Learn Practical Skills At Home

Your comprehensive, beautifully illustrated lessons are clear and well-organized; easy to follow, yet challenging and engaging at the same time. Each lesson begins with an introductory note from your instructor, plus a preview outlining the subject matter and study objectives.

Next comes the reading assignment from your textbook, lesson book or supplemental references. Practical exercises and hands-on tutorials help reinforce important computer operations and functions. Then, turn in your open-book exam (available online) for the lesson, whenever YOU are ready.

As a student in this course, you’ll receive three instructional books by best-selling author Peter Norton. These acclaimed texts are fully illustrated and easy to follow, and include special activity diskettes.

You’ll also receive, at no additional cost, a simulated version of Office XP® For Windows®, one of today’s top-selling integrated software packages for Windows®.

Enroll online or call 1-800-535-1613 to speak with an Admission Advisor!

Meet Your Instructor

David T. Ronan is the course author and technical advisor of The PC for Beginners Program. Dave has been involved with PC's since their introduction in 1980, including many years on IBM’s technical staff. He has also created and taught many technical training courses for home study.

He, along with our staff of ourteous, knowledgeable career tutors, will give you careful guidance through your studies. If you have questions or need help along the way, just write, call, fax or E-mail us 24 hours a day. We'll give you prompt, personal assistance.

What You’ll Learn Lesson By Lesson in this Course

Lesson 1: THE COMPUTER AND YOU. Hardware; the processor; memory; input and output devices; storage; software; applications; the keyboard; navigating with the mouse and its variants; monitors; sound systems; printers.

Lesson 2: HOW PCÕS WORK. Bits and bytes; the CPU; types of processors; factors affecting processing speed; extending the processorÕs power to other devices; storage devices; data storage; types of CDÕs; networking fundamentals.

Lesson 3: SOFTWARE. The user interface; running programs; managing files; operating systems; word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database management systems.

Lesson 4: GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA. Types of graphics files; getting images into your computer; graphics software; graphics and the World Wide Web; multimedia; creating new media content; supporting technologies.

Lesson 5: THE INTERNET. How the Internet works; major Internet features; online services; Internet-related application programs; accessing and working on the Internet; connecting a PC to the Internet; commerce on the Web.

Lesson 6: WINDOW BASICS; MENUS; THE TASKBAR. Logging on to Windows 2000; using the mouse; moving, resizing, and closing a window; logging off Windows; using menus; the dialog box; changing the way files and folders display; arranging windows on the desktop; formatting a disk.

Lesson 7: PROGRAMS, FOLDERS, AND FILES. Starting, using, closing, and saving programs; using shortcuts; using Windows Explorer; creating and opening folders and directories; moving, copying, revising, naming, and deleting files; copying and moving file data between programs; linking files.

Lesson 8: THE INTERNET; NETWORKING; CUSTOMIZING WINDOWS. Logging on with Internet Explorer; the Web browser; searching the Web; downloading; printing; using Help; customizing the control panel and screen saver; changing display options, the taskbar, and start menu; passwords; networks; sharing files; using network printers.

Lesson 9: OFFICE XP BASICS. Moving Windows; starting and exiting Office; opening and saving a document with a new name; working in multiple windows; toolbars; menus.

Lesson 10: CREATING AND EDITING A DOCUMENT. Creating, saving, printing, closing, and renaming a new document; entering text; correcting errors; checking spelling; inserting text; selecting, deleting, and replacing text; using cut-and-paste; using undo and redo.

Lesson 11: TEXT AND DOCUMENT FORMATTING. Changing the font type, size, and emphasis; applying character effects; inserting symbols, page numbers, page breaks, headers, and footers; working with alignment, line spacing, and indents; the format printer; creating a bulleted list; using tab stops; setting margins; creating columns.

Lesson 12: TABLES AND UTILITIES. Inserting a table into a document; typing and formatting text in a table; adding rows and columns; formatting borders; shading; the Autoformat and Autofit tools; checking spelling and grammar; using AutoCorrect, AutoText, and AutoComplete; finding and replacing text; templates; using Wizard.

Lesson 13: MORE ABOUT WORD. Adding text borders, clip art, charts, and Hyperlinks; formatting a picture; wrapping text; WordArt; creating a diagram; moving text between documents; inserting an Excel chart; saving as a Web page.

Lesson 14: EXCEL BASICS. Navigating a workbook; selecting cells; entering and formatting text and numbers; fixing errors; summing a column; saving, printing, and closing a workbook; manipulating data; aligning text; changing font, size, and text emphasis; adding lines, borders, colors, and shading.

Lesson 15: MORE ABOUT EXCEL. Making calculations; working with formulas and cells; applying basic formulas to a loan payment; creating, editing, and printing charts; deleting, inserting, renaming, and moving sheets; designing and linking to a summary sheet; pasting a worksheet into Word.

Lesson 16: MICROSOFT OUTLOOK. Using Outlook to create or modify a contact, appointment, task, or journal entry; mail server vs. mail client; the username and password; sending and receiving mail on an E-mail account; the address book; attaching files to a message; creating a new mail folder.

Lesson 17: POWERPOINT BASICS. Applying a design; inserting, sizing, and moving clip art; creating and formatting WordArt objects; adding drawing objects, text boxes, and connectors between objects; grouping; adding sound and video.

Lesson 18: ADVANCED POWERPOINT TECHNIQUES. Working in a slide sorter view; animating text and transitions; customizing animations to dim text or animate objects; setting timings; previewing and printing in black and white; using slides with other presentations; inserting Word text and tables on slides; importing Excel charts; exporting a presentation to an outline; saving a presentation as Web pages.

Lesson 19: GETTING STARTED WITH ACCESS. Copying, renaming, opening, and creating a database file; examining and printing tables; using a form to enter data and print a record; previewing and printing a report; compacting and closing a database; creating tables in Design view; using Wizard and Report Wizard; adding and deleting records; modifying a form design; changing tab order; working with reports.

Lesson 20: DATABASES. Working with fields; adding hyperlink field types, data, and input masks; setting field properties; creating a lookup list; displaying related records; creating relationships between tables and enforcing referential integrity; finding, sorting, and indexing records.

Supplements: HOW TO BUY A COMPUTER. Selecting the right computer and peripherals to meet your needs and budget.
TIME MANAGEMENT GUIDE. How to increase your productivity as you study and in your career activities.