The new Stafford Technology Center is open. Finally, I will have a place to teach these Mac courses that I have been doing at a variety of libraries around the island. With the new building, there will be new courses being offered. I personally will continue to teach the Mac Basics course that have been quite popular in the libraries. The classroom has a very nice classroom and each session will be no larger than about 20 people. This will ensure that everyone's questions will be answered and that everyone can engage in the conversation. You can purchase your course online by clicking the "Add to Cart" button below!
1. Computer Basics -
$10, about 1 hour
Date: Saturday, September 4, 12 PM
This course is appropriate for anyone who would like to start from the beginning. The basics of hardware and software will be discussed so that you know exactly what you paid for when you bought your computer. This would be an ideal course for someone to take just before buying a computer. It is easy to simply pay for numbers but if you don't know what those numbers relate to; that is, what is a gigahertz, a terabyte, CPU, what does RAM do, etc, then you are likely buying a computer for the wrong reasons. These kinds of questions will be answered so that you'll have a much better idea of what goes on inside of a computer. This course is designed for ANY computer- Mac or PC.
2. Macintosh Basics -
$25, about 1 hour
Date: Saturday, September 4, 1:30 PM
Very much like the course that I was teaching in the libraries, I broke it up into two courses. Now I offer a "computer basices" course for $10 (see above) and then this course about the Mac specifically. Designed strictly for the Macintosh operating system (focusing on Leopard and Snow Leopard), you will learn the fundamentals of a Macintosh. Even a regular user will learn a few new things. This course will not cover the "how to's" but rather the "what is" part of the Macintosh. Consider it a geography lesson for the Mac OS.
3. Optimizing the User- $50, about 2 hours- Quite often I find that most people are very proficient at doing certain tasks on their computer. But they seldom venture past that point of comfort where they are forced to try something new or different. Most of the time the computer is not being used to even 1/2 of its potential. It isn't that people need a better computer. We need to become better users. This course will assume you know the basics of the Macintosh and will go beyond the textbook. I will share with you years of experience and suggest a bunch of different ways of doing things that can increase your productivity and make your time on the Mac much more enjoyable. I expect this to be an extremely useful class. I will answer the most common questions among beginners and then I will expand on it so that there is not only a better understanding, but also a practical solution. Furthermore, I'll discuss some of my favorite 3rd party applications that I use frequently. With the right knowledge and tools, you can become a very efficient Mac user.
4. Macintosh Maintenance and Troubleshooting- $50, about 1.5 hours- This course is designed for someone who would like to take responsibility for the care and maintenance of their own machine or perhaps even their work machines. We'll go over troubleshooting procedures and strategies and I'll share with you the most common problems and their solutions. Macs aren't without their problems but most of them can be avoided with just a little proactive care. Covering topics like email, printing, networks, crashes and freezes and yes, even viruses and spyware.
The first course will be held on Saturday, June 5th at 2 PM. It will be the Computer Basics course that Stafford Associates will offer for free. Immediately following will be the Macintosh Basics course. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in the 2nd course also attend the 1st course. It certainly isn't necessary but there are some related topics that I'd like to tie together. You must register for the course to secure your spot. More information will be available soon so please check back.