Learning Goal #1 – The Language of Office Technology
Learning Goal #1 – The Language of Office Technology: “Students will understand all basic terminology of office and Internet technology and be able to speak the language when working within a computer classroom.” (18 Lessons)
Links to individual Learning Goal #1 Lessons are provided below:
Lesson 1.1: Introduction to the Computer Lab LESSON OVERVIEW: The first step in using Office Technology is to understand your work environment. If you have made it to class, then of course, you are not at home working on your own private computer. You are in a public computer lab monitored by teachers and district employees. Today, we will learn about the computer lab and the people who share it with us, the guidelines for our computer lab, and before the end of class, we will see just how fast you are on a keyboard.
Lesson 1.2: The QWERTY Keyboard Position LESSON OVERVIEW: Look at the keyboard that sits in front of your computer screen. None of the letters are alphabetical. Nothing seems to have any order. And yet, every keyboard at every computer (even some of your phones) have the same arrangement of letters, numbers, and symbols. In this lesson, we will talk about how we got this arrangement of typing keys and why everyone still uses it on almost every computer and device.
Lesson 1.3 : Keyboard Posture and Carpal Tunnel LESSON OVERVIEW: Right now, your fingers are young and full of life. You can play or do almost anything and you feel almost invincible. But if you are not careful and you are on a computer all the time, you may not feel invincible for long. You are among the first generation of students to grow up using computers and keyboards from a very young age. Most adults did not begin using computers until they were teenagers and because many of them never learned the lesson on proper posture, they struggle with physical problems as young adults. Even your teacher has a few issues as a result of improper typing.
Lesson 1.4: Thumb Texting & Finger Typing LESSON OVERVIEW: Several years ago, when you were just starting out in elementary school, most adults figured that “texting” was just a popular fad that would soon fade away. Much to our surprise, “texting” has become one of the most popular methods for fast communication with friends, family members, and even co-workers. But like typing, “texting” almost always requires the use of the thumbs, which you normally use for the space bar on the keyboard. This lesson is all about strengthening your thumbs and recognizing the similarities between the QWERTY keyboard and the QWERTY textboard on your phone.
Lesson 1.5: Top Row Keys & A-C Vocabulary LESSON OVERVIEW: Throughout the last two weeks, you have accomplished quite a bit. You have mastered (or come close to mastering) the Home Row Keys, you have made progress on your Typing Web Tutor, you have looked at different types of keyboards, and you have even built a Weebly website. Now the time has come to expand the use of your fingers and start building your vocabulary. Today, we’ll talk about these words: alphanumeric, bit, blog, byte, character, command, CPS, CPU, crash, and cursor.
Lesson 1.6: Top Row Keys & Website Reviews LESSON OVERVIEW: During the last two classes, most of you learned how to put together a simple and free Weebly Website for displaying classwork. But sometimes we can use a little help to improve the style of our site. Most importantly, we can always use improvement in our writing. Today, we will focus on reviewing other student websites while we look for good qualities and make suggestions about what can be improved.
Lesson 1.7: The Future of the Mouse and D-I Vocabulary LESSON OVERVIEW: With so many laptops, phones, and tablets out there, there may come a day when no one uses a mouse to move around on the computer. They may just end up using a thumb pad at the bottom of the keyboard. But for now, the mouse is here to stay and we must learn to use it the correct way without cutting off the blood flow to our index and middle fingers. This lesson is about learning to manage stress while typing and using the mouse.
Lesson 1.8: Bottom Row Keys & J-M Vocabulary LESSON OVERVIEW: We have seen how easy it is to use the wrong fingers on the right keys because we have done it that way for so long. But as you continue learning the proper use of your fingers on the keyboard, speed and accuracy come right along with it. Today, we will finish up with the Top Row Keys and focus on learning a little bit more about the Bottom Row Keys.
Lesson 1.9: Shift Key, Images & O-P Vocabulary LESSON OVERVIEW: We’ve kept ourselves pretty busy with websites, new vocabulary, quizzes, and typing over the last few weeks of school. This is the last week of vocabulary and then we’ll move into some other types of writing that don’t require definitions. Today will include some tips on how to borrow images from the Web and how to borrow them legally.
Lesson 1.10: Shift Punctuation, Images, & R-S Vocabulary LESSON OVERVIEW: This is a continued lesson from 1.9. We’ve kept ourselves pretty busy with websites, new vocabulary, quizzes, and typing over the last few weeks of school. This is the last week of vocabulary and then we’ll move into some other types of writing that don’t require definitions. Today will include some tips on how to borrow images from the Web and how to borrow them legally.
Lesson 1.11: T-W Vocabulary & Eyes Up Quizzes LESSON OVERVIEW: We’ve kept ourselves pretty busy with websites, new vocabulary, quizzes, and typing over the last few weeks of school. This is the last day of vocabulary (next week is your last Vocabulary Quiz) and then we’ll move into some other types of writing that don’t require definitions. Like the last class, today will include some tips on how to borrow images from the Web and how to borrow them legally.
Lesson 1.12: The First Speed Check LESSON OVERVIEW: For six weeks now, everyone has had their time on Typing Web Tutor and everyone has been watching their typing speed. Today you’re going to receive your average speed for the full semester. In a way, averages take all of the scores you received from one point (the beginning) to another (now) and determine where you fall in the middle of everything. We’re also going to wrap up the final vocabulary quiz for this learning goal.
Lesson 1.13: The Barracuda Challenge LESSON OVERVIEW: Home Row Keys. Top Row Keys. Bottom Row Keys. At this point, you’ve become pretty comfortable with all of the keys on the keyboard and you’ve been working on both speed and accuracy. Today, you’ll enter your first Barracuda Challenge, which includes a fast paced race against the clock. You will receive a full 40 minutes to fight for the highest three scores in the class.
Lesson 1.14: Mastering the Number Pad, Part 1 LESSON OVERVIEW: At this point, you’ve spent a great deal of the year learning letters and words by using all of your fingers. This week, we’re going to spend a little bit of time learning to master a completely different part of your keyboard: the number pad. Along the way, we’ll discuss the Number Zero (where it came from and why) as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the Number Lock Key.
Lesson 1.15: Mastering the Number Pad, Part 2 LESSON OVERVIEW: During the last class, we were introduced to the number pad, but we only focused on the home row digits. Today, we’ll pick up where we left off and continue practicing our work with the Number Pad. As you saw during the last class, the number pad has its challenges. You’ll get a chance to improve your skills and master new areas. We’ll also do another Speedcheck today.
Lesson 1.16: Mastering the Number Pad, Part 3 LESSON OVERVIEW: During the last class, we were introduced to the bottom row digits of the number pad and we entered our second Speedcheck Score. Today, we’ll look at the top row digits and begin reviewing for our Mid-Semester Exam, which will cover almost all of the content we studied in Learning Goal #1. Your exam will be held on March 6-7 during class.
Lesson 1.17: Learning Goal Review LESSON OVERVIEW: Finally, right? We’re close to the end of Learning Goal #1. You’ve learned the language of office technology, you’ve learned some incredible strategies for typing, and you’ve learned quite a lot about your computer and the Internet we all use from day to day. Now that you’ve been through all of these lessons, it’s time to do a final review and get ready for the Mid-Semester Exam that will be held during the next class. It’s a big test, so make sure you prepare yourself.
Lesson 1.18: Mid-Semester Exam LESSON OVERVIEW: Today is a day with no excuses. As a class, we have had two days of review and almost 20 lessons dealing with the language of Office Technology (Learning Goal #1). At this point, it’s time to show what you know and prove the level of your knowledge. This will be a fairly quiet class period and you will be given almost 60 minutes for testing if you need it. Those who finish early will be doing quiet activities on the computer as you’ll see below.