Course Description

This course is intended for students with no previous experience in computers, Windows, or Microsoft Office.

The curriculum includes the history of computers, a survey of how computers are used today, the basic components of computers and computer terminology with a dual track of training in Windows operating systems, Microsoft Word , Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, the Internet, and Internet Explorer. 

We will be using the Windows XP operating system, Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Office 2007. It is strongly recommended that you have these software products available at home. If you do not have them, you may purchase them at the Follett Bookstore. Check your hardware before buying because these programs (Windows XP, Vista and Office 2007) have strict hardware requirements. If you have any doubts, check with me before your purchase. If you do not have these programs at home, you will have to complete all your work on campus in the Learning Center.

This course requires that you read instructional material in the text; practice using the Internet by following instructions in the text’s tutorials; produce and deliver assignments using word processing, spreadsheet, slide show and browser software and take tests in the classroom. It is A GREAT DEAL OF WORK crammed into eight weeks! You will find that you need to spend about two hours per day to keep up. The syllabus will help you budget your time.

Techniques used in the classroom include cooperative learning and power teaching. Students will be placed in learning groups for class work. There is an end-of-course project consisting of researching and writing two papers on two different computer careers.

There will be a thread exposing students to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as part of the soft skills component of the course.