Background to Courses Available at Papakura SeniorNet Inc:
We believe computing should be fun so at Papakura Seniornet (PSN) we offer a series of courses, Tutorials or Workshops aimed at getting people to a high standard of self-confidence, and competence in the use of their home computer, whether PC or Apple Mac.
We cannot possibly cover every computer program that has been produced, but aim to give you the knowledge of the principles so that you will want to learn more, and in turn, possibly to share it with others.
So, those programs we use are usually the most popular commonly available.
Read the COURSE CONTENT of what we offer very carefully as it states the program used for
each course.
We aim to tutor most courses on a ratio of 3 to 1 (i.e. One tutor to three students), a specific course may not run if insufficient enrolments. Enrolments are based on ‘first in first served’ and we do not run a ‘waiting list’. Smaller Groups allow for some individual attention during a session by the Tutor and Assistant and to allow questions and exchanges of ideas. You should also be aware that tutors and Assistants are volunteers who offer their services free, their only reward being to see others in their peer group advancing in this relatively new and very complex environment.
We are indebted to them for this most generous gift of their personal time and their willingness to convey their knowledge to students in a patient, under-standing way.
Our ‘Membership Year’ is March to April with 4 terms, based on Primary School terms.
Courses vary in length from a single 2 hour session to 6 X 2 hour sessions over consecutive weeks.
Most sessions start at either 10am or 1pm, however this may vary. We also, from time to time run Group Tutorial and Workshop Sessions of 2 hour duration.
Enrolments for financial members are called for about 3 weeks prior to each term, notified by email and the Enrolments should be made by completing and on-line application. Found on our web site at www.seniornetpapakura.co.nz
There are no exams but we may ask you to complete an evaluation sheet. Our courses are structured so that each lesson builds on the last, therefore out of respect to our volunteer tutors, once the enrolment is booked and confirmed the student is expected to make a sincere effort to attend the classes in order to gain the utmost learning experience. Missing a class makes it very difficult for you and your tutor. Course notes usually accompany each lesson or course and make valuable reference material when at home. Repetition is the best way of retaining the knowledge gained so you will be expected to help yourself by repeating your last lesson at home as soon as possible following a class. Do not leave it until the night before your next session.
Arrive at class early, not on the ‘dot’ or ‘late’ as this is disruptive. Besides it gives time for you to settle in and even ask any questions you may have.
Bring your notes from the previous session, your Flash Drive unit and a note book and pen. Yes, you may have to jot something down even in this computer age!
Your Critical Learning Path Summarized
PSN want to ensure that your computer learning experience is rewarding. Accordingly, we would ask that you observe the need to complete some basic courses before taking on more ambitious courses. As we said there is a course structure such that you learn as you proceed.
In particular, you must be very proficient in understanding how to use a Flash Drive/memory stick, and a Basic Word Processing, which teaches many mouse, keyboard and other skills required to complete any other class you wish to take. This covers the basic skills such as how to cut, copy, and paste; drag and drop etc and to learn the terminology used in every class. Also how to use Save and Save As functions and indeed where you have saved the folder or file to and how to retrieve it.
Too often people who have used computers in a work environment wrongly believe that they fully understand how to use all of the thousands of available features. This later reflects in class when the tutor does not have time to explain some of the basics again.
For this reason we ask all members joining us to commence their computing experience by following this course sequence . (Course duration may vary.)
First Completing the free Introduction to Computing Course 4 weeks
Second Completing a basic word processing course – MS Basic Word 6 weeks
Thirdly Completing the File & Folder Management course. 4 weeks
Only now are you really ready to continue and enjoy your computer experience, yes even before you attempt the Internet or sending Emails!
To summarize the above course program.
Start your learning from a sound foundation:
Step 1. Introduction to Computing. Whether self-taught or without any experience at all, once you have decided that you really would like to properly understand your computer, we urge you to take this 4 lesson course (each lesson 2 hours). This course starts from a base that you know very little about or forgotten the working of your PC.
Step 2. Basic Word Processing. This a six week course, with each lesson of 2 hours. We use it principally to get you to recognize the many computer tools available and because it has a very practical application to all other programs. Your computer understanding will build with each lesson and will form a solid foundation for several other quite diverse uses of your home computer. Unless you have already had wide-ranging word processing experience, this course is absolutely essential. It is essential that you have a complete understanding of Introduction to Computing (above) before continuing on this course.
Step 3. The File Management course teaches you how to organize your Windows Computer: This critical 4-lesson course takes you through a complete understanding of the essential organization of your drives, files, and folders in your Windows operating system and how they relate to each other. We teach you how to save your work, transfer it to other drives, to create folders, rename, to copy and move them, and retrieve these files to continue to use them, and understanding various important file types or formats and their properties, and a little on maintaining the file structure. This is all vitally important, particularly if you plan to use your computer for storing, processing, and sharing digital photographs.
Sounds boring? It’s not, but it is entirely practical and puts you in complete charge of your computer.
We recommend it as the next follow-on step after Step 2 above.
We guarantee that you will learn new features every lesson, even if you have used a computer in your work situation. Finally, you are now well prepared to confidently understand the many more advanced courses and tutorial or workshops.