A course in computers for absolute beginners that fits the City and Guilds iTQ qualification.

1. Operating systems
Music and video
(Video files to student folder / get mics)

2. The LEFT
mouse button
to select

3. Hardware or Software?
Recap Dummies videos:
Section 7 – Wordpad

5. The Processor
or CPU:
The brain of
the computer
Random Access Memory (RAM):
Short term memory used
by the CPU (volatile!)
Hard Drive:
Long term storage

6. Graphics Card
Sound Card
USB Card

8. vs

9. £300
 Intel Dual Core CPU
 4 GB memory
 500 GB storage
£1000
 Intel Core i7 CPU
 12 GB memory
 3 TB storage
 Radeon Graphics

10. £300
 Surfing the Web
◦ inc iPlayer etc
 eMail
 Word Processing
 Watch/make DVDs
 Basic photo and
video editing
 Simple games
£1000
…all of that plus:
 Watch/make Blueray
 Superfast!
 Professional photo
and video editing
 High end real-time
gaming

11.  They all come with a version of Windows
Operating System (more later…)
– unless you go for an Apple Mac
 £300 or £1000 - they won’t look at lot
different on the shelf
Computing power will double every 18 months, but prices
will remain fairly constant
Moore’s Law (1965)

12.  You trade power for portability – less bang
for you buck!
 Netbooks even more so – but they are only
really intended for surfing and writing
 Netbooks don’t even have CD or DVD players

13.  Decide what you’re going to use it for – do
you need a laptop? – do you need extreme
power?
 Check what you’re getting – often great deals
on desktop don’t include keyboard, mouse,
speakers or even a monitor!
 Why pay for Anti-Virus?

15.  RAM
(Random Access Memory)
Fast but expensive
Volatile

16.  ROM
(Read Only Memory)
Fast but can’t be changed

17.  Hard Drives
Used for long term storage
Cheap
Stable

18.  Other types of storage memory you might
come across:

20.  A computer is just a box of electronics that
does nothing until it’s told to

21.  This is what an Operating System does –
makes all the bits talk to each other

22. DOS (Disk
Operating
System) was the
first OS
It was not easy to
use
Video on next
slide…

24. Video on next slide…

28. Video on next slide…

29.  Just a quick look at using extra features on
the mouse, then we’ll have a break…

31. The LEFT
mouse button
Click 1: Select
Click 2: Execute

32. The RIGHT mouse button
Often brings up a menu:

33.  Media = Music or Videos
 Follow your tutor’s instructions to open the
Music folder
 Right-click on a
music file and select
Play

34. Try to play some of the other music files

35.  Now try to play some videos…

36.  Start >>> All Programs >>> Accessories…
Record yourself saying
two things you have
learned today…

37.  Save your recording to the Desktop
 Play it back using Media Player

39.  Next Week:
◦ Special Keys
◦ Networks
◦ What is the Internet?
◦ Printers and Gadgets
◦ Quizzes