WHAT TO LEARN ABOUT COMPUTER USAGE

RULES FOR USING THE COMPUTER IN THIS CLASSROOM:

1.      Use appropriate sites only: no games, videos, or other sites not authorized for assignments.

2.      Be polite and share fairly with other students in your class.  DON’T HOG THE COMPUTER!

3.      Check my website for information when you have been absent or in TOR or tardy room.  I am not responsible for your make up work; YOU ARE.

4.      You are not authorized to change any settings on any computer in the school.  You may change font sizes, etc. on individual documents or powerpoints. 

5.      Request printouts at appropriate times only:  when the teaching computer is not in use, before class begins or at the end of the period.

SECURITY -- (logging in and protecting your login)

  Log in using your first initial, last name, and the last four digits of your social  security number or student number.s    EX:  jdoe4344.s

  Do not share your login information with classmates.  Your login in number  protects your files and will keep anyone from copying or plagiarizing your materials or reports.

USING “MY COMPUTER”  to scan floppies and locate files. 

  Protect the computers you use.  Click on “MY COMPUTER’ on the desktop.  When  the screen comes up, insert your floppy.  Right click on the mouse, and look for  “scan with AVG free” which is the virus protection program.  The computer will check your floppy for viruses and may be able to clean up the floppy if there is a virus.  If the floppy is defective and cannot be repaired, discard it.

        Left clicking on the A or floppy drive will show every file which is on your floppy, whether a word document, powerpoint, or any other.

USING THE SERVERS

  When at school, make full use of the SERVER which has a huge memory for your documents.  Click on “MY COMPUTER” and see the different drives which are present for school use.  You have access to two or more of these.  First, if you have logged on properly with your login name, you have a “HOME” drive reserved for you alone.  No one else can access this drive except you and your teachers.  Look for your home drive. 

  Other drives are available to be shared:  “Students on GOH server 1” or “Shared on GOH server 1”.  Shared drives may be accessed by anyone, such as a group of students working on a team project.  These drives can be read, changed,  or deleted by ANYONE, so don’t put sensitive information here.  Documents can also be saved on two different drives.  It’s best to back up important documents or files on your HOME drive as well as the shared drive in case something happens to the shared drive. 

SAVING FILES

    When you have completed a document, DON’T click on “SAVE” because that will save your document only to the computer’s hard drive, and the document will be hard to locate.  Instead, look for “SAVE AS” under the word “FILE.”  When the “SAVE AS” screens comes up, click on the box at the top.  Look for your “HOME” drive.  Click on your “HOME” drive; then click “SAVE.” This will enable you to locate your document on any computer in the school.

   Wal Mart and computer stores also see a little device called a FLASH KEY.  These hold much more info. than floppies and are usually more reliable.  If you use computers a lot, you need one of these.  A good one sells for about $25-$39. 

PREFERRED FONTS

  When creating documents for teachers, stick with plain fonts of 12-14 size.  Remember, your teacher has many papers to grade; the simpler the font, the easier for the teacher to read!

PRINTING:        

  If you want a teacher to print a document for you, have the document ready and printer-friendly (no color on school computers; use light backgrounds and black fonts).  

PRINTING POWERPOINTS

  Print ready means white background with black font.  I will print only six slides per page—not one slide per page!  If you want anything else, take your print job to the library or elsewhere. Also, get permission first!

ORGANIZING YOUR FILES

  Organize your files by creating folders for categories of information (ex. A folder for each teacher you have.)  Click on “MY COMPUTER.”  Click on your “HOME” on the school server.  Click on “FILE” and when the menu  comes up, click on “NEW”.  Create your folder and name it.  You can drag any files that you want to put into this folder.  You may create any new file that you may need.

HOW TO MINIMIZE AND USE MULTIPLE PROGRAMS AT THE SAME TIME

  By clicking on the “MINUS SIGN” (-) at the top right of the screen, you can minimize any screen and bring it back later by clicking the middle block at the top right of the screen.  You can create a word document, minimize it, click on the internet, minimize it, and go back and forth between the two programs.  You can even open a powerpoint and go back and forth between a powerpoint and the internet.  This technique helps you to work on documents with the greatest of speed and ease.

POWERPOINT GUIDELINES

                Keep it simple.

Keep fonts large enough to read from the rear of the room.

Use dark font on light backgrounds or light font on dark backgrounds.

Keep pictures in focus if you enlarge them.

Use titles and tags with pictures and diagrams.

Vary placement of items on each page.

Don’t make each page too busy or complicated.

Do revise and edit.  You can type your script in WORD and      use spellcheck  before adding the script to your powerpoint     pages.

Do not plagiarize your sources of information (from the internet or  other sources of information).