A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or
more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two
months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons
are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have
to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until
the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each
lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such,
we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final
exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work,
including the final exam.
Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
Struggling with that new Windows Vista computer? Baffled by all the icons, buttons, and terminology facing you? In our first lesson, I'll help you get on track by explaining what's going on and what all the buzzwords means. You'll learn what's on your desktop, how to use the programs on your computer, and how to properly shut down your computer (or put it in sleep mode for faster restart) at the end of the day.
Friday - Lesson 02
In this lesson, you'll learn to personalize your computer—to make things look and work the way you want. Are things too small to see? Make them bigger! Don't like that background picture? Change it! Don't see the programs you like best on your Start menu? Put them on! By the time you finish this lesson, your screen will look the way you want it to look.
Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
In today's lesson, we'll continue our general theme of how to make Vista work your way. You'll learn how to use gadgets and the sidebar, and I'll show you where you can find lots of new gadgets that you can add for free. You'll discover how to control screen colors and transparency, and how to tame your mouse and sound effects. And by the end of this lesson, you'll know how to decide for yourself when your computer puts itself to sleep, and what happens when you wake it back up.
Friday - Lesson 04
Do you share a computer with other people? Are you confused about all the talk of Standard User accounts, User Account Control, and security? In this lesson, we'll cut through all the jargon and get to the facts. When you're done, your computer will be more secure. And if several people share the computer, everyone will have their own user account, their own set of files, and their own personalization preferences.
Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
The PC was invented long before the Internet became public. And way back then, no one thought about Internet security at all, so computer have been vulnerable to Internet threats for several years now. In this lesson, you'll learn what the Internet is, and how it presents threats to your privacy and security. You'll also learn how to use the many features built into Windows Vista to protect you from all those threats.
Friday - Lesson 06
Just about everyone uses the Word Wide Web. To do so, they use a Web browser. Windows Vista comes with a free Web browser called Internet Explorer 7. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use that Web browser to get the most from the Internet. You'll discover how to make text larger or smaller, maintain and organize a collection of favorite Web sites, and keep your personal browsing habits private.
Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
These days, almost everybody uses e-mail. Windows Vista comes with a great e-mail program called Windows Mail. In this lesson, you'll learn how to set up Windows Mail to work with your e-mail account, and how to write, send, receive, reply to, and forward e-mail messages. You'll discover great techniques for fighting junk mail and phishing scams, and you'll learn new techniques for saving, organizing, and finding your e-mail messages.
Friday - Lesson 08
In today's lesson, you'll learn all about Windows Contacts, the personal electronic Address Book that comes free with Windows Vista. You'll discover how to add, change, and remove address book entries, and how to print contact information and phone lists. You'll also discover how to e-mail contacts and whole groups of people with just a few mouse clicks.
Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
Windows Calendar is an electronic calendar and personal organizer that comes free with Windows Vista. In this lesson, you'll learn how to create and manage appointments, how to share calendars and schedules with people, and how to download event schedules from the Internet right into your calendar—even from your favorite sports teams!
Friday - Lesson 10
Today you'll learn how to organize and share your photos using a program that come free with Windows Vista. You'll find out how to get pictures from a digital camera, save pictures that people send to you by e-mail, and e-mail photos to friends an family. And you'll learn how to tag pictures so that you can easily find just the photos you need for any occasion.
Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
We're not done with photos yet! In this lesson, you'll learn how to improve your photos using free tools that come with Windows Vista. You'll discover how to crop, lighten, or darken photos, and even how to remove the red eye that's often caused by flash photography. You'll also find out how to print your pictures in any size and shape you want.
Friday - Lesson 12
In our final lesson, you'll learn universal techniques for working with text on your computer. You'll discover the right ways to type and edit text, and I'll show you how to save a lot of time using universal skills for correcting and making changes to text you've already typed. You'll also learn how to use cut and paste to move or copy text so you'll never again have to retype text that's already on your screen!