"I began working with computers in the early 80's. The company I worked for at the time put a computer on everyone’s desktop so that we could “eliminate paperwork in the office in less than 5 years”. It was great for me. I caught on really quickly and the IT guy at the time trained me first to use new software and then allowed me to train other users.

My first spreadsheet program was Lotus 123 and I loved it. I guess my right brain loved the way everything was laid out in neat little rows and columns. My boss told me we were replacing my beloved Lotus 123 with Excel and I said no way. Eventually I learned to like Excel as much as Lotus and some of the functions worked even better.

Since the Fall semester of 2001 I have taught various computer classes at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology center including Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Intro to computers, digital imaging and internet classes.

I have taken many computer classes myself and I have found that some instructors are too caught up in using big words and terminology to show that they know a lot about the software. They sometimes forget that they the goal is to to show users how to use the software.

I use a three prong approach. I keep my instruction simple and short. I try to use handouts that have step by step instructions and lots of pictures. The last but possibly most important is that the student gets as much hands on time as possible." less...