CAPITOL REGION RSVP

SENIOR COMPUTER LITERACY CLASSES

OVERVIEW

Capitol Region RSVP computer literacy classes have been designed for the adult senior learners who have the desire and drive to learn in order to stay current with the new technology that was not available to them in their business years.

Currently, there are 4 computer literacy programs; Basic I, Basic II MS Word, Basic II Excel and The Legacy. These classes are offered in the cities and town of Providence , North Providence and Johnston. The Basic classes are divided into a 12 week session and meet once a week for 90 minutes. The size of the class is limited to 6 students and is taught by trained volunteers of Capitol Region RSVP. Usually, each class will have two instructors or an instructor and an assistant. This ratio of 2 to 1 affords the students a comfort level of learning.

The computer literacy instructional labs of Capitol Region RSVP contain 6 to 10; Pentium 4 PC’s which has the current XP Profession Operating System and Microsoft Office Professional package. Limiting the class size assures the students of learning on their own PC and not having to share one.

The atmosphere of the classes are relaxed and instruction is given in an understandable non-computerize language, in a non academic environment.

•  BASIC I:

This class has been designed to give the students a basic understanding of the components of the PC. The first 3 weeks of the class the students will begin to control the mouse through interesting computer programs designed for fun but while also developing “eye to hand coordination.”

Following the mouse the students will begin instruction on the tools needed to create a word processing document on a PC. First, the complexities of saving data to a disc and then the next 2 weeks are devoted to the understanding the tools of the MS Word application.

Weeks seven to nine will begin to answer the students drive for signing up for these classes, the World Wide Web (WWW) and how to explore the four corners of the world.

Finally, the last three weeks the students will use the skills in the first nine weeks to give them an understanding of Yahoo E-Mail from setting up an account, to sending and receiving e-mails; to understanding attaching documents to E-mails.

•  BASIC II:

•  MS Word

Students that have competent skills with the mouse; along with basic computer skills in researching the WWW

and E-mail.

•  MS Excel

Both classes will spend a 12 week session receiving an in-depth view of these software programs. The students of these classes will further their understanding of the PC on a level that will allow them to seek a position in the business world requiring knowledge of the current technology used.

• THE LEGACY:

•  Students that are comfortable using a computer, and are competent with a basic word processing program, the WWW and the curiosity of a kitten.

Is there a family historian in your family and no one has ever taken the time to sit and write down the family history with them? Do you have papers with names, dates, addresses and family stories lying in a draw with old family photographs and you are the only person that can name the people in them? Then “THE LEGACY” will help you to organize this information for future generations, so that YOU will become more than just a name on an old document that someone finds in a drawer 50 years from now.

In this class, the investigator will not only meet past generations by researching on the World Wide Web, they will take a trip to the National Archives in Waltham and/or to The Church of Latter-day Saints “Family Search” library. They will also begin to understand a software program, FAMILY TREE MAKER that records past and present family generations into it. The novice will learn to install this program on their own PC and not have a grandchild do it for them. The beginner will learn to scan old photographs and “drop” them into their FAMILY TREE file, and finally they will learn to “burn a CD” so that a record of the family will be passed down to future generations.