Student Questions and Answers from Past Beginner Workshops
How do you find phone numbers?
We will do this during the second
evening's workshop. Look for the link "People Search" at the top of
the Yahoo home page (http://www.yahoo.com) or go straight to http://people.yahoo.com
.
How do you send attachments with email?
Look for an
option or button in your email program that has the picture of a paperclip. Chances are
that clicking the paperclip will prompt you to select a file which you would like to
attach to the email document that you already have opened.
How do you compress pictures?
You can use a
standalone program such as WinZip (available for download at http://www.download.com) to compress files in the Zip
format which is a common one for PC users. Usually your email program will allow you to
set its options/preferences to automatically compress attachments such as pictures before
you send them. You must be sure though that the person to whom you are sending the picture
has WinZip or an email program that can uncompress the picture.
How do you use MS NetMeeting, the free
audio/videoconferencing software.
This is
something I hope to demonstrate more thoroughly to students in the upcoming WAEF Advanced Internet: Miscellaneous Web Surfing Tips
& Techniques workshops. Unfortunately, I am only able to introduce it in the
Internet for Beginners workshop.
How do you chat with someone on a different
continent?
You can each
use fancy chat programs like ICQ or IRC which are beyond the scope of this Internet for
Beginners workshop. Or, you can both use the program AOL Instant Messenger which is built
in to recent versions of Netscape. AOL Instant Messenger can be downloaded though from http://www.aol.com (you do not have to be an AOL user to use
this application). Both participants must obtain a free subscription to the AOL Instant
Messenger service before chatting though.
How do you download and print pictures
from email?
Some email programs present pictures right in the window which contains the
original pictures. You could try a different email program if yours doesn't
do this. Otherwise you must find where on your computer's hard drive the pictures
which are being received as email "attachments" are being stored.
Then use a program like "Paint" (found in the Accessories folder)
to open and print them. If Paint doesn't work you can download a copy of LView
Pro from http://www.download.com to view
& print virtually any kind of file under the sun.
How do you inventory a business?
One would probably by a good database program (Microsoft Access, Filemaker Pro,
MS FoxPro) and use a template that comes with the software in order to keep
track of a small business inventory. This has nothing to do specifically with
the Internet though.
How do you create a split screen?
I am not sure
what you mean but you can choose the menu command File/New/Navigator Window
to create a second Web browser window. Then you can drag the corners of the two windows to
resize them and view two Web pages at once.
How do you enlarge the print?
You can choose the menu command View/Increase
Font and all of the print on the screen will increase in size. This works in
Netscape and may not work in other applications and browsers.
How do you clear up wavy or blurred screen?
You probably need to buy a new monitor or
adjust your monitor settings. Look at the buttons on your monitor and carefully adjust
them.
How do you send email?
This will be demonstrated in the second
evening's class but you will have to take the Advanced Email
workshop to learn the "ins and outs" of sending email.
How do you download?
Technically you are downloading a Web page
every time that you surf to a new Web page. But you probably mean that you wish to
download a full-fledged computer program and to run that program on your computer in the
future. Once you download a freeware or shareware program, you do not need to be connected
to the Internet to run that program. This is a topic that will be covered in the WAEF Advanced Internet: Miscellaneous Web Surfing Tips
& Techniques workshop. A good Web site though to find inexpensive or free programs
is http://www.download.com . Follow the instructions
provided at that Web site to download the programs. To install them you may need to read
the "Read Me" file that came with the program.
How to find a long lost friend?
How to turn the computer on and off?
This is difficult to teach efficiently in
workshops since many home computers work differently. However, this is a topic that is
better addressed in a general workshop on using the computer. You may want to recommend
such courses be offered in the future on your workshop evaluation form.
How do you forward email to selected people
in an address book?
This topic is too advanced for our workshop but
is a primary topic in the WAEF Advanced Internet:
Mastering Your Email Account workshop.
How do you carry on two conversions on
Instant Messenger?
I will try to demonstrate this in the WAEF Advanced Internet:
Miscellaneous Web Surfing Tips & Techniques workshop. I do not do this often. You
may also submit the question to the WAEF Mailing List
and perhaps someone who does this regularly will respond.
How do you do "in depth" searching
on the World Wide Web?
Advanced
methods are taught in the WAEF Advanced Internet:
Using WWW Search Engines Efficiently workshop. You may also want to visit my advanced searching tutorial Web page.
How do you check airlines for good airfare
prices?
Check out my "Practical
Reasons to Use the Internet" page. I have many links to such Web sites.
What are some quick ways to surf?
I will try to demonstrate as many of these as I
can in the Beginner workshop however I stress these tips in the WAEF Advanced Internet: Miscellaneous Web Surfing Tips
& Techniques workshop. I worry that beginners will become too confused when taught
such tips.
How do you put something into your email from another
program?
Use the
standard, universal technique of "Copy and Paste" to place text into your email
from practically any other program. Usually under the Edit menu command you will find the
Copy command. First highlight the text that you want to copy and then choose the Copy
command. Next, go into your email program, create a new message, click in the body of the
message, and then choose the Paste command which is also found under the Edit menu. This
process will not harm the original text that you are copying.
Bookmarks/Saving favorite places
This will
definitely be demonstrated during our second class.
Downloading daily crossword puzzles
I am not
sure what you mean by downloading but if you simply want to play a daily crossword puzzle
on the Web you can visit a number of popular Web sites. We will look for some of these as
an exercise in the second evening's class. I would look for "Crossword puzzles"
at Yahoo, myself.
Finding maps, airline tickets, & chat rooms
How to email multiple friends at one shot.
Please visit the home page for the Advanced Email Internet workshop offered next month.
Video & voice email
Please visit the home page for the Advanced Email Internet workshop offered next month.
Writing, keeping, filing, & saving letters or
information.
These
questions are more suited to a general class on using a computer. I will try to
demonstrate this though in class if we have time.
Finding someone's email address.
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