Welcome Back Past and New Students 2006/07

I do hope you all had a very enjoyable summer, this is our first week together and I am looking forward to spending the next 12 weeks with all of you. Terrie

Here are answers to a few questions you may of been wondering about.

Why is Computer Literacy Important?

Computer literacy entails having knowledge and understanding of computers and their uses. As computers become an increasingly important part of daily living, many people believe that computer literacy is vital to success.

What is a Computer and What Are its Components?

A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory, that can accept data, manipulate the data according to specified rules, produce results, and store the results for future use. The electric, electronic, and mecanical components of a computer, or hardware, include input devices, output devices, a system unit, storage devices and communications devices. An input device allows you to enter data or instructions into a computer. An output device conveys information to one or more people. The system unit is a box like case that contains electronic components of a computer that are used to process data. A storage device records and/or retrieves items to and from storage media. A communications device enables a computer to send and receive data, instructions, and information to and from one or more computers.

Why is a computer a powerful Tool?

A computer is a powerful tool because it operates with amazing speed, reliability, consistency, and accuracy. Computers also can store huge amounts of data and information.

The Core Rules of Netiquette from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea.
Rule 1: Remember the Human
Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
Rule 5: Make yourself look good online
Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control
Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy
Rule 9: Don't abuse your power
Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes

Survive Dickens' London Exercise 7

Dare you take a tour of Dickensian London? You could meet Mr. Micawber, Mr. Pickwick or Fagin. Or you might catch smallpox and end up in jail. If you do well, you'll get to meet Charles Dickens.

Dodge through Victorian London, avoiding the gangs and villains and trials and tribulations of Dickensian London in order to seek out Charles Dickens in his chalet hideaway in Rochester.

You'll face tasks and choices - you might have to pick pockets for Fagin, or rob bodies for Gaffer Hexham. Perform well and you'll be able to wend you way through dark alleyways and winding streets. Make the wrong choice and you could end up in jail, or worse...

To play the game you will need to install Macromedia Flash. Visit WebWise for more information or go to Download.com Your computer may already have this program installed on it. Ask your instructor for more information.

www.bbc.co.uk/arts/multimedia/dickens

class

Very good class. I am enjoying it. Thanks Terrie

How To Be Net Savvy

EXERCISE #6

HOW TO BE NET SAVVY

• Know the difference between email addresses & Website addresses:
  
• anything with an @ sign (i.e. webmaster@nwrel.org, george@mycats.com) is an email address,
  
• anything with www or http is a WWW address (i.e. http://www.nwrel.org/, www.washingtonpost.com)
  
• Deal with the dreaded 404 errors: File Not Found Check your spelling - Web addresses must be exact
  
• Start going back in the URL - you may be able to find what you need by backing up directories
  
• Email savvy
  
• Know your email address - if you use AOL, your full email address is yourscreenname@aol.com Be careful about who you give your email address to - double-check that you're not signing up for any unwanted advertisements
  
• Free email accounts are available from a variety of sources on the Web - try http://www.yahoo.com/ or http://www.hotmail.com/ - use these as a "throwaway" email address for web forms
  
• If a webpage doesn't come up the whole way or is taking abnormally long to load, try the Refresh or Reload button - sometimes this will load the page better.
  
• Plug-ins are additional programs that help your computer to run or view extra programs on the Web. Some of the most popular are:
  
• Adobe Acrobat PDF Files. This plug-in allows you to view that need to retain the original formatting. Examples of PDF Files are tax forms, registration forms, etc. Find the plug-in at http://www.adobe.com
  
• Real Video files. This allows you to watch videos and hear audio clips on the web. Don't be tricked into buying the Real Player Plus - the plain old Real Player is free and does everything you need it to. Download it at http://www.real.com

• EXERCISE 1-6

1. Connect to the Internet.
2. In the URL address box, type the following address: http//canada411sympatico.ca
3. Press Enter when finished.
4. When the page loads, click on Find a Person.
5. When the page loads, type in your name (as it appears in the phone book).
6. Make sure the province says Ontario.
7. Click on Search.
8. The search should bring up your name, address and phone number.
9. E-mail me with your experiences finding this website and your comments. Create a document in Wordpad or Word don't forget to use proper punctuation and check your grammar and spelling. Send it to me as an attachment.

• STUDENTS I ENJOY READING YOUR COMMENTS SO DON'T FORGET TO E-MAIL ME AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THESE WEBSITES AND ALSO LET ME KNOW OF ANY WEBSITES YOU HAVE FOUND THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS. TERRIE.

How The Internet Started Exercise 5

HOW THE INTERNET STARTED

1. The Internet was created by combining the ideas and talents of many people and organizations who have made the Internet the valuable resource it is today.

2. ARPANET The U.S. Defense Department created a network that linked military computers together. It was connected in a way that if one section of the network was damaged, the remaining computers on the network would still be able to communicate with each other.

3. The National Science Foundation created NSFNET in the mid 1980's this allowed universities and schools to connect to each other. The National Science Foundation improved the network to allow more information to transfer. This improved high-speed network which became the Internet.

4. Most of the people accessing the Internet were scientists and researchers. In 1990's many companies started to offer access to home users. This allowed anyone with a modem and a computer to access the Internet.

5. The World Wide Web was created in the early 1990's by the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. The first publicly accessible Web site was created in 1993.

6.By the mid 1990's over 30 million people had access to the Internet . To reach this huge market, most big companies created their own sites on the World Wide Web.

CONNECT TO THE INTERNET

1. You can connect to the Internet using any type of computer such as an IBM=compatible or a Macintosh. The computer must have a modem, to connect to the Internet.

2. You need special software to use the Internet. Most companies that connect you to the Internet offer the software free of charge.

3. Setting up a connection to the Internet can sometimes be confusing. Make sure the company you use to connect to the Internet with has a technical support department find out if you can contact the technical support department in the evenings and on weekends as well as during business hours.

4.You can use a local company or a large national company to connect.

5. These companies are call ISP servers Internet Service Providers. The Internet offers, Electronic Mail, Information, Programs, Entertainment, Discussion Groups, Online Shopping, E-Books.

Exercise 5:

Using www.learnthenet.com don't forget to save this website on your favorites.

Complete the following exercise and send it to me by e-mail.

Intro to the Internet Terms & Concepts.

For each of the terms below, complete the following.

A. Find the Definition/Explanation.

B. How was it found.

1)Internet?

2)Network?

3)Who governs it?

4)Nicknames for it?

5)World Wide Web.

6)What is the difference between Internet & WWW?

What is a Blog (aka Web Log/Weblog)? Exercise#4

What is a Blog?

There are several definitions of what a blog. or weblog (web log) is and/or what it should be. It is a chronologically organized site updated by an individual (or a group of individuals) using these main items in each entry or post:

a) Main Body - where personal commentaries, ideas, and/or stories are typically written in the first person.

b) Date/Time Stamp - show the day and or/ time the entry.

c)Title - to give a general idea of what the entry is all about. However, this is not always used by all bloggers (people who keep blogs).

There are items incorporated in various blogs depending on what each blogger may want in their own blogs. Items include calendar, archives, comments, links.

What is the difference between blogs and websites?

Before pointing out the differences, let's begin by mentioning the three things that blogs and websites have in common: 1) Both are ways to publish information and other data online, 2) Both can be started and kept by any individual who is inclined to do so, and 3) Both have URLs that anyone with an Internet connection can access. However, the similarities end there.

The main difference between the two is that blogs tend to be a lot more dynamic than websites. Blogs are updated on a regular basis with posts or entries that usually contain date/time stamps. Websites, on the other hand, are designed to be static. So, there is no need to update regularly and/or to add the date/time of update. Also websites are updated with pages rather than posts or entries.

Even with WYSIWIG (What You See Is What You Get) tools, some form of formatting knowledge is still required for designing and updating websites. If you already have a blog set up, you just need to write an entry and or post an image, click on a button that says something like publish this entry, and your blog will already be updated, Knowledge of HTML and FTP is optional. (computer programmer language).

Another point of difference is in communities. While websites may maintain community-based tools like message boards and guestbooks, blogs encourage community building much more than websites, what with tools like comments functions, trackbacks, tag boards and other features.

How Internet Cookies Work Lesson #3 (Reading)

What Are Cookies

Cookies are programs that Web sites put on your hard drive. They sit on your computer gathering information about you and everything you do on the Internet, and whenever the Web site wants to it can download all of the information the cookie has collected (wrong)

Definitions like that are fairly common in the press. The problem is, none of that information is correct. Cookies are not programs, and they cannot run like programs do. Therefore, they cannot gather any information on their own. Nor can they collect any personal information about you from your machine.

A cookie is a piece of text that a Web server can store on a user's hard drive. Cookies allow a Web site to store information on a user's machine and later retrieve it.

How Do Web Sites Use Cookies?

Cookies evolved because they solve a big problem for the people who implement Web sites. In the broadest sense, a cookie allows a site to store state information on your machine. such as
How many visitors arrive.
How many are new visitors. repeat visitors.
How often a visitor has visited.
The way the site does this is by using a database. The first time a visitor arrives, the site creates a new ID in the database and sends the ID as a cookie. The next time the user comes back, the site can increment a counter associated with that ID in the database and know how many times that visitor returns.

Clean Start for your Computer in 2006 Exercise 2

Exercise 2.

Establishing new computer habits in 2006 will stop a few frustrating days spent in front of the computer trying to figure why it is so slow,why programs suddenly stop working and why you've been hit by a plague of pop-up ads. There are several easy steps you can take to help keep your computer clean.

Empty Your Cache: Pronounced 'cash' it is a storage place where your computer looks to find data or instructions that programs use over and over. this occurs every time you go on the Internet.

Cookies: are messages sent to your computer from the web server of the site you just visited. Your computer saves the message, and the next time you visit that website, the page loads automatically because it is saved in your cache.

The easiest way to empty your cache is using your Internet browser. At the top of the page, click on Tools go to the bottom of the menu and select Internet Options. In the pop-up window, go to the Temporary Internet files section. Click the buttons that say Delete Cookies and Delete Files.(select the box that says delete all offline content) and then hit 'OK'. This may take a long time if you haven't done this for a long time.

There is a history section at the bottom of the Internet Options window and you should click the Clear History button. Set the days to Keep Pages in the History for the number of days you want your computer to remember what websites you have visited. Keep it at zero days if you are sharing your computer and want some privacy.

Defragment: To keep you computer working smoothly, you should defragment your hard drive about once a month. You can compare this to cleaning out a filing cabinet. As you use your computer and programs files get moved and put in different spots. Defragmenting helps find all those moved bits of files on your computer and putting them in the right spots so when your computer goes to look for a file it knows where to look first and can find it faster. To defragment your computer, go to the Start button-All program-accessories-System Tools, and select the disk defragmenter. Depending on how long it has been since you have done this it may take awhile to finish.

Use your Anti-Spy Ware Programs: You should run your cleaning programs at least once a week or more often if you can. There are free download programs out there that do a good job. The number one free download is Lavasoft AdAware. There is also Windows AntiSpyware that you can download at www.microsoft.com/. Whatever method you chose, make sure to keep your computer clean and save yourself time and a lot of frustration over the next 12 months Happy New Year!
Free downloads at www.dsvs.org

Please E-mail me and let me know.

1) How long it took your computer to defragment.
2) Is this the first time you have used this part of the Windows Program?
3) Any other comments you may have.

Blended Learning- Exercise 1 Describe a Website

Blended Learning........... Is learning that employs multiple strategies, methods and delivery systems. You may also hear blended, learning described as 'integrated learning' multi-method learning, it treats learning as a journey or process.

I am introducing an online component for my students in the hope that going online will help students overcome fears about computers and develop a range of new skills.

The expectation is that online delivery will increase flexibility for me and my students.

Exercise No. 1

Use the links below to visit these websites. Once you have visited these sites, create a document in word or wordpad telling me what you thought of these sites and answering these questions. Save the document in your 3.5 disk as well as in your named folder on your desktop.

1. Visit the links below and in your own words describe these sites in a document. Also include answers to the following questions in your document.
2. Did you find the information helpful to you?
3. Do you think you will visit these sites again?
4. What did you find to be the most interesting information on these sites?
5. Did you find the sites easy to navigate?

E-mail me your completed document as an attachment to Aquariusadvantage@yahoo.com
Work on this project whenever you have time at home or in the classroom.
Don't forget to leave a comment. Terrie:)

Websites:
http://www.nald.ca

http://www.lleo.ca

http://www.thewclc.ca/edge