Welcome!!! Here is the spot to begin learning about computers. It is not really all that difficult, but there is definitely a vocabulary that includes symbols. Over the years these have become quite uniform among different programs and presentations you will see. So after an initial orientation and familiarization you will be able to use the same information over and over. So push through and soon the incredible resource of the Internet web will by yours. As you look at the various pages of the Solera University you will get some idea of what is available on the internet and Southern California.
Initial Orientation.
Here you can find easy courses to familiarize you with the following:
Using a mouse
Using the Internet
Finding Information of the Internet
Security Tips
San Bernardino Public Library Tutorials - Initial orientation
AARP: Basic Web Lessons - Great resource
Learning Express Library - Learn Microsoft Office
Intermediate Orientation. Google is a wonderful resource and searching is only the beginning. So here are some Google Help pages that provide the basics of searching. There is not a lot to know about this, but just some basic creativity on choosing search terms.
Learn the basics of Google search
Google search Quick Reference Guide
Technical Orientation. This is really a wonderful free course first offered to beginning Harvard Extension School students. It is complete with videos of the course lectures, which I really like, and a number of programs offering supplementary information. It includes the following:
Hardware
Software
Internet
Personal Tech
Multimedia
Security
Web Site Development
Harvard is a premier university in America and this is the best computer course I have found on the internet. It presents one semester of notes and videos for the lectures and demonstrations. It is easy to understand for those new to computers.
Select this link for this course:
Computer Science E-1: Understanding Computers and the Internet
More Advanced Training. Here are a number of links to sources of more advanced training. Now that you have completed the Orientation levels above, you should be able to take a look at the following links and decide if you want to spend the time learning what they have to offer. There are other training materials available for which you can search using Google.
Web Design
HTML Tutorial
Webmonkey
HP courses
Network Training. Networking is everywhere and although you may have used your Internet Service Provider to install your service and perhaps a router, you may want to know more or install an additional switch so that you can manage a home multimedia server, network printer, or just add storage accessible to several computers. So here are some links to manufacturers of network devices that offer videos that will help you understand these technologies.
D-Link Educational TV
Linksys Learning Center
Summary. There is a huge amount of information available on the Internet so although this might seem intimidating at first glance, it is just a matter of learning these in order. Don't get the cart before the horse. If you start with the more advanced topics you will likely give up as the fundamentals need to be there first. There is also a dictionary on the Internet that you can use to look-up strange terms. I recommend that you do this as the basic fundamental term that you overlook may be the one that causes problems later. Bookmark it so that it will be available to you.
Here is the link to the dictionary. Dictionary.com
