Click and Connect - Session 1
Introduction to the Computer
Browsing and Searching the Internet
www.simpleit.ie
BenefIT 3
Dept. Communications
Energy & Natural Resources
Desktop Computer/PC (Personal
Computer)
monitor
tower
unit/
hard drive
keyboard
mouse
Laptop
All parts contained
in one unit
monitor
keyboard
mouse
hard drive in
the base
Turning on the computer
Two power buttons to turn on
1st power button is
on the main tower
unit
Turning on the computer
2nd power button is
on the monitor
Some computers go to “sleep” if they haven’t been used for a
certain amount of time.
If the power buttons seem to be on but you can’t see anything on
the screen, move the mouse to “wake up” the computer.
The Mouse
Use it to point to and select items on
the computer screen
left button
right button
scrollwheel
How to use the mouse
• Place on a flat surface
• Moving the mouse moves a cursor/
pointer on screen
• To select an item: “point” (move mouse
over item) and “click”
• Cursor changes depending on what you
are doing
when computer is
busy
when you are pointing
at an internet link
cursor
flashing line cursor
shows you where you
are on the page when
typing
How to use the mouse
• Left-click for selecting
– Usually just called click
• Right-click for extra commands
– Not used that often
• Double-click
– Press the left mouse button quickly twice in a
row
– Used to start programs and open files
• Scrolling (moving up and down a page)
– scrollbar on mouse or
– scrollbar on screen (use up and down arrows)
Keyboard
lights that tell you if functions like
Caps Lock are switched on
number and symbol keys
alphabet keys
spacebar
navigation keys – up,
down, left, right (can
use instead of mouse)
number pad
(like a
calculator)
Keyboard – special keys
• Shift
– holding down the shift key and typing a letter gives you a
capital letter
– type the symbols above the number keys at the top of the
keyboard
• e.g. to get !, hold down the Shift key and type 1
• Caps lock
– turns on or off typing all capital letters
– every letter after that will be uppercase if switched on
• Return/Enter
– moves the cursor down a line when typing
– submits text you type on interactive web pages
• Backspace
– moves the cursor to the left, deleting the letter to the left
Software
• Hardware
– Everything we’ve looked at so far
– The physical parts of the computer you can touch
• Software
– Everything you can see and interact with on your
computer screen
• Operating System
– The software that runs everything on your computer
– Examples: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
(all created by Microsoft), Linux, Mac OS
– Runs the Desktop
– Manages files and folders
Desktop
• The screen you see when you start your computer
Programs/Applications
• Programs (or applications) allow you to
carry out specific tasks
– Type a letter e.g. Microsoft Word
– Listen to music e.g. iTunes
– Use the internet e.g. Internet Explorer
Starting/Opening Programs
1. Start button (bottom left of screen)
– Gives you a list of all programs on computer
– Find the program you want to open in the list
– Sometimes the most recently used will be on a
short list
– Sometimes you will have a search box you can
type the name of the program you want to
enter into
or
Starting programs
2. Icons on the Desktop
– Icon: a picture representing
a program or file
– Double click on an icon to
open a program
– Not all programs will have
icons on the Desktop, just
those used most often
icon for
internet
explorer
icon for
Microsoft
Word
icon
for
Skype
Closing programs
• Top right of every program window has three
buttons
• Minimise
– Clears that window from the screen
– It appears as an icon at the bottom of the screen
• Maximise
– Makes the window big enough to fill the screen
• Close
– Closes or shuts down the program
minimise
maximise close
Turning off the computer
• Do NOT use the power switch you used to
turn on the computer – use the Start menu
The Internet
• A network of millions of computers all
over the world that can share
information
• Connected to each other using phone
lines, cables and satellites
• Like a huge library that anyone can use
and add information to
• Includes text, images, videos and more
Why would you use the internet?
• Read news
• Check sports scores
• Check train/bus/plane
timetables
• Book flights and
holidays
• Pay bills from home
• Manage banking from
home
• Access government
information
• Get information on
services
• View job advertisements
• Connect with others
through community web
sites, forums and email
• Watch television
programs you missed
• View sites related to
hobbies e.g. cooking,
nature, sports, history,
local interest
• Get information on
activities in your area
What is an Internet Browser?
• A program on the computer
that allows us to view web sites
• Internet Explorer is the most
well known browser
• Others include Mozilla’s
Firefox, Google’s Chrome and
Apple’s Safari
Apple
Safari
The Internet Browser
Every web page
has an address
that you type in
the address bar
The content of
site is
displayed in
the main
window
www.rte.ie
Web pages, web sites and links
• Web page
– single page of information
• Web site
– Made up of lots of web pages
• Links
– Bring you from one web page to another
– Bring you from one web site to another
– Can be text, pictures or buttons
Keep an eye on the cursor – if you move
the mouse over a link, the cursor changes
to a hand symbol
A user friendly web site to start
• simply.limerick.ie (no www)
• An easy to use, simple version of
www.limerick.ie
• Designed to be touchscreen technology
• News, events, local interest, videos,
photos, map, contact city council,
contact your councillor
A user friendly web site to start
Controls for adapting
web site for different
viewing needs
Link to photos,
videos and maps
of Limerick
General
information about
Limerick events
A user friendly web site to start
• Simple controls
– Back button
• Brings you back to the previous page you viewed
• Click it twice brings you back two pages etc.
– Home button
• Brings you to the main or Home page of the web site
Lets Practice
• See if you can do the following:
–
–
–
–
Find a list of local events
Find a map of Limerick and where you live
Read a newspaper story
Watch a video or view photos of Limerick
simply.limerick.ie
Type the
address
into the
address bar
Then press
the Enter/
Return key
An online transaction
• Select Online Council
Services
• Select Make a Complaint
• Select Information
Technology (a test
complaint for us)
• Don’t select any other
types of complaints or they
will be delivered to City
Council and trigger a
response
Filling in forms
The reason you
are writing
(subject) and a
description of
your problem
Your details
Click on confirm
Browsing the Internet
• Use a combination of links and browser
buttons
Links in text are
usually underlined
But not always,
so check with
your cursor
Other useful buttons on the browser
back
forward
refresh
stop
• Back – takes you back to the pages you have already visited
• Forward – takes you to the page you were on before you
went back
• Stop – if a page is taking a lot of time to display/load you can
choose to stop it loading
• Refresh – re-loads the page you are on. Useful for updating a
page (e.g. with live sports results) or for a page that didn’t load
properly
• Home – the first page you see when you start your browser.
You can set this to be any page you like
Lets Practice
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
www.limerick.ie
www.citizensinformation.ie
www.rte.ie
www.munsterrugby.ie
www.irishtimes.com
www.limerickleader.ie/
www.birdwatchireland.ie
www.anpost.ie
www.access.limerick.ie
Internet Searching
• What if you don’t have a web address ?
• Search engines allow you to search millions of
web pages to find the information you want
• A special kind of web site with built-in search
tools
• Google is the most popular
– www.google.com or
– www.google.ie (tailored for Irish users)
• Other search engines – Bing, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves
• All look different but all have a search box you
type a keyword into
Internet Searching
www.google.ie
Search box
• Enter keywords to
search for here
• Don’t use full sentences
Enter the web address as you
would for any other web site
Search Results
• The result of a search is a
list of links to web pages
related to your search topic
• Google search also
includes a links maps and
photos if available
A link to a map
if available
Links to web sites
about the search
topic – the most
useful
Links to photos
of the search
topic
Lets Practice
1. Carry out a search for the word Limerick
–
–
How many pages are returned?
Visit at least two of the pages
2. Carry out a search of a topic of your
choosing
–
The more precise search words you use, the closer
your results will be to the topic you are interested in
e.g.
•
•
•
limerick events guide
limerick gaa clubs
limerick city adult education