I have a PC and I want to take an online class. I need help!
Lets start with the basics.
I am guessing that you already know how to turn on your computer, so I will skip that step. But how about knowing the difference between logging off, restarting, and shutting down?
Take a second to review the image below.
I am guessing that you already know how to turn on your computer, so I will skip that step. But how about knowing the difference between logging off, restarting, and shutting down?
Take a second to review the image below.
If you have a PC with a windows 7 operating system (or OS as it is commonly referred to), this image will be familiar. To get here, follow these steps.
1. Click the start menu. (What's the start menu? The start menu is the small circle in the bottom left-hand corner of this image).
2. Click on the small triangle next to "shut down."
3. Now you get to select what you want to do.
See below
1. Click the start menu. (What's the start menu? The start menu is the small circle in the bottom left-hand corner of this image).
2. Click on the small triangle next to "shut down."
3. Now you get to select what you want to do.
See below
Switch user-if you share the computer with someone you would click here to allow another user to login.
Log off-this will log you off of your profile, but leaves the PC power on.
Lock-**requires a password to unlock** If you are using a public computer, its a good idea to lock the PC if you walk away for a few minutes.
Restart-(AKA reboot) sometimes restarting repairs minor errors. This turns the machine off and then powers back up.
Sleep and hibernate can be specifically modified based on your specific make and model of PC.
Shut down-shutting down powers the PC down.
It is a good idea to save any documents that you are working on as often as you would like.
-quick tip-to save a document that you are working on, press AND hold the Ctrl key (bottom left or right of your keyboard) and press the "S" key. Release the keys and a box will open asking you to name the document. If you have already named the document, the naming step will be skipped, but the document will continue to be updated each time you press Ctrl+S.
Back to the basics
Log off-this will log you off of your profile, but leaves the PC power on.
Lock-**requires a password to unlock** If you are using a public computer, its a good idea to lock the PC if you walk away for a few minutes.
Restart-(AKA reboot) sometimes restarting repairs minor errors. This turns the machine off and then powers back up.
Sleep and hibernate can be specifically modified based on your specific make and model of PC.
Shut down-shutting down powers the PC down.
It is a good idea to save any documents that you are working on as often as you would like.
-quick tip-to save a document that you are working on, press AND hold the Ctrl key (bottom left or right of your keyboard) and press the "S" key. Release the keys and a box will open asking you to name the document. If you have already named the document, the naming step will be skipped, but the document will continue to be updated each time you press Ctrl+S.
Back to the basics
Lets get you onto the internet.
There are a few different web browsers available out there. Chances are, you only have Internet Explorer on your machine. Some of the key words used to describe the internet are below
IE- short for internet explorer
web browser- the page that opens when you click on the internet explorer icon.
Open a new page or tab- verbiage used to describe opening internet explorer (IE)
Open the internet- click on the internet icon
These are just a few of the common words used. There are more, and you will quickly learn them, so keep plugging away on this training.
Please review the image below for a little review.
What is the icon on the far left called?
What is the (second from the left) e icon used for?
IE- short for internet explorer
web browser- the page that opens when you click on the internet explorer icon.
Open a new page or tab- verbiage used to describe opening internet explorer (IE)
Open the internet- click on the internet icon
These are just a few of the common words used. There are more, and you will quickly learn them, so keep plugging away on this training.
Please review the image below for a little review.
What is the icon on the far left called?
What is the (second from the left) e icon used for?
If you said the start menu for the first question, you are right! Congratulations! You are well on your way to new heights.
If you said the second icon is used to open IE, you are also correct. Look out eBay, here comes a new shopaholic.
What about those other two icons to the right? What do they mean?
As I mentioned above, you likely only have IE (small e with a yellow slash). The multi-color circle with the blue dot in the center is called Google Chrome, or Chrome. It is a free internet web browser that can be downloaded from searching on IE. But lets learn to walk before you fly into Chrome or Firefox.
The next icon to the right is Firefox. Firefox is just another free internet web browser out there. In other words, IE, Chrome, and Firefox are fairly comparable. Each have their own following, or group of users who swear their product is far superior to the others, but you can carry out basic functions on any of them.
**note-chrome and firefox are the preferred browser for using moodle, so keep that in mind for later. I will show you how to download them to your PC.
First, lets carry out the goal of this section-getting you onto the internet. Click on the IE icon.
If you said the second icon is used to open IE, you are also correct. Look out eBay, here comes a new shopaholic.
What about those other two icons to the right? What do they mean?
As I mentioned above, you likely only have IE (small e with a yellow slash). The multi-color circle with the blue dot in the center is called Google Chrome, or Chrome. It is a free internet web browser that can be downloaded from searching on IE. But lets learn to walk before you fly into Chrome or Firefox.
The next icon to the right is Firefox. Firefox is just another free internet web browser out there. In other words, IE, Chrome, and Firefox are fairly comparable. Each have their own following, or group of users who swear their product is far superior to the others, but you can carry out basic functions on any of them.
**note-chrome and firefox are the preferred browser for using moodle, so keep that in mind for later. I will show you how to download them to your PC.
First, lets carry out the goal of this section-getting you onto the internet. Click on the IE icon.
Welcome to the wonderful world-wide web.
Have you ever wondered what the www means in front of web addresses? www.49ers.com ???
I bet you just guessed right. The www stands for World Wide Web.
**quick tip-did you know that you do not have to type www before a web address? That's right, all you have to do is type the name. Lets try it. Type in alliant.edu and hit enter.
Wait, wait! Did you just panic when I said address and type in and so forth?
Please review the image below.
I bet you just guessed right. The www stands for World Wide Web.
**quick tip-did you know that you do not have to type www before a web address? That's right, all you have to do is type the name. Lets try it. Type in alliant.edu and hit enter.
Wait, wait! Did you just panic when I said address and type in and so forth?
Please review the image below.
The place in the image that says https://my.alliant.edu is called the address, or address bar. You might notice that mine is highlighted in blue. While it is highlighted, I can begin typing and everything blue will be deleted.
So when you are talking with support staff and they say to open a new page and type in my.alliant.edu, what steps would you take?
1. Click the IE icon
2. A single click on the address bar (to highlight in blue)
3. Type my.alliant.edu
4. Press enter
5. Watch as the my.alliant home page opens.
Lets stick with this image for a few more fun facts. Do you see (just below the address bar) that Common Gateway Interface and Home/myAllaint seem to be separated by small boxes? These are called tabs. So another word to add to your wealth of knowledge is "tab." Sometimes you might be asked to open a new tab. This basically means to keep the current page that you are on open, and open a second page. You can have several open at the same time.
Opening a new tab-Above I pointed out the two boxes for Common Gateway and myAlliant, just to the right of those two boxes is a small box. Click on that box. A new page will open and you should see an image like the one below.
So when you are talking with support staff and they say to open a new page and type in my.alliant.edu, what steps would you take?
1. Click the IE icon
2. A single click on the address bar (to highlight in blue)
3. Type my.alliant.edu
4. Press enter
5. Watch as the my.alliant home page opens.
Lets stick with this image for a few more fun facts. Do you see (just below the address bar) that Common Gateway Interface and Home/myAllaint seem to be separated by small boxes? These are called tabs. So another word to add to your wealth of knowledge is "tab." Sometimes you might be asked to open a new tab. This basically means to keep the current page that you are on open, and open a second page. You can have several open at the same time.
Opening a new tab-Above I pointed out the two boxes for Common Gateway and myAlliant, just to the right of those two boxes is a small box. Click on that box. A new page will open and you should see an image like the one below.
So now you will see three boxes, and a fourth smaller box to open another tab. At any time, you can click on one of these tabs to go to that page. You might also notice the "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the last tab (MSN.com). If you click on the "X" that page will be closed and the next tab down the line (my.alliant.edu) will open. At any time you can click on any one of the tabs and the "X" will appear to close it. You can also close all of the tabs at once by clicking the red "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the web page (shown below).
To practice, go ahead and close the myalliant page (make sure that you do not close this page). Now open a new page and go to my.alliant.edu (type in my.alliant.edu in the address bar- remember to highlight first).
Lets get a little more advanced now.
Click on this link (click here) and you will be taken to the next page. Congratulations, you made it through phase one.
