For absolute beginners.
A senior learner being helped by a volunteer to use a laptop computer.
Here are some ideas for people learning with a helper ….
Online tutorials.
- BBC - Absolute beginners’ guide to using computers (with sound) — A very good starting point. Most learners can get to the end in a single two-hour session, and are rewarded by a certificate that they can print off.
- BBC - Absolute beginners’ guide to using computers — This version does not use sound.
- BBC - Raw - Computers — A good series of tutorials for beginners, each in two versions: Flash (interactive, practical, requiring sound) and HTML (non-interactive, all on one page). Doing both seems to work well — first the interactive Flash tutoral, reinforced by reading through the short HTML version. There is also a summary page with links to PDF copies of each tutorial.
- BBC - Computer Tutor — Very useful, requires sound. A good sequel to the BBC ‘Absolute Beginners’ guides.
Games
- Dance Mat Typing — BBC Schools typing lessons.
- Our own online jigsaws.
- Jigsaw Planet.
- Crazy4JigSaws.
- Jigzone.
Things to do offline.
- Keyboard skills — it’s hard to beat Notepad for learning about the keyboard, and also getting some practice with the standard Windows menus.
- Mouse skills — Solitaire of course! Pinball is also excellent.
If you have any other ideas, please don’t keep them to yourself!
