This basic course is for students with little or no prior experience with computers, terminology or the Windows Operating System.  This includes people who have worked with computers for years but only learned to do their specific work related tasks.  Topics covered include computer basics, terminology, basic hardware and software use, and the Windows Operating System features.  The student will become familiar with both the Operating System, some application programs and how to use them.  Saving and retrieving files is emphasized.  This course is the first of two that are pre-requisites for all of our other courses.
 

This basic course teaches students how to manage files, folders, disks, and drives.  Topics covered include terminology, file types, maintenance, formatting, finding, shortcuts, and open/saving files in various programs.  There is extensive work with Windows Explorer to copy, backup move, open, save, rename, send, and delete files/folders.  My Computer, Recycle Bin, and File Finder are also covered.  Bring a USB flash drive to class.

The student will learn how to manage files, folders, disks, and drives. Topics covered include terminology, file types, maintenance, formatting, finding, shortcuts, and opening/saving files in various programs.  There is extensive work with Windows Explorer to copy, backup, move, open, save, rename, send, and delete files and folders.
 

Basic Word Processing teaches students skills needed to create letters, reports, newsletters, brochures and other text documents using the Microsoft Works word processing program.  Topics covered include editing and formatting text, borders and shading, inserting artwork and photos in our documents, using text boxes, formatting columns, and page layout including headers and footers.

This new course is designed for experienced computer users who have recently purchased or are considering the purchase of a new computer with the Vista operation system installed.  For those already using Vista, it may help the transition from previous versions of Windows. For those considering a Vista computer purchase, it will help dispel some of the negative comments surrounding its use.  This course will demonstrate features of Vista with comments on the differences between the other Windows operating systems and Vista.  The class will be conducted in the classroom only.
 

Advanced Word Processing emphasizes recreational or personal word processing.  Projects utilize the tools and skills covered in Basic Word Processing.  Students will learn problem-solving techniques for typical problems encountered in the projects.  Projects include: letters and letterhead templates, signs using photos and clip art, newsletters, mail merging, labels, and business cards.
 

This course teaches students how to create spreadsheets for home or small business purposes using the MSWorks spreadsheet program.  A class handout and floppy disk are used to examine and evaluate a  typical spreadsheet file showing how a spreadsheet is laid out and formulas are selected for entry.  For those without a floppy drive, the class exercise file can be provided on  a "flash" drive (not included) for practice at home.  The course includes discussion of Works templates and introduces students to the four type of cell entries: Formulas, Functions, Text and numbers followed by tips on formatting cells and building and printing the spreadsheet.  Although spread sheets are primarily useful when dealing with numbers, they are excellent for organizing many day-to-day tasks such as medications and home inventories.  Familiarization in these course will allow easy transition into Excel.
 

An introduction to the MSWorks database management program.  Topics covered include database terminology, explanation of fields and records, and the different views available for access to database information. A class handout and floppy disk are used to examine and discuss a typical "name and address" database file.  The prepared database allows the student to become familiar with sorting, find, find and replace, filters, reports and the printing features of the program.  A small address database will be constructed during the last class with names and addresses chosen by the students.
 

Prerequisites:  Students must have internet access with an e-mail account.

This course includes lectures and computer laboratory experience accessing known websites, searching for people and businesses, general searching, surfing, drilling down, and shopping.  Students are encouraged to bring in examples of specific problems for class discussions.
 

Prerequisites:  Students must have internet access with an e-mail account.

This course includes lectures and computer laboratory experience on dealing with e-mail files, sending inserts/attachments, opening and reading inserts and attachments that are received, printing e-mail, using the address book, and accessing e-mail while away from home.

Students may bring in problems and concerns for class discussion.
 

This class will help the student understand features and functions common to most digital cameras and how to effectively use them.  The course is not geared to any particular camera brand, model or size.

Photography basics such as exposure, color and focus will be covered as well as suggestions for resolving common photography problems.  Downloading, storing, organizing, and sharing your digital photos will also be discussed.  Students are asked to bring their own digital camera and manual to class.
 

Participants will learn to recognize and correct common photo problems using photo editing software.  Emphasis will be on using basic correction tools resulting in quality photos ready for sharing.  Class time includes guided practice in the computer lab.  Photo organization and output will be discussed.  Class will be taught using commonly available software.

Topics covered include the following:

1. Basic terminology and functions of photo editing software.
2. Evaluation of digital photos for basic photography problems.
3. Workflow for applying corrections to your photos.
4. Choosing an appropriate tool for the job and learning to apply the tool effectively no matter which software you are using.

Prerequisite: Word Processing experience using Word or Works is necessary!!

This Short Course will teach you to use your Word Processor, either Word or Works, to create an attractive photo layout with text or captions. You will learn to combine several photos on one page to create photo pages, and also to place photos in documents and letters with text neatly wrapped around the pictures.  There will be hands on practice in our computer lab.

Participants may bring their own photos on a flash drive in a jpg format.

How to create a web page using Mozilla's Web Authoring program called Composer.  The course begins with the basics necessary to create a page with text and a few simple features, such as text formatting., hyperlinks, and horizontal lines.  Slightly more complex features, such as images, lists, and tables, are then covered.  Finally, students will learn how to publish their page to their web account.  Once comfortable with the basic idea of web-authoring, students can freely revise and update their page and add additional features if desired.

Note:  The following is not included in this class.  This will not be a class on HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language); in fact, it will only  be covered briefly.  There will be no instruction on any of the web creation software which is sold for a fee (such as Microsoft Front Page) or any other of the free software that is available except a file transfer package.  Subject material will not include scripting, Java code, Flash, or form templates.  A CD will be provided containing the class software.

Prerequisite:  Students must have taken the File Management Course.
 

This course teaches how to use the scanner as a copier, scan documents as editable text using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software, scan pictures, scan 35 mm slides (5 at a time) to get pictures, and scan negative strips to get pictures.  Scanned image organization and output will also be discussed.  The class will be taught using the HP scanning software that came with the scanner, but the knowledge gained should transfer to other scanners an their respective software.

This course will teach you how to make your own movies and slideshows from your video clips and still pictures using the free Windows XP-Movie Maker (V2.1) program.  We will cover capturing the content with your camera, editing the content, laying out the content in the Movie Maker program, enhancing your video and then, rendering the project into a video or slideshow.  We will make a slideshow first and then a video.  We will also cover getting help from the Internet and using your computer for multimedia.  Other topics will also be offered for discussion.