Your Guide to Getting Started and Succeeding in the SAC English Computer Classroom Fall 2007 Version

Welcome to the computer classrooms in the English Department at San Antonio College.  This small guide is intended to help you with common concerns many students have as they get started in the computer classroom.  You may feel a little overwhelmed by this computer environment, but let me assure you that your teacher will not have you doing anything very complicated with the computers (no programming!).  Since these rooms are for English and for teaching writing, most of what you will do will involve word processing (i.e. creating and saving documents).  We have, however, other programs that enhance what we can do in the computer classroom such as the Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment, WebCT, Moodle and the World-Wide Web.  Your teacher may have you using the computer classroom one day a week or you may be every day in the computer classroom.  Whichever it is for you, I think you will find that the computer classroom is an exciting place to take an English class. Help for beginners 1st RULE:  Don't panic.  Whenever you have a problem, ask a peer or your teacher for help.  You can't break the machine with a keystroke. If you have never used a computer before, or you only have used a computer a few times, you may be nervous about taking an English class that meets in the computer classroom.  Don't feel overwhelmed.  Computers are basically (from a writer's perspective) glorified typewriters with a memory.  You will find that computers are a powerful tool for writing and that they are easy to use.  As you master the basic functions needed for working in the computer classroom, ask for help and be sure to latch on to someone in your class who can help point things out to you and answer questions as you go along.  You may find it helpful to go out of class to meet with your teacher, go to the open lab in Gonzales Hall Room 122 for questions, or to work through some of the stand-alone tutorials. The Internet Skills Center has classes available for beginners too. THE place to go for basic help with learning how to use a computer Visit the Internet Skill Center Located in room 400B Moody Learning Center     Reporting tech problems  WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Whenever you have a technical problem with the machine you are using, please report it to your teacher so that he or she can make our technical staff aware of the problem.      Storage Devices Þ   You will need, preferrably, a flash drive (sometimes called a travel drive) for saving your own work. You can use a 3.5 inch, High-density diskette, but these are notorious for breaking. A flash drive also holds a lot more material.   Þ   Avoid getting U3 flash drives, or any other flash drive, that operates by installing a program onto the computer. Our labs are not set up to facilitate the extra features of some of these newer flash drives. The technicians in GH 122 can uninstall the program on U3 travel drives so that it is usable in our labs. Þ   Always save your work onto your storage device. Þ   VIRUS SCANNING!!!  If you use your storage device frequently on other computers, you should regularly scan you diskette for viruses.  Each computer has a virus scanner on it.  Ask your teacher for help. Þ   If you are having problems of any kind, the technicians in GH 122 should be able to help you. What to do if you find a Virus! While running a virus scan or as you attempt to open a file, your computer may give you the message that it has found a virus.  Write down the type, and then click the button to CLEAN the virus--it should get rid of the virus from your diskette.  If you find one virus, you should probably check your complete diskette with a virus scan.  Once you are all "clean," please inform the teacher about the virus and what type it was.  You probably want to take steps to clean the "source" of the virus as well.  ***If you are unable to clean the virus, inform the teacher immediately.  Do not attempt to open the file! ___________________________________________________________________________________ Saving work 3 PRECEPTS FOR A HAPPY LIFE             1) Save all your work onto your own diskette.             2) As you work on a document, save every 10 to 15 minutes.             3) Make a back up copy of your work (on the hard drive of your home computer or onto another diskette). UNDERSTANDING WHERE THINGS ARE SAVED             Every document you save on the computer will go into a "folder."   For saving items, the computer has files inside folders, or even folders inside folders.  The icon to explain the structure of where a file is located is even a folder! You can always double-click on a folder to open it and examine its contents.  What gets confusing sometimes is what "filing cabinet" this folder is in.  The computer term for these "filing cabinets" is "drive," but just think of them as big filing cabinets inside your computer. Filing Cabinets:    The A: or F: Drive--  This is the filing cabinet inside your storage device where you can save files for your personal use. The C: Drive--  This is the filing cabinet inside your individual computer.  If you save something into the c:drive, it stays on that individual computer. The PUBDOC Drive--  This is a filing cabinet which everyone here can access from his or her individual computers. It is a "network" drive. THREE THINGS TO DO EVERY TIME YOU SAVE 1) NAME IT--give it a name 2) PLACE IT--tell the computer where you want to save the file.                  3) RTF IT--tell the computer to put the file in the Rich Text Format (an intermediary language readable by any PC word processor).           SAVING WORK TO GO TO ANOTHER WORD PROCESSOR Not all word processors speak the same language.  Microsoft Word, we could say, speaks Russian while Word Perfect speaks French.  If I create a Russian document, the French will not be able to understand it--if I try to open my MSWord document with Word Perfect I will get gobbledy-goop.  The key to avoid this problem is to save you file into an intermediary language, which is readable by any word processor.  The French can read it, the Russians can read it, even the Chinese--everybody is happy. The best file format to save your work in is called RICH TEXT FORMAT (or RTF).  RTF is best because as you save a document it preserves the formatting (things like font, bold, italics, even graphics). ***Grab one of the handouts in the front of the class if you need instructions for how to go from one word processing program to another. *** Computer Classroom Policies  GH 220 and 218 No food or drink at work stations Save all work on your own travel drive or diskette. Make sure your name is on it. Before leaving, close all applications and LOG-OFF (but not shut down) the computer. Also, push in chairs and clean up your workstation area. Scan flash drive or diskette for viruses as needed.. Computers are for class-related work only. In general, limit your printing from the web. Beware printing from sites that are extremely large. Consult your teacher about printing from the web. No inappropriate use of the web allowed. Accessing anything more visually exciting than one would see on the Disney channel is not allowed. Do not customize your workstation. Do not alter or delete any network files, and do not break out of Windows into DOS. If in doubt, ask for help. Doing  Computer Work Outside the Classroom  On Campus   English Department Open Computer Lab GH 122   The Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC)  MLC 716   The Internet Skill Center MLC 400B

 

 

 

 

 

Site Update August 26, 2007