This document provides an overview of basic computer and internet concepts. It defines what a computer is and its main components: hardware, software, and different types of computers. It describes input, output, and storage devices and how they allow communication with and storage of data on a computer. It also summarizes what can be done on the internet, how the world wide web works, web browsers, searching the internet, organizing files and folders, and includes instructions for creating a folder and saving a file as an example.

1. SSA MINI CONFERENCE JUNE 5, 2013
Getting Started with Computers
and the Internet
Martha Bogart
mbogart@csd.org

2. COMPUTER BASICS
What is a computer?
• An electronic device that receives data,
processes data, stores data, and
produces a result (output)
• A collection of electronic circuits, which
can be on or off (open or closed)

3. Components of Computer Systems
• Hardware
– Tangible, physical equipment like the case, the
monitor, the keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.
• Software
– Intangible set of instructions that tell the
computer what to do
– Called applications, like PowerPoint, Word, etc.

4. Types of Computers
• Supercomputers
– Used to do things like predict hurricanes and
navigate satellites
• Mainframe computers
– Used by business and government to process
large amounts of information
• Personal computers
– smaller and less powerful than the other types
of computers
– Desktops
– Laptop
– Notebook or tablet

5. Input, Output & Storage Devices
• Input devices allow you to communicate
with your computer
• Output devices allow your computer to
communicate with you
• Storage devices allow you to store or
retrieve information on your computer

6. Input Devices
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Touchpad
• Touch screen
• Bar code reader
• Scanner
• Microphone
• Digital camera

7. Output Devices
• Monitor
• Printer
• Speakers
• Modem
– Allows your computer to
communicate with other
computers

8. Storage Devices
• Hard Drive
– Inside the CPU
– Can be external
• CD (Compact Disk)
• DVD (Digital Versatile Disk)
• Flash drive (USB drive)

9. • Main Home Screen on a Computer Called
the Desktop

10. Networks
• When computers are connected to other
computers
• They can share information and
sometimes hardware (printers)
• Two Types: Local-Area and Wide-Area

11. Local Area Networks (LAN)
• Computers are connected together in a
relatively close location such as in the
same building or department.
• The data and software for these
computers are stored on a central
computer called the file server.
• Most schools use these so that
employees can have access to
frequently used files.

12. Wide Area Networks (WAN)
• When local area networks are expanded
to include several local area networks
within a city, state, region, territory,
country, continent, or the world.
• This is what the Internet is—a worldwide
network of computer networks.

13. What Can You Do on the Internet?
• Search for and view information
• Download information from remote
computers to your computer
• Send e-mail
• Join social networks, electronic discussion
groups, blogs, or newsgroups
• Use social networks to interact with people
• Interact with blogs, news sources, etc.
• Make Web pages
• Make content: videos, songs, images,
multimedia—and share the content with
others

14. Facts About the Internet
• No one owns or manages it
• Anyone can publish a page
• It can be used to communicate with people
in the world and find information
• Information can be inaccurate or out of
date
• Not everything can be found on the
Internet

15. What Is the World Wide Web?
• A global hypertext information system that
uses the Internet
– Like a big book of pages, but the pages are on
different computers all over the world
– Hypertext links on each page connect to other
pages

16. How Does the WWW Work?
• All web pages are written in
the same language: HTML
(Hypertext Markup
Language)
• Every page has its own
Web address (URL—
Uniform Resource Locator)
• Hypertext links one web
page to another
• A browser (Internet
Explorer, Firefox, or
Chrome) gives users point
and click access

17. Web Page Addresses (URLs)
 http://www.healthaction.org/healthyheart/index.html
hypertext domain pathway filename
transfer
protocol
Domain names:
• .com (commercial)
• .gov (government)
• .org (non-profit organization)
• .edu (educational institution)
• .mil (military)
• .net (network)
• Other countries: .ca (Canada), .au (Australia), etc.

18. Web Browsers
• Internet Explorer
– Microsoft product
• Mozilla Firefox
– Open Source
• Google Chrome
– Google product

19. Navigating the Browser
• Use the back button to navigate to pages
you have come from
• Enter Internet addresses (URLs)
accurately to take you to the website you
want

20. Internet Searching
• Search Engines
– Spiders or robots continually search the Web
for new pages, indexing words on each page
and noting changes
– No search tool searches everything on the web,
so to really find it all, you should use multiple
engines
– Sites are chosen by keywords that can appear
anywhere on the page
– Search using only the most important words

21. Different Search Engines
• Google
• Bing
• Ask
• Yahoo!
• Dogpile

22. Understanding Search Engine Results

23. Getting the Most Out of Search Tools
• Use advanced search to narrow your
results

24. Files & Folders—Organizing on the
Computer
• A file is like a document that you might find
on someone's desk or in a filing cabinet
– an item that contains a collection of related
information
– examples of files include text documents,
spreadsheets, digital pictures, and songs
• A folder is a container of files
– You can store lots of files inside folders
– You can even store folders inside of other
folders

25. My Documents
• A default location on your computer where
it stores files is called My Documents
• This is a folder that has already been
created for you
• If you don’t ―tell‖ the computer to do
otherwise, it will save your:
– Music files to the My Music folder
– Picture files to the My Pictures folder
– Videos to the My Videos folder

26. PRACTICE: Creating a New Folder
• Right mouse click on any empty space on
your desktop to get this pop up menu:

27. • Click the New option to get the side bar
menu pictured:

28. • Click the Folder option

29. • A new yellow folder will appear on your
desktop. Type your name in place of the
words, ―New folder.‖

30. • Double click the folder with your name on
it to open it.

31. PRACTICE: Creating & Saving a File
• Open Microsoft Word on your computer
• Type a sentence
• Go up to the menu bar and click on
rainbow ball
• Move down the list and click on ―Save as‖
• Navigate to the folder you created with
your name on it by clicking the Desktop
icon, then click on your folder
• Give your file a name and click Save

32. • Open Word by Clicking on the Icon
Type a sentence here.

33. Click on Save As

34. • Click on Desktop, then your folder; type in
file name, then click on Save

35. CREDITS
• This PowerPoint is based on
ones created by Shannon
Crawford Barniskis, 2010,
Connie Hutchison and
Christopher McCoy