Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

internetworkers - Re: basic computer documentation

internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "William Johnson" <lonestarnot AT hotmail.com>
  • To: internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: basic computer documentation
  • Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 04:48:32



Subject: basic computer documentation
From: "Beth Ellison" <leonardbernst55 AT hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 14:09:10 -0400
...
As seasoned computer pros, ...
What basic skills and basic terminology can you remember having
to learn/wonder about as a complete and total newbie?

So far, I've come up with:

*Basic computer terminology (desktop, mouse, boot, drive, modem, connection, screen saver, desktop theme, Web browser, navigation, icon, menu)
*Basic Web browser navigation
*How to cut and paste text
*How to manipulate a two- or three-button mouse
*Using screen savers and desktop themes
*Email etiquette
*saving/naming files


OK, Beth, I'll play Devil's Advocate ...
i.e. controvert one of your implications.

The question implies that our experience was appropriate,
or worth repeating. I'd suggest that much of my education,
including my PC education was of the bottom-up variety --
i.e. "teach the student the basics, then build on that until
they can do something worthwhile."

In engineering, that sorely tries the patience of learners at a
time in their lives when patience is not maximally available. (!)
While I'm not a professional educator, I believe there is some
scholarly support for a top-down, successive-refinement approach.
Fundamentally, rather than starting with the pieces, and building
up to something usable, one might start with the learners minimal
objective, provide _just_ enough assistance to get some manageably
reduced form of that objective accomplished, and introduce
appropriate jargon only as it is needed.

In a computer context, that means _starting_ with a task, such as
"sending an email message" or "printing an event announcement flyer"
and guiding the decomposition of the task only as the learner needs
help in its decomposition. (To do otherwise is to bore the learner
with what's already known.)

Such an approach does demand a lot of educator's time; but it speeds the learning. One of the ways to mitigate the demand on educators'
time is to put learners in groups and encourage them to help each
other. (That requires caution to avoid unwanted effects from
personalities and learning differences.)

Still, most users just want to complete their tasks; helpers should
try to resist the temptation to teach the mechanism rather than the
(minimal) process. It may aid would-be helpers to remember drivers'
training: first the view, then the brake, the steering, the gears,
ignition, etc. in order of most criticality to the task at hand.

The items you have listed seem like the right ones, but I'd want a
clearly defined task decomposition. Looking again at your short
list ...

*Basic computer terminology (desktop, mouse, boot, drive, modem, connection, screen saver, desktop theme, Web browser, navigation, icon, menu)
*Basic Web browser navigation
*How to cut and paste text
*How to manipulate a two- or three-button mouse
*Using screen savers and desktop themes
*Email etiquette
*saving/naming files

I'd say...
"mouse, disk, modem, connection, browser, icon, and menu"
are essential to sending email.
It seems
"boot, desktop, desktop theme, etiquette, cut and paste,
screen savers, the third mouse button, and saving/naming files"
could be wait until after emailing confidence is won.

Yes, I'm picking nits. But the accomplishment of the _learners'_
objectives is what keeps frustration at bay and allows continued
progress. Every reasonable simplification should be employed to
keep reaching the learners emerging objectives.

Good Luck


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page