e-Learning / Computer Basics
from Competence Software
The Understanding Computers™ Course
e-Learning can be fun! Our Understanding Computers course makes it fun to gain a basic understanding of computers and technology. To see a demonstration try one of our Word Gems for yourself. See how easy they are and how much is covered in one simple lesson. These are sample Word Gems straight from our Understanding Computers course:
Course Description
This course takes one through the fundamentals of personal computing by focusing on the history and development of the computer. It explains basic computer terms and helps show the student what computers are capable of doing. Its focus is on the history and evolution of the computer from the early days of the ENIAC up to the IBM PC.
The course includes 35 knowledge-packed, interactive lessons designed to make the learning process fun as well as educational. Also includes a syllabus, glossary and index.
While it is intended for an absolute beginner to PCs, and tailors itself nicely to just that group, this course has also proven to be very useful to fill in missing background for those with some PC experience.
Two learning assistants -- a magical genie and a businessman -- make for a comical presentation of what would otherwise be very dry material. The course is very visually oriented, with many Shockwave animations that demonstrate the concepts being explained. Some of these animations are interactive, giving the student the chance to interact with the materials for better retention.
Cuts through the "techno-babble" and simplifies all the complexities of computers, from the inner workings of a computer to the graphical user interface.
Complete coverage of the evolution of computers from Pascal's adding machine in the 1700s to the high performance personal computers and networks of the new millennium.
The course teaches extensively the basics of hardware, operating systems, application software and networking.
Answers all those questions people have but are afraid to ask.
Overall, Understanding Computers is an excellent course on the basics of computers which maintains an exceptional level of technical detail.
To see the full Course Outline click here.
(Available for Microsoft Internet Explorer only.)
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Corporate Eval:
A full "Understanding Computers" course evaluation copy is available for those considering corporate multiple purchase. Save 20%! These courses are for those responsible for training others and who are considering volume purchase for their employees. These evaluation products are fully enabled versions of the Understanding Computers course. They are offered at a discount on the understanding that the manager involved will review the course thoroughly and, if favorably reviewed, will seriously consider a proposal for multiple courses and/or a site license. A representative from Competence Software will call to confirm that such is the case before shipping. Pricing for site licenses varies. Available on CD ROM and web-enabled for use on corporate intranets. Brought to you by the developers of the highly acclaimed Financial Competence® and Investment Competence® eLearning tutorials with over half a million courses in use by individuals and corporations large and small.
Corporate site licenses are tailor-made for low unit cost.
Understanding Computers Corporate Evaluation
Delivery Methods
- For Individuals (Single Users): The Understanding Computers course is now delivered on CD ROM, or it can be downloaded. Coming soon - you'll be able to purchase and run the course online from our website.
- Corporate - Single User version: The Understanding Computers course is now delivered on CD ROM, or it can be downloaded. Coming soon - you'll be able to purchase and run the course online from our website.
- Corporate - Learning Center version: Delivered as a master on CD, which corporate trainer loads on individual machines. More than one user can then access the course on that single machine. It keeps each student record separate from the other student records.
- Download Master: delivered as a master on CD to corporate trainers. Corporate trainer loads on corporate network or intranet. Students access the network or intranet and then download the course to their own machines.
- Network Version: delivered as a master on CD which corporate trainer loads on corporate LAN. Students then access the course from their local LAN. It keeps the student records for one user separate from another on the LAN.
- Intranet / Internet: delivered as a master on CD which corporate trainer sets up on their corporate intranet. Students then access the course from their corporate intranet. (We will be delivering our course so that it can be purchased and run online and corporations will have the option of running from our site rather than setting it up to run on their own intranet.
- Corporate trainers can mix and match delivery methods. You can have some users accessing the course via network or intranet, but then also buy CDs if you want to give the course to people who don't have easy access to networks or intranets. Or, you could hand out CDs to some employees, and let other employees download and run the software from our website. The point is: you're not locked into using ONE delivery method for this course.
Customization
Understanding Computers is also available in customized versions:
- We can include your corporate logo or the name of your school or group.
- We can translate it into other languages.
- We can include your corporate message.
- We can include specific information you require.
Contact us for more information about our customization process and for examples of customized courses.
Testimonials from Novice Computer Users
Enjoyed knowing the history and background of computers. But, when it came to talking about the binary digits, the CPu, the RAM, the Micro Processors, the floppy disks, getting away from DOS, the hard drive being C, and the floppies being A & B, the silicon chips -- those were the things I really enjoyed learning about. The course is extremely good. Thank you for you everything. -- A.N.
The course has been extremely educational and fascinating. -- J.B.
The course went very smoothly. No problems at all. The course was fun and easy to follow. It gives good basic understanding of computers. Even binary coding was easy to understand. I now know the difference between Fortran and Cobol programming... knew there was a difference, but just didn't know what.
The history of the computers was very interesting. You guys did a great job of tying all of the course contents together. and the humor was funny and helped to highlight the important points. -- K.J.
I loved the program and enjoyed working with it. I am sorry it is over. It was so informative, I learned so much. Now I understand what went into the making of this program. -- C.M.
Anyone with a computer should do this course. -- T.S.
I liked the gradient learning. Each lesson was more challenging so I felt like I was responsible for really understanding so I could move to the next lesson. Subsequent lessons tied in the prior lessons. I feel more understanding for computers. Good job. I would have no hesitation on recommending this to others. -- J.H.
I just completed the course Understanding Computers and it's great. REALLY LOVED the course!! -- J.D.
I do like the course! It's interesting because, I knew bits and pieces of the course before I started but I never knew how they all fit together. By doing the course I'm now getting an understanding of how it all works! -- S.J.
Testimonials from Programmers
I really enjoyed the online study of "Understanding Computers". It was entertaining and informative. How many computer courses have tried to describe computer machine code to a student? Well this one does it and does it famously.
Although I had grown with the development of the computer in my long career, this course was a refreshing review of my own history with computers. Great Course! -- V.G.
I really enjoyed doing this course.
I have been programming for a number of years, but was missing some basic information about how computers work. This course filled in the missing information that I needed. I now feel more comfortable with using a computer and have a keen desire to learn new technology. The course really expanded my horizons as a programmer. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of how computers work. --P.L.
I have been working with computers for the past few years. So when I took the Understanding Computers course, I knew quite a lot about computers, or so I thought. Going through the evolution of computers filled numerous voids I had on the subject. The course was fun to do. I love the ability to go through it as fast as I want and to repeat any chapter I want by the click of the mouse. I learned how simple it all really is. Had I done this course a few years ago, I would have had a much easier time with the whole subject. I had to decide to work with an alien and find out as I went along. This course not only introduces this alien "the Computer", it explains it and teaches how to speak with it. It really makes a friend of the alien for you.
To anyone whose stare goes blank when questioned about "COMPUTERS", I say this course will blow that fear away. In fact this is a spring board to new skills and fun. -- F.P.
I really enjoyed doing the Understanding Computers course. Even though I am experienced with computers, I got a lot out of this course -- the historical background was terrific, and I particularly appreciated how the evolution toward the Windows platform was explained. Also, I had my husband do this course. For many years, I have provided tech support for him when he gets tangled up trying to do something on his computer. As a result of doing the course, he is much more able to use the computer to do what he needs, and has much more affinity for the machine and its software. -- D.B.
At some point while doing the Understanding Computers course I began to feel more comfortable with my computer. By the end of the course I felt very comfortable with the computer and my knowledge that I understood how it worked and how it evolved. -- D.C.
When I started the Understanding Computers course I thought that maybe I would learn some cute things. I have been working in the computer field for 15 years. By the end of the course I realized I had learned quite a bit and my understanding of the computer increased greatly. I got much more from the course than I expected. I would recommend this course to anyone regardless of prior experience.
I found the Understanding Computers Course fun to do and very educational. I liked the fact that a lot of what we now know as a "computer" had "need" as its driving force like the chance meeting between the American Airlines executive and the IBM Sales Rep. Although I already knew of a lot of the data in the course, it gave me the specifics of why such and such a thing occurred like the Pascaline being built to calculate taxes or Babbage's machine for producing math tables directly to avoid navigational mistakes.
In each case, there was a real situation that was causing a problem needing an easier better solution. I liked the interaction between Genie and Big Al because it injected some humor into an otherwise dry subject. I liked the quizzes and also the easy manner in which these and the lessons could be done. -- T.S.
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