NIU ESL Center Tech Skills

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.”

	saving documents/files to different locations (e.g., a floppy disk, network drive, CD-RW, 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)

FYCOMP Technology Skills