Department of English > First Year Composition Program > 104/105 Outcomes

FYCOMP Technology Skills Guidelines

These guidelines are intended to be neither exhaustive nor restrictive, but rather to serve as a starting point and guide to describe what we mean – programmatically – by core familiarity with the electronic environment as a set of writing and research tools. These skills constitute at least a very basic form of comfort and literacy in electronic environments.

Most importantly, these skills can and should be integrated into the teaching of writing. As the FYCOMP goals suggest, the program “uses various elements of the electronic media insofar as these new tools are conducive to the teaching of written communication.”

Computer Navigation / File Management

• saving documents/files to different locations (e.g., a floppy disk, network drive, CDRW, zip)
• creating and utilizing folder structures (organizing files)
• opening and manipulating documents from saved files (e.g., printing, renaming, copying, moving)
• using Save As to change file location, name, or type
• developing file navigation skills (including using the Find or Search function)
• developing understanding of taskbar and multi-tasking (i.e., switching between open programs)
  

Word Processing Basics

• saving and opening documents within the word processor
• learning differences between file types and advantages of file translation (.rtf, .html, .txt, etc...)
• accessing and changing default document behaviors (including margins and page layout, AutoCorrect / QuickCorrect)
• using Cut / Copy / Paste
• using Find & Replace
• using footers and headers
• using Grammar- and Spellcheck utilities correctly

Email / Online Discussion Basics

Functional

• attaching files, and pros / cons of attachment types (.rtf, .html, .txt, etc...)
• creating and using email and other types of user accounts

Generic

• gaining awareness of email and internet netiquette (e.g., flames; caps; subject lines, choosing appropriate account names)
• understanding the differences between rhetorical styles in electronic communication (e.g. , informal -- to friend, semi-formal -- to teacher, formal -- to chair or employer)
  • practicing effective conversational techniques to collaborate, respond, or otherwise communicate with peers or the larger community

Web Basics

• finding info on the web; search engines and key words
• evaluating info on the web
• citing web-based material and incorporating that material into a paper
  

Support / Troubleshooting

• using the help menu to solve problems
• accessing other sources of information, including:
  • electronic
    • local (e.g., online helpdesk, tutorials)
    • remote (e.g., FAQ, usenet, websearch, peer-to-peer)
  • printed (e.g., handouts, books)
  • face-to-face (e.g., support staff, help desk, peer-to-peer