To be a successful online learner you need to be comfortable using your computer and working on the Internet.
The following will give you an idea of a few tasks you should be comfortable with. If there are one or two things you
are unsure of please feel free to contact Online Learning and we will help you out.
If the majority of the skills listed below are unfamiliar to you, then you should consider taking a class on computer use at a local library or computer store to prepare you for an online course.
General
- Identify the operating system and version the computer is running (i.e., Window 2000/XP or MacOS 10.2)
- Identify the size of the hard disk (MB)
- Identify the amount of memory (RAM)
- Ability to organize, rename, open and close files on your hard drive
- Ability to download and install files from the Internet or CD-ROM
- Perform routine maintenance on your computer such as updating anti-virus software
Internet
- Understand what a web address (URL) is and be able to go to a specific web site
- Understand links and navigating web pages
- Use search engines such as Yahoo, Google, Altavista, and others.
- Identify sides with relevant information
- Create and organize bookmarks or favorites
- Download and maintain recent versions of a web browser by donloading the latest version off the web.
- Activate certain features of your browser such as "cookies".
Email
- Send and receive email messages
- Ability to attach files to an email message
Word Processing
- Have a current word-processing program and be able to open and run it
- Ability to create and format paragraphs and documents, cut and past text, and change fonts.
- Ability to name and save documents as files
- Save files in different formats such as Text Only (.txt) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) files