We started the class off by discussing how students save their work papers. Then we talked about how computers store information using storage devices such as a hard drive. Then I showed them the hard drive inside a computer.
We talked about the importance of organizing things and how confusing it would be if you just threw all your papers in the bottom of your backpack. The same thing is true for the computer. You need to store the files in an organized way to make it easy to find it again. I had a "small paper filing cabinet" and explained that the computer uses a similar system. In my example, I had folders for each grade and then inside the second grade folder there was a folder for each student. I showed them how the computer was setup the same way.
I showed them that computer folders could hold the same kind of things as a paper folder. We looked at some documents, listened to an MP3 song, watched a quick video, and looked at a photo.
I used the "filing cabinet" and "folders" to demonstrate the difference between using "save"and "save as". The students learned that once you save a file and then start editing it again, you are working on a "copy" of the original. If you decide to "save" the file, then you are overwriting the original (in other words you are discarding the original and keeping the new version). But if you use "save as" and give the file a new name, then you are keeping the original file and keeping the current version.
We finished by talking about the importance of saving files in their "personal folders". Their "personal folders" are stored on a "Network Server" in the mail room. If they store their files there, they can access them from any computer in the school. I showed them the network cable that connects each computer to the school "Local Area Network (or LAN)" and how the computer runs up the wall into the ceiling. That's how computers talk to each other.
We talked about the importance of organizing things and how confusing it would be if you just threw all your papers in the bottom of your backpack. The same thing is true for the computer. You need to store the files in an organized way to make it easy to find it again. I had a "small paper filing cabinet" and explained that the computer uses a similar system. In my example, I had folders for each grade and then inside the second grade folder there was a folder for each student. I showed them how the computer was setup the same way.
I showed them that computer folders could hold the same kind of things as a paper folder. We looked at some documents, listened to an MP3 song, watched a quick video, and looked at a photo.
I used the "filing cabinet" and "folders" to demonstrate the difference between using "save"and "save as". The students learned that once you save a file and then start editing it again, you are working on a "copy" of the original. If you decide to "save" the file, then you are overwriting the original (in other words you are discarding the original and keeping the new version). But if you use "save as" and give the file a new name, then you are keeping the original file and keeping the current version.
We finished by talking about the importance of saving files in their "personal folders". Their "personal folders" are stored on a "Network Server" in the mail room. If they store their files there, they can access them from any computer in the school. I showed them the network cable that connects each computer to the school "Local Area Network (or LAN)" and how the computer runs up the wall into the ceiling. That's how computers talk to each other.