Plugged In Homeschool

This weekend we will be posting the first weekly tech how-to for absolute beginners. Since many homeschooled youngsters will be wanting to send a thank you letter to Grandma, we will be discussing how to compose that letter creatively using Wordpad. This post is an introductory lesson for real beginners.

Assuming you are using a PC, you have a choice of word processors installed in your computer. The simplest of these is “Notepad.” “Wordpad” is capable of doing quite a bit more. Both of these are generally installed when you buy the computer. There are many other similar programs, most notably, “Word.” You usually have to buy “Word” separately. “Word” is a much more complex (and powerful) word processing program.

For now, however, we are going to take a look at what we can do with Wordpad. To find Wordpad, click on the “Start” button at the lower left hand corner of your screen. In the menu shown, simply click on Wordpad if it is listed. If it is not listed, pass the cursor over “All programs.” Now pass the cursor over “Accessories” and another menu will appear. Move down the menu to Wordpad and click. This is how it will appear in Windows XP. If you are using a different Windows version, it may be listed in “Tools.”

You can customize Wordpad with the buttons you want to see. If you click on “View”, you will see a menu of button bars. If you check all four choices, you will be able to see all the basic controls you will need.

The blinking line is where your written work will begin. Type your name. Use the backspace button to erase your name. Now try “Dear Grandma,” or whoever you want to write to. If you make a mistake, the backspace button will erase it so that you can redo it.

To finish today’s very beginner level lesson, click on “file,” and from the menu choose “save.” You will be shown a window with a space toward the bottom for the “file name.” It will probably say “document” and be highlighted. Click the backspace button and it will disappear. If it’s not highlighted, make sure you have the blinking line showing (click on the word “document” if you have to), and backspace one letter at a time to clear the file name. Now type “letter to Grandma” (or whoever) in the space. The “save as type” space should say “Rich Text Format (RTF).” Now move your curser to the save button and push save.

This is the start of the letter. We’ll be taking a look at the different aspects of using Wordpad each day this week. If you are a brand new computer user, a program like Wordpad can seem extremely complicated (and, yes, frustrating) the first few times you use it. It’s not uncommon to lose a big chunk of text and not know where it went, or have something move when you least expect it. Be encouraged, though, because in a few weeks, you’ll feel like a pro.

Having an understanding of the basic choices and buttons will equip you, and your kids, for using the word processing programs that crop up all over online. For example, you’ll be able to give your opinions at places like “E-pinions,” post messages at your favorite groups, and leave your comments on this blog! You’ll also be able to write school reports that look neat and professional.

Part 4:
When in the very beginning stages of learning to use a program like Wordpad, it seems more simple to use the “File, Edit, View, etc.” buttons than to use the icons on the tool bar. If you click or pass over the Edit button, you’ll be given a menu of choices. Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste Special, Clear, Select All, and some other choices. “Paste Special” is for importing a picture from somewhere else - we’ll save that one for later. The other choices are really useful for basic word processing.

The undo choice will undo the last thing you entered. It’s handy if you make a mistake. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Clear all require you to highlight the text you are working with before you use them. Highlight some text, then go up and click on copy. Move your cursor somewhere else on the board and then click paste. You’ll get what you copied. You can continue to click paste and get more copies without copying again.

Cut does the same thing as copy except it removes the text to be placed somewhere else. If you are worried about losing a bit of text through inexperience, use copy. That way, you’ll still have it visible while you are pasting it somewhere else. You can always go back and delete it by backspacing over it, or by highlighting it again and clicking on Clear.

Select all highlights everything on the board. This is useful for copying and pasting into another program.

Something that struck me as interesting when I was first wading my way through all of this is that there are many routes to the finished product. For instance, you can save by going to the File menu and clicking on Save, or you can use the Save icon. You can highlight everything on the page by dragging the cursor across all the words, or you can go the the Edit button and click on Select All.

In other words, there are a lot of different ways to do the same thing. You’ve probably noticed this same phenomenon when surfing the Web. There are usually three or four different links on a page that all take you to the same place. That surprised me at first. I figured every single click did something different.

Anyway, just an announcement. There may not be a “lesson” posted tomorrow, but I do still plan to walk us all through a cool looking thank you letter on the weekend. So stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!