How to operate A Computer
Basic Computing Skills - Orientation
Sharing buttons:
the desktop is what you will see first
each time you log into Windows there are
two parts to the desktop firstly there
is the large space that occupies most of
the screen this usually contains icons
that open some programs this is also
where your programs will appear once you
have opened them secondly the taskbar is
located at the bottom of the page this
strip contains several parts so we'll
look at it in more detail
the taskbar is the thin strip at the
bottom of the desktop it contains a
number of parts at the left is a circle
with the Windows logo in it this is the
Start menu which we'll look at in a
moment next our program icons such as
Internet Explorer Windows Explorer and
Windows Media Player clicking once on
any of these will open up each of these
default programs if you have any other
programs open for example Microsoft Word
you can see the icons for these along
the rest of the taskbar at the right
hand side of the taskbar our
administrative icons for your computer
this icon here shows if you are
connected to the Internet if you see a
red cross here that usually means you're
not connected
next the speaker icon allows you to
adjust the volume by clicking on it and
simply dragging the volume button higher
or lower if you click on the time and
date this will show a calendar and a
clock and you can reset these if you
need to by clicking on the change date
and time settings button and then
following the prompts the last icon is a
small blank rectangle that says show
desktop clicking on this will take you
back to your desktop no matter how many
programs you have open
to open up the Start menu you simply
click on the start button on the
left-hand corner of the taskbar this is
the Start menu this is where you'll see
all the icons of different programs that
are running on your computer clicking on
any of these icons will open up that
program for you to use if the program
doesn't show up here you can simply
click on all programs this will open up
a list of all the programs on the
computer if you need to go back
simply click back
there's also a search bar within the
Start menu this is where you can search
for programs or for individual files on
your computer for example if you need
the program paint you can simply click
in the search bar type in paint and it
will bring up that program all you need
to do is click on the icon and it will
open the program up for you you can go
back to an empty search bar by using the
backspace key on your keyboard to get
rid of this word if instead you need to
search for a particular file and you
know it has the word dog in it for
example you can simply type this keyword
into the search bar type in dog and that
will bring up any files with the word
dog in the name as well as any documents
with the word dog included in them again
you can use backspace to get back to an
empty search bar
at the right hand side of the Start menu
are a number of important icons some of
these include computer which is where
you can access your hard drive as well
as any CDs DVDs and USBs control panel
which is where you can view and modify
your computer settings Devices and
Printers which is where you can view and
manage your printers scanners and other
items of hardware and the help and
support tab which will give you help in
troubleshooting any problems on your
computer in the bottom right hand corner
of the Start menu is the shutdown button
pressing on this will close all your
programs and shut windows down turning
your computer off if you don't wish to
do this you can click on the arrow next
to the shutdown button and this gives
you some other options the ones you will
use most frequently as a student include
logoff which will close your programs
and log you out of windows without
shutting your computer down and lock
which is where you can keep all your
programs open simply locking the screen
so that nobody can access your
information while you're away from your
desk
while we're in the Start menu we can
click on computer to open up a program
called windows explorer windows explorer
allows you to browse all the information
and files that are stored on your
computer the hard disk drives contain
all the information that is saved on
your computer itself while the devices
with removable storage contain
information that can then be removed and
transported to a different computer
devices with removable storage include
CDs DVDs and USB sticks
we can close this window by clicking on
the X at the top right hand corner we
can also access Windows Explorer using
the icon on the taskbar we simply click
once using the left button on the mouse
and this will open up Windows Explorer
this is where we can access all our
drives through the link for computer as
well as our libraries where we can find
the documents we've saved as well as
music and pictures
next let's look at how to log on to the
internet you can access the world wide
web by using programs known as web
browsers there are several different
types of browsers these include Internet
Explorer Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome
and Safari most web browsers work in a
similar way let's try using Internet
Explorer you can open Internet Explorer
if it's on your desktop by simply
double-clicking the icon with the left
button of your mouse Internet Explorer
is also found on the taskbar you can
simply click at once with the left
button of your mouse and Internet
Explorer will launch
once Internet Explorer launches you'll
be taken through to what's called a home
page this is a page that you will choose
to be the first page you see each time
you open the web browser at ECU the home
page is always set to WWDC you gue au
which is the web address for ECU's
website on your home computer you can
change your home page to whatever you'd
like
perhaps a news website your email
account or any other page that you go to
frequently you can do this simply by
clicking on the arrow next to the home
icon here and following the prompts
at the top of the browser you'll see a
bar known as the address bar this is
where you can type the web address of
any website and then be taken directly
to that site for example if we want to
go to Google's homepage we can type in
the address here if we know it press
ENTER and will be taken through to that
website let's try that now we can click
once here and delete the current address
using the backspace key on our keyboard
we can then type in the address for
Google's homepage WWE google.com and
then press Enter on our keyboard this
takes us through to the home page for
Google which is a well-known search
engine
once we're already on a website we can
add it to what's called a favorites menu
this means that instead of having to
remember and type in a web address every
single time we want to go to a page we
can simply find the icon for that page
click on it on the favorites menu and be
taken directly there it's a great way to
save time let's try adding Google to our
favorites menu we click once on the
favorites button and this opens up our
favorites menu we can then click on add
to favorites this will open up a window
where we can confirm that we do want to
add Google to our favorites
we click Add to make this happen
once this is done we can click on
favorites scroll down to the bottom of
the menu and we can see the new website
that we've added clicking on this icon
will take us directly to the page we've
saved
if we're on another website and we'd
like to return to our home page we can
simply click on the home icon located
along the top of the web browser
clicking once on this icon will return
us back to our home page if we then
decide that we'd like to go back to a
website we've saved as a favorite we can
return back up to our favorites menu
click on the link for favorites choose
the website that we'd like to go to and
click on it to return to that page
if you need to look at another website
but you'd like to keep your current page
open you can use a new tab simply click
here and a new browser tab will open up
you can then type in the address of
another website that you'd like to go to
for example ECU's home page if you'd
like to return to the page you were on
before you can simply click on that tab
and you'll be returned to the other page
you can alternate between tabs as many
times as you like and you can have
several tabs open at once
if you need to use the internet to find
information you can start off using the
search bar at the top right hand corner
of the browser this search bar uses a
search engine to scour the internet for
results that will match the keyword that
you type in this browser uses the Bing
search engine which is one of many
search engines such as Yahoo search and
the world's most popular search engine
Google let's try searching for something
for example if we need information on
the Enlightenment we can simply click
once in the search bar type in our
keywords the Enlightenment press Enter
on our keyboard and this will bring up
the best results that the Bing search
engine can find
Google is the world's most frequently
used search engine if we type in WWE you
go calm in our address bar and press
Enter
this will bring us to the homepage for
the Google search engine you can search
information through Google in the same
way that you use the search bar if we
use our keywords from the previous
example we can type in the enlightment
press enter and it will give us these
results with Google you can search not
only webpages but also images maps
videos through YouTube current news and
information and much more
if your initial google search doesn't
give you the results you're looking for
you can scroll down to the bottom of the
page and click on the link for advanced
search advanced search gives you the
ability to narrow your search criteria
giving you more focused results you can
change what you're searching for and you
can also narrow your results by choosing
which language you'd like results in or
which region you'd like results from you
can also search information by the time
it was last updated this way you can
make sure you're getting the most
current information
another useful resource that Google
Offers is Google Scholar you can access
this by clicking on the more tab at the
top of the page on the drop down menu
select even more once on this page
scroll down to the bottom in the
specialized search section you will see
Google Scholar clicking on this will
take you through to the Google Scholar
search bar this is a specialized search
that allows you to search peer-reviewed
journal articles and other academic
papers and books
this can be a useful resource for your
assignments you can also search academic
articles papers and books by using the
ECU library one search which you can
learn about in other workshops
next let's look at how to locate and use
Microsoft Office programs these are the
programs you will use to complete many
of your assignments you can find these
programs by clicking on the Start menu
once the Start menu is open click on all
programs once the all programs list has
loaded scroll down to the folder called
Microsoft Office clicking once on this
folder will show you all the programs
that are contained within it the
programs you will probably use most
frequently at uni include Microsoft
Excel
which you can use to analyze data with
spreadsheets tables and graphs
Microsoft PowerPoint which you can use
to create slideshows for presentations
and Microsoft Word where you can write
up your assignments and your essays
let's open Microsoft Word
clicking on the icon for Microsoft Word
will open up a new document you can
maximize this window simply by clicking
the maximize button in the top right
hand corner what you see is the blank
page of a new document microsoft word is
a word processing program anytime you
need to type up information and words
such as for an essay report or any other
assignment Microsoft Word is probably
what you'll use
when you start typing in Microsoft Word
simply click once to make this blinking
cursor appear the words you type will
appear from this point you can type
using the keys on your keyboard for
example to type the word the you hit the
keys th e and you type the word to
create a space simply press the spacebar
once the spacebar is the long skinny
blank key on your keyboard if you're new
to typing don't worry the more you
practice the faster you'll get let's try
writing a whole sentence for example the
quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
let's try doing that now
if you need to start a new line in
Microsoft Word simply hit the enter key
located towards the middle of the
keyboard this will return your cursor to
the left hand side of the page and you
can start a new line you can press ENTER
twice to start a new paragraph
if you need to create a capital letter
you can hold the shift key located just
underneath the enter key and while
holding the shift key press the letter
key that you'd like to capitalize for
example if we want to write the quick
brown fox was called Fred we can hold
down the shift key press T and that
capitalizes the T we can then write the
rest of the sentence and when we get to
capitalizing Fred's name we hold down
shift and press the F key followed by
the rest of Fred's nap and a full stop
next let's look at how to format text
using Microsoft Word to select the text
that you'd like to format click once
using the left button on your mouse this
brings the cursor back once you've done
this click the left button again but
hold it down and then drag it over the
text you'd like to format you can then
use the formatting tools located at the
top of the page we'll go through some of
the basic formatting tools so that you
can get some practice you can click on
the arrow here to change the font of the
text that's the style or theme of the
text
this opens a drop-down menu with dozens
of choices each font is slightly
different
at university you'll usually use a
conservative font such as Times New
Roman try highlighting your text and
then changing the font to Times New
Roman to make the change you simply
click on the font that you'd like to
change it to
once you've changed the font you can
also change the size of the text using
this arrow here clicking here opens up
another drop-down menu with several
different choices you can make the text
tiny or you can make it extremely large
at university level it's a good idea to
work with size 12
if you want to make a section of your
text bold
you can click next to it and highlight
it and then move up to the formatting
tools clicking on this B will turn your
text bulb let's try that now
you can also format your text in italics
by clicking on the eye
and you can underline the text by
clicking on the you
you
if you need to put some text into the
center of the page for example for the
title you can use the alignment options
found here clicking on the Left will
align the text to the left which is the
default option clicking on Center will
move the text to the center of the page
and clicking on right will align the
text with the right-hand margin
if you want to you can also change the
color of the text
clicking here on this arrow and choosing
a color to change the highlighted text
to
there are many other ways to format text
in Microsoft Word and you'll find these
out with more practice
there are a few more basic skills that
will help you when you start using
Microsoft Word these include finding
text copying text and pasting text let's
start with finding text the find
function is located near the top right
corner where these binoculars are you
can click on this to open up the
navigation panel click once and then
type in a word that you're searching for
for example Fox this tool will highlight
any mentions of the word Fox in your
document this is helpful if you need to
change a word you can find all the times
that words been used and change all of
them if we press the X here that will
close the navigation panel you can also
use the find function by using what's
called a keyboard shortcut this opens up
the function without using your mouse
you can open up the find function by
locating the ctrl key on your keyboard
this is just below the shift key hold
down the control key and while that key
is held down press the F key as you can
see this opens up the find function
another useful function is the copy and
paste function this is where you can
highlight and copy text and then paste
it somewhere else
let's try by copying our first sentence
click once then click again holding the
left button down and drag it across your
text move your mouse over the
highlighted text and then click the
right button on your mouse this opens up
a menu select the second option which is
copy that's copied the text to Microsoft
words clipboard click once outside the
selected area to remove the selection
now press ENTER once for a new line
move your mouse to the start of this new
line and click the right button of your
mouse again
you'll see there's no option for copy
but you can paste there's several
options select the one with the letter A
to paste text and click on it this has
duplicated your entire sentence and you
can repeat this as many times as you
like
you
there's also a keyboard shortcut for
copying and pasting
to copy text you can highlight it then
hold down the ctrl key and press the
letter C to paste the text simply click
elsewhere hold down ctrl again and press
V again you can do this as many times as
you need
there are many more useful functions
within Microsoft Word as well as many
more keyboard shortcuts you can find
some of these on the handout that you've
been given today you can also search for
them on the Internet
another way to find them is by hovering
over an icon which will give you the
keyboard shortcut if there is one
for example let's try hovering over the
B button
we know that by clicking on this we can
make text bold but this tells us that we
can also hold down control and press B
to make text bold without using the
mouse italics and underline also have
keyboard shortcuts when you finished
using a document or even if you're
partway through it's a good idea to save
it to save a document you use the Save
button
up in the top left corner the keyboard
shortcut for save is holding down
control and pressing s if you need to
print the document you can click on file
move down to the print option here and
click on it and then click this print
button to print the document
to return back to your document you can
click on home once you're finished in
Microsoft Word you can close the
document by clicking on the X in the top
right hand corner today we won't save
the document so click don't save
when you finish using your computer
remember to log off you can do this by
clicking on the Start menu moving to the
arrow next to the shutdown button and
clicking log off this will close all
programs and log you out of windows
until next time
