Session One.

Teacher Intro:

• Hello.   My name is Tony Allison and I’ll be your guide and mentor throughout the course.

• Before we begin,  I’d like to emphasize that your computer isn’t much different from your telephone,  your toaster,  or your car.   All of these are simply tools. They’re made for getting things done.

• And,  for making your life easier,  more productive ….. and more enjoyable.

• That’s what this course is really all about – making your life a little easier.   As you read the lessons and follow the simple exercises,  you will gain confidence and knowledge that will help you to use your computer effectively.

• I’m assuming that you know nothing about computers.   That is why we are starting with the basics!    For the next few weeks,  we shall be learning together – at your speed – and we will make sure that you can both understand and have the confidence to do the first stages of home computing.  

What's a Computer?

• So what is a computer?   A computer adds numbers.   That’s all it does.

• That may not sound very impressive,  but when you can add numbers very quickly,  as a computer does,  some amazing things are possible.

• The earliest computers were very good at generating long lists of numbers without making mistakes.   Those original machines were used mostly for computing the many pages of numbers used by scientists in their calculations.

• In the 1940’s and 1950’s,  the military used the first modern computers to figure out bomb trajectories, and to break enemy coded messages.   These machines were very slow and very large – some of them as big as a city block.

• The modern home computer,  or PC as we call it,  is basically much the same as the older machines.   It is just a lot smaller,  it does a lot more,  and it is much,  much faster.  

 

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