Teaching Intro to Internet Classes

The class will focus on basic web browsing and email skills. With respect to the web, I plan on using a car analogy— to get any use out of an automobile, you need to know two things: first, how to operate a car, second, how to navigate the road system. Similarly, to use the Internet one needs to understand how to use the vehicle (a web browser) to navigate the terrain (the web). We’ll go over basics like links, bookmarks, printing sites, browser history, etc. I plan on also reviewing some basic security issues like phishing scams.

The email aspect of the presentation has changed a few times as I’ve refined the class material. I plan to approach the subject by assisting each student in getting a basic email account from Yahoo Mail. I had considered several others such as Hotmail and GMail. I would rather use GMail but playing around with invites will only complicate a process I’m trying to make as simple as possible. Yahoo offers a clean interface and plenty of extras for those who eventually want them. Once we get the students setup with their own new email account, we’ll go about learning the basics of email: sending, responding, contacts, attachments, and once again, security.

The library staff has been very helpful and supportive. If this class goes well then we hope to start regular monthly classes at the beginning of next year. I’m putting the final touches on my presentation now and I’ll post everything on my site once I’m done. If anyone has any suggestions or similar experiences to share, I’d love to hear them.