IT Induction

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Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2

Accessing the college network ............................................................................... 3

Files and Folders ...................................................................................................... 7

Folders ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Files ..................................................................................................................................................... 7

Starting Windows Explorer ..................................................................................... 8

Working with Windows Explorer ...................................................................................................... 10

Creating a folder ............................................................................................................................... 11

Deleting folders ................................................................................................................................. 12

The Internet ............................................................................................................. 13

Starting Internet Explorer ................................................................................................................. 13

The Title Bar ...................................................................................................................................... 15

The Toolbar ....................................................................................................................................... 15

Summary of features .............................................................................................. 17

Email Etiquette ....................................................................................................... 18

Dos .................................................................................................................................................... 18

Don’ts ................................................................................................................................................ 19

Introduction to Moodle .......................................................................................... 20

Logging into Moodle ......................................................................................................................... 20

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Introduction In this short course you will find out what an operating environment is and how it can

be used to manage files and applications.

You will be using the Windows operating system in addition to Microsoft Word,

Internet Explorer and other applications.

In addition to using this as an instruction booklet, you may find it useful to keep it and

refer back to it from time to time as you progress through your chosen course of

study.

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Accessing the college network West College Scotland has moved to a Windows 7 network. For users this means

you must follow a log on procedure to access a PC on the network.

An opening screen will appear similar to the above.

To log on, hold the CTRL and ALT keys down using your left hand, then press the

DEL key using your right hand.

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The following screen should appear.

You will be issued with a number prior to your first log on. You will use your

matriculation number as your User name.

Enter this number as the User name.

On first logon, the password entered should your 8 digit date of birth. For example

Amy MacDonald born on 20 October 1987 would have the password 20101987

After a few seconds, the screen will display the college “Computer and Internet

Acceptable Use Agreement”.

You should read and understand this agreement before clicking on the Accept button.

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A message will appear on the screen informing you that you must change your

password on first login.

Now change your password to something that you, and you alone, can easily

remember. Your own individual password must be at least 8 characters and can

contain a mixture of letters and numbers.

Enter your own personal password as the New Password.

Enter your own personal password once again to Confirm New Password

The advantage of this is that by logging in with your own user name and password,

you can use any computer in the college which is part of the network.

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Your screen should now resemble the illustration below.

Log off now and try logging on again using your number and personal password.

If you have any problems then speak to your lecturer.

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Files and Folders Most of this work will be carried out on Windows Explorer. This is a powerful tool

that can help you organise your files and folders. It gives a dual display with the

folder structure on the left and the contents of the current folder on the right.

Folders Folders provide file organisation. They are containers in which related files could be

placed to keep them together, and away from other files. A folder can also contain

sub-folders, which can themselves be sub-divided. You can think of the first level of

folder as being sets of filing cabinets; the second level is the drawers within the

cabinets, and the next level sections within the drawers.

Files Files require a filename in order to identify them. A filename has 2 parts – the name

and the extension. The name can be up to 255 characters long and can contain

spaces. The extension is usually 4 characters long and is separated from the name

by a full stop. File extensions can be used to identify the type of file.

For example:

.doc files are Word files eg memo.doc

.xls files are Excel files eg accounts.xls MS Office 2010

.accdb files are Access files eg names.accdb

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Starting Windows Explorer Click the Start button at the

bottom left of your screen.

Select Windows Explorer

When you select Windows Explorer the following screen will appear with My Documents being the default location.

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In the top right corner of the window you can see these icons.

These are common to all Windows screens and are useful tools

when working with Windows and Windows applications.

This minimises a window and puts it on the task bar along the bottom

of the screen. The window can be re-opened by simply clicking on its

name on the task bar.

This icon maximises the screen when there are multiple windows

opened.

This icon closes a window.

Practice using these icons. They are particularly useful when you get more proficient

at working between applications. For example you can have more than one

application running and then switch between the applications by simply clicking on

them on the task bar at the foot of your screen.

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Working with Windows Explorer When you first start Explorer, a window appears, displaying the contents of the

current drive. The left hand displays the folders and sub-folders and the right half

lists the contents of the current folder.

Click on My Computer In this view you can see the drives

currently connected to your computer.

For example:

Local Disk (C:)

DVD Drive (D:)

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Creating a folder Firstly, open Windows Explorer

Now select your student area

Go to My Documents

Click: New Folder

We will create a folder called Info Tech on your network area.

A folder entitled New Folder appears on the left-hand side

of the screen. Overtype the

folders name ie Info Tech

and press Enter. This creates a location where files could be saved and copied to.

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Deleting folders Deleting a folder is simple. Select the folder and press the Delete key.

Note: You are given a warning before the folder is deleted. Remember all contents including sub-folders are deleted so heed the warning!

Click Yes to remove the folder.

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The Internet The Internet is a world wide collection of computers and computer networks that are

connected to one another and can communicate with each other through data lines.

The Internet is a global network of networks.

The Internet is widely used for eg Communication, Information, Research,

Education, Marketing or Entertainment

Starting Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (referred to as IE from now on) is an example of a software

program known as a browser or web browser. As the name suggests, this program

is used to ‘browse’ the pages of information available on the World Wide Web or

www. IE is a program that provides a way to look at, read, and even hear, all of the

information on the Word Wide Web.

To start up IE, click on this icon on your desktop. Your IE screen will look similar to the picture below.

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The student portal provides you with full instructions on how to use your student email and student storage space. Please click on the links and follow the instructions.

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The Title Bar Like every other Windows application IE has a Title Bar at the top of its window. The

title Bar is usually blue and displays the name of the current web page and the

browser name on the left-hand side. The usual Windows buttons used to minimize,

restore and close the window on the right side.

The Toolbar The Toolbar is a set of icons used to perform some of the more common IE functions

quickly and easily.

The most commonly used tools (from left to right)

Back Button – Displays the web page opened previously to the current page. Can

be repeatedly clicked until it dims – you’re back at the first page you opened.

Forward Button – Displays the web page opened after the current page. Can be

repeatedly clicked until it dims – you’re forwarded to the last page you opened.

Address Bar – You enter the web address which you wish to go to.

Refresh – Makes the current page reload. Use this if something goes wrong while a

web page is downloading.

Stop – Interrupts and stops a requested page being downloaded to your PC. Use if

a page is taking too long to download. After clicking Stop to stop a page that is

taking too long to download, you should click the Refresh button to try again.

Search – Used to connect to the Microsoft Search page. A useful way for the web

novice to begin searching.

Title Bar

Toolbar

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Favorites Centre – Allows you to see the categories under which you have saved

your Favorites.

Add to Favorites - Lets you add an address (URL) of a web site that you visit often

or want to visit later. This means that you don’t have to remember or to write down

site addresses.

Home – Returns you to your start-up page – in this case this is the web page that is

displayed when you connect to the Internet. This pageis called your Home Page and

can be set using Internet options in IE’s View menu. The term Home page is used in

another context to describe the start page of a site that you are hosting, ie you are

the author of the site.

Print – Used to print documents from the Intranet or Internet.

Page – can save web pages to a folder

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Summary of features Home Get a quick view of your world—e-mail, invitations, and what’s new with your

network.

Profile Share your world online–your activities, your photos, and the people you

know.

People Manage your contacts from Hotmail, Messenger, and Profile, all in one

place.

Mail Get fast, easy, reliable e-mail with more spam protection and plenty of

storage.

Photos Post your favourite shots online in slideshows that only the people you

choose can see.

Calendar Check your schedule, share calendars with others, and get reminders when

you need them.

Events Plan your next event with customized invitations, a guest list, RSVPs, and a

place to share online

OneDrive Store the files you need online and share them with the people you choose.

Groups Bring your team, club, or other group together with a webpage, calendar,

and more.

Spaces Express yourself with your own customized webpage—add a blog, photos,

videos, and more.

Mobile Stay in sync from the road, with Windows Live on your mobile phone.

Downloads Download Windows Live Essentials—free programs for your PC, including

Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Toolbar, and Family

Safety.

Office Live Store and share your business documents online—it’s quick, easy, and free.

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Email Etiquette Dos Spellcheck It’s important to proofread and check spelling before you send your email. Poor

spelling and keying in errors can completely change the meaning of an email and

cause confusion. Check carefully before you click the send button.

Check email regularly Nothing more to say here other than someone may be waiting for an urgent

response from you. So make sure you check your email on a regular basis to

respond in good time.

Always reply to an email. Even if a brief acknowledgement is all you can manage at

the time, send it. Tell the recipient you will get back to them, in more detail, as soon

as possible.

Be precise and concise Emails are not the way to communicate when you wish to have a long, drawn out

conversation or to give a detailed description of something. Keep to the subject of

the email, be very precise in your content and be brief, without missing important

information.

Take care – Reply to Sender/Reply to All Reply to Sender will only send a response to the one person who emailed you in the

first place. This person may have sent the same email to you and many other

recipients. If you Reply to All you will send the email back to everyone who was sent

the original email. Be careful, think before you click! Who do you want to email?

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Email subjects When composing your email, try to include a subject which will indicate to the

recipient the content of your email.

Storing emails File your emails in an orderly fashion so that you can find them again in the future if

you need to. Create folders in your inbox for various topics, people etc and save the

emails in the appropriate folder. Always delete unwanted emails in order to save

space.

Don’ts Caps Lock Shouting in email is indicated by keying in capital letters. Recipients of email find

this rather irritating and there are other ways to emphasise words or content within

an email, eg emboldening or underlining.

Misrepresentation Do not make changes to an email someone has sent to you and then pass it on to

someone else. This would be misrepresentation.

Do not pretend you are someone else by sending emails from someone else’s

account.

Remember that there is legislation which applies to written communication. These

laws also apply to email communication, ie copyright, defamation, obscenity and

fraudulent misrepresentation.

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Introduction to Moodle Moodle is the college Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is designed to help

educators create online courses which can also include student interaction.

Moodle can be used to help you with your studies both on-campus and online from

home.

Using Moodle, you can access online courses, take tests and communicate with your

lecturer and other students on your course.

Logging into Moodle Click on the Portal tab in the student Intranet and select Moodle.

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NOTE: If you are accessing from home, got to your internet browser e.g. Internet

Explorer and key http://moodle.westcollegescotland.ac.uk into the address box

and click Go. This will take you directly to the WCS Moodle login page of the Student

Intranet.

Enter the same Username and Password as you use for the college network into the

appropriate places and click on Login

Click on Social Science, Science, Sport & Maths

In the Sub-categories,

click on YOUR AREA OF STUDY

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Alternatively you can click on the plus sign

to expand Social Science, Science, Sport and Maths.

Then you can click on your area of study.

You will now be in your chosen area of study. You may be asked for an enrolment key your lecturer will provide you with this if required. Please use the MOODLE Student Guide to learn much more on how to use and navigate your way around. This is located in the home page and is easily down loaded.