Practice and Tutorials

Want to learn more about how to use a computer? These sites will help explain the ins and outs of computer usage all the way from keyboarding to Excel!

Typing

• NimbleFingers - Free online typing programs at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.
• PowerTyping - Online free typing tutor for kids and adults.
• FreeTypingGame.net - "the premiere site to play free typing games, lessons, and tests. Learning to touch type has never been easier or more fun. Best of all, it is 100% FREE. No downloads, installations or registration required."

Basic Computing

• Mousercise! - A fabulous computer mouse tutorial brought to us by the Palm Beach County Public Library.
• Compu-KISS - This is a great site for all you first timers. "Sandy applies her unique ability to explain in easy-to-understand language how to use and enjoy today's technology. Her trademark 'Compu-KISS' which stands for 'The Computer World - Keeping It Short and Simple,' represents her approach to helping others enhance life through the use of computers and technology."
• Geekgirl's Plain-English Computer Tutorials - Free basic tutorials from an award-winning Australian computer journalist.

The Internet

• Internet 101: Beginner's Handbook - From About.com, this is a great set of free tutorials about the Internet, covering everything from how to use favorites to searching tips and how to protect yourself from viruses.
• Explore the Internet Now! - This site, courtesy of the National Museum of American History (part of the Smithsonian) provides a history of the Internet, a glossary of terms, and a list of interesting sites organized by topic.
• Living Internet - "This site is a free, in-depth reference about the Internet. It includes 700-odd pages, receives more than 90,000 visitors a month, and has benefited from the review and input of many of the people that helped build the Internet. Enjoy!"
• The WWW Virtual Library - "The WWW Virtual Library ( VL ) is the oldest catalogue of the Web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of HTML and of the Web itself, in 1991 at CERN in Geneva. Unlike commercial catalogues, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the Web, the VL pages are widely recognised as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the Web."
• Internet Tutorials - This award-winning site is maintained by a former professor at SUNY-Albany. It contains information on how to conduct research in the Internet, lists of search engines and subject directories, and guides for better searching.
• Search Engine Showdown - "Search Engine Showdown, the users' guide to Web searching, compares and evaluates Internet search engines from the searcher's perspective." Detailed comparison of Web search engines and information on how to search the Web effectively. A review and list of features for each of the search engines, search strategies, statistics, and search engine news.
• Internet Public Library - Web Searching Page - "Looking for information on the Web? The sites listed here are some of the IPL's favorite general Internet search engines and web directories. No search engine or catalog is comprehensive, so it's important to use a variety of tools." This site also contains links to information about evaluating Web pages.
• SafeShopping.org - "This informational site, created by the American Bar Association, will help you order safely when shopping online. You'll find cyber-shopping is fast, convenient and opens up a whole new world of merchandise and services for you and your family. Just click on any of the topics to find a smarter, safer way to shop online."
• Netiquette - "'Netiquette' is network etiquette, the do's and don'ts of online communication. Netiquette covers both common courtesy online and the informal 'rules of the road' of cyberspace. This page provides links to both summary and detail information about Netiquette for your browsing pleasure."
• The Mac Orchard - "The Mac Orchard is a community resource- a carefully cultivated list of the most vital Internet applications and related resources for Macintosh Internet users, along with Internet software reviews contributed from The Mac Orchard's audience. These pages represent the most complete, most up-to-date collection of Macintosh Internet applications available anywhere on the Internet."
• Internet Crime Complaint Center - "The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations."

Microsoft Office

• Microsoft Office Online - The official help and how-to site direct from Microsoft. It includes information and tips for all versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, and more...
• ehow on Office - ehow has a number of informative and helpful tips for using Microsoft Office, as well as a number of other computer applications.
• Vital News - An extensive list of Word and Excel tips for all versions: 97, 2000, 2003, & 2007.
• Power Point in the Classroom PowerPoint can be handy and enriching in the workplace, as well as in the classroom. Let this fifties style tutorial walk you through the basics of setting up a presentation.
• Home and Learn's Free Computer Courses - Includes free tutorials for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as web design and some computer languages.
• Learn Access Now - "a full-length book available online. Even though Learn Access Now is designed to specifically teach beginners Microsoft Access, even longtime users of the program can learn a thing or two."