Help for a Computer Fundemantals Course

[Crazyroostereye]

So I volunteer for an Organization, which focuses on Educating Children in the Fields of STEM (ger.: MINT), ranging from the ages of 8 and 14. We in particular have a focus on Mechanics and IT. And for a while now, we see more and more Children coming to our Entry Class Offerings with little to no experience on a Computer. Not being able to Type on a Keyboard at all or use a Mouse. Even in our more Advance Offerings we get children which struggle with the Keyboard and mouse.
And therefore I have been Tasked to Design a Computer Entry Course. Which should Teach Children to learn the Basics.
I struggle a bit of what I can fit into it, as I have a max Time constraint of 3 Hours, but I can make it a full Workshop with multiple sessions if need be. But I am trying to avoid that.

The Current Idea is that the Course starts with Turning on the Computer, and logging in. Then it goes over to accessing the File Explorer and Navigating to the Documents folder to create txt file for a writing from which we then begin to Learn to write a Text that will be on the Board. Then saving the Document. Deleting it. And permanently Deleting it. (Maybe building an aspect in for Printing the Document). Maybe Add a Segment in using a Word Processors like LibreOffice or ONLYOFFICE. And maybe the Fundamentals of the Settings will come up.

But as you can see I am very early Stages of designing and Planning the Course. My Question is for any Software and advice you lot can give me to implement and Work around the Course.

[Speb]

Going to preface this by saying I have 0 experience with children, other than having a few young nephews and nieces and I entertain them, not teach them.

I'd say show them how they can have fun with technology, it's an important skill but supporting their learning through their interests is key, show them paint and let them draw, write a short story or something happening in their life, their interests on notepad, and then go through the steps of showing them how to create a folder to store it in the correct place and how to delete it. How to navigate the Internet, copying pictures and making a collage of things they like to print and show off, changing their desktop background, that was a favourite of mine at primary school. I remember enjoying educational multiplayer games when I was in school, but that's a thin line and wouldn't want them getting distracted in the time frame. Something like a point and click adventure game for the mouse skills (i understand the limitation of sourcing such games though) or that AI DUNGEON could be cool. Get them typing out their own adventure and playing through it with an AI to help their typing. These are things that would have appealed to me anyway. My partner has just done a module on how schools incorporate technology in the class room, I'll ask for some things they covered as it could be relevant.

Also teach safety I'd advise, that what they put online, is permanent, they should be thinking about what they type and post because even if it isn't 'real' it can still have consequences (or 'hurt people's feelings' if they're younger)

[compromisedanon]

Speb's suggestion of making it fun is huge. Definitely make that a core aspect of the course given the age group.

I learned how to navigate the web and use the keyboard and mouse through web games. My elementary school basically just used Dance Mat Typing (https://www.dancemattypingguide.com/dan ... 1/stage-1/) to teach us how to type, and it worked really well.

TypeRacer (https://play.typeracer.com/) is another one I remember all the kids playing in middle school. It involves a competitive aspect, which is very good at engaging most kids.

File systems and using word processors and the like seem like they'd be harder to make fun. It depends on the framing - maybe you could have them write a short letter to their parents or whoever that has to include at least X images and be Y words long.

I'm thinking that incorporating the use of word processors and file systems the two could be useful. Like having them download and move a picture to a specific directory, and then using the word processor to insert that picture through that directory.

You could also think about using a presentation software instead of a word processor. Have everyone come up with 2 or 3 slides about anything that they'd like and go through the presentations really quickly, forcing them to learn how to use the presentation software to both create and present. Also shows them how technology is really used in future classes and the professional world as well. This seems harder to fit in a good time frame though.

[Crazyroostereye]

These Idea's sound great, but I do see that fitting it all in one class would be a bit hard. Maybe I split them Up or make full Workshop.