Become tech-savvy

Focus at this Level: Using Computer for the first time, How to Shutdown and Poweron, Using a Mouse, Knowing the external parts of a computer, Practising Typing using Keyboard

If you have never used a computer or a laptop before, you will need to start from the basics. Try to do a computer course from a nearby institute or learn the basics from a family member. If he gives you 2-3 hours, you will be to do a few hours of practise by yourself to get a practise of using the mouse and the keyboard.

Topics to cover:
How to shutdown and power on the computer
Only for Desktop PC users: What are the different parts of the computer called - Monitor, CPU, UPS
How to see the remaining battery level?
Increasing volume, brightness and other things on the laptop
Changing the Desktop Background & Screensaver
Changing the Password (be careful)
How to Open MS Paint and Notepad and how to close
Left Click vs Right click
Get enough practise of using mouse
MS Paint
Make things on MS Paint to get mouse practise
Use different colors and widgets on MS Paint
Saving a file and reopening a file
Notepad
Learn typing from keyboard
Type a few documents
Type punctuation marks (comma, full stops, etc)

Why MS Paint?
Using MS Paint, gives you a practise of using the mouse and also gives  you an idea of how a typical software works (Saving, Closing). You also learn about single click vs double click.

Why Notepad?
Notepad is a good way to practise typing. Instead of Notepad, if you like you may start with MS word directly.

This level is optional
If you are highly motivated and you want to skip this level (Level 1, Part 1), you can do so because in Level 2 also you learn similar things like typing and using the mouse, while using MS Word and while browsing the internet. But doing this level will make the learning curve more smoother.

Play Games
Play this for some time to get good control over the mouse: Angry Birds

Practise Notepad & Typing
Practise Sheets for Level 1 and 2
Whether you go to any institute or not, try to do these practise sheets. These would teach you the above-mentioned topics through hands-on practice. Take help from tech-savvy family members and friends.

Basic Internet Browsing
Visit a few common websites and your favourite websites on Google Chrome. Here are a few:
google.com
youtube.com
facebook.com
instagram.com
news.google.com
chatgpt.com
spiritualityonmars.com
amazon.com

Here is a list of smart phone apps which are common these days. Try to use each of these apps for 2 hours at least. You may order food, book cabs, pay online, create accounts, search for something online, etc. When you use these apps you understand how they work. Since all apps work on similar patterns so you get familiar with the whole ecosystem. If you understand these apps, and tomorrow if a new app comes before you, you will be able to find your way out to accomplish your task.

List of apps you should try:
Google Search - Become an expert in this
Google Play Store
Generative AI: ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Meta AI
Google Chrome
Gmail, Microsoft Outlook
Online documents: Google Docs, Notion
Online Filesharing: Dropbox, Google Drive
Telegram
Watch movies online: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Cab booking: Uber, Ola
Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, Messenger
Music Players: Spotify, Youtube Music
Recharging the balance in your phone yourself
Order Food: Swiggy, Zomato
Quick Delivery: Blinkit, Swiggy Genie
Ecommerce: Amazon, Flipkart
Google News

Please note that simply installing these apps won't help. When you start using these apps on daily basis and get a good practise of each of these apps, that will be helpful. If you use one of these apps for 2-3 hours, then you may say that you have used the app. Simply installing these apps and trying once or twice, will help only a little.

Try to use 80% of these apps, at least. Try to pick one from each category. Getting a good habit of using these apps is likely to take months. It is a slow process. You can continue to work on other levels while you are getting in the habit of mastering this level. 

The most critical things to know
Many people who are not well versed with Technology often lack knowledge & practise of the following. If they know these things, using most apps on phone becomes easy.
- Signup or Register for a new account on any website or app
- Login into the account
- Changing the password using the Forgot Password option
- Paying for something online using different payment options like UPI/Paytm/Gpay, Online Banking, Debit/Credit card, etc.
- Installing/Uninstalling apps

If you know these, using most of the apps and websites becomes easier.

Other things that you should know
Google vs Bing
Opera Mini vs Google Chrome vs Firefox
Online Banking: Login into your bank account
Understand how ChatGPT is different from Google Search from a user's point of view
Lightroom & other Adobe apps

Study the products of Tech giants
Study all apps & devices released by Google, Microsoft, Apple and Meta (Facebook). Generally, these companies are working on the cutting edge of technology. When we study their products we come to know what is happening in the tech world. You can simply start watching youtube videos on such topics to get knowledge of their products. And try to use their products, especially the free ones. Most of them are available for free in the form of smartphone apps, software or websites.

Focus at this Level: Typing, Formatting text, Using MS Word

If you have no experience in using a computer or Microsoft (MS) Office, I suggest that you do a computer course from a near by computer institute. Generally, such institutes teach well. Remember, it is all about practising on the computer. Try to learn everything about MS Word. Try to get a lot of typing and formatting practise in MS word. MS Word is much more useful than Excel or Powerpoint, that is why I give higher importance to MS Word and lesser to Excel and PowerPoint.

What are MS Word, MS Excel and MS Powerpoint?

"MS" stands for "Microsoft". These three are among the most popular computer software on Earth, especially MS Word. MS Word can do all kinds of things, and most people who use computer are familiar with this Software. This is one of the first software taught to kids in School. Using this you can type documents, print documents, create Posters, create notes on the computer, share information with others, create reports, create case studies, and all kinds of office work. From CEOs to junior employees, everyone uses this software in a typical company. In short, MS Word is all about typing things on computer and creating a document. 

MS Excel is more specific. It is more frequently used for financial records and in fact for all kinds of record keeping. 

MS PowerPoint is primarily used for giving presentations.

You will understand what MS Excel and MS Powerpoint are, once you start using them. MS Word is absolutely a must to start learning the basic use of a computer because it teaches you the most basic things like typing alphabets, punctuation marks and basic use of the keys on the keyboard. Once you know typing, you can use your typing skill to type in emails, or typing in different input boxes on various websites, type website URLs, typing on Facebook, in fact typing is used everywhere on the computer. MS Word also teaches you formatting text - bolding, decreasing and increasing font sizes, giving and reducing space in text, etc. Formatting skills are used everywhere - in emails, on social media, and on many other websites. 

There are some alternatives to MS word, the most popular is Google Docs. It works on Browsers like Google Chrome. Google Docs is a free but a really good alternative to MS word. Google Docs is very similar to MS word. Once you are fluent with MS word, you can easily get fluent with the MS Word equivalent features in Google Docs. 

So you see, just by learning MS Word, you get fluent in using many other Software, Websites, and Webapps. Similarly, using MS Excel and Powerpoint also gives you an overall idea of how things work on a computer in today's age. For example, if you know MS Excel, you also understand some aspects of how a popular webapp named "Notion" works. You will also get a better understanding of how records are stored in a typical Database. 

MS Word, MS Excel, and MS Powerpoint, when combined together, they are called "MS Office".

Therefore, I think getting started with MS Office is the best way to get acquainted with a Computer and its basic use.

Topics to cover:
Using Microsoft Word
Typing practise and know what each key on the keyboard is for

Practise Sheets

Whether you go to any institute or not, try to do these practise sheets. That would teach you the above-mentioned topics through hands-on practice. Take help from tech-savvy family members and friends.

Practise Sheets for Level 1 and 2

Focus at this level: Internet Browsing, Get into habit of using websites, Google Search, Using ChatGPT, Emails, Common webapps - notion, etc.

Focus: How to Signup on websites, How to Login, What is 2-way authentication, Advanced use of Google Search, understanding AI generated and sponsored results, understanding social media advertisements, become an advanced facebook user, Pages vs groups, Deeper study of AI tools - ChatGPT, etc, Use Canva, Use Google Docs, Use Amazon, Gmail, Whatsapp web, Telegram, Youtube vs Vimeo, Meta AI, Google Notebook LM

Having a basic knowledge of User Experience Design helps in every field. I am talking specifically about Usability. Irrespective of which field you are working in, whether it is teaching children, software development or anything else, understanding the basics of Usability and how to make things more user friendly for the user, helps every creator - whether you are creating a assignment/project for a student, whether you develop software, or you create a report, or you design a building.

I suggest reading this book: "Don't make me Think" by Steve Krug. It is an easy book to read, with a lot of pictures. You can finish it in a few hours. But it is more oriented towards web development.

This course is also good and it is not specific to web usability.

Design of Everyday Things is the best book in this field, but is not an easy one to read. If you can read it, there is nothing like it.

[More will be added]

Learn HTML and CSS from W3Schools.com and do some projects.

Projects:
Please create these projects with HTML/CSS, not with any other website creation methods. Also, please note that at this stage it is very unlikely that you will be able to create a fully finished website that you will be able to actually use.  The first project is an easier one. You may be able to use that.
- Build a personal website
- Build a website for a friend or family
- Build a website for an imaginary business idea
- Build a website for your pet
- Build a recipe-sharing website
- Build a family website
- Travel Journal: A platform to document trips with photos, locations, and notes.
- Movie Review Site

These websites need to work both on mobile and laptop/desktop. So, you will need to use media queries and responsive design. Start with desktop only websites.

You are unlikely to do Web Development in SoM. But if you have experience in HTML/CSS, you will be better able to understand Web development work in SoM.

Once you understand HTML/CSS, you are better able to understand any technical discussion on websites.

Focus:
Chrome Development Tools
Responsive Design
Using a Hosting
What is a Domain name?
Installing and using Wordpress
Using GIT to push code to the server
Hosting website on netlify

Learn Python or Javascript. Prefer Python because it is easier as the first programming language. But SoM is more likely to work in Javascript. Just learn one programming language and others are quite similar.

You are unlikely to do programming in SoM. Those who are doing programming since a few years, they will probably do programming. But if you have experience in programming, you will be better able to understand Software Development in SoM.

As I said earlier, it is better to spend time on other areas like Academic Teaching, than trying to learn programming. Learning programming is a serious undertaking and takes time.