COMPUTER APPLICATIONS COURSE

LEARN HOW TO USE COMPUTERS

COURSE OBJECTIVES Introduce participants to basic

concepts of ICT Introduce participants to

microcomputer systems Enable participants to use

microcomputer systems

OVERVIEW OF COMPUTERS What is a computer? Why should I learn to use computers? How do I learn to use computers? What is important in using computers? Can a computer be used for anything? Where to use computers?

COMPUTER SYSTEM Computer hardware

Input devices: keyboard and mouse Output devices: monitor and printer Storage devices: disks and tapes Processing unit: CPU and RAM

Computer software System software/operating system: Windows Applications software: Office Packages

Computer humanware End users: typists, secretaries, accountants,

clerks System users/developers: programmers,

technicians

COMPUTER SOFTWARE Recall computer hardware: input,

output, storage and processing units By themselves, these cannot do

anything. They need some instructions to direct them how to function

These instructions are the so called computer software

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (contd.) It is a set of simple, clear, specific

and sequenced instructions Must be understood and obeyed by

the computer hardware There are two broad categories:

operating system and applications software

There are some utilities as well

OPERATING SYSTEM This is sometimes known as

system software It deals with computer resources

management Starts a computer Loads programs Coordinates hardware functions Manages other computer system

resources

OPERATING SYSTEM MICROSOFT WINDOWS

This is one of the operating systems used in most business computers

It is a graphical-user-interface (GUI) operating system

It needs pointing devices for most of the commands

In this course we will learn Microsoft Windows XP

There are other versions of Microsoft Windows as well

MAIN FEATURES OF MSWXP It is represented by a desktop There are various icons on the

desktop There is a task bar that enables you

to launch any task A pointing device is used to activate

various commands Let us practice the use of mouse

WORKING WITH A MOUSE Study the mouse you use: how many

buttons are there? Holding the mouse: grip it so that it

becomes part of your hand Controlling the mouse: ability to point at

any object without difficulty Clicking a button: selecting an object Double-clicking a button: activating an

object Dragging objects on the screen Resizing some windows

CHANGING COMPUTER SETTINGS

Changing background/wallpaper Setting a screen saver Setting mouse properties Changing system settings Checking hardware profiles

WORKING WITH FILES AND FOLDERS What is a folder? Creating a folder Deleting a folder What is a file? Copying files Deleting files Moving files

APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE This is software meant to solve business-

oriented problems They are divided into three main

categories Word processing Spreadsheet Database management We will focus and concentrate on two

applications only

WORDPROCESSING For many people, a word processing

package is the only software they use

This is software that is able to store, edit and manipulate text

In this course we will discuss Microsoft Word XP

Why? Try to guess!

MICROSOFT WORD How to start: (from the desktop proceed

as follows) Click at START button from the task bar Point at PROGRAMS or ALL PROGRAMS Point at MICROSOFT OFFICE Point and click at MICROSOFT WORD Wait!!! (how long? It will depend) There are other approaches on how to

start/activate the program

MAIN FEATURES OF MS WORD Title bar (C) Menu bar (C) Tool bars (O) Main text area (C) Status bar (C) Task pane (O) Task bar (C) Scroll bars (O) Rulers (O)

STARTING A NEW DOCUMENT Just begin to type Press space bar once at the end of each

complete word Press a space after any punctuation mark Insert a full stop at the end of each sentence Don’t guess end of line Press enter key once to begin a new

paragraph Don’t preconceive a format Save your work before leaving the program

BASIC MS WORD COMMANDS

Exiting the program Closing a document Saving a document Opening a document Formatting a document Printing a document

EDITING A DOCUMENT-1 Move cursor where you need to edit Do the editing:

Delete a character? Insert a character? Overwrite a character?

How to move the cursor? Use arrow keys Ctrl+arrow keys End key Home key Use a mouse

EDITING A DOCUMENT-2 One can use a speller to do the

editing Click at TOOLS from the menu bar Click at SPELLING AND GRAMMAR Follow on-the-screen instructions

Change/Change All Add Ignore/Ignore all Edit

FORMATING A DOCUMENT Select text to be formatted Request the format required

Underlining Centering Bolding Fonts Line spacing

SELECTING TEXT Drag your mouse on the text to be

selected Use shift key and arrow keys Use F8 function key, arrow keys

and then a format

INSERTING OBJECTS-1 Page numbering:

Click at INSERT from the menu bar Click at PAGE NUMBERS Select position: top or bottom Select alignment: left, centre, right Decide whether to show page number

on the first page Click at OK

INSERTING OBJECTS-2 Headers and Footers Click at VIEW from the menu bar Click at Headers/Footers Type your header or switch to

footer and type it Click at CLOSE button

INSERTING OBJECTS-3 Foot/Endnotes position cursor at the end of a word to footnote Click at INSERT from menu bar Click at Reference AND/OR Footnote Click at FOOTNOTE Click at FOOTNOTE Click at INSERT/OK button Type your footnote Scroll back to your text

INSERTING OBJECTS-4 Creating a Table Click at TABLE from the menu bar Click at Insert, Table Specify columns, rows Click at OK Enter data into one cell at a time Use TAB key to move cursor from one

cell to another

CREATING BULLETS - 1 There are two approaches of doing this:

using menu or tool bar Position cursor where you want the bullets Click at the BULLETS icon from the tool bar Type in your points and press enter at the

end of each point Press enter key twice to disable the

bulleting

CREATING BULLETS - 2 Position cursor where you want the bullets Click at FORMAT from the menu bar Click at BULLETS AND NUMBERING from the

drop down menu Click at the Bulleted tab from the dialog box Choose the preferred bullet style Click at OK Type in your point and press enter key at the

end of each point Press enter key twice to disable the bulleting

CHANGING LETTER CASES Select text to change its case Click at FORMAT from the menu

bar Click at CHANGE CASE from the

drop down menu Choose the required case Click at OK

USING THESAURUS What is it? A facility that gives

alternative words Select a word to look for its thesaurus Click at TOOLS from the menu bar Click LANGUAGE drop down menu Click at THESAURUS Select the relevant alternative if it exists Click at REPLACE

PRINTING A DOCUMENT Assume that your printer is ON and your

document is open Click at FILE from the menu bar Click at PRINT from the drop down menu Select a printer to be used Specify what is to be printed: all, current

page, pages, selection Decide on number of copies Decide on collate Click at PRINT button or OK

CREATING AUTO TABLE OF CONTENTS Open your document Decide on titles to be in the table of

contents Set the titles to Heading 1 Create a blank page to insert the TOC Click at INSERT, REFERENCE Click at Index and Tables Click at TOC Decide on the TOC style Click at OK