a quiz over the different parts. After the students learn the different parts of the computer, teach the students how to plug the computer's power cord into the outlet, plug the mouse into the back of the unit, turn on the monitor and turn on the unit using the power button. If the network requires a password, wait until all the students have entered the password prompt screen then teach them how to type in the user name and password. Once the computer has loaded and students arrive at the desktop interface, explain how to use the mouse to move around the screen and click on various buttons and programs.
In computer basics lessons, you can also explain how to access the Internet by connecting to the nearest Internet connection, either wi-fi, broadband or other, how to open up an Internet browser and how to load a word processing program. - Though teaching students the basics of how a computer keyboard works is rather intuitive, there is a sharp learning curve for learning how to type correctly. Students new to using a keyboard have a tendency to look down at the keys while they're typing, or "peck" on the keys using one finger, thus slowing down their word count. In this case, typing software designed for beginning computer users or a chart listing all the symbols on a keyboard, to prop up against the monitor, can be helpful for new computer users. Once students learn the basics of typing, they can perform speed tests on keyboard typing software in order to try to improve their words per minute, or WPM speed.
- Once students learn to type using a typing program or chart, they can be introduced to word processors. Knowing how to use a word processor is vital to many office jobs, as well as for formatting resumes, typing letters and writing essays for school. Teach students how to open the word processing program, then instruct them how to create new files and save them in different formats. Students should also learn how to create new paragraphs, create margins, format paragraphs and select different font sizes and types.
For an assignment, students can be instructed to type out and format a letter with a letterhead, 1-inch margins and 12-point courier new font, or with any formatting instructions you desire. Common word processing programs to use include Wordpad, Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.
