computer skills
Posted: 29 Jan 2007, 6:47pm
I know this is not directly to do with the forum but can anyone reccomend a website that helps teach computer skills to beginners? 
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computer skills.
Posted: 29 Jan 2007, 7:17pm
try www.learndirect.co.uk. i am taking computer lessons.with this company at this very moment.i have signed up for 5 courses.i am 57 .have near no experience.i am learning from my front room .if you want more info telephone raz khan,01274-772121.that is the minerva centre.bradford,yorkshire.they may have a centre near you.or like me you can do it from home.if i can learn then anyone can.if you want to know the course details i am doing i can post them later.
Posted: 29 Jan 2007, 7:53pm
Sorry, I have no experience of such a site, but here are 5 general guidelines that I have found useful :-
1.
Establish a backup routine along the lines of :-
Daily, copy your files in frequent use to somewhere off your computer e.g. an external disk, naming each day's files including the date. Clear old files from the backup once you no longer need them, e.g. at month end delete all files older than one month.
This gives you a means of restoring files you have corrupted/lost within the last 1 to 2 months.
Fortnightly, copy your whole system to an external disk. This is for restoring the whole system in the event of a disaster striking. You will probably need a specialised program for this depending on which operating system you are using.
You may never need these backups, but you will suffer greatly if you need them and you have none!
2.
Internet usage is open to abuse from malicious parties. You must install a package of current security programs which will check your internet communications for any nasties and stop them corrupting your computer. The package should also be capable of checking out your computer in its current status and cleaning any infections found. Updates are sometimes available daily to the list of problems out there waiting to affect you.
3.
Read the Help system available with each program that you run.
The usefulness of this will vary with the content provided by the program authors, but don't ignore it if it is provided/available. There are also guide books available to purchase for some of the more popular programs.
4.
Try out each menu option in the programs you are using. You will broaden your knowledge and discover features you never realised were there.
5.
Try out the preferences which are provided in the programs you are using. This will vary many of the features of the programs and you will be able to choose the most suitable features for you.
All this will take you some time. As you try all your programs out, don't worry if you end up deleting a file or making changes to your files which were unintended. You will hopefully have the comfort of recent backups of your files which you can restore from.
I hope you find these guidelines are helpful.
1.
Establish a backup routine along the lines of :-
Daily, copy your files in frequent use to somewhere off your computer e.g. an external disk, naming each day's files including the date. Clear old files from the backup once you no longer need them, e.g. at month end delete all files older than one month.
This gives you a means of restoring files you have corrupted/lost within the last 1 to 2 months.
Fortnightly, copy your whole system to an external disk. This is for restoring the whole system in the event of a disaster striking. You will probably need a specialised program for this depending on which operating system you are using.
You may never need these backups, but you will suffer greatly if you need them and you have none!
2.
Internet usage is open to abuse from malicious parties. You must install a package of current security programs which will check your internet communications for any nasties and stop them corrupting your computer. The package should also be capable of checking out your computer in its current status and cleaning any infections found. Updates are sometimes available daily to the list of problems out there waiting to affect you.
3.
Read the Help system available with each program that you run.
The usefulness of this will vary with the content provided by the program authors, but don't ignore it if it is provided/available. There are also guide books available to purchase for some of the more popular programs.
4.
Try out each menu option in the programs you are using. You will broaden your knowledge and discover features you never realised were there.
5.
Try out the preferences which are provided in the programs you are using. This will vary many of the features of the programs and you will be able to choose the most suitable features for you.
All this will take you some time. As you try all your programs out, don't worry if you end up deleting a file or making changes to your files which were unintended. You will hopefully have the comfort of recent backups of your files which you can restore from.
I hope you find these guidelines are helpful.
Re: computer skills
Posted: 30 Jan 2007, 8:43am
reohn2 wrote:I know this is not directly to do with the forum but can anyone reccomend a website that helps teach computer skills to beginners?
Probably better to look at your local FE colleges, community groups etc. They often run basic training sessions. A lot of them are free or heavily subsidised. I set up a training centre on Teesside a few years ago to do just this sort of thing, I shut it down pretty much before it started because I had no paying customers and the local FE college got a massive grant from the government to provide the same service free.
Posted: 30 Jan 2007, 11:32pm
Our church also runs a computer club intended to allow beginners to pick up basic skills, so it's definitely worth looking around.
Posted: 31 Jan 2007, 2:58pm
Try asking at your local library. They usually have free internet access, and often organise training too.
Re: computer skills
Posted: 31 Jan 2007, 5:06pm
reohn2 wrote:I know this is not directly to do with the forum but can anyone reccomend a website that helps teach computer skills to beginners?
Get yourself an Apple Mac and the time you saver on tuition will mean more time for riding the bike
Posted: 31 Jan 2007, 7:08pm
Ah! Another Apple Mac fan!
I knew just about nothing about PCs, but I spent an enlightening few hours with my brother-in-law whilst he got to grips with his new PC laptop.
Good grief! Why does Bill Gates make everything so complicated? Also, I found much of WindowsXP rather 'childish' in it's approach.
"Start", at the bottom-left of the screen, didn't mean "Start up your computer". It meant: "When you want to do anything, start doing it here". There didn't seem to be any way you could 'LEARN' about your computer. All the system wanted from you was to be an automaton, endlessly repeating a set routine for everything.
Rant over!
Mick F. Cornwall
I knew just about nothing about PCs, but I spent an enlightening few hours with my brother-in-law whilst he got to grips with his new PC laptop.
Good grief! Why does Bill Gates make everything so complicated? Also, I found much of WindowsXP rather 'childish' in it's approach.
"Start", at the bottom-left of the screen, didn't mean "Start up your computer". It meant: "When you want to do anything, start doing it here". There didn't seem to be any way you could 'LEARN' about your computer. All the system wanted from you was to be an automaton, endlessly repeating a set routine for everything.
Rant over!
Mick F. Cornwall
Posted: 15 Feb 2007, 3:02pm
Sorry, bit late to the thread.
I just found this on the BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/ It starts right from the very beginning, so might be what you're after.
I just found this on the BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/ It starts right from the very beginning, so might be what you're after.
Posted: 5 Mar 2007, 10:01pm
Buy an Apple mac. They are wonderful.