21st Century 101, Tuesday Second Period

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Steve began today's class by telling his assembled students, "My apologies for my absence last week; you can thank our TA." Who might or might not be present, all things considered. "Medical emergencies aside, it's time for us to move on to the computer. Now, the computer in one form or another has existed since the early part of the last century, with some predecessors like adding machines being built in the 1800s, but those were huge, unwieldy machines, taking up whole rooms and used largely by governments and universities for things like creating and breaking coded messages, or running complex equations. The 'home computer' didn't really begin to exist until the 1980s or so, and they were still a lot bigger, slower, and more unwieldy than even the simplest models available now. The technology's growing in leaps and bounds, and what things will look like in ten or fifteen years is really hard to say. But that doesn't really concern you guys, does it? How to use what we've got does.

Steve proceeded to explain some of the things computers were used for in day-to-day life, such as word processing, storing files such as music and photos, playing games, and using the internet--and what those things were. "Now, there are three basic types of computers, and I'll cover one variation," Steve said, moving to a table where he'd set up one example of each. "First, there's the desktop computer, in which the main workings of the computer are contained separately from the parts the user mainly interacts with--the screen, the mouse, the keyboard. These are bigger and not terribly portable, but they tend to have more processing power and, in some cases, lack of portability can be a good thing. Then there's the laptop, in which everything is integrated together and more compact, so you can carry it places. Instead of a mouse--I'll explain, it's not a rodent--they usually have a touchpad, though it's possible to buy a mouse and connect it to the computer. Netbooks are a variation on the laptop--they're smaller and lighter, so even more portable, but the tradeoff is you don't get much data storage space or speed out of them. They're becoming less popular lately, I think, due to the rise of tablet computers, such as the iPad. These computers are flat, very portable, and feature a touchscreen interface rather than the touchpad and keyboard.

"Now, you may be wondering what's up with the mouse. It's not a real mouse, it's this," Steve said, holding up the desktop's mouse. "Named for the shape, see, with the tail?" Steve proceeded to explain how the mouse worked, demonstrating for the students, before moving on to the keyboard, explaining as he did so how the odd configuration of the letters had originally been used to slow typists down on typewriters and now was more a relic of habit. He also demonstrated basic functions like how to open, save, and close programs and how to turn the computer on and off--and where to find solitaire--as well as explaining what the various drives and ports were for. (The internet was for another class.) He also showed them the differences found with the laptop and how those worked before skipping the netbook, as it was much the same, and running through the basic functions of the tablet.

"I imagine there are going to be some questions, so please don't hesitate to ask me or Tony if he's here. I want everyone to come up with one thing a computer would be useful for to you, and then you're welcome to spend the rest of the period playing around with these examples to see which you find most suitable."