Easy Steps
Course descriptions
Audio editing
Use free programs such as Windows Media Player to create music libraries and rip CDs for personal use; and Audacity to edit sound files. Find out what hardware and software you need to easily convert your LP records to digital files and save them to your computer or an MP3 player.
Beginners 1
This 10 hour course (generally 2 hours per week for 5 weeks, but sometimes over 10 weeks)is offered separately in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The course will introduce you to computing - how the hardware, software and operating system interact; how to use the mouse and keyboard; files and folder management; how to open and close a software application and more. You should do before attempting classes in various software applications (such as Word, email tools and Internet browsers).
We recognise that if you have found this web page, you may not need to do Basic Computing, but you may wish to tell your friends!
We have a number of trainers who teach this course, and we try to run it on various days.
Beginners 2
This is a follow up course to Beginners 1, and is also offered in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Trainers have familiarised themselves with the new operating system and will be able to explain the differences.
The course will give you more understanding of the Windows operating system and enable you to customise it to suit yourself. It will give you more confidence in using your computer and will introduce you to various software applications.
CreataCard
This is a popular course where you learn how to create beautiful professional looking cards using American Greeting CreataCard. Fun to use and with grandchildren, family birthdays and all the special occasions that we have throughout the year this program could save you money while giving that important someone a personalized card.
Managing Digital Photos
In this course, you will use learn to download your photos from a digital camera, using a range of methods. You will then use Google's Picasa3 to make your photos look better, organise them and email them to your family and friends.
Digital Photo Stories
You will learn to use Microsoft's PhotoStory 3 to make video presentations with photos, music and voice to burn to CD/DVD or play on your TV, and give you that WOW factor. You will also add titles to your video presentations using Windows Movie Maker.All the programs mentioned above are freely available as downloads from the Internet. However, you can also download them onto a USB drive (or thumb drive) under the supervision of your trainer.
To undertake either of the digital photo courses, you should have some computer experience and understand Windows XP or Vista and file and folder management in particular. The courses do NOT show you how to take good photos, but they will show you how to rescue a poor photo.
Genealogy on your computer
This course focuses on the use of the computer as a tool for genealogy in general and family history in particular.
Since members will have different interests and be searching for ancestors not only in NSW but all over the world, the course will be flexible to allow for individual learning, as well as having some structure.
Members will be given a student manual, a CD of resources and the software to take home.
The trainers, Hazel Labka and Deb Martin will use a range of resources, including training material, prepared by Lynton Bradford for Computer Pals for Seniors Epping.
Google Tools
There is much more to Google than just a search engine. In this course, you will set up (or use a current) Google account and learn to use its Blogger, Google Albums and much more. The final hours of the course will be tailored to students' interests.
Experience with Google's Picasa3 (taught as part of Managing Digital Photos) will be helpful, but not essential.
Graphics in Word
Graphics can be described as any digital image. Microsoft Word has some very flexible tools for manipulating and enhancing many types of graphics.
In this course you will:
- Make posters
- Learn to use AutoShapes to create colourful graphics
- Put pictures into letters or flyers
- Put captions on your photos
- Create CD covers
- Create your own business card
- Create a greeting card
- Use templates to create a calendar
- And more...
The course is offered in both Word 2003 and Word 2007.
Email and Internet
The Internet is a global network of millions of computers providing the largest communication system in the world. It is an amazing information resource. You can find information on every possible subject from the Web's global network.
This course will also show you how to find an internet service provider (ISP) and manage and use email, using Outlook Express.
You will also learn to use web-based email, such as Google's Gmail.
Prior to undertaking this course, you should be competent with Basic Computing and word processing software (for example MS Word or Wordpad).
PowerPoint
PowerPoint is fun to learn, and useful for showing your family photos or for presentations to your community club.
Scrapbooking
This is a five week course using StoryBook Creator 2 software to turn your digital photos into a printed book to be shared with your family and friends.
You will learn how to download the free software via the internet, where all the associated files end up on your computers hard drive, how to save and load Templates to be used in the software, how to create a book inserting digital photos and text, how to add pages into your book, how to edit photos using the basic editing software installed in the program, how to change your text fonts and how to send the book to print via the internet.
You must have basic computer knowledge to attend this course. Bring your own photos on a USB Drive or CD to the class each week and a 1Gb (minimum) USB Drive to save the file you are creating.There is no obligation to produce a book after attending this course, if you do there will be a 10% discount on vouchers purchased through the instructor to attendees.
Train the Trainer
This course is available for current club members who have undertaken a number of courses and wish to become a trainer or trainer's buddy. It is also available for experienced computer users who wish to become a volunteer trainer, but such people must join the club, to demonstrate commitment to the Club's values.
The course will not teach you computer skills - rather, it will focus on learning styles of older people, how they may differ from your own learning style; training techniques and how to take into account the diversity of older people, whose culture, language or functional ability may be different from your own.
This course is free, and will be run over 2.5 days on three consecutive weeks.
Web design
There are a myriad of ways to learn web design, and each designer has a preference for the tools he or she uses. In a 10 hour course, we can do no more than introduce you to the basics.
This course will introduce you to the mechanics of web design, both online through Google sites, and offline through the use of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and File Transfer Protocols (FTP); as well as the importance of planning your site.
This course is suitable for members who are simply curious about the processes involved, or who want to build a simple website for an organisation or for family research.
You must have significant experience in working with a number of software applications to handle this course comfortably.
Microsoft Word 2003
This course will teach you the basics of word processing, using Microsoft's Word 2003. You can use it for letters, lists, flyers, posters, cards, forms, reports and a myriad of other things.
Microsoft Word 2007
Microsoft has recently produced Office 2007, which includes Word 2007.T This software application looks quite different to Microsoft's earlier word processing packages, since it has a "ribbon" concept, instead of the earlier drop-down menus.
The course will be run using the Vista operating system.