Learn Easy Steps: Facilitation Guide

Learn: Easy Steps

Facilitation Guide

Orientation

Welcome

This course focuses on the development of basic technology skills for youth and adult learners with little or no technology experience. The course provides learners with many options for accessing and understanding how to use technology. It is meant to be a well-supported introductory experience to the world of computers and the Internet. Participants will learn skills that can be used in their everyday lives and provide them will skills that will allow them to participate in the digital world and enhance their economic opportunities. The course is a flexible and expandable series of core and optional modules that can be delivered sequentially and in full, or can be adapted by selecting certain modules or lessons

Using the Facilitation Guide

This Facilitation Guide provides information to help you successfully facilitate Learn Easy Steps. Read through the guide and the course thoroughly before facilitating a course, using the guide as a planning tool and to then, during the course, to keep you on track during the course. Throughout this Facilitation Guide, you will see Facilitation Tips such as the following one to help you create a good learning experience for your participants.

In the guide, you will also find the following to help you prepare for each module:

• A Facilitator Checklist: Check the boxes when you have accomplished the tasks
• Schedule: Use the table to plan your own schedule
• Notes: Jot down any ideas you want to remember for facilitating the course

The Facilitator

Facilitators provide rich, meaningful course experiences for participants by guiding individual work and group discussions. A thoughtfully facilitated course can be a rewarding experience for everyone involved, including the facilitator.

Facilitator Requirements

You will be most successful in facilitating Learn Easy Steps if you have the following:

• Prior experience with computing devices and operating systems
• Experience with all the topics and tools addressed in the course
• Experience working with youth and adult learners
• Ability to project from a computer to a large screen

Facilitator Responsibilities

Facilitators set the tone for the course discussions and activities. Facilitators can create a rewarding experience by fulfilling the following responsibilities:

• Conduct instruction in a learner-centered environment
• Engage all participants in discussions and activities
• Provide and promote thoughtful and constructive feedback
• Clarify concepts and answer questions
• Create a supportive learning community

Course Structure

Learn Easy Steps is an easily customizable and flexible basic computer literacy course that consists of five core modules:

Each module includes a brief Overview, a Getting Started section, and one to five lessons composed of the following sections:

• Learn—presentation of the information needed to complete the subsequent learning activities
• Practice—guided experiences to help participants learn the information and skills targeted in the module
• Apply—options for activities where participants use their skills to create something for their own use or interest
• Share and Reflect—a place to share their creations, think about what they have learned, and set goals for future learning

In the Facilitation Guide, you will see a Getting Started for each module, with some suggestions on sharing the information. You’ll also notice lesson objectives and a short wrap up for each lesson.

Activity Cards

Activity Cards were included in the original course, offering step-by-step directions for activities related to the content presented in the course. In 2018, 15 activity cards were converted to OER and can be found at www.k12blueprint.com/publications/easy-steps.

Required Technology

Access to technology is critical for success in this course.

• It is recommended that each participant have access to a computing device, although it would be possible for participants to share a computer. This, of course, would extend the time allotted for each activity so all the participants would have direct hands-on experiences.
• You will also need a device for projecting your computer onto a large screen so participants can see you modeling the skills they are learning.

Facilitation Tip

The course directions and screenshots are based on a Windows 8 operating system and Microsoft Office. The skills learned in the course, especially those that are web-based, are easily transferable to other platforms. However, facilitators should keep in mind that using other devices will require additional preparation time and possibly the creation of adapted resources.

Getting Acquainted

Building a community that supports and engages each other is an important goal of any facilitator. This starts with a brief activity where participants learn a bit about their fellow learners. Choose one of the following activities or find or create an activity of your own.

• Place participants in pairs to interview each other. Then have each person introduce their partner to the group in one sentence that tells three important things about them.
• Play two truths and a lie. In small groups, have each participant say three statements about themselves, two that are true and one that is a lie. Then have the rest of the group guess which statement is the lie. Have students pair up to introduce one person from their small group to the entire class, summarizing what they learned about the person.

Facilitating Discussions

Discussions help participants exchange ideas, process information, develop ideas, and refine their thinking. Many of the activities in the course are organized around discussing ideas. Whole group, small group, and pairs can all be effective formats for discussions and should all be used to keep the course engaging. Consider the following when deciding on formats for discussions:

Whole group discussions

The intent of whole group discussions is to foster a learning community to exchange ideas and benefit from others’ ideas and experiences. Consider the following tips when conducting whole group discussions:

• Establish agreements so all participants feel safe to share their ideas
• Encourage everyone to participate
• Acknowledge everyone’s ideas
• Keep your comments to a minimum to encourage active participation rather than passive listening. You probably talk more than you think you do, so remember to focus on drawing out participants rather than sharing your own experiences and opinions.

Small group discussions

Small group discussions provide a more intimate way for participants to delve deeper into topics and get crucial feedback. They also allow for shyer, less talkative learners to participate. Participants can stay in their same groups for each discussion or can mix. For some discussions, remaining with the same group may be advantageous as participants get to know each other. For others, mixing groups may be advantageous to get different perspectives and to help build a community of learners.

Pairs

For some activities, pairs of participants within the small groups may be more productive. Working in pairs provides more time for review and feedback.

The discussion questions included in the activities are suggestions. Please feel free to include supplemental questions or use the suggested questions as guidelines for developing your own questions.

Facilitating the Learning Activities

Each course module is organized into the subsections of Learn, Practice, Apply, and Share and Reflect. This structure allows for participants to learn about the skills, try the skills in a guided practice, and apply the skills in a meaningful way.

Learn

The first part of each lesson is a direct explanation of the skills and information that participants will need to know to complete the subsequent Practice and Apply activities. Some Learn sections are quite simple and short, but others are longer and present more complex materials.

The content in the Learn section forms the basis of everything that is addressed later in the lesson. Participants will refer back to this section as they work through the learning activities. To get the most out of the Learn sections, it’s best if participants interact with the content by sharing their thoughts and asking questions instead of just listening to or reading it.

Varying the ways that you present this content will keep your participants engaged and give them the opportunity to ask questions and share ideas in a supportive environment. Consider alternating among the following approaches for sharing written content:

• Facilitator presentation—Read or explain in your own words the material, stopping frequently for questions and comments. If you use this method with a large group, keep in mind that few of your participants will be likely to comment or ask questions. You might try stopping for partner or small-group discussions during the presentation.
• Partner reading—Participants take turns reading sections out loud to each other and discussing what they’ve read.
• Stop and think reading—Partners divide up a passage into sections, read sections silently, discussing them after each part.
• Jigsaw—Divide longer Learn sections into short passages. Divide participants into small groups and assign each group one of the passages to discuss and summarize. Then, form new groups of participants who studied each passage (some passages may have more than one representative) so they can share what they learned.

Facilitation Tip

Keep in mind the literacy level of your participants. Some may have difficulty reading the material on their own or be embarrassed to read aloud, even to just one person.

All the Learn content involves the demonstration and modeling of skills using a computer. You may choose either to demonstrate as you present, or before or after the participants read the content.

Keep the following tips in mind as you model computer skills:

• Make sure you have a way to project your screen so that participants can clearly see what you are doing on your computer.
• Enlarge the application or browser to be as large as possible so people can easily see what you are doing. You might want to choose a larger cursor that is easier for participants to see.
• Describe what you are doing as simply and clearly as possible, and move your cursor slowly and deliberately.
• Repeat each operation until you feel your participants understand what you are doing. Try a simple check, such as thumbs up or thumbs down, to determine if they are ready to move on.
• Your participants will want to follow along as you model. If you need them to look at you or your screen, check to make sure their focus is where you need it to be.
• If possible, have an assistant or a coach who can check on the participants while you are modeling. If this isn’t possible, identify participants with more experience who can help those who are less knowledgeable.

Facilitation Tip

The Undo command is probably the most useful command for beginning computer users. You will save time and frustration if you teach it to your participants right away.

Practice

Each lesson includes several activities designed to help participants learn skills through guided practice. During these activities, the facilitator must balance participants’ need for support as they learn within an atmosphere where they feel free to experiment and take risks as they learn. While it’s sometimes tempting to get your hands on the participants’ computers to help them, the best teachers model and let the students learn by doing.

Keep the following tips in mind as you facilitate Practice sessions:

• Don’t touch the participant’s mouse, screen, or touchpad unless they have accidentally done something so complicated that you need to fix it before they can move on. They learn best from doing the tasks themselves. If participants need more direction, put your hand over theirs on the mouse. If you do need to model a behavior on a participant’s computer, make sure they perform the task by themselves after your modeling.
• Try to guide participants with questions rather than with statements. For example, begin by asking, “What do you think you should do now?” rather than saying, “Now go to the Edit menu.” This strategy asks them to solve their own problems and also gives you some insight into how they are thinking which can help you understand how best to help them.
• Wait! It’s difficult to just watch while a learner tentatively tries to figure out what to do when it seems like such a simple operation. It’s tempting to just say, “Click here,” to get things moving. Be patient and let participants work at their speed. They’ll remember their skills better if they figure things out for themselves.
• Maintain a relaxed style and a sense of humor. Computer frustration is part of everyone’s experience, and staying calm and laughing about mistakes keeps everyone from getting too stressed.
• Don’t be afraid to let participants struggle a bit as they work with applications. Establish a protocol for what to do when things aren’t working correctly, such as: Think about what you did and where you might have gone wrong. Try “Undo. Re-read the instructions. Try something else. Ask a fellow participant. Ask the facilitator for help.

Facilitation Tip

Beginning computer users often worry that they will damage the machine if they make a mistake. Assure them that they won’t do that unless they drop the device on the floor or throw it against the wall. The worst that can happen is that they might lose their work and that will give them more practice.

Apply

The Apply section of each lesson is an opportunity for participants to use their skills to create something that is useful and meaningful for them. This section should be more of a work session than a time for direct instruction.

Keep the following tips in mind as you facilitate the Apply sections:

• Support participants as they apply their learning by offering encouragement, asking questions, or referring them to the Learn section of the lesson.
• Be accepting of failure and praise experimentation and risk-taking to create a productive learning environment.
• If possible, let participants choose from the options and Activity Cards listed in the course.
• Encourage them to make any adaptations or customizations they like to their work. The more they make the product their own, the more they will be engaged and the more they will learn from the experience.

Share and Reflect

At the end of each module, participants are encouraged to think back and discuss what they learned and how they can apply their new skills in their lives. A Skills Checklist list summarizes the skills they have learned.

This is important so that participants have time to process their learning before moving on to another module or lesson. You can begin this section by summarizing what they learned, highlighting positive behaviors that you saw during the course (such as persistence, flexibility, or determination), and calling attention to high quality Apply products. In general, this is the perfect time to praise participants for their hard work! Set a celebratory tone.

Facilitation Tip

You may want to have participants Apply work out on a table to showcase their accomplishments if printing is an option. Otherwise, their work can be projected to show their work. You may also want to talk about what you see participants doing as you walk around the classroom or center.

• If participants are in small groups, provide a few tips before they begin.
• Keep track of time. If participants are taking turns talking, they should allow each person has the same amount of time.
• Listen to each other and give positive feedback. It’s not a time to give critical feedback.
• Encourage everyone to speak, even if they might be shy about sharing their thoughts and feelings.

Creating Customized Workshops

Feel free to select from the modules, lessons, and activities in the course to create new workshops and to design your own experiences. You know best what will work with your participants. The following examples illustrate how you can use the content from the Easy Steps course to create customized learning experiences. The examples below show just two ways the course can be customized by taking different lessons from different modules.

Getting Started with Social Media

This course or workshop would be for participants interested in learning about social media tools like Facebook.

* Estimated 6-7 hours

Technology and Your Business

This course would be for people who want to use technology to improve their business practices.

*Estimated 25 hrs.

Planning Your Course Schedule

When setting up your course, you will need to consider several factors, such as your participants’ experience and their access to technology outside of the training facility.

Review the following estimated timings for each lesson, keeping in mind that activities may take more or less time depending on your participants’ knowledge and experience and their choices of activities. When creating a schedule for individual modules, try to add in extra time to allow for unanticipated events.

Facilitation Tip

If you know that you aren’t very good at keeping track of time, (and even if you usually are, it couldn’t hurt) ask one of your participants to be the timekeeper to let you know when it’s time to move on to the next activity. Unfortunately, when time is not monitored carefully, participants often miss out on the most important learning activity, the application of what they have learned to their daily lives. To keep this from happening, pay attention to the clock from the very beginning of each session.

Facilitation Tip

Consider holding general work sessions instead of specific instructional time for some of the Practice and Apply sections. This allows participants to come and go at their convenience, and to work on whatever they need to work on while you are available to give them help. If you use this strategy, you might want to encourage participants who enjoy working together to schedule their work time so they can help each other with projects.

You may want to divide the course into all-day workshops or several weekly sessions of 3-4 hours.

Module 1: Introduction to Computers

• Lesson 1: Computer Hardware (60 min.)
• Lesson 2: Computer Operating Systems and Applications (70 min.)
• Lesson 3: Saving and Storing Information (60 min.)
• Total Time: Estimated 3 hrs.

Module 2: Productivity Tools

• Lesson 1: Word Processing (165 min.)
• Lesson 2: Spreadsheets (135 mins.)
• Lesson 3: Multimedia Presentations (135 min.)
• Total Time: Estimated 7 hrs.

Module 3: The Internet, Email, and Communicating Online

• Lesson 1: The Internet (60 min.)
• Lesson 2: Email (60 min.)
• Lesson 3: Online Communications (106 min.)
• Total Time Estimated: 4 hrs.

Module 4: Keeping Safe Online

• Lesson 1: Strong Passwords (60 min.)
• Lesson 2: Your Digital Footprint (70 mins.)
• Lesson 3: Website Evaluation (60 min.)
• Lesson 5: Safe Online Shopping (75 min.)
• Total Time: Estimated 5 hrs.

Module 5: Social Media

• Lesson 1: Social Media and Online Communities (105 min.)
• Lesson 2: Media Sharing (105 mins.)
• Lesson 3: Safety for Social Media (115 min.)
• Total Time: Estimated 5 hrs.

Optional Module: Exploring Entrepreneurship

• Lesson 1: Developing a Business Idea (140 min.)
• Lesson 2: Developing a Business Plan (100 mins.)
• Total Time: Estimated 4 hrs.

Optional Module: Market Your Business

• Lesson 1: Business Image Development (180 min.)
• Lesson 2: Business Image Presentation (195 mins.)
• Total Time: Estimated 6 hrs.

Optional Module: Money Management

• Lesson 1: Creating a Cash Flow Spreadsheet (260 min.)
• Total Time: Estimated 4 hrs.
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Challenges and Solutions

This Facilitation Guide provides information and suggestions to help you conduct a successful course. The Facilitation Tips inserted throughout this Guide provide extra information that can help you. The Facilitation Checklist at the beginning of each lesson will help to remind you of all the tasks you need to complete before facilitating the lesson.

In spite of your best efforts, you will doubtless encounter problems during the course. Thinking ahead and staying aware of what is happening with your participants will help both you and your participants have good experiences with technology during the course. Some of the problems you may encounter include:

Unreliable technology

You are probably aware of the shortcomings of your technological environment. Maybe you have too few computers, sporadic connectivity, limited bandwidth, or even unreliable electricity. Some of these issues can’t really be overcome and class sessions will have to be rescheduled. Others will require creative thinking. Problem-solve ahead of time and involve participants if possible in coming up with solutions.

Attendance issues

Participants in this course have busy lives and they may miss course sessions. Therefore, it’s important to begin each class session with a brief review of what came before. Be careful not to waste the time of the participants who did attend by re-teaching skills and concepts.

Difficult participants

Dealing with difficult participants can be the most challenging part of facilitating a course. Negative attitudes are often contagious and can ruin the learning experience for everyone. Remember that people complain or withdraw for many reasons. They may feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or poorly prepared for the coursework. Or they may be upset about something completely unrelated to the course. If you can determine the reason for a participant’s poor attitude, you can often assuage their fears, give them some encouragement, share your own bad experiences with technology, or pair them up with another participant who can help them.

It’s important to remain calm and professional and be careful not to devote too much time to problem participants and neglect the rest of the class.

Course Facilitation

Prepare for the Course

If practical, distribute the survey. The data from this survey can help you design the right experience for your participants.

• Design your course by selecting the modules, lessons, and activities participants will be completing.
• Determine the device, operating system, and how participants will access the course.
• Load any necessary files onto the devices the participants will use.
• Review the modules participants will be working through, as well as all necessary tools and resources.
• Choose and test the tools your participants will be using.
• Set up the agenda.
• Provide participants with an agenda of the course. Make name tags for participants.
• Test the course and tools in the room where you will be delivering the course.

Module 1: Introduction to Computers

This module focuses on the basic skills and knowledge necessary to begin to work with computers—the parts of a computer, the operating system, and file saving and organization. The module is most beneficial for participants who are brand-new to computers. It may not be necessary if you are training participants who have used computers before. The module includes three lessons. They may be done independent of each other.

Lesson 1: Computer Hardware

Participants are introduced to a computer and learn the names of computer parts and the functions of keys, such as Shift, Tab, Enter, and the space bar. This is most helpful for people who have never used a computer.

Lesson 2: Computer Operating Systems and Applications

What’s on the desktop and start screen of a computer? How do you access applications? How do you use windows? Participants learn basic computer skills, including how to use a mouse or keypad to navigate a computer and keys to write.

Lesson 3: Saving and Storing Information

Participants learn how to use, organize, and move folder, as well to safely shut down a computer.

Module 1 Facilitator Checklist

• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Make name tags for yourself and your participants.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Getting Started

1. If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can introduce themselves and get acquainted with their peers. Facilitation Tip: If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.
2. You may also want to have a discussion with participants, asking questions such as: Why are you taking this course? What do you hope to learn? How do you expect to use what you are learning in your daily life? How do you see computing devices becoming a part of your community and societies around the world?

Lesson 1: Computer Hardware

This lesson introduces participants to the basic parts of the computer.

Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (15 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Explore the Computer (15 min.)
• Apply (10 min.)
• Lesson Wrap-up (5 min)
• Total Time: (60 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will:

• Name parts of a computer
• Use some of the keys

A discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about computers. This will help you determine how much time to spend on each topic in the Learn section. It’s also a great way to get your group involved and help them get to know each other. Ask participants:

• What is a computer?
• Do you have a computer? If so, what kind is it?
• What have you used it for?
• What other computing devices have you seen, such as tablets, laptops, or mobile phones?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board, to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip

You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

To begin, participants are introduced to the parts of a computer. You may want to facilitate this section by pointing out each component while participants touch the parts on their computers. If they are in groups, they can take turns.

Extension Activity: One way to help participants become familiar with the parts of their computers is with a game. The game Concentration would work well for this. Create two sets of squares with the names of the computer parts on one set and their descriptions and/or functions on the other set. You could do this by simply creating a table and cutting the squares apart. Another option is to have your participants write the names of the parts and their descriptions on cards or paper for the game.

Players turn the squares face down and mix them up. Each player turns over two squares at a time. If the squares match, they stay face up, and if they don’t match, they’re left face down. The object is for the players to remember where the different squares were when they were turned over, so they can create matches until all the squares are face up. You can read about Concentration at this website: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-to-play-concentration.htm

Practice
Activity 1: Explore the Computer
Walk around the room while participants identify the items listed. Notice if some participants are more familiar with computers and may serve as helpers (throughout the course) to others who may have less or no experience with computers.

Apply
Now that participants have been introduced to computers, have them discuss the Apply questions in small groups or pairs.

Wrap-Up
Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

Lesson 2: Computer Operating Systems and Applications

This lesson explores how a computer operates. Before beginning Lesson 2:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Explore the Operating System (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Working in an Application (15 min.)
• Apply (20 min.)
• Lesson Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (70 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will be able to:

• Use various features of the Windows desktop
• Use a mouse or touchpad

Begin the lesson with a look back to what participants have learned in previous activities and a look ahead to what they will be learning in the current session. Depending on the length of time between sessions and your participants’ experiences, this review can be very brief or rather extensive.

• What did you learn in Lesson 1 that was the most useful?
• What would you like to learn to do with a computer?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip

You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Depending on the type of computers your students are using, you may need to clearly explain the difference between the Start screen and the desktop.

Facilitation Tip

This is one lesson where you will want to control the Learn experience by demonstrating the various tasks involved in using the computer’s operating system. Refer to the Overview of Course Facilitation for tips on modeling computing processes.

Practice

Activity 1: Explore the Operating System

When participants first start using a mouse, it may feel awkward. The more they practice, the more natural it will feel. If users do not have a mouse and instead are using a touch pad, you’ll need to show them how to
use the left and right parts of the pad. If they are using tablets, they’ll need to learn about swiping. Either way, they should get accustomed to controlling their screens.

Activity 2: Working in an Application
This activity has a lot of steps! It may be helpful for participants to work in pairs, with one participant reading the steps out loud, while the other participant follows them.
If participants do not know how to type, you could recommend that if they expect to use a computer a lot, they may want to learn basic keyboarding skills. Many online tutorials are available.

Facilitation Tip
Be strategic in your responses to participants’ questions as they work on practice activities. You want to keep them from getting too frustrated while helping them develop independence and troubleshooting skills. Refer to the Overview of Course Facilitation for tips on giving feedback and direction to participants.

Apply

The first Apply exercise is intended to help participants learn where the keys are located. The second activity is another great way for participants to use their new keyboarding skills to get to know each other. Depending on your time, have them do one or both of these exercises. Note that the sentences that are in the course intentionally use a variety of keys.

Wrap-Up
Conduct a short discussion with participants reflecting on their learning from this lesson:

• What was challenging, easy, fun, or especially useful about this lesson?
• How might you use what you learned here in your life?
• What would you like to learn more about?

Lesson 3: Saving and Storing Information

In this lesson, participants learn a few more basic operations that can help them organize their work on most desktop and laptop computers. Before beginning Lesson 3:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this Lesson.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Create a Folder (5 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Naming and Saving Files (5 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Save Additional Changes (5 min.)
• Practice Activity 4: Moving Files (5 min.)
• Practice Activity 5: Turning Off the Computer (5 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Share and Reflect (5 min.)
• Total Time (60 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will be able to:

• Save and store their work on a computer
• Shutdown a computer safely

Begin the lesson with a look back to what participants have learned in previous activities and a look ahead to what they will be learning in the current session. Depending on the length of time between sessions and your participants’ experiences, this review can be very brief or rather extensive.

• How have you been able to use what you learned in Lesson 2 in your daily life?
• Have you used a computer since the last lesson? If so, how did it go?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

It might be helpful to demonstrate the concepts of files, folders, and subfolders using concrete office materials, such as papers, CDs, DVDs, and manila folders. Point out that a file may not necessarily be a document, but could also be a photo, a video, or audio file.

This lesson introduces several critical terms− file, folder, menu, drop-down, and dialog box. You might want to create a game or quiz to make sure your participants understand these terms before moving on. For example, pose hypothetical situations such as, “If I want to find my personal folder, I would…”

Practice

Activity 1: Create a Folder
To help participants understand what a computer folder is, have a short discussion about how they organize things at their homes. Ask questions such as the following:

• What are some ways that you organize mail and important papers, either at home or a business?

Use physical items to explain sub-folders, for example a folder within a main file folder.

Activity 2: Naming and Saving Files
You may need to review for your participants how to create a Notepad file. Encourage them to remember before you model the process. Discuss ways that folders could be organized, such as, by project, month, or types of files.

Explain that some people prefer to name files by leaving out the spaces between words or adding hyphens or underlines. This is a matter of personal preference. Spaces between words are not recommended because it adds extra characters to the url if the document is posted online. You may want to explain that some symbols are not allowed in file names, and they will see a message if they accidentally use one of these symbols.

Facilitation Tip
You may have participants who ask you about the symbols next to the terms in the menu, such as Ctrl + N. Use your judgment to decide whether the participant will be more or less confused if they know about these shortcuts.

Activity 3: Save Additional Changes
Remind participants to save often so they don’t accidentally lose their work.

Activity 4: Moving Files
Some participants might find clicking and dragging difficult because it is a different kind of mouse action than what they’re used to. Remind them that they need to hold the mouse key down as they click and keep holding it down until they have moved the file.

Activity 5: Turning Off the Computer
Make sure participants save their work before shutting down their computers!  

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

If your participants choose the second option in this section, tell them that, if they wish, they can compose their own message instead of copying the one printed in the manual.

Share and Reflect

The Share and Reflects are at the end of each module. This step of the learning process is often neglected because participants get rushed and involved in activities and facilitators often feel they don’t have the time to stop and ask them to think about what they have learned. However, this is a critical step for learning that should not be left out. Sharing what they created gives participants a sense of pride and helps them feel in control of their learning. Thinking back on what they have learned and what they want to learn improves memory and accountability.

You can plan a variety of kinds of reflection activities, such as small group or partner discussions, writing, or making diagrams or drawings. Plan to vary the reflection methods you assign throughout the course.

This reflection activity involves sharing with a partner. Follow it up with a short, large group discussion, asking some or all of the following questions:

• How do your wishes for using a computer compare and contrast with those of your peers?
• Do you know a technology expert that you look up to? What might you learn from him or her?
• How do you see yourself using a computer in the years ahead?

Module 2 : Productivity Tools

This module explores how to use productivity tools on a computer to create documents, organize data, and present multimedia slideshows. It is useful for beginning computer users who may not have reliable Internet access, but want to know how they can use computer software for daily tasks. Module 2 includes three lessons that may be completed independent of one another.

Lesson 1: Word Processing
Participants develop basic skills for word processing by creating a flyer.

Lesson 2: Spreadsheets
Participants learn how spreadsheets can organize and store data by creating a budget.

Lesson 3: Multimedia Presentations
Participants explore multimedia tools and create a slideshow.

Facilitation Tip
Module 2 is the longest of the Easy Steps modules, but each lesson is designed to stand on its own. Select the lessons and activities that are most relevant and interesting for your audience. Prior to planning your course, you may want to survey your participants and collect feedback on which topics interest them the most.

Module 2 Facilitator Checklist

• Make name tags for participants.
• Set up your projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Getting Started

This mini-lesson introduces participants to the different productivity tools and explains how they might be used in daily life.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course. 

1. If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can introduce themselves and become more familiar.
2. Engage your participants in a discussion about productivity tools and their uses. You may find that your participants are more comfortable discussing their ideas with a partner or a small group. Some possible discussion questions include: Think about typical tasks in your everyday or work life. How do you store and organize information? How do you communicate information to others? Where have you seen electronic products, such as typed documents, posters, spreadsheets, or multimedia presentations? How are they used to communicate information? What would you like to be able to do on your computer?
3. Share examples of products made with each type of productivity tool, for example: A typed document with an image, A spreadsheet with a graph, A slide from a slide show. Ask participants to describe what they notice about each product. You may want to record their responses on a large piece of paper for future reference throughout the course.
4. Share the Getting Started chart that outlines the basic differences between the productivity tools and their unique features.
5. Extension Activity: As participants begin to understand how each productivity tool is used for a unique purpose, play this interactive game to engage their thinking and increase their knowledge of the tools: Show an electronic product that was created using one of the tools (for example, a resume). Participants apply their knowledge to determine which tool created the product. Ask participants to write down “Word Processing”, “Spreadsheet”, or “Multimedia Presentation” on a piece of paper and hold it up for the facilitator to see. Reveal the correct answer and explain or re-teach as needed.
6. Demonstrate how to access the application toolbar and explain common icons, for example, Save and Open. Provide time for participants to explore on their own.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Lesson 1: Word Processing

This lesson introduces participants to word processing software as a tool for writing letters, resumes, and other documents. Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (15 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (15 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Explore Word Processing Basics (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Change Text Formatting (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Change Text Placement (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 4: Create a Flyer with Images and Borders (30 min.)
• Apply (30 min.)
• Share and Reflect (15 min.)
• Total Time (165 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of the lesson, they will be able to:

• Create a document using word processing software
• Customize a document with font style, size, color, and formatting
• Add images and borders

A discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about word processing and creating electronic documents. This will help you determine how much time to spend on each topic in the Learn section. It’s also a great way to get your group involved and help them get to know one another better. Ask participants:

• Where have you seen a document that was created on a computer?
• How is it different from a document created without a computer?
• Why do you think word processing is important?

Include key terms in your discussion, such as font, formatting, alignment, and graphics. It’s okay if your participants don’t completely understand the terms right now, as long as they begin to hear these terms used in context.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Extension Activity: Play a matching game to review essential word processing terms and definitions from the Learn section. Type one term on a piece of paper, and type the definition on another piece of paper. Repeat for all of the terms in this section.

Divide your participants into small groups and ask them to match each term to its definition. This is also a great way to demonstrate a potential use for word processing software! If you do not have access to a printer, you can do this activity by writing the information by hand.

Practice

Activity 1: Explore Word Processing Basics

Facilitation Tip
Initially, your participants may be hesitant about erasing or deleting their work. Continually encourage them to explore and take risks, knowing they can always use the Undo feature if they make a mistake!

Activity 2: Change Text Formatting
Engage participants in a discussion about why word processing software might be used to format text in different ways. Some questions you might ask include:

• Where have you seen words being displayed in different ways, for example, different sizes and colors?
• How does the style of the text draw your attention to certain items?

Facilitation Tip
Selecting text with a click and drag motion may be a new concept for your participants. Provide a demonstration of this motion, and give participants plenty of time for practice.

Activity 3: Change Text Placement
Explain to your participants that text placement will become a very important part of the next activity, creating a flyer. More advanced participants may want to combine text placement with what they previously learned about text formatting.

Activity 4: Create a Flyer with Images and Borders
Before participants begin making their flyer, be sure they have a clear idea about the type of flyer they want to design. Use the guiding questions provided in this activity to help focus their work.

Begin the activity with a discussion about flyers participants have seen in their community, or bring in some local examples. You may also want to create a few flyer examples to spark creative ideas.

Facilitation Tip
Depending on your participants’ experience level, you may need to simplify this activity. If needed, omit the Insert a Table and Insert Data into a Table sections.

Prior to this activity, make sure that participants have access to images saved locally on their machines, in the event that they cannot access the Internet for images.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Share and Reflect

You may want to take a moment to review the following basics about participation in large or small group discussions, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy:

• Accept all contributions
• Encourage each other to participate
• Ask each other questions
• Keep your sense of humor
• Try to keep the participation equal among group members. Don’t let one person dominate the discussion

Facilitation Tip
If you find that your participants are reluctant to participate in the discussion, or a few participants are dominating the conversation, try dividing into small groups for this section. This will allow participants to hear multiple points of view but still have the opportunity to contribute in a smaller, more comfortable setting.

Lesson 2: Spreadsheets

This lesson introduces participants to spreadsheet software as a tool for organizing, calculating, and updating information in a simple way. Before beginning Lesson 2:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (10 min.)
• Learn (20 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Explore Spreadsheets (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Make a Monthly Budget (25 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Analyze Your Monthly Budget with a Chart (20 min.)
• Apply (30 min.)
• Share and Reflect (15 min.)
• Total Time (135 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of the lesson, they will be able to:

• Input data in a spreadsheet
• Perform calculations on data sets
• Make a monthly budget and analyze the budget with a chart

Similar to Lesson 1, a discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about spreadsheets and data organization. Use this discussion to help you determine how much time to spend on each topic in the Learn section. Ask participants:

• What types of information do you encounter in your daily life? For example, do you keep track of contact details for the different people you meet, your monthly expenses, bill payments, shopping lists, event schedules, project timelines for work, or other types of data?
• Where have you seen a spreadsheet?
• What do you think spreadsheets are used for?

Include key terms in your discussion, such as cell, row, column, and data. It’s okay if your participants don’t completely understand the terms right now, as long as they begin to hear these terms used in context.

Facilitation Tip
Spreadsheets may be less intuitive than word processing for your participants. The unfamiliar worksheet layout and new terms, such as cell, might hinder your participants’ advancement through the lesson. Consider posting useful terms and illustrations on large reference posters around the room. Record important questions that arise during the discussion on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Learn

Collect examples of spreadsheets to hand out to participants, or draw an example of a spreadsheet where all participants can view it. Refer to these examples when you are teaching to make abstract terms more concrete. When possible, have participants locate and circle items on the spreadsheet (such as data, column, row, and cell) as you define these terms.

Extension Activity: The Learn section in this lesson introduces participants to many key spreadsheet functions located in the Home tab of the spreadsheet software. You can play a friendly “scavenger hunt” game to engage participants in learning where to find the icons for these key functions.

Divide your participants into pairs or small groups. Each group should have access to a computing device with the spreadsheet software open and visible on the screen (if you have fewer devices, groups or pairs can take turns on the same device). Call out one of the functions from the Learn section, for example, Fill Color. Instruct participants to hover their mouse over the icons to learn the various functions.

When they find the correct icon, they raise their hand. When every group has located the correct icon, describe the function and how it might be used within a spreadsheet. For example, you might say, “The Fill Color function allows you to fill the background of any cell or group of cells with your chosen color.”

Practice

Activity 1: Explore Spreadsheets
Conduct a whole-group demonstration of how to click and drag to select a group of cells. While this is an essential skill in using spreadsheet software, it is also likely an unfamiliar skill for your participants. Provide ample time for practice.

Facilitation Tip
Throughout this activity, it is important for participants to start seeing how spreadsheets can be used in ways that are relevant to their lives. When teaching about calculations, ask your participants to come up with real data. Even though this is a practice activity, it will benefit your participants to begin noticing how spreadsheets are a useful productivity tool.

Activity 2: Make a Monthly Budget
Engage participants in a discussion about budgets and how they might be used, for example, for savings and medical emergencies or to make business decisions. Potential discussion questions include:

• Have you ever created a budget? How did you keep track of money coming in and money going out?
• Based on what you currently know about spreadsheet software, how do you think computers might be helpful in organizing and storing data for a budget?

Review terms that may be unfamiliar, such as income or expenditure.

Depending on your participants’ experience level, you may need to simplify this activity. If needed, omit the Savings calculation.

Facilitation Tip
If participants are uncomfortable sharing their monthly finances, or they don’t have this information readily available, remind them that it’s okay to generate imaginary data. The purpose of this activity is to become more familiar with the functions of spreadsheet software.

Activity 3: Analyze Your Monthly Budget with a Chart
Creating charts from data is one big advantage of using electronic spreadsheets. To illustrate this point, you may want to first show participants how a chart could be generated by hand using written data. Then, demonstrate how spreadsheet software has the capability of generating multiple forms of visual data with electronic charts. Engage your participants through discussion questions, such as:

• What can you visualize in the chart that you couldn’t see just by looking at the data?
• How did the chart generated by the spreadsheet software differ from the chart created by hand?What are the advantages?
• In addition to visualizing a monthly budget, what other ways might a chart be useful in your everyday life?

Facilitation Tip
Analyzing data and creating a chart within a spreadsheet takes practice. Most likely, your participants will require multiple tries before they get it just right. Continually encourage your participants to take risks and remind them how to use the Undo function if they make a mistake.

Apply
Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Share and Reflect
You may want to take a moment to review the following basics about participation in discussions, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy:

• Accept all contributions
• Encourage each other to participate
• Ask each other questions
• Keep your sense of humor
• Try to keep the participation equal among group members
• Don’t let one person dominate the discussion

Facilitation Tip
If you find that your participants are reluctant to participate in the discussion, or a few participants are dominating the conversation, try dividing into small groups for this section. This will allow participants to hear multiple points of view but still have the opportunity to contribute in a smaller, more comfortable setting.

Lesson 3: Multimedia Presentations

This lesson introduces participants to multimedia software as a tool for communicating through words, images, sound, and video. Before beginning Lesson 3:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions. Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Lesson Overview and Objectives (10 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Explore Presentation Basics (20 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Create a Presentation to Introduce Yourself (30 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Add Animations and Transitions (15 min.)
• Apply (30 min.)
• Share and Reflect (15 min.)
• Total Time (135 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of the lesson, they will be able to:

• Create and present a slide show
• Customize slides with text, images, audio, and video
• Add animations and transitions between slides

Similar to Lessons 1 and 2, a discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about multimedia. Use this discussion to help you determine which topics to focus on in the Learn section. Ask participants:

• What are different ways people communicate with one another?
• When might you use words to explain something, and when might it be more effective to use pictures or a graphic?
• Multimedia involves using more than one way to communicate or express an idea, for example, using audio and video. Where have you seen multimedia in your community?

Include key terms in your discussion, such as slideshow, video, audio, and animation. It’s okay if your participants don’t completely understand the terms right now, as long as they begin to hear these terms used in context.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Begin the Learn section by showing participants an example slide show that includes multimedia. Ask them to identify each item as an image, text, audio, or video. This will engage your participants while providing a concrete example of what they will learn in this lesson.

It’s also important that your participants begin to think about how multimedia presentations might be used to communicate information in their community. In small groups, ask participants to discuss questions like the following:

• In the example slide show, what information is being communicated?
• Does the information change when it is presented in a multimedia slide show? How is it different than other forms of communication, such as word of mouth?

Extension Activity: The Learn section in this lesson introduces participants to many key presentation functions located in the Home tab of the presentation software. You can play a friendly riddle game to engage participants in learning where to find the icons for these key functions.

Divide your participants into groups of two. Each partner group should have access to a computing device with the presentation software open and visible on the screen. Begin by saying a riddle that provides clues about one of the functions from the Learn section. For example, you might say, “I’m located on the Home tab. I look like an uppercase letter A. If you click on me, you will see a rainbow of color choices.”

Instruct participants to hover their mouse over the icons to learn the various functions. When they find the correct icon, they raise their hands. Once every group has located the correct icon, name the function and explain how it might be used within a presentation. For example, you might say, “This is the Font Color button. If you’re typing text into your presentation and you want to make it blue, you would click on this button and select the blue color.”

Facilitation Tip
If your participants are using different operating systems or different software versions, the location of the icons presented in the Learn section will differ from one device to another. If possible, become familiar with the different versions prior to this lesson.

Practice

Activity 1: Explore Presentation Basics
Many of the skills introduced in this activity are similar to the skills learned in Lesson 1: Word Processing. Remind your participants what they previously did with formatting text and changing font type, size, and color. They will likely be excited to discover that they know so much already!

Facilitation Tip
Prior to this activity, make sure that participants have access to images saved locally on their machines, in the event that they cannot access the Internet for images.

Activity 2: Create a Presentation to Introduce Yourself
Depending on your participants’ experience level, you may need to simplify this activity. If needed, omit the Insert a Table section.

Facilitation Tip
Video and audio files are required to complete all the steps of this activity. If possible, save a few practice files on your participants’ computing devices prior to the lesson. If Internet access is available, you can download copyright-free audio and video files from sites like Pubic Domain Files or Wikimedia Commons.

Provide ample time for participants to share their presentations. If you have a large number of participants, divide them into smaller groups for sharing. Make sure that each participant has an opportunity to receive feedback and, if time allows, make changes to their presentation.

Facilitation Tip
Your participants will likely want to include personal photos in their All About Me presentation. Consider your participants and their access to digital photos. Do they have digital cameras or mobile phones with a camera at home? If so, do they have the technology skills to save a photo locally to their computer and bring it into the course?

Another option is to take pictures during the course. You can use your own digital camera and save the images in a folder that students can access from their machines. Some computing devices have built-in cameras that can take pictures, which are saved locally on the machine. Another option is to use mobile phones to take pictures and e-mail or save them to web-based cloud storage.

Activity 3: Add Animations and Transitions
Engage your participants in a discussion about why animations and transitions might be used in a multimedia presentation. Present a slide show both with and without animations and transitions between slides. Ask participants questions such as the following:

• What did you notice about the slides that had transitions and animated objects?
• How did the movement affect your focus? Did certain items stand out?
• Why would you potentially want to make your slide show more visually interesting?

Facilitation Tip
While slide show animations are fun and engaging, you may want to remind your participants that too much motion on a slide can have the opposite effect and actually serve as a distraction to the audience.

Apply

The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings. In either case, provide ample time for sharing and feedback on the products that your participants create.

Share and Reflect

You may want to take a moment to review the following basics about participation in discussions, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy:

• Accept all contributions
• Encourage each other to participate
• Ask each other questions
• Keep your sense of humor
• Try to keep the participation equal among group members
• Don’t let one person dominate the discussion

Facilitation Tip
If you find that your participants are reluctant to participate in the discussion, or a few participants are dominating the conversation, try dividing into small groups for this section. This will allow participants to hear multiple points of view but still have the opportunity to contribute in a smaller, more comfortable setting.

Module 3: The Internet, Email, and Communicating Online

This module explores how to use the Internet effectively to search for information, to communicate, and to connect with others around the world.

Lesson 1: The Internet
Participants learn, no matter where they live on the planet, how to use the Internet to find information to enrich their economic, family, and personal lives.

Lesson 2: Email
Participants explore a common tool for communicating with people around the world in just seconds.

Lesson 3: Online Communications
Participants explore the world of online communication with friends and family through text, voice, and video.

Facilitation Tip
It is very likely that some of your participants are more interested in learning how to use the Internet than they are in the subjects of any of the other modules of the course, so you may want to begin your course with this module, along with brief reviews of computer hardware and online safety.

Since this module is conducted primarily through a web browser, it is much more device agnostic than the other modules. With some adaptations, participants could complete many the activities with their phones although if a Wi-Fi connection is not available, the data use may be cost prohibitive.

Module 3 Facilitator Checklist

• Determine how your participants will be accessing the Internet. If they will be using their mobile phones, make sure there is Wi-Fi access and have the password and other connecting information ready to share.
• Even if your participants are using computers for this module, they will probably often use their cell phones to access the Internet. It will be useful to have some screenshots of the websites referred to in the module on both a phone and a computer so they can recognize these sites even when they look different. You could also explain with examples that some sites are impractical to use with a small screen.
• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Make name tags for yourself and your participants.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Make sure a web browser is easy to find on your participants’ computers.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Getting Started

If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can get to know each other.

Review how to open the web browser, or if this is their first online experience in the course, show them how to open the browser and navigate to a website.

Facilitation Tip
Remember to revisit the collection of relevant course questions you have been recording on chart paper or the board from other modules as you progress through the course, adding or deleting items as necessary.

Lesson 1: The Internet

This lesson explains how participants can use the Internet to find information about many topics, such as local and global news, education, and health, as well as research any topic of interest to them. Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• If you like, identify websites of special interest to your participants to substitute for those specifically mentioned in the course.
• If necessary, create screenshots of the site used in this lesson on different devices for demonstration purposes.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (5 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Explore a Web Browser (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Use a Search Engine (10 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (60 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson they will be able to:

• Use a Web browser to search for information on the Internet.

This topic is probably one of the most important to your participants. Some of them may be taking the course just to learn more about the Internet, so this is a good opportunity to make sure that all of your participants are engaged and learning what they hope to be learning. Make notes of their ideas so you can respond to them as you facilitate the module.

Conduct an introductory discussion about the Internet with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• Do you use the Internet? How do you access it? What do you use it for?
• How do your friends and family use the Internet?
• What would you like to be able to do on the Internet?

Learn

The terminology associated with the Internet may sound familiar to your participants, but they may not understand exactly what the different words mean. Since this language is used throughout the module and through their whole Internet experience, it is worth the time to make sure your participants understand what the words mean. You could reinforce terms and definitions with the following games or quick quizzes:

Concentration
Words and definitions are printed on squares and mixed up, blank side up. Players take turns turning over two squares and removing them if they match. If they turn over a term and its definition, they remove the squares. If they do not match, the next player turns over two different squares and tries to remember what the previously overturned squares said so they can make a match and remove the squares.

Matching
Participants make cards with the terms and definitions and then practice matching them up.

Online poll
If you and your participants have a good, stable Internet connection, try an online quiz, using a tool such as Kahoot to test their understanding. This will require setting up a free account and setting up the poll or quiz.

Even if your participants are using a Windows 8 computer during the course, they will likely access the Internet through a variety of devices, especially with mobile phones. Take a moment to explain the difference between how a browser looks on a mobile phone and on a computer or other device. Comparing phone and computer screenshots can help them transfer their course learning to their personal devices.

Be sure to review the suggestions for demonstrating computer skills described in the Facilitation Overview.

Practice

Activity 1: Explore a Web Browser
New to technology users often confuse the Internet with the other applications and functions of a computer.

If your participants are very new to using a computer, you might want to take a moment to review briefly the difference between a browser, an online application such as Microsoft Word, and a mobile app, such as YouTube. If necessary, explain the difference between being offline and online and what kinds of tasks they can and can’t perform in each environment.

If your participants are sharing a computer, it is important, if at all possible, that each participant has the opportunity to perform the tasks in the activity themselves instead of just watching a colleague do it.

Remind participants to use the Troubleshooting Tips if they have problems with this activity. You may want to show participants how to keep bookmarks organized by creating topic folders.

Facilitation Tip
If you can, identify some participants who seem to have a good understanding of the content of this lesson to serve as experts if their colleagues need some help. Remind these experts that they should encourage the participants and support them if they struggle but not take over the computer. If you place participants in small groups, try to make sure you create groups with participants of varying abilities so they can help each other as necessary.

Activity 2: Use a Search Engine

This activity will go much more smoothly if all your participants are using the same browser. This will simplify your modeling of a search. However, as the course manual suggests, different browsers have different ways of searching. Currently, most common browsers allow users to type search terms into the address bar. This might confuse your participants, so be sure to explain that this section of the browser serves two purposes—a place to search and the address of a website.

Make sure that each participant gets an opportunity to conduct a search and bookmark a site themselves even if they are working in a group. Watching someone else do this is not enough of an experience to make sure your participants understand these important skills.
Extension Activity: Place students in small groups and assign them each a category for a search, such as home repair, celebrity news, local politics, or strategies for solving everyday problems. Encourage the groups to make the searches specific and complex, rather than just a search about a topic. Ask them to record their lists of searches on chart paper or pass them around to give each other ideas.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed either during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

This activity is likely to be one that your participants will really enjoy—in some cases it’s their whole reason for taking the course! If possible, encourage them to complete more than one of the Apply activities and continue their learning outside of class. When they return, be sure to give them an opportunity to share their experiences.

Some of the optional Apply activities can be easily completed on a mobile phone, but others would be more challenging with a small screen. If you have participants that will use their mobile phones for this activity, either in the classroom or on their own time, take a moment to suggest the activities that would be most appropriate for a smaller, mobile device.

Wrap-Up

Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• How do you think the Internet can help you and your family?
• Can you think of any downsides to using the Internet?

Lesson 2: Email

This lesson helps participants set up an email account and use it to communicate with others around the globe. Before beginning Lesson 2:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Make sure a web browser is easy to find on your participants’ computers. If your participants will be using different kinds of devices, if possible, familiarize yourself with the Web browsers they might be using and how to access them.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Lesson 2: Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Create an Email Account (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Send an Email (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Check and Reply to Emails (10 min.)
• Apply (10 min.)
• Lesson Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total (60 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

After completing this lesson, participants will be able to:

• Create an email account
• Send and reply to emails

Conduct an introductory discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What is email? How do you think it is different from other kinds of digital communication such as texting?
• How do you think you would like to use email in your life?

Learn

Some of your participants may be more familiar and experienced with texting as a communication tool than they are with email. As you review the Learn section, be sure to emphasize the advantages of email, such as the ability to write longer, more detailed messages and how different tools allow them to format messages that look more polished and professional. You could also highlight the tools for organizing and archiving important messages.

Facilitation Tip
Things always change rapidly in the world of technology. Many popular social media sites, such as Facebook and Instagram, now require just a phone number for registration instead of an email address. If participating in these sites is a main goal of your participants, consider surveying them before offering this lesson to see if email is something they need or are interested in.

Practice

Activity 1: Create an Email Account
Before beginning this activity, briefly review the concepts of a digital footprint and the importance of online security, particularly how to create a strong password. This is especially important if this is the first module of your course that deals with the Internet or if some time has passed since they have learned about these topics.

The email site you use may not follow the exact same process that is described in the manual.

Facilitation Tip

You may want to create a special email account to use for course facilitation. Your personal email account may have messages, even message subject lines, that you do not wish to share with your participants.

To avoid confusion, as much as possible, use the tool your participants will use or prepare screenshots of what your participants will see on their devices. This is especially important if they are using an app on their mobile phones to set up an account.

Explain that in the 21st century, an email address can be an important part of a person’s identity and will require personal information that becomes part of their digital footprint, the bits of information users leave behind as they interact with the web. Suggest ideas for creating email addresses by explaining that people use all kinds of words and phrases for their addresses, such as hobbies, children’s and pet’s names, jobs, and place names. Remind them, however, that the email address should be easy to remember and to type. If they are setting up an email for professional use, they may want to use all or part of their name so that receivers can easily identify them.

Remind participants to use the Troubleshooting Tips if they are having trouble with this activity or any others in this module.

Make sure that your participants sign out of their new email accounts, so they can have the experience of signing into it in the next activity. If your participants are likely to use public computers to access email, emphasize the importance of signing out when they finish sending and receiving email.

Activity 2: Send an Email
As in the other activities in this lesson, adapt the activity and your facilitation to the devices and applications that your participants are using.

Facilitation Tip
You can use this activity to prompt some reflection about your participants’ learning by suggesting that if they can’t think of anything to write, they compose a friendly message to a colleague sharing a story or describing how they would like to use email or the Internet in their lives.

Activity 3: Check and Reply to Emails
As in the other activities in this lesson, adapt the activity and your facilitation to the devices and applications that your participants are using. If they received an email in the previous activity, suggest that they reply to it in this activity.

Facilitation Tip
If you have time, send each of your participants an email with something fun or interesting or a tip on how to use email successfully.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Extension Activity: Since some of your participants may be familiar with texting, to prepare them for this activity, ask them, in small or large groups, to fill in a chart comparing and contrasting how email and texting can be used. If you wish, be prepared to add a column for video chatting to be discussed after the next lesson.

Wrap-Up

Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What ideas do you have for using email in your life?
• What challenges do you think you might face with email? How might you resolve these challenges?

Facilitation Tip
Some of your participants may wonder how tools such as email are free. If so, you might want to explain how email providers use the information from emails and other online activities to provide targeted advertising.

Lesson 3: Online Communications

This lesson teaches participants how to keep in touch with family and friends through text, voice, and video. Before beginning Lesson 3:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Check to make sure that your learning environment has sufficient bandwidth to support multiple sessions of multimedia communication.
• Make sure Skype or another online video/audio messaging tools is installed on each machine.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Try to arrange a video chat in advance.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (15 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Set Up a Skype Account (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Find Contacts and Video Chat with Skype (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Use Gmail for Instant Messages and Video Chat (15 min.)
• Apply (20 min.)
• Share and Reflect (15 min.)
• Total Time (105 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

During this lesson, participants will learn to

• Use video and instant messaging to connect with family, friends, and others.

Conduct an introductory discussion of online communication tools with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What would you like to learn about online video and audio communication?
• Have you used, or do you know anyone who has used, online audio or video chats? What was their experience like?

Facilitation Tip
A good Internet connection is critical for this lesson. If your connection is not adequate for the kinds of activities presented, but you still would like to expose your participants to these tools, design some alternative activities using screenshots and handouts. Encourage participants to explore these communication methods on their own when they may have better connectivity. Remind them that they can usually be used with mobile phones, but without a wireless connection, they will require data use that may make the activities expensive.

Learn

After introducing the tools described in this section: instant messaging, voice and video chat, ask participants for examples of situations where the these tools might be used to the greatest advantage, especially compared to email and texting.

If you began a chart comparing different online communication tools in the previous lesson, you can add to it here, or begin a new chart that compares all the communication tools addressed in Lessons 2 and 3.

Practice

Activity 1: Set Up a Skype Account
There are many options for video chatting, including Gmail that is described in Practice Activity 3 of this lesson, Use Gmail for Instant Messages and Video Chat. If time is at a premium, you may want to choose between Practice Activity 1 and Practice Activity 3. These tools have different features, however, and each can be used as a backup for the other one if necessary, so investigating both of them can be worthwhile.

Skype is a pretty universally available tool, but if you wish to use a tool other than Skype or Gmail that is more accessible or familiar to your participants, be sure to modify this activity appropriately.
If your participants will be using mobile phones for this activity, be sure to check to make sure adequate Wi-Fi is available and provide instructions for using the Skype app as well as for the online tool.

While participants are setting up their accounts, explain the importance of using strong passwords. This topic is addressed in Lesson 1 of Module 4, but you might want to briefly review the Learn section of that lesson for this activity.

Activity 2: Find Contacts and Video Chat with Skype
Begin this activity by suggesting that your participants add you and any other participants as a contact. To demonstrate how Skype works, ask one of the participants to call you.

The best experience for this activity, of course, would be for all of your participants to have the opportunity to try out a video chat for themselves. Without a strong Internet connection, however, this would be impossible. If possible, you can demonstrate a video chat so they can see what it would be. If your bandwidth is inadequate for this activity, investigate 3rd party applications that let you make a video of a Skype call when you have a strong connection to show as a demonstration.

Extension Activity: Ask participants to discuss how they would need to prepare differently for a video call than for a simple telephone call. Encourage them to think of where best to place the computer, what lighting might work best, how to block out sounds and distracting movements, etc.

Facilitation Tip
The ability to use video calling depends on both the strength of the Wi-Fi signal and the power of the device used for the call. You might want to investigate online tools that your participants can use to check the strength of their Internet connections, such as speed test or speakeasy.

Activity 3: Use Gmail for Instant Messages and Video Chat
As in Activity 2, you may need to demonstrate using Gmail for video chatting with screenshots. You can also search for tools to record a Gmail chat to use as a demonstration.

Extension Activity: If your participants are interested in the possibilities of video conferencing and communication, suggest Google Hangouts as a useful tool that has many more features than a simple chat and is especially appropriate for business meetings and other more formal events.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Because of the bandwidth required for multiple video calls, suggest that participants complete this activity outside of class time if they can.

Share and Reflect

Ask participants to briefly review the objectives for this module and think about what they have learned and would still like to learn about online communications.

You may want to take a moment to review some basics about participation in discussions, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

• Accept all contributions.
• Encourage each other to participate.
• Ask each other questions.
• Keep your sense of humor.
• Try to keep the participation equal among group members. Don’t let one person dominate the discussion.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• How do you see yourself using video chatting in your personal life?
• What challenges can you anticipate with using video chats and how might you address them?

Module 4: Keeping Safe Online

This module explores strategies for staying safe and secure while taking advantage of all the resources and opportunities the Internet provides. It explores online security, research, and shopping. The module includes five lessons.

Lesson 1: Strong Passwords

Participants learn how to create passwords that protect personal information.

Lesson 2: Your Digital Footprint

Everyone has a digital footprint, but how do you control it? In this lesson, participants learn how to monitor and control their digital footprints, or the bits of information they leave behind on the web.

Lesson 3: Online Scams
Participants may not be aware that just like in the real world, there are also risks to being online. In this lesson, they learn how to recognize and protect themselves from online threats.

Lesson 4: Website Evaluation
Participants learn strategies for identifying credible online resources.

Lesson 5: Safe Online Shopping
If your participants are in a position to do online shopping, they can explore ways to recognize secure shopping sites on the web. You may want to skip this lesson if online shopping is not relevant to your situation.

Facilitation Tip
It is very likely that many of your participants are more interested in learning how to use the Internet than they are in the subjects of any of the other modules of the course. You may wish to put this module before Module 3 or even intersperse the lessons or activities in between the lessons of Module 3.

Since this module is conducted primarily through a web browser, it is much more device agnostic than the other modules. With some adaptations, participants could even complete many of the activities with their phones. Although, if a Wi-Fi connection is not available, the data use may be cost prohibitive.

Module 4 Facilitator Checklist

• Determine how your participants will be accessing the Internet. If they will be using their mobile phones, make sure there is Wi-Fi access and have the password and other connecting information ready to share.
• Even if your participants are using computers for this module, they may use their cell phones to access the Internet. It will be useful to have some screenshots of the websites referred to in the module on a phone and a computer so they can recognize these sites even when they look different. You could also use examples to show that some sites are difficult to view on a small screen.
• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Make name tags for yourself and your participants.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Set up your projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Make sure a web browser is easy to find on your participants’ computers.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Getting Started

Prepare participants for the information and skills they learn in this module.

1. If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can get to know each other.
2. Review how to open the web browser or, if this is their first online experience in the course, show them how to open the browser and navigate to a website.
3. Conduct a discussion on online safety and security, asking questions such as the following: What stories or experiences have you heard about related to online safety and security? What online activities do you worry about? Why? What issues concern you about children and their online behavior?

Facilitation Tip
Remember to revisit the collection of relevant course questions you have been recording on chart paper or the board from other modules as you progress through the course, adding or deleting items as necessary.

Lesson 1: Strong Passwords

This lesson explains how participants can develop passwords that enhance their online security. Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• If necessary, create screenshots of the site used in this lesson on different devices for demonstration purposes. Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (5 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Test Your Password Strength (10 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (50 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will be able to:

• Create strong passwords to keep their personal information safe

Conduct an introductory discussion about passwords with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• Have you created a password for an online site? How did you choose it?
• What do you think is important to consider when creating a password?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Discuss how and why passwords are used on the Internet. Ask:

• Has anyone created a password?
• If they have created multiple passwords, are they all the same or different?
• How do they remember their passwords?

Facilitation Tip
If you think participants need more experience identifying strong passwords, create some examples of strong, medium, and weak passwords. Show each password to the group and have them respond with thumbs up, thumbs sideways, or thumbs down to indicate the quality of the passwords.

Practice

Activity 1: Test Your Password Strength
Model accessing the How Secure Is My Password website. If you have participants who are using their phones for this activity, you could also show screenshots of the process using a mobile device.

Participants could have fun trying out new passwords on this site in pairs, but remind them that their personal passwords should be secret and not shared with anyone.

You could also write some passwords on the board and have participants say (or hold up colored paper) whether it’s a red, yellow, or green password

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

Since passwords must be kept secret, participants should have individual access to a device to complete this activity. If they must share a computer, remind them to look away when their partner is entering a password.

This activity is one that, ideally, participants can complete on their own time.

Wrap-Up

Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

If you wish, conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• Can you think of any safe strategies to help you keep track of your passwords?
• What do you want to make sure you avoid when creating new passwords?

Lesson 2: Your Digital Footprint

This lesson helps participants understand how their data is stored, shared, and found on the Internet so they can make informed decisions about how and what they share. Before beginning Lesson 2:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Manage Your Browser Preferences (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Analyze a Privacy Policy (15 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (70 minutes)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that at the end of this lesson they will be able to:

• Manage the data that they leave behind when they use the Internet

Begin this lesson with an introductory discussion using the following suggested prompt or other prompts that you develop:

• What record of your online behavior do you think you leave when you use the Internet?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

As you demonstrate and model the content and skills addressed in this lesson, consider the needs of your participants and prepare screenshots of the targeted content on different devices, particularly cell phones. Remind participants that they will explore the concepts during the lesson activities.

This lesson introduces some new language or language used differently than in everyday language. To make sure participants understand the meaning of terms in the context of online privacy, check frequently for understanding. You can use simple feedback exercises, such as thumbs up and thumbs down. Even better, listen to participants as they complete the practice activities to make sure they are using the vocabulary in ways that show they understand the concepts they are learning.

Facilitation Tip
If your participants often depend on public Wi-Fi hotspots, it would be a good idea to mention some of the possible dangers of using an open Wi-Fi signal and what participants can do to protect themselves. How to Stay Safe on Public Wi- Fi Networks has more information.

Practice

Activity 1: Manage Your Browser Preferences
This activity can be challenging for some participants. Remind them of the suggestions for troubleshooting that you have posted in the classroom.

As you model the processes in this activity, refer to the Facilitator Overview for tips on effective demonstrations of computer skills.

You could prepare short scenarios for each of the actions to add some context so they understand why they are doing each of the steps. For example:

• Kim is working at the library on one of the computers. She is doing research on flowers since she is thinking about opening a flower stand. She spends about an hour on the computer and then is ready to leave. What does she need to do before leaving the computer?
• Namu is creating his own blog. He needs to set up a password to create the blog. He also wants to put the photos that he took during his trip on his blog. He moves them from his phone to an online photo storage site. How would you suggest he set up his cookies?

Activity 2: Analyze a Privacy Policy
Participants will find this activity most valuable if they analyze the policy of a site that they already use or would like to use. Skype is an excellent option, but other sites could be equally valuable. If you decide to use a different site than Skype, be sure to check on the process for accessing the privacy policy beforehand. It would be helpful for participants if you projected the appropriate steps for finding the privacy policies. Participants should be able to answers the questions in #3 for most website policies, but you may want to check the sites in advance just in case questions need to be deleted, added, or modified.

Facilitation Tip
Since this activity does not require advanced computer skills that everyone needs to practice, completing it in a small group or with a partner might encourage participants to discuss their thoughts on what they find in the privacy policy.

Apply

Participants should select only one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

If this is the first module your participants have taken in the course and your participants are not familiar with email, you may wish to skip the email part of the first Apply and have participants record their analysis of a privacy policy on paper or in an application. Or, if you have the time, you can briefly review the steps for setting up and using email. Refer to Module 3, Lesson 2 for more information.

Finish this activity by asking students to share and compare their Apply responses in small groups or pairs.

Facilitation Tip
One option for completing this Apply activity would be to have participants form groups around sites they choose to analyze and record their conclusions on chart paper for the whole group to see or in an email that they can send to you for further dissemination.

Wrap-Up

Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• How will what you learned about your digital footprint affect your online behavior?
• How can you manage your digital footprint?
• What are the good and bad sides of having a digital footprint?

Extension Activity: Pose the following scenarios to participants in small groups and have them discuss why the digital footprint of the activities might be good or bad:

• You learn in real life that one of your Facebook friends has just been arrested and you write a comment of support for his situation on his Facebook page.
• You post a picture of yourself dressed professionally on Instagram.
• You receive terrible service at a local shop and post an online review of the business expressing your anger with extreme language, including curse words.

Lesson 3: Online Scams

This lesson teaches participants how to recognize and avoid threats from scammers. Before beginning Lesson 3:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Identify Scam Emails (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Update Your Operating System (5 min.)
• Apply (20 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (60 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will be able to:

• Recognize online scams
• Protect themselves against online scams

Conduct an introductory discussion of online scams with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What have you heard about online scams? Have you heard of anyone who has been victimized by one of these scams?
• Why do you suppose people fall victim to these scams? How do you think you might protect yourself?
• What are some differences and similarities between face-to-face and online scams? What is more and/or less dangerous about fraud in an online environment?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Begin this lesson by explaining that while online scams are dangerous, Internet users who use common sense can enjoy all the benefits of the Internet without succumbing to online threats and fraudulent sites. They should not be afraid to use the Internet for fear of falling victim to dishonest users. The important thing is to stay alert and think critically as they use Web resources. This section of the module provides several tips for identifying fraudulent activities online.

The Learn section in this lesson has a lot of information. Consider providing examples of the types of scams discussed. You can create email subject lines, pop up web scams, and find a fake website to show.

Facilitation Tip
Screenshots of different online scams, if you can find them, would make this lesson come alive for your students. Check snopes.com for examples of some of scams.

Practice

Activity 1: Identify Scam Emails
Since this activity does not require computer skills that all participants need to practice, it would be beneficial to complete the activity in pairs or small groups where they have an opportunity to discuss their conclusions.

Activity 2: Update Your Operating System
Actually having participants check on operating system updates is only relevant if they have their own device. However, the idea of updating a system as a security, as well as a functionality measure, is important for anyone who has, or might have, a computer in the future. Mention that phones also need system updates to stay secure, although sometimes they are applied automatically.

If your participants do have their own devices, remember that the process for updating an operating system, while similar for different types of devices, will often have differences that can be confusing. If your participants are using different machines, investigate how their update process works. Grouping participants with the same operating system will make your facilitation more efficient.

Updating an operating system is a basic tool for staying safe online, but it can be a time-consuming process, and you usually can’t do anything on the computer while the system is updating. To avoid wait time, you might want to suggest that participants check to see if they need updates, but either wait to install them until after the group course work is completed or, if they are using their own devices and have Internet access,
go through the installation process at home. Another option would be for you to make sure the machines are always up to date and use screenshots to demonstrate what they would see if they needed to update a device.

Facilitation Tip
You might want to reverse Practice Activities 1 and 2. Have participants check for updates on their machines and then work on Practice Activity 1, projected on a large screen or with handouts, while their operating systems are updating. Prepare an additional discussion or activity in case the system update takes longer than expected.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

If your participants have learned how to use a word processing application and email, they can use those skills to create scam messages in #1 or emails to fellow participants in #3. If they have not learned those skills yet, participants can practice this lesson’s skills completely offline with paper and pencil.

Facilitation Tip
This activity can give your participants a chance to be creative and have fun with the activity. If they choose to create a scam email, encourage them to use their imagination to describe the scam.

Wrap-Up

Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What have you learned about protecting yourself from online scammers?
• Who might you like to share this information with? What would you tell them?

Lesson 4: Website Evaluation

This lesson explains how to evaluate whether the information found on a website is reputable and trustworthy. Before Lesson 4:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Select the activities you want participants to complete and design any extra activities you want to include.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• If you plan to have participants make posters, provide poster paper and markers.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Evaluate a Website (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Evaluate a Web Search (10 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (60 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will be able to:

• Evaluate the credibility of websites.

Conduct an introductory discussion on website evaluation with the following suggested prompts, or other prompts that you develop:

• What kinds of information would you like to look for on the Internet?
• What websites have you heard of that people rely on to be true and useful? Why do you, or they, trust these sites?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip

You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Since the Internet is a powerful source of information, understanding how to evaluate websites is a critical tool for digital learners. As you introduce the material in this section, ask participants to suggest sites they have visited or heard of and use some of the sites to illustrate the strategies for evaluating a site’s credibility.

You might also want to look for sites with questionable information to demonstrate how a professional- looking website can also be misleading, or even fraudulent.

Facilitation Tip
Objectivity is an important feature of a reliable website, but it’s worthwhile to mention to users that they can get good information from sites with a definite point of view as long as they realize that the information may be biased. With these sites, users need to make an effort to further investigate their claims.

Extension Activity: You could have participants create (illustrated) posters with the key areas that should be checked when using a website. Hang the posters around the room so that participants remember to check a website’s validity.

Practice

Activity 1: Evaluate a Website
This activity will be more beneficial for your participants if you provide them with websites that they are likely to use. If you do, make sure that you include both high-quality and low-quality sites so they get experience analyzing different types of informational sites

This activity can be facilitated successfully with one computer for a small group of participants. If participants do work alone, make sure that they discuss their findings with a classmate.

Activity 2: Evaluate a Web Search
This is a good opportunity to talk about different search engines, such as Google, Boing, and Yahoo, for example. You may have others that are popular in you country. You could have participants conduct the same search using two different search engines and compare the results. Ask, which they prefer.

Facilitation Tip
This activity assumes that your participants know the basics for conducting a web search. If your participants are new to the Web, provide a brief review of searching strategies. See Module 3, Lesson 1 for ideas on how to help participants conduct Internet searches.

Apply

Participants should select only one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

If your participants choose to complete option #2 and do not yet know how to use email, you may want to group those who are interested and briefly review the process for setting up and sending email. See Module 3, Lesson 2 for more information.

Wrap-Up

Take a few moments to review the learning objectives for this lesson and to explain how what they have learned connects to the next lesson.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts, or develop your own prompts:

• How will you use what you have learned from this lesson in your life?
• What do you think are the most important things to think about when you evaluate a website?

Lesson 5: Safe Online Shopping

This lesson explains how to shop at online sites safely and securely. Before Lesson 5:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the following table to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Evaluate Online Shopping Sites (20 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Wrap-Up (10 min.)
• Share and Reflect (15 min.)
• Total Time (75 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will be able to:

• Identify safe shopping sites
• Stay safe when shopping online

Conduct an introductory discussion on safe online shopping with the following suggested prompts, or develop your own:

• Do you know anyone who has shopped online or have you ever bought anything online yourself? What was the experience like?
• What concerns you about online shopping?

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

The course manual suggests sites that you can use to demonstrate the content for this lesson, but if you are aware of different sites that your participants use or would like to use, modeling the content with one of those sites would be more meaningful for them.

If your participants are not all using the same browser or device, make sure you can show them where to find the relevant information and tools described in this lesson on their computers or cell phones.

Practice

Activity 1: Evaluate Online Shopping Sites
This activity can be completed successfully with pairs or small groups of participants analyzing a shopping site on one computer. Discussions about what they are seeing can help them understand the lesson concepts and help them resolve questions and concerns with input from their colleagues.

Feel free to suggest additional sites for your participants to explore. Make sure that the sites you recommend meet the requirements for safe online shopping.

Extension Activity: You may want to send the participants on a shopping spree by giving them a shopping list and having them find and evaluate sites to shop. They can go as far as putting things in a basket.

Apply

Participants will probably enjoy browsing through online shopping sites and looking for things they might like to buy with their classmates, but if they actually want to purchase a product from an online shopping site, they will need to set up an account. Remind them that their passwords need to be secret, so they should fill in the necessary forms to register for the site on a personal device with no one observing them.

If your participants choose to complete option #2 and do not yet know how to use email, you may want to group those who are interested and briefly review the process for setting up and sending email. See Module 3, Lesson 2 for more information.

Wrap-Up

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or develop your own prompts:

• How do you feel about shopping online after completing this lesson?
• What kinds of shopping sites are you likely to visit now that you understand how to shop online?

Share and Reflect

Briefly review the objectives for this module.

You may want to take a moment to review some basics about participation in discussions, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

• Accept all contributions.
• Encourage each other to participate.
• Ask each other questions.
• Keep your sense of humor.
• Try to keep the participation equal among group members. Don’t let one person dominate the discussion.

Conduct a concluding discussion with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What types of technology do you currently use in your personal and business life? In what ways do you use these technologies? What are some potential danger areas?
• What steps do you plan to take to ensure that your browsers and computer operating system are up to date?
• What areas of online safety do you see as your strengths, and which areas would you like to know more about?

Module 5: Social Media

Module 5 explores the social and community-building features of the Internet. This module is useful for beginning computer users who want to use social media for building relationships and communicating online. It is also useful for entrepreneurs who want to increase their online presence and build business relationships.

After completing this module, participants will be able to use the features of social networks and set up their own online profile on popular sites, including Facebook and YouTube. This module contains three lessons:

Lesson 1: Social Networks and Online Communities
Participants learn how social networks and online communities use the Internet to make both personal and professional connections outside of the community and around the world.

Lesson 2: Media Sharing
Participants learn how to view and share photos and videos with the global community.

Lesson 3: Safety for Social Media
Participants learn key safety tips for maintaining their privacy on social media and protecting personal information.

Facilitation Tip
While Lessons 1 and 2 are designed to stand on their own, Lesson 3 is dependent on the skills acquired and the activities completed in the previous two lessons. Select the activities from Lessons 1 and 2 that are most relevant and interesting for your audience. Be sure to cover Lesson 3 in its entirety, however, as this lesson addresses key safety concerns for
any social media user. Some information presented in Lesson 3 is also covered in Module 4: Keeping Safe Online. If your participants have previously completed Module 4, they may need less of a review.

Module 5 Facilitator Checklist

• Make name tags for participants.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Set up a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Getting Started

This mini-lesson introduces participants to different types of social media and explains how they might be used in daily life.

1. If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can introduce themselves and become more familiar.
2. Engage your participants in a discussion about social interactions and communication. You may find that your participants are more comfortable discussing their ideas with a partner or a small group. Some possible discussion questions include: Think about a typical day in your life. How do you communicate with friends and family? In what ways do you meet new people who share common interests? How do you voice your opinion on a topic? How do you find out about events and stories happening outside of your community?
3. Share the Getting Started chart that outlines the basic features of different social media types. Share examples of different types of social media, for example: a photo with user comments on a social media site, an online community discussion forum, a social news site displaying the top-ranked stories, a trending topic on a microblog site. Ask participants to describe what they notice about each social media tool, engaging their thinking as you increase their exposure to social media. You may want to record their responses on a large piece of paper for future reference throughout the course.
4. To prepare for the next lesson, demonstrate how to open a Web browser and navigate to a Web page. Provide help as needed.

Lesson 1: Social Networks and Online Communities

This lesson introduces participants to social networks and online communities as a tool to make connections outside of the community and around the world. Prior to beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (15 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (10 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Create a Facebook Account (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Explore Facebook (20 min.)
• Apply (30 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (105 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of the lesson, they will be able to:

• Create a Facebook account
• View and comment on posts that appear on Facebook
• Post text, photos, or videos on Facebook

A discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about social networks and reveal what they hope to learn in this lesson. Use this information to help make decisions about how much time you should spend on each topic in the Learn section. Ask participants:

• Where have you seen social network sites, like Facebook? How are they being used?
• Why do you think social networks are so popular all over the world?
• What do you hope to be able to do on a social network like Facebook?

Include key terms in your discussion, such as post, like, tag, comment, and friend. It’s okay if your participants don’t completely understand the terms right now, as long as they begin to hear these terms used in context.

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

To prepare for the practice activities in this module, decide how your participants will likely access social media sites like Facebook and YouTube. If your participants will use their cellular phones, familiarize yourself with the mobile apps. If your participants will share a computing device, decide how you will handle account registration.

Extension Activity: Play a matching game to review unfamiliar social networking terms from the Learn section. Type one term on a piece of paper, and type the definition on another piece of paper. Repeat for all of the terms in this section. Use the chart in the Learn section to help you.

Divide your participants into small groups and ask them to match each term to its definition. If you do not have access to word processing software or a printer, you can do this activity by writing the information by hand.

Facilitation Tip
Remind your participants that this activity is not an exam or a test of their knowledge. Rather, this activity is designed to provide them with exposure to unfamiliar terms and get them to start thinking about what the terms mean.

Practice

Activity 1: Create a Facebook Account
Although privacy and safety is primarily covered in Lesson 3, it’s never too early to get your participants to start thinking about what they choose to share online. Remind them that they only need to enter the required information to set up an account. Other information, such as hometown location and a profile picture, is optional.

This activity is a good time to review the information learned in Module 4: Keeping Safe Online. Specifically, remind participants how to create a strong password (Lesson 1) when setting up their Facebook account.

Extension Activity: To help your participants begin to think about privacy on their Facebook account, conduct a “scavenger hunt” for Facebook privacy settings. To begin, ask a privacy question that relates to Facebook. For example, “Who can see your posts?” Use the Facebook privacy tour for more ideas.

Participants search through their privacy settings and find the location of where this question can be answered on the Privacy Settings and Tools page. When they find it, they raise their hand. When you see that all participants have found the correct setting, show them how to change it (or confirm that it’s already set). For example, allowing only Friends to view posts.

Activity 2: Explore Facebook
In Activity 2, it’s important that participants understand not just how to use Facebook, but also how your choices about what you share reflect back on you. A good rule of thumb is to assume that anything you post online can ultimately be viewed by anyone else.

Engage participants in a discussion about posting and interacting with content on Facebook. Write down key ideas to revisit in Lesson 3: Safety for Social Media. Divide participants into partners or small groups, and ask them to discuss:

• What types of things do you see people posting on Facebook?
• What are you comfortable sharing? Do you plan on sharing comments? What about photos or videos?
• In what ways is your social network profile a reflection of you? How is your online reputation the same or different from your own personal reputation?

Follow up these small group discussions with a larger whole-group discussion in which you provide participants with information they need to know before they begin to explore and interact on Facebook.

Facilitation Tip
While this lesson primarily addresses how to use social networking, it’s okay to integrate key concepts from Lesson 3 as you go along. For example, in this activity, you may want to introduce “Be selective about friends” and “Think before you post” from the Lesson 3 Learn section.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Wrap-Up

Conduct a short discussion reflecting on key learning from this lesson, using prompts like the following:

• What was challenging, easy, fun, or especially useful about this lesson?
• How might you use what you learned in your everyday life?
• What would you like to learn more about?

Review the learning objectives for this lesson and explain how this lesson connects to Lesson 2: Media Sharing.

Lesson 2: Media Sharing

This lesson introduces participants to media sharing sites as a tool for sharing videos and photos with the global community.

Lesson 2 Facilitator Checklist

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants may encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (15 min)
• Learn (10 min)
• Practice Activity 1: Play Videos Using YouTube (15 min)
• Practice Activity 2: Upload Videos Using YouTube (30 min)
• Apply (30 min)
• Wrap-Up (5 min)
• Total Time(105 min)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of the lesson, they will be able to:

• Create a YouTube account
• Search for and play videos using YouTube
• Upload videos using YouTube

Similar to Lesson 1, a discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about media sharing and viewing videos online. Use this discussion to help you determine how much time to spend on each topic in the Learn section. Ask participants:

• In what ways do you typically view photos or videos?
• How do you find and share this type of information?
• Why do you think videos and photos are important? How are they used, and what information can we learn from them?

Include key terms in your discussion, such as upload, channel, and tagging. It’s okay if your participants don’t completely understand the terms right now, as long as they begin to hear these terms used in context.

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Show examples of different types of media sharing online, including video and photo-sharing sites. Two popular media sharing sites are YouTube and Flickr, but you can use alternative sites, especially ones that are already familiar to your participants. Both YouTube and Flickr allow you to view media without creating an account.

Facilitation Tip
This step in the lesson is a good time to begin a discussion about the usefulness of media sharing sites. As you show examples, ask your participants what they notice about media sharing and begin discussing how it could be used both at the community level and with a global audience.

Practice

Activity 1: Play Videos Using YouTube

Facilitation Tip
Streaming videos online requires a large amount of Internet bandwidth, more than viewing a website or posting a comment on Facebook. Consider the limitations of your Internet connectivity and speed, especially if your participants are completing this activity on their own devices. You may want to conduct this activity as a whole-group demonstration using one computing device, or use mobile phones. Another option is to prepare screenshots in advance, in the event that you lose Internet connectivity.

YouTube is a web service owned by Google, so it uses your Google account to log in. If your participants did not complete Module 3: The Internet, Email, and Communicating Online, then they may not have a Google account. Prior to the lesson, decide if you will require participants to log in and, if so, how you will manage the account creation. Remember, an account is only required if you want participants to upload or save videos.

Help your group generate a few ideas before they begin searching for videos on YouTube. For example, you might say:

• Online videos can be a great source of information on a variety of topics. What is something you’re wondering about, or something you want to learn?

List the responses on chart paper or the blackboard. Ask the group to select one idea from the list to develop further:

• If this is something we want to know more about, how could we go about finding videos that match our topic idea?

Use the participant responses to “think aloud” your search strategy. Type your search keywords and demonstrate how to determine the search results that are relevant and are likely to provide the information you are looking for. You may also want to demonstrate an ineffective search strategy, for example, keywords that are too specific or too broad.

Facilitation Tip
Remind participants that searching for videos on YouTube is very similar to how they conducted a web search in Module 3: The Internet, Email, and Communicating Online. Your participants will likely be excited to learn that they know so much about search strategies already!

Practice

Activity 2: Upload Videos Using YouTube
This activity is best completed as a whole group working together on one video that is uploaded to YouTube. It requires a webcam (either standalone or built into your computing device) or a mobile phone with video recording capabilities. To capture audio, your recording device also needs a working microphone.

Brainstorm some possible ideas for a group video. Some questions to ask include:

• What is our purpose for the video? Is it to inform, entertain, promote an idea or business, communicate with a global audience, or something else?
• Who is our intended audience?
• What roles do we need and who will perform in the video?
• How will the video be captured? (Be creative! What would happen if we attached our camera to a bike?)

Facilitation Tip
Depending on your participants’ prior experiences, some may feel uncomfortable with being in the video, especially if the video is going to be viewed on the Internet. Give your participants the option of staying off-camera, or create a video that doesn’t include people (for example, make a video of an animal in its natural environment).

This activity provides a good opportunity to talk about privacy when sharing media online. Remind your participants that they can control who is able to view the video by using the privacy settings. Set your video’s privacy settings to “Unlisted” so the video will not show up in any search results, and only people with the direct video link will be able to view it.

Facilitation Tip
While this lesson primarily addresses how to upload videos to YouTube, it’s okay to integrate key concepts from Lesson 3 as you go along. For example, in this activity, you may want to introduce “Adjust your privacy settings” and “Think before you post” from the Lesson 3 Learn section.

When your video has been published to YouTube, share the URL with your participants. They can bookmark the video on their own computing devices, or write down the URL for future reference.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Wrap-Up

Conduct a short discussion reflecting on key learning from this lesson, using prompts like the following:

• What was challenging, easy, fun, or especially useful about this lesson?
• How might you use what you learned in your everyday life?What would you like to learn more about?

Review the learning objectives for this lesson and explain how this lesson connects to Lesson 3: Safety for Social Media.

Lesson 3: Safety for Social Media

This lesson introduces participants to key information about staying safe while using social media. Prior to beginning Lesson 3:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Select the information and activities that are most relevant to your participants, and simplify or shorten the lesson as needed to fit your intended timeframe.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are only suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (15 min)
• Learn (15 min)
• Practice Activity 1: Examine Your Profile and Privacy Settings (15 min)
• Practice Activity 2: Examine Social Media Scenarios (30 min)
• Apply (30 min)
• Share and Reflect (10 min)
• Total Time (115 min)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of the lesson, they will be able to:

• Adjust privacy settings for social media sites, including Facebook and YouTube
• Protect their personal information online

A discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about online safety, and also help you assess what they learned in Lessons 1 and 2. Use this discussion to help you determine how much time to spend on each topic in the Learn section. Ask participants:

• What are some privacy and safety concerns you have about using social media?
• What are you comfortable sharing online? What makes you uncomfortable?

Include key terms in your discussion, such as identity theft, scams, privacy policy, and privacy settings. It’s okay if your participants don’t completely understand the terms right now, as long as they begin to hear these terms used in context.

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Facilitation Tip

You may want to review the Discussion section of the Overview, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy.

Learn

Extension Activity: Divide your participants so that there are nine total groups (or close to nine). Assign each group to read and learn about one topic from the Learn section. For example, one group would learn all about privacy settings. The participants in that group now become the “experts” for that topic. They use a large piece of paper to create a poster that illustrates what they have learned.

After creating the posters, each group takes a turn presenting what they have learned to the rest of the class. Provide additional instruction on each topic as needed. Hang the posters in your meeting space to use as a reference throughout the rest of the lesson.

Note: If needed, you can combine shorter topics (for example, numbers 1 and 9) to fit the number of participants you have.

Practice

Activity 1: Examine Your Profile and Privacy Settings

Facilitation Tip
When your participants are viewing their privacy settings, remind them that setting privacy levels to the strictest level is the safest option for protecting personal information and controlling who can view the posted content.

Activity 2: Examine Social Media Scenarios
Extension Activity: Use role-playing to make this activity fun as well as educational! To begin, divide your participants into small groups and assign each group to one of the social media scenarios. Ask participants to read through their scenario and discuss how they might respond or what steps they might take. Give each group a few minutes to plan a short skit that presents the scenario as well as one potential response.

Each group role-plays their scenario in front of the class. You may want to “pause” each skit after the problem scenario is presented, and give other participants an opportunity to discuss how they might respond to this scenario. Then, the presenting group continues with the rest of their skit to show the solution they came up with.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Share and Reflect

You may want to take a moment to review some basics about participation in discussions, especially if your participants have not had much experience with this learning strategy:

• Accept all contributions.
• Encourage each other to participate.
• Ask each other questions.
• Keep your sense of humor.
• Try to keep the participation equal among group members. Don’t let one person dominate the discussion.

Facilitation Tip
If you find that your participants are reluctant to participate in the discussion, or a few participants are dominating the conversation, try dividing into small groups for this section. This will allow participants to hear multiple points of view but still have the opportunity to contribute in a smaller, more comfortable setting.

Optional Module: Exploring Entrepreneurship

This module focuses on the basic skills and knowledge necessary to start a new business. Participants will generate ideas for businesses, begin writing a business plan, and learn how to improve their work by giving and getting feedback on their ideas using a word processing application. The module includes two lessons:

Lesson 1: Developing a Business Idea

This lesson teaches participants how to employ several different strategies for choosing a business idea.

Lesson 2: Developing a Business Plan

This lesson explains how to create a business plan. Participants will also learn how to use a word processing application to give and get feedback.

Module Facilitator Checklist

• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Make name tags for yourself and your participants. Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Getting Started

1. If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can introduce themselves and get acquainted with their peers.
2. Engage your participants in a discussion about entrepreneurship in their community, as well as their own business goals. It’s likely that participants will differ in their levels of experience with starting and/or operating a business. Some possible discussion questions include: Have you, or someone you know, started a business before? What qualities make someone a successful entrepreneur? What knowledge and skills do you believe are necessary for someone starting and operating a business? Facilitation Tip: Consider having a business owner from the community talk with participants about his or her experiences.
3. Share the Getting Started chart that covers terms related to developing a business plan. You may choose to share examples of a bulleted list and mind map that you have prepared in advance, or give a brief demonstration of how to make them by hand on a whiteboard or chart paper.

Explain to the participants that they will use a bulleted list as a tool for Self-Assessment and the mind map to do a Needs Assessment. The Headings and Subheadings and the Table of Contents will provide structure to their Business Plan and make it easier to read.

Lesson 1: Developing a Business Idea

This lesson leads participants through the steps of choosing a business idea. Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are just suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (10 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (10 min.)
• Learn (20 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Creating a Self-Assessment (30 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Assessing My Community’s Needs (25 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Organizing Your Business ideas (20 min.)
• Apply (15 min.)
• Wrap Up (10 min.)
• Total Time (140 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will:

• Understand how to assess the needs in their communities.
• Learn how to develop a business idea using word-processing skills.

Conduct an introductory discussion about entrepreneurship with the following suggested prompts or other prompts that you develop:

• What stories or experiences have you heard about related to starting a business?
• What are some examples of simple ideas that are now thriving businesses?

Draw your participants’ attention to the technology skills they have learned in the earlier modules and explain that these skills can play an important role in helping them start and run their business.

Learn

The Learn section covers four different strategies for generating ideas including: brainstorming, role-playing, walkabout, and interviews. Participants will have an opportunity to practice the brainstorming technique in this lesson’s activities. Consider grouping the participants into pairs and giving them roles to use in a role-playing activity. You could also ask participants to share their thoughts about how they might use the walkabout or interview techniques as they plan for their businesses.

Practice

Activity 1: Creating a Self-Assessment
In this activity, participants will make lists to generate and organize their ideas related to starting a business. Explain that creating a list in a word processing document means it is easy to access and update any time

Facilitation Tip
You may want to remind the participants that this is just one of several techniques they will practice during this lesson. Encourage your participants to master these word processing skills, as they will be able to apply their knowledge to the next activity.

Activity 2: Assessing My Community’s Needs
Tell the participants that they will be using their word processing skills to create a mind map that allows them to brainstorm possible business opportunities in their communities. Consider engaging the participants in a whole-group brainstorming session to create a mind map together. After participants have made the mind map(s), demonstrate making an ordered list on a whiteboard or chart paper, following the example in the lesson.

Activity 3: Organizing Your Business Ideas
Tell the participants that they will be using their word processing skills to create a table that allows them to rank and sort their business ideas. This will aid them in selecting the best match for their level of skill, interest, resources, and acceptable risk.
You may want to demonstrate ranking and sorting ideas using a table, since participants may not have used these word processing tools before.

Facilitation Tip
Ask your participants to share their level of comfort with creating tables by showing a thumbs up, thumbs sideways, or thumbs down to indicate how confident they feel about this tool. Based on your participants’ responses, consider
reviewing how to create and format a table within a word processing program (See Module 2, Lesson 1, Word Processing). You may decide to let some participants start the activity while the rest of the group is reviewing with you.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

Wrap-Up

Conduct a short discussion reflecting on their learning in this lesson, using these prompts or others that you come up with:

• What was challenging, easy, fun, or especially useful about this lesson?
• How might you use what you have learned in your life?

Lesson 2: Developing a Business Plan

This lesson leads participants through the steps of developing a business plan. Before beginning Lesson 2:

• Carefully read through Lesson 2 with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• As in Lesson 1, if your participants are working with different operating systems, you need to familiarize yourself with their devices and plan for how you can address their needs. The topic of this lesson can be one that is especially challenging for participants who are working with different systems.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Double-check to make sure your projector is working correctly.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are just suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Overview and Objectives (5 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Starting Your Business Plan (20 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Creating a Table of Contents (20 min.)
• Apply (30 min.)
• Share and Reflect (10 min.)
• Total Time (100 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that in this lesson, they will:

• Write the first two sections of their business plan.
• Get and give feedback with colleagues.

Begin the lesson with a look back to what participants have learned in previous activities and a look ahead to what they will be learning in the current session. Depending on the length of time between sessions and your participants’ experiences, this review can be very brief or rather extensive.

• What did you learn in Lesson 1 that was the most useful?
• What pieces of your business have you already planned? What are you still wondering about?
• Why do you think businesses often begin with a business plan?

Learn

Go over the different parts of a business plan with the participants. You may want to bring in an example or two of business plans for participants to look at as they learn about the different sections. As each section is introduced, consider asking participants to circle it on their own copy. Explain to participants that they will only write the Vision/Mission Statement and the Business Description sections during this lesson.

Extension Activity: Make an example business plan available to participants, either on the computer or on paper. Describe one section of the business plan and ask participants to search the document to locate what is being described. Continue through each of the business plan sections.

Facilitation Tip
Think about your participants. Are they comfortable with giving and getting feedback? You may want to model some best practices for the group in a role-play activity. You could also take a few minutes to hear participants’ ideas and suggestions about giving and getting feedback. Assemble a list of “rules” that the entire group can agree upon.

Practice

Activity 1: Starting Your Business Plan
This activity begins with an Internet search for vision and mission statements of different companies. You may choose to share some examples that you have found and give participants more time to work on their own business plans.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to have a contingency plan if the Internet is not available or bandwidth is not strong enough to support multiple users. Assemble a collection of company vision and mission statements to share with participants from your own computer, or on chart paper.

Activity 2: Creating a Table of Contents
This activity teaches participants how to use section headings to organize their business plan and to create a table of contents automatically. Take a look at the troubleshooting tips for this activity to be prepared for helping participants if they encounter problems.

How comfortable are your participants with using word processing tools? Do you believe that they can work through this activity successfully more or less on their own? Consider demonstrating what can happen to your Table of Contents if you apply Headings incorrectly, and then show how to troubleshoot this occurrence. You can also demonstrate Updating the Table of Contents, so participants understand that the Table of Contents will not update automatically.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

Facilitation Tip
If participants are unsure of how best to use their time during the Apply section, consider directing them to read through and mark the skills checklist in the Share and Reflect section. Looking at their self-assessment can help point them towards an activity that can help them to feel confident about all of the skills practiced in this lesson.

Share and Reflect

Sharing and reflecting gives participants time to process what they’ve learned before moving on to another module or lesson. You can begin this section by summarizing what they learned, highlighting positive behaviors that you saw during the course (such as persistence, flexibility, or determination), and calling attention to high quality Apply products. In general, this is the perfect time to praise participants for their hard work! Set a celebratory tone.

Facilitation Tip
If participants are in small groups, provide a few tips before they begin, such as:

• Keep track of time. If participants are taking turns talking, they should allow each person has the same amount of time.
• Listen to each other and give positive feedback. It’s not a time to give critical feedback.
• Encourage everyone to speak, even if they might be shy about sharing their thoughts and feelings.

Optional Module: Market Your Business

This module focuses on how to develop marketing materials and use digital communication strategies to communicate with customers. A business’ marketing materials help define the products and services offered, as well as differentiate them from other similar businesses. This module is most beneficial to participants interested in starting or operating a business, but can also help people in their everyday life. This module includes two lessons. They may be done independent of each other.

Lesson 1: Business Image Development
This lesson explains how to create a logo and brand for a business.

Lesson 2: Business Image Presentation
This lesson explains how to create materials for face-to-face and online marketing. Participants will also learn how to use online forms to get customer feedback.

Module Facilitator Checklist

• Read through the entire module, selecting the lessons and activities you want to include in your course. Consider the time you have available and your participants’ experience with computers to choose the lessons that will benefit them the most.
• When planning your lesson schedules, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• If you have participants with different kinds of computers and operating systems, if possible, familiarize yourself with their machines.
• Make name tags for yourself and your participants.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Getting Started

If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Let them know that, in this module, they will be focusing on the use of multimedia skills to communicate marketing goals and plans to others. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can introduce themselves and get acquainted with their peers.

Engage your participants in a discussion about how generating awareness of a product or service can contribute greatly to increasing its sales. You may find that your participants are more comfortable discussing their ideas with a partner or a small group. Some possible discussion questions include:

• If you wanted people to know about the products you are selling, what would you do?
• Why do you think it is important to let people know how your product can be of use to them?
• How does it help your business to think and plan for the marketing of products?

Facilitation Tip
You may want to invite a member of the community with experience in marketing or brand identity development to share their knowledge and experience with the participants.

Lesson 1: Business Image Development

This lesson leads participants through the steps of creating a brand identity. Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson. The times listed are just suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (10 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (10 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Create a Logo (45 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Design the Letterhead (30 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Create a Business Card (20 min.)
• Apply (45 min.)
• Wrap-Up (5 min.)
• Total Time (180 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will:

• Know how to use word processing templates to create a logo and brand for their business

Initiate a discussion on how we identify products with the help of a name or logo. Draw a simple logo on the whiteboard, such as the “swoosh” associated with Nike or the “apple missing a bite on one side‟ that is associated with Apple products. Ask the participants simple questions such as:

• Have you seen this logo before?
• Which product does it remind you of?

Explain to the participants that there are many things to consider before they design a logo such as the name of the business, the tagline for the business, if any, and also how the logo should look in order to effectively represent the business’ products or services.

Facilitation Tip
Before continuing, you may want to review the skills necessary for the following activities, including:

• Inserting images and adjusting image size and location in a word processing document.
• Making changes to font color, size, and style using a word processing application.
• Searching the Internet for specific images and locating specific URLs.
• Downloading and legally using images from the Internet.
• Creating digital slide show presentations.
• Setting up a (free) Google Drive account.

Learn

To begin, participants are introduced to how businesses use logos. Collect examples of typical uses of logos and show them to the participants, including:

• Letterheads
• Business Cards
• Brochures
• Sales Catalogs
• Product Packaging
• Advertisements

You may want to ask participants questions about the taglines on several logos, such as:

• How do the taglines on these logos make you feel about the business?
• Would you feel differently about the logo if there were no tagline?

Extension Activity: Take a walking field trip to have participants look for logos and taglines, if appropriate for your community.

Practice

Activity 1: Create a Logo
Discuss the importance of branding in establishing an identity for the business. Let them know that, in this module, they will be focusing on the use of technology to create branding elements such as a logo for their business letterhead and business cards.

Prompt the learners to think about the visuals, fonts, and designs to use in the logo. Stress the importance of choosing the right colors, images, and fonts while developing the logo. Advise them to choose a font that is easily readable and colors that complement each other and enhance the visual appeal of the logo.

Activity 2: Design the Letterhead
Explain that creating a letterhead as a part of their business stationery will help to strengthen their brand identity and also make a favorable impression on the customers.

Inform the participants that they can further practice their word processing and design skills by completing this activity.

Activity 3: Create a Business Card
Initiate a discussion with the participants on how they get in touch with friends and family. How many different ways can you reach the same person? Emphasize how giving out such information is important for a business to ensure that customers have a way to contact the business about products or services.

Explain to the participants that it is important to give thought to the information that will be displayed on a business card. Since the space is limited, owing to the small size of the business cards, only the most important information should be considered for display. However, this information should be sufficient to
not only let people know what products or services are being offered by the business but also how they can contact business representatives.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and giving feedback on products that your participants create.

Wrap-Up

Discuss ways that participants will use their new skills in their own lives.

Lesson 2: Business Image Presentation

This lesson explores several digital media strategies for getting noticed by potential customers. Before beginning Lesson 2:

• Carefully read through the lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• As in Lesson 1, if your participants are working with different operating systems, you need to familiarize yourself with their devices and plan for how you can address their needs. The topic of this lesson can be one that is especially challenging for participants who are working with different systems.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might encounter.
• Double-check to make sure your projector is working correctly. Choose a structure for course discussions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this lesson.

• Overview and Objectives (10 min.)
• Learn (15 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Make a Business Presentation (60 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Collect Customer Feedback (60 min.)
• Apply (40 min.)
• Share and Reflect (10 min.)
• Total Time (195 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will:

• Know how to create a multimedia presentation about their business
• Be able to use a web-based application to create a feedback form that will help them know what customers think of their business

Learn

Inform the participants that they will first plan the information that should be included in their business presentations and then use this information to create a multimedia presentation about their business. Go over the planning checklists in the Learn section and encourage participants to ask questions they may have about any of the items.

Record important questions that arise during the discussions on chart paper or the board to be revisited later in the course when they are relevant.

Practice

Activity 1: Make a Business Presentation
In this activity, participants will create and give presentations about their businesses. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on these presentations. Depending on time and the size of your group, you may want to have participants present to each other in pairs.

You may want to give some tips about how to give and receive peer feedback, such as:

• Be considerate but honest
• Make positive comments as often as possible
• Be specific about what you like and what could be improved
• State observations, not solutions, so the creator retains control of the presentation

Facilitation Tip
You may want to invite a member, or members, of the community with experience evaluating business presentations to listen to your participants and provide feedback.

Activity 2: Collect Customer Feedback
Initiate a discussion with the participants on how they let others know whether they liked something or not.

Share simple examples such as giving a rating to a book that they have read or to a music album they have enjoyed on sites such as Amazon.com. The purpose of this rating is to let people know whether they liked what they bought or not. Higher ratings encourage others to buy and lower ratings lead to less interest in the product.

Inform the participants that many companies also allow such ratings to be given to their products on their websites. For example—one can go to a technology products site and rate a mobile phone or even a laptop and also post a review of the product. Similarly, one may also rate the delivery services of a courier agency that delivered the product.

Explain the meaning of a survey to the participants. Mention the factors that need to be considered while designing a feedback form such as the information to be collected, method to be used for collecting information and collation of the feedback.

Explain to the participants that there are many things to consider before they create a feedback form, such as the questions they want to ask about the business, the products and services being offered, and even the customers themselves. They must also think about whether they wish to give answer options or allow customers to describe their experience of using the product or service in their own words.

Guide the participants to answer all the questions provided keeping in mind their own business idea and help them to complete their answers, if needed.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create.

Note: Several of the activities require Internet access to complete.

Share and Reflect

Ask participants to go through the checklist and complete it. Explain that this will help them identify areas in which they have gained practice and areas in which they need improvement. Encourage participants to use the checklist to improve their skills.

Optional Module: Money Management

This module focuses on how to create and use tracking documents that help manage money for a business or a family. Participants will learn how proficiency with tracking documents can help them manage their personal or business finances. This module includes one lesson containing three activities that must be done sequentially.

Lesson 1: Creating a Cash Flow Spreadsheet

Participants learn how to develop and analyze a cash flow spreadsheet to track how much money the business is making. The activities in this lesson are based on an imaginary business called Excellent Futon Enterprises.

Module Facilitator Checklist

• When planning your lesson schedule, note that the times listed are only suggestions. You will need to consider if they need to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Make name tags for yourself and your participants.
• Create a poster or slide describing the Troubleshooting Tips found in the Practice section of the Facilitation Guide Introduction.
• Set up your computer and projector and test it to make sure it is working correctly in the room where you will be facilitating the course to be shortened or lengthened to meet the needs of your participants.
• Identify a place for recording participants’ questions and thoughts for the whole group to see, such as chart paper, chalkboard, or whiteboard.

Facilitation Tip
If you were not able to distribute the Easy Steps survey when participants registered, consider asking them to complete it at this stage of the course.

Getting Started

1. If this is the first course meeting, introduce yourself and provide an overview of the course agenda. Refer to the Facilitation Overview for ideas on how participants can introduce themselves and get acquainted with their peers.
2. Be sure to clarify that this module is written for people who are in business or who are planning to be in business, however the skills can be used for personal finance. You may also want to have a discussion, such as: Why are you interested in money management? What is your job? What is your greatest challenge in managing your money?

Lesson 1: Creating a Cash Flow Spreadsheet

This lesson leads participants through the steps of creating a cash flow sales spreadsheet. Before beginning Lesson 1:

• Carefully read through the Lesson with your participants in mind. Note areas where they may need extra help.
• Try out the activities yourself to use as models and to help you anticipate problems your participants might have.
• Decide on a method for presenting the Learn material. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.
• Locate any supplemental resources that may support the lesson content and engage participants in deeper understanding.
• Choose a structure for course discussions. See the Facilitation Overview for suggestions.

Schedule

Use the table below to plan your timing for this Lesson. The times listed are just suggestions and may need to be lengthened or shortened to meet the needs of your participants.

• Getting Started (15 min.)
• Overview and Objectives (15 min.)
• Learn (10 min.)
• Practice Activity 1: Establishing Data Validation (60 min.)
• Practice Activity 2: Working with Validation Data (60 min.)
• Practice Activity 3: Calculating Cash Flow (60 min.)
• Apply (30 min.)
• Share and Reflect (10 min.)
• Total Time (260 min.)

Agenda

Overview and Objectives

Explain to participants that by the end of this lesson, they will:

• Understand how to use data validation lists
• Learn how to track income and expenses
• Develop a cash flow spreadsheet to track their sales

A discussion at the beginning of this lesson can help you gauge your participants’ prior knowledge about money management. This will help you determine how much time to spend on each topic in the Learn section. It’s also a great way to get your group involved and help them get to know one another better. Ask participants:

• How do you keep track of your monthly allowance if you are saving up for something you want?
• How do businesses keep track of money?

Inform participants that, for managing money in business, many financial documents can be used. Explain that this lesson will focus on preparing a few financial documents using spreadsheet software.

Learn

In this lesson, participants will develop and analyze a cash flow sales spreadsheet for an imaginary business. You may want to review some basic terms, such as inventory, cost of goods sold, revenue, and net revenue before getting into the activities.

Extension Activity: One way to introduce new terms is through a role-play activity. Participants can act out different roles related to the imaginary business, Excellent Futon Enterprises. One participant can be the Inventory Manager, another can be the Futon Buyer, a third can be the

Factory Seller, and a fourth can be a Customer. Have the participants act out the buying, inventorying, and selling of futons, while the audience tracks the cash flow by hand on their own paper.

Facilitation Tip
You may want to review the following necessary skills learned in previous modules (specifically, Module 2: Productivity Tools, Lesson 2: Worksheets):

• Create formulas inside cells, including adding amounts across columns and rows.
• Apply formatting in worksheets.
• Manage rows and columns in worksheets.
• Create multiple worksheets in a workbook.

Practice

Activity 1: Establishing Data Validation
In this activity, participants will learn how to create a data validation list and link it to the cells in the spreadsheet to indicate the choices for that cell. This will ensure that all data is correct. Because of the complexity of this activity, you may choose to work through one of the steps as a whole group, and then have participants try it on their own or in pairs. If the most participants are struggling, you can work through all of the steps together.

Facilitation Tip
You can shorten the time needed to complete this activity by providing participants with a master worksheet already filled out with column headings ready for them to use.

Discuss uses of data tables, asking participants to share how they might use a data table, for example:

• What do you need to build a data table for?
• What would you need to put in the first two columns?

Activity 2: Working with Validation Data
This activity asks participants to use a tool called a dependent formula. Before participants begin working through the steps of the activity, have a discussion that helps them appreciate the value of this tool. Use prompts such as:

• Why is it helpful for a worksheet to auto-fill certain data?
• Why is it important in business and personal life to reduce the potential for errors when keeping track of money?

You may want to pause at step 2 of this activity to be sure that everyone understands how to read a spreadsheet formula out loud. Reading formulas out loud is an excellent way to reduce the potential for errors.

Facilitation Tip
In this activity, participants will need to enter several formulas into their spreadsheets. You may need to troubleshoot some of these formulas if participants make typing errors.

Activity 3: Calculating Cash Flow
Before beginning this activity, ask participants to brainstorm reasons why the selling price for a product might not always be the same.

Facilitation Tip
It is easy for participants to make errors during this activity as they enter prices manually into the spreadsheet. If their results don’t match what is expected, check column G for any incorrect values.

Apply

Participants should select one of the Apply activities. If you have time, consider having them do more. Provide ample time for sharing and feedback on products that your participants create. The Apply section activities can be completed during the course or individually at home between course meetings.

Share and Reflect

Ask participants to go through the checklist and complete it. Explain that this will help them identify areas in which they have gained practice and areas in which they need improvement. Encourage participants to use the checklist to improve their skills.

Conduct a short discussion reflecting on learning in this lesson, for example:

• What was challenging, easy, fun, or especially useful about this lesson?
• How might you use what you learned in your life?

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