What should i teach in a Beginner Computer Class???

Question

Hi.

I have been asked to teach a Beginner's Computer Class in my community. I will be teaching to adults and High School kids (but the majority will be adults). I am a High School student myself.

I do know a lot about computers, but i am not exactly sure what to teach or how to go about doing it in a way to make it easy for everybody with their different skill levels.

Some people may know the basis, and some may not even know how to turn a computer on.

Should i start with teaching how to turn a computer on, tech/computer jargon, typing correctly on a keyboard (hand position)????

I'm at a loss.

Any ideas for what i should teach in this class would be great. Also, it would be great if you could write in what order you think i should teach them in.

Should i teach photo editing, home movie editing, typing, email etc etc???

Any ideas and suggestions would be much appreciated.

P.S. How much should i charge per person for each 1 hour lesson???

Thanks and regards,

Answer 1

Find an instructional booklet for mac or pc for beginners. If you follow the book i'm sure it will cover all you need to teach. I would recommend giving students individual assignments based on their skill level. Help the new students that are clueless the basics.

Answer 2

You need to start the class off by finding out the level of comfort your students have...show of hands may work, sometimes doing an anonymous survey is less intimidating to people. The other thing you may want to do early in the class is to find out [make a list on the board...] what folks actually want to learn. You may want to check into a few things before you start teaching: 1) are you working with Mac or PC platform?     2) do you have Vista?  3) is there a suggested text / book or do you have to choose one, and are students going to buy books or are texts optional?     4) do you have any texts you can "borrow" ideas and projects from? is there a library nearby [public, college, high school, etc] or maybe your school has a technology teacher [or just a techno-geek?] who can help you out...

You can email me at my profile if you need more help / someone to bounce ideas off of....Good luck!

Answer 3

This is tough question. I think at first you should establish who is at what level and then ask how much knowledge they have at a computer, e.g: Do you they use it for work and just want to refine their skills, or do they have no idea. After you have established the skill levels of everyone it will be a lot easier to run the class. At first assume that no one has any idea to operate the computer and eventually establish the different groups amongs them.

My suggestion would be to start with the basics, e.g. operating a system, using the in-built programs, installing new programs, printing, faxing etc. Eventually you will be able to build up from there, if you like it would be good to set certain tasks (simple,) that people can do at home.

It is also a good idea to ask the class what they would like to learn, if the general class wants to learn photo editing, then teach it! It is really up to you in terms of what the class does, try to involve them as much as possible though.

There is no set charge amount for a class, I suppose it depends on how much work you put into it. I'm not sure of your currency, so I can't really help there.