Computer Learning Center at Ewing
Course Descriptions
Introduction to Computers (6 Sessions) Course Fee: $20 A comprehensive overview that combines lecture and hands on experience to introduce participants to the world of the personal computer. Students will become familiar with the technology and jargon of personal computers. Software applications, such as word processing and database, will be demonstrated to show computer capabilities. Connection to the Internet will also be shown. The application used to demonstrate the various concepts is Microsoft Works. This course covers very basic topics about computers and computing. It should almost always be taken before any other. The only exception would be in the case of an experienced computer user.
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Overview of Windows 7 (2 Sessions) Course Fee: $15 Description to follow.
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Introduction to Windows XP (6 Sessions) Course Fee: $20 Introduces the computer novice to the Windows Operating System. Topics will include an overview of Windows, working with Desktop and Taskbar, accessing Help, manipulating Windows, managing files, and more. This course should be taken after the Introduction to Computers course and before any others. It covers topics dealing with "How Windows Works." Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers or some computer experience.
Making Your Computer Run Better (3 sessions) Course Fee $15 Learn how to keep your computer operating at maximum performance and how to avoid problems. Use of tools included with Windows (CheckDisk, Disk Defragmenter, and Disk Cleanup)will be practiced. Learn how to back up your vital information with System Restore. Learn to employ basic safety measures using anti-virus programs and firewalls. Except by special permission of the instructor, enrollment is limited to those who have previously taken the Introduction to Windows course and who have Windows XP installed at home.
Viruses, Spyware and Spam, Oh my! (3 Sessions) Course Fee $15 The course will cover how to defend your computer against viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. What to do if you become infected will be demonstrated. How to configure your computer to maximize safety and how to use anti-virus programs, firewalls, and Trojan removers will be discussed. How to manage the many security patches for Windows will also be discussed. Enrollees must have previously taken the Introduction to Windows course and should have Windows XP installed at home. There will be no exceptions to the required prerequisite except by specific permission of the instructor or a designated proxy.
Windows File Management (Four sessions) Course Fee $15 Learn how to manage and organize your computer's the files and folders. Learn basic file operations such as moving, copying, creating, and saving. Learn the powerful things you can do using the right mouse button. Learn how Windows uses file extensions and associations. Except by special permission of the instructor, enrollment is limited to those who have previously taken the Introduction to Windows course and who have Windows XP installed at home.
Keyboarding Skills and Shortcuts (2 Sessions) Course Fee $10 Learn to use a typing tutor program that will teach you to type with more than one finger. Successfully deal with the anxiety of not knowing where anything is on the keyboard. You will be given the typing tutor program to take home. And once you know all about the keyboard, learn how to use it effectively. You don't really need that mouse. Keyboard shortcuts are easy to learn, they can make your work easier and more efficient and make you look like an accomplished pro.
How to Cut and Paste (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Word Processing (6 Sessions) Course Fee $20 Introduces the concepts of word processing. Included will be creating, editing, saving, retrieving, and printing documents. Font styles, sizes, margins, tabs, and Spell Check are some of the topics discussed. The application used to demonstrate the various concepts is Microsoft Works. Word processing is exactly what its name implies: processing words. This course covers how to put them in a document, how to change them and move them around, how to save them and print them, and how to make them look the way you want them to (large, small, dark, light, in tables, in columns, as labels, etc.). It should be taken by anyone who wants to communicate in writing with others using a computer. Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
How to Become a Savvy Email User (4 sessions) Course Fee $15 Learn how to send email, pictures, and files to your friends and associates as well as how to receive them safely, how to reply to email messages and how to forward them on to others. The course covers topics such as how to create an address book, how to deal with spam, how to avoid viruses and email etiquette. The course uses Google's Gmail as the example email program; nevertheless users of Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Netscape Messenger, Eudora, Juno and many other popular web-based email services and email clients can benefit from this course.Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
How Email Works - Types of Email (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Sending Email - Compose/Attachments (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Opening, Replying to and Forwarding Email (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Avoiding Spam (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Email Etiquette (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Creating Your Own Gmail Account (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Surfing The Internet (6 Sessions) Course Fee $20 This course is for both new and experienced Internet users. Learn how to access and search the World Wide Web, use email, participate in News Groups, transfer files to and from your system, etc. It also covers how to deal with security, viruses and other on-line issues. Users of both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator can benefit from this course. This course covers all major aspects of using the Internet.Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
The Many Faces of Google (6 sessions) Course Fee $20 Google is arguably the most popular as well as the most powerful search engine available. But did you know that, in addition to searching the web, Google can do calculations, provide dictionary definitions, check airport and flight status, track FedEx and UPS packages, scan L.L. Bean catalogs and more? This course will show you how to use all the powerful features of this great search engine. Recommended prerequisite: Some computer experience.
Planning Travel on the Web (4 Sessions) Course Fee $15 Planning a trip or vacation is often as much fun as actually taking it. In this course you'll learn how to sniff out interesting places to go, how to find out what to do while you're there and how much it costs, how to find the fastest and most economical way of getting there, and where to get recommendations and suggestions on places to stay and eat ... all free and all on the World Wide Web. Get the information, learn from others' experiences, make reservations online and have a ball doing it.Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
Creating a Free Personal Web Page (2 Sessions) Course Fee $15 Have fun creating your own personal page on the Web! It is easy and does not cost anything! Learn how to design a web site, include photos, graphics, links to other web pages, and more. This course is for anyone who wants to create and maintain his or her own web site (to display family pictures, exchange messages, publicize a club or organization, state their views on an issue, etc.). It covers everything you need to know from where to find a free place on the World Wide Web to locate your page to how to design it and publicize it. The approach used is WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) which means that no programming language is involved.Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
Downloading Pictures and Free Programs (2 Sessions) Course Fee $15 The Internet is full of fun photos, videos and programs available to be downloaded and used on your own computer. This course will show some of the places to find free programs and will give hands-on instruction of the methods and techniques of safe downloading. Enrollees must have previously taken the Introduction to Windows course. There will be no exceptions to the required prerequisite except by specific permission of the instructor or a designated proxy.
Overview of Digital Photography (4 Sessions) Course Fee $20 Learn how to import photos into your computer from a a digital camera, scanner, email or web site and how to edit and enhance them. The course also covers how to send and receive photos to and from relatives and friends via email and the web, and the fun things to do with photos and computers (e.g. create a digital photo album CD to give to friends and relatives). This course is not just about digital cameras. In fact, you don't have to own one to benefit from the course. Digital images come from many sources in addition to digital cameras (commercial CDs, email, web sites, scanners, etc.) Finally, you can print the photo, email it, fax it or save it on the web or in a computerized photo album. Anyone who likes pictures will benefit from this course. Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
What's Important in a Digital Camera? (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 This course provides a review of the features of digital cameras, from size, weight and design, through megapixel resolution and zoom capability to image stabilization features and wifi capability. Learn which freatures are important to you and which are not; what's worth paying for and what's not.
Move Pictures from Camera to Computer (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 You got a great new digital camera for Christmas and took a whole bunch of pictures on your grandson's birthday and on Valentines Day. Now what? How do you get those pictures out of the camera and onto your hard drive so you can edit, print and display them? This course will show you three easy ways to do this and have you showing your pictures to relatives and friends in no time.
Capturing Photos from the Web (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Scanning Memories (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 We all have dozens, perhaps hundreds, of photos in drawers, shoe boxes, yellow Kodak envelopes, even albums that would be much more accessible and fun if they were in digital form. Using a low-cost scanner, you can transform these memories into images on your computer which you can then edit, organize and display to your relatives and friends.
Keeping Your Photos Organized (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Simple Photo Editing (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Advanced Photo Editing (2 Sessions) Course Fee: $10 Description to follow.
Displaying Your Pictures (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Creating a Slide Show (1 Session) Course Fee: $5 Description to follow.
Using Picasa (3 Sessions) Course Fee: $15 Keep your photos organized with Picasa, a free, downloadable, and powerful application from Google. This is a three-day intensive course that will teach you the basics (viewing, organizing and simple editing) as well as the nifty “extras” such as facial recognition and geo-tagging.
Picasa Web Albums (2 Sessions) Course Fee: $10 this two-day follow-up course to “Using Picasa” will first do a brief review of Picasa essentials and then delve into the exciting world of photo sharing via the web. Learn how to create web albums, share them, set permissions for who can view your albums, synchronize with albums on your hard drive, and more. Recommended prerequisite: Some familiarity with Picasa or the “Using Picasa” course.
Share Your Life Story (6 sessions) Course Fee $30 This course gives people a simple way to record their personal biographies and family history. The people and relatives we have known over the course of our lives may not be famous, but our memories of them and what they taught us have extraordinary value. Information for the story is compiled using a series of organized, thought-provoking key questions and templates which can also incorporate photographs. Such questions might ask the writer to describe his or her parents to someone who had never met them; recount family celebrations or vacations that stand out in their memory; recount a teenage experience; or simply pass on a motto the biographer has come to guide him or her through life. The completed story can be read in both a computerized and hard copy version. Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
Spreadsheets (6 Sessions) Course Fee $20 The word 'spreadsheet' may sound daunting, but it really is a great and fairly easy way to keep track of everything from financial records to bowling or golf scores, mortgage amortization rates to school grades, and a whole lot more. You can set up spreadsheets to automatically add, subtract, multiply and divide, among other functions, allowing you to keep your records current and correct. You will learn how to create worksheets, manipulate data, work with formulas and functions, enhance your work for printing, and even create charts and graphs. This course is ideal for anyone interested in processing numerical information. Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
Genealogy (6 Sessions) Course Fee $20 This course consists of class instruction and lab time showing you how to organize and display basic and detailed genealogy information, including how to search archives and print family trees. A lab period provides time for application and practice. The application used to demonstrate the various concepts is Family Tree Maker. This course is for people who are seriously interested in genealogical research. Recommended prerequisite: Some computer experiencee.
Creating Videos the Easy and Quick Way (4 Sessions) Course Fee: $20 Description to follow.
Buying and Selling on eBay (4 Sessions) Course Fee $15 Visit the largest garage sale in the world by entering the world of eBay. You will learn to navigate through eBay by browsing sale items, how to tell when an auction will end, how to determine whether a seller is trustworthy and how to bid or buy items safely. Part two of the course will help you create a practice auction listing. This will include the writing of a description and photo of the sale item. You will learn about the responsibilities of a seller throughout the auction process. Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
Making Greeting Cards, Calendars, etc. (3 Sessions) Course Fee $15 This course will teach you to quickly and easily create greetings cards, signs and posters, banners, certificates, stationary, calendars, and labels. The application used to demonstrate the various concepts is Print Artist.Recommended prerequisite: Introduction to Computers and Introduction to Windows, or equivalent experience.
Opening Your Computer Without Fear (2 sessions) Course Fee $15 Is your computer's performance getting sluggish lately? Learn how to add memory, replace obsolete hard drives and more. A definitely "hands-on" course.
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