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| Computer Skills for the Workplace |
Most jobs today
require a working knowledge of
certain computer skills. Employers
seek and reward employees with the
skills and knowledge to send
messages across the country via
e-mail; use a spreadsheet to create
a graph and paste it into a report;
add and edit data in a database;
understand the implications of file
sizes, memory limitations, and
network arrangements; and recognize
the function and features of modern
computer components. Any job
candidate who already possesses
these skills will stand above those
who do not.
This course is designed to provide
the fundamental computer
competencies you need to survive and
prosper in today's fast-changing
workplace. You will learn how to
implement the powers of modern
office software to work faster and
more efficiently. We'll focus on
practical application for software
most common to the workplace. When
you finish this course, you will
have learned why employers consider
technological literacy so critical
to the success of any organization. |
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Please
click here to take this course through an accredited
college or university in your community.
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Syllabus:
A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of
two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each
course at least two months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end.
Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the
course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You
will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the
interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will
automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we
strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its
release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once
the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete
all of your course work, including the final exam.
Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
Whether you're looking for a new job or looking to improve your position
at your current company, computer skills are essential to your success.
In our first lesson, we'll examine how companies set up and use
technology solutions. Then we'll take a close look at some of the
components of those solutions. Just understanding how technology fits
into the overall flow of work at your company will advance your position
relative to your peers.
Friday - Lesson 02
Your computer has a software program installed on it that's referred to
as an "operating system." Most often, this system is Microsoft Windows,
but it could be others, such as Macintosh or Linux. In this lesson,
you'll learn how this system controls many important parts of the
computer and how you use those controls every day for tasks like
managing where you keep important files, and printing hard copies of
documents. We'll also talk about menus, taskbars, and shortcuts along
the way.
Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
Copying and pasting are two of the most important things you'll learn to
do with your computer. These simple tasks leverage the enormous power of
computers and can save you hundreds of hours or work. We'll cover these
two tools in today's lesson. We'll also discuss the dialog box—again, a
simple concept once you know how to use it, and once you master it,
you'll have come very far in understanding how to interact with your
computer.
Friday - Lesson 04
Next to e-mail, the word processor is probably the most frequently used
application software in the workplace. Yet, if you've never taken the
time to learn the basic features of most word processors, you're not
performing nearly to your potential. In today's lesson, you'll learn and
practice the important capabilities of word processors like Microsoft
Word.
Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
During this lesson, we'll address three additional areas of word
processing: formatting, organizing information, and using special tools.
Once you understand formatting tools, you'll be able to make your text
take on a special appearance so that it draws attention where you want
it to. For example, you can underline, bold, or italicize text in the
middle of a paragraph for emphasis. After you learn about text
formatting, we'll go over paragraph and page formatting. We'll also
examine how to organize data in tables and lists.
Friday - Lesson 06
During today's lesson, we'll go over some important fundamental concepts
related to spreadsheets, including spreadsheet organization, formatting,
basic formulas, and data sorting. Once you discover how to create a
basic budget spreadsheet, you'll see how the skills and knowledge you
gain from this lesson can have a powerful impact on your ability to
contribute more in the workplace.
Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
In this lesson, we'll discuss more details about the spreadsheet, and
how to provide easy-to-understand, accurate data. You'll learn how to
build graphs that can graphically display numeric information so you can
easily demonstrate trends, analyze past results, and predict future
performance. You'll also find out how to use some advanced spreadsheet
tools that can make your spreadsheets even more effective.
Friday - Lesson 08
E-mail affects your work performance in two ways: First, it allows fast
communication among geographically dispersed workers, and second, it
provides rapid dissemination of large documents and files to those same
workers. In today's lesson, we're going to study the best ways to use
e-mail to enhance your work performance. We'll examine some rules for
writing business e-mails, and you'll learn about e-mail etiquette and
how to insert emotions into your messages. Then we'll discuss some of
the advanced functions associated with e-mail, such as attaching
documents.
Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
During this lesson, we'll examine the components of a database, focusing
primarily on the user interface. In your job, you might use this
interface to perform a lot of different functions, including data input,
data output, and data maintenance. Clerks work with databases to input
information. Other employees might work with databases to filter, sort,
and read information. Database-management personnel interface with
databases to keep them accurate, reliable, and secure.
Friday - Lesson 10
In today's lesson, we'll go over some of the computer's utility programs
to help you better understand the operation and organization of your
computer. Additionally, these programs will help you manage and safely
maintain the data on your computer. The utility programs we'll discuss
here deal primarily with file maintenance. Some of the functions
associated with these programs are viewing files, compressing files,
diagnosing problems, uninstalling software, defragmenting disks, backing
up files, and running screen savers.
Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
Today, we'll go over the major storage media available in the workplace,
as well as their corresponding characteristics. These major media types
include hard drives, memory sticks, compact discs (CDs), tapes, and PC
cards. We'll review some of the terms people use to describe memory
size, and then we'll compare file sizes to different storage options.
We'll also relate storage options to the different work tasks you might
perform, and we'll discuss when each option is most appropriate for a
certain task.
Friday - Lesson 12
In our final lesson, we have three specific goals. The first is to
identify ways to use your computer skills to find a new job. The second
is to use those same computer skills to get a promotion within your
current organization. Our third goal is to explore strategies for
continued learning in order to support your ever-growing employment
goals.
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Please
click here to
take this course through an
accredited college or
university in your
community. |
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