Mouse Class

What is a mouse?

The mouse is a device that allows you to communicate with the computer by pointing and clicking on different areas of the computer display to perform various actions.

How do you hold and move a mouse?
	Hold the mouse gently between the thumb, ring finger and the pinkie finger. (Note) If left handed hold the mouse gently between the thumb, ring finger and the pinkie finger.
	Place your index finger on the left button and your middle finger on the right button without pressing down, (Note) If left handed place your index finger on the right button and you middle finger on the left button with pressing down.
	Rest your wrist on the desk or mouse pad.
	To move the mouse, rest your hand on the mouse and move it slowly.
	There is no need to lift the mouse unless you run out of room on the mouse pad.
	There is no need to turn the mouse right or left.
	The mouse should always be pointing away from you.

	Practice Moving the Mouse:
		Make sure your hand is placed correctly on the mouse.
		Slowly move the mouse around on the desk or the mouse pad.
		Simply slide the mouse left or right with the buttons still facing away from you.
		Watch the cursor (arrow) move on the computer screen as you move the mouse.
Desktop

How & When to Click the Left Mouse Button:
	Gently pressing and releasing the left mouse button, is one way to give a command to the computer.
	Keep your hand on the mouse and do not move the mouse.
	The secret is to keep the mouse still with your hand relaxed on the mouse as you press down and release with without lifting your finger completely off the button.
	You either click once or twice to tell a computer what to do.
	Single clicks are generally used when on the internet.
	Double clicking is generally used when clicking on an icon to start a program or open files.
	When text is double clicked whole words are selected or highlighted.
	The most common double clicking problems are clicking too slowly or double clicking where only single clicking is needed.

Practice Clicking the Left Mouse Button:
	Make sure your hand is placed correctly on the mouse.
	Make sure the cursor is on the right hand side of the screen.
	While keeping the mouse still, click once on the left mouse button.
	Move the cursor the left side of the screen and point the coursor to one of the icons (little pictures) or the words under the picture.
	Double click the left mouse button without moving the mouse. This will open a program.
	Once the program is open, single click the left mouse button on the "X" in the box in the far upper right corner. This will close the program and you will be back at the "desktop". See illustration above for a picture of a "desktop".

How & When to Click the Right Mouse Button:
	Clicking the right button provides a " menu" (an on-screen list of options for using the program you are in)that is based on whatever is clicked on.
	Depending on where the cursor is on the screen you will see the options available to you.

Practice Clicking the Right Mouse Button:
	Make sure your hand is placed correctly on the mouse.
	Make sure the cursor is on the right hand side of the screen.
	While keeping the mouse still, click once on the right mouse button and notice the menu that appears
	Move the cursor to the left side of the screen and point the cursor to one of the icons (little pictures) or the words under the picture.
	Single click the rightmouse button without moving the mouse. This will open a menu with several options.
	NOTE: Once the program is open, single click the left mouse button on the "X" in the box in the far upper right corner. This will close the program and you will be back at the "desktop".
	NOW... use the left button and double click on the icon that says "Mouse Class".
	This is will open a screen which has the web version of the lesson you have been studying.
	You will now learn to scroll.

How to Scroll:
	Scrolling means moving the screen up and down on a web page or other computer window. There are four ways to do this:
	1. To move one line at a time, click on the up or down arrows located at either end of the scroll bar.
	2. To move one screen at a time, click on the empty space within the scroll bar above or below the scroll bar.
	3. To move anywhere up or down, point the cursor to the scroll bar, press and hold down the left mouse button. Now you can slide the bar up or down by sliding the mouse slowly up or down. release the button when you get to the desired location.
	4. The wheel between the left and right mouse button enables the user to easily scroll up and down the page by rolling the wheel either forward or backward.

Practice Scrolling:

Locate the scroll bar on the far right hand side of the screen. (See the above picture.)

Left click on the down arrow. Each time you click the screen will move up one line at a time. Try this several times.

Left click on the up arrow. The screen will move down on line a time. Do this until the bar is at the top.

To move one screen at a time click on the empty space below the bar to move the screen up.

To move the screen down, click above the bar.

To move anywhere place the cursor so that it is on the bar, press the left mouse button down and hold. You can than pull the bar up or down until you find what you are looking for on the page.

If there is a wheel on the mouse, practice moving the wheel to see how the page moves up or down on the screen.

Finally, using one of the four options for scrolling, move the page so that you can see the area on the screen that matches the instruction sheet you are using.

Clicking on Hyperlinks:
	Hyperlinks are words or pictures that will allow you, when they are left clicked on, will allow you to go to a different part of a web page or to a totally different web page.
	Usually hyperlinks are underlined bits of text.
	You can tell that if something is a hyperlink because the cursor will turn into a hand when you move over the hyperlink.

Practice Using Hyperlinks:
	Click on the word "hyperlink" that is in dark blue and underlined. This will take you to the top of the page. At the top of the page click on "hyperlinks" again and this will bring you back to this part of the screen. Hyperlink
	You will be able to practice this and the other tasks a little later.

Practice Sites for learning to use the Mouse:

NOTE: To use one of these practice internet sites you need to click on the hyperlink or the underline words. This will take you to another website. To return to this screen you can click on the "back button" in the upper left hand corner of the screen. This will take you back one screen at a time.

Mousercise: http://www.3street.org/mouse/

New User Tutorial: http://tech.tln.lib.mi.us/tutor/welcome.htm

WPL Cyberschool Mouse Tutorial: http://www.worthingtonlibraries.org/noflash/PROGRAMS/Tutorials/SteveH/intro.htm

Scranton Public Library’s Mouse Tutorial: http://www.albright.org/Computers/tutorials/mouse/

What is the Keyboard:
A keyboard is a set of typewriter-like keys that enables you to enter data into a computer. Computer keyboards are similar to electric typewriter keyboards but contain additional keys.
Types of Keyboards: The main difference between the PC keyboard and the laptop keyboard is that the laptop keyboard does not have a separate number keypad. You will be learning about the PC keyboard in this tutorial.

The keys on computer keyboards are often classified as follows: Alphanumeric keys ---letters and numbers Punctuation keys----comma, period, semicolon and so on. Special keys----function keys, control keys, arrow keys, caps lock key and so on. Practice: Keyboard Tutorial: Click on the hyperlink for a Computer Training Tutorials—Keyboard: Important Note: If you want to go back to a previous web page, you can click on the back button in the upper left hand corner of the screen which will take you back one page at a time.

Terms:

Cursor: A special symbol, usually a solid rectangle or a blinking underline character, that signifies where the next character will be displayed on the screen. To type in different areas of the screen, you need to move the cursor. You can do this with the arrow keys, or with a mouse.

Desktop: The area on your computer screen on which icons for your hard drive, programs, etc. appear. See picture above.

Hyperlink: An image or portion of text on a web page that is linked to another web page, either on the same site or in another web site. Clicking on the link will take the user to another web page, or to another place on the same page. Words or phrases which serve as links are underlined, or appear in a different color, or both.Usually, you can tell something is a hyperlink because the cursor will change to a little hand as it passes over them.

Icon: A small picture that represents an object or program.

Menu: A menu is an on-screen list of options for using a program. It can also be a list of options with sub-options under them. Menus can be "pop up" or "pull down".

Mouse: The mouse allows you to point and click on different areas of the computer display to perform various actions.

Mouse Pad: Small sheet with a special surface for a rolling ball mouse to move on. Most mouse mats are sheets of rubber or foam with one side covered with cloth or sometimes hard plastic.

Scroll Bar: A bar along the right side or bottom of the the window. The bar allows you to scroll up and down or sideways on a screen.

Scroll Box: In the scroll bar, the small box that you can move to show other parts of the screen or document.

Window: A rectangular area on the screen, showing a section of a program or document. You can open, close, move and change the size of most windows.