Computer Skills

Prepared By
Dr. Karim Emara
Ain Shams University

Second Year
2018-2019
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This two-year curriculum was developed through a participatory and collaborative approach
between the Academic faculty staff affiliated to Egyptian Universities as Alexandria University, Ain
Shams University, Cairo University , Mansoura University, Al-Azhar University, Tanta University,
Beni Souef University , Port Said University, Suez Canal University and MTI University and the
Ministry of Health and Population(General Directorate of Technical Health Education (THE). The
design of this course draws on rich discussions through workshops. The outcome of the workshop
was course specification with Indented learning outcomes and the course contents, which served
as a guide to the initial design.

We would like to thank [Link] Al- Sharkawi the General Coordinator of General
Directorate of Technical Health Education, Dr. Azza Dosoky the Head of Central Administration
of HR Development, Dr. Seada Farghly the General Director of THE and all share persons
working at General Administration of the THE for their time and critical feedback during the
development of this course.

Special thanks to the Minister of Health and Population Dr. Hala Zayed and Former
Minister of Health Prof. Ahmed Emad Edin Rady for their decision to recognize and
professionalize health education by issuing a decree to develop and strengthen the technical
health education curriculum for pre-service training within the technical health institutes.
 ‫توصيف مقرر دراسى‬

‫ بيانات المقرر‬-1

‫المستوى‬/ ‫الفرقة‬ ‫حاسب آلي متقدم‬: ‫اسم المقرر‬ : ‫الرمز الكودى‬

‫ شعبة‬/ ‫الفرقة الثانية‬: Computer Skills
‫تسجيل طبي‬

: ‫عدد الوحدات الدراسية‬ : ‫التخصص‬

Theory 24 Contact Hours

Practical 24 Contacts Hours
This course will provide solid computer skills and literacy :‫ هدف المقرر‬-2

especially for healthcare professionals. The computer

hardware and software basics will be reviewed. Advanced
skills of Microsoft office applications along with web tools
will be covered.
‫ المستهدف من تدريس المقرر‬-3

ILOs
‫ المعلومات‬.‫ا‬
 Describe the components of computer hardware and
software in detail
: ‫والمفاهيم‬
 Define types of internet connections
 Understand the advanced features and functionalities of
Word processing applications.
 Understand the advanced features and functionalities of
Spreadsheet applications.

 Analyze basic issues of connecting the computer

components ‫ المهارات‬-‫ب‬
 Differentiate between Internet connections.
 Interpret the importance of Internet and web tools : ‫الذهنية‬
like Email.
 Select the right steps to the desired formatting in
Word.
 Design formulas in Excel to calculate the desired
values.
  Setup a local network connection among some PCs ‫ المهارات المهنية‬-‫ج‬
 Practice web browser features :‫الخاصة بالمقرر‬
 Create email accounts and deal with email interface
 Use Word to create professional letters and reports
 Use Excel to deal with and analyze data

 Conduct effective verbal and written communication ‫ المهارات‬-‫د‬

and presentation using different IT Technologies : ‫العامة‬
 Think critically about problems and their solutions,
defend an intellectual position, and use different
available knowledge and science resources.
 Work independently and Manage time effectively

 Review on Computer Components

 Internet and Web :‫ محتوى المقرر‬-4

 Advanced Word Processing application

 Advanced Spreadsheet application

 Teaching ‫التعليم‬ ‫أساايب‬ -5

 Lectures ‫والتعلم‬
 Practical classes
 Self-directed learning
N.A ‫التعليم‬ ‫أساليب‬ -6
‫والتعلم للطالب ذوى‬
‫القدرات المحدودة‬
‫ تقويم الطالب‬-7

 Written Exam : Short essay - MCQ 80 ‫األساليب‬ -‫أ‬

 Practical exam 10 ‫المستخدمة‬
 Assignments 10

 Formative assessment: Quizzes throughout the course ‫ التوقيت‬-‫ب‬

 Continuous assessment: home assignments, self-
learning tasks,
 Summative assessment: Final exam Written (Essay,
MCQ)

 Mid-Term Examination (10 marks) After 6 weeks

from the start
 2 Practical quizzes (10 marks) at week 4 & 8
 Final-Term Examination (80 marks) At the end of
the 12th week

 Written Exam Final 80 Marks ‫توزيع‬-‫ج‬

 Midterm written exam 10 marks ‫الدرجات‬
 2 Quizzes 10 Marks

: ‫ قائمة الكتب الدراسية والمراجع‬-8

- LECTURE NOTES ‫ مذكرات‬-‫أ‬

- PRACTICAL NOTES
- RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
 Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum. ‫ كتب ملزمة‬-‫ب‬
[Link]
[Link]
 Wempen, Faithe. Digital Literacy for Dummies. John
Wiley & Sons, 2014.
‫ كتب مقترحة‬-‫ج‬

‫ دوريات علمية أو‬-‫د‬

‫ الخ‬...... ‫نشرات‬
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Review on Computer Basics .......................................................................................... 9
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) ................................................................................................ 10
Random Access Memory (RAM) ..................................................................................................... 11
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) ..................................................................................................................... 11
Input Devices.................................................................................................................................... 11
Output Devices.................................................................................................................................12
Optical Drives .................................................................................................................................. 13
Network and Internet ..................................................................................................................... 14
Software .......................................................................................................................................... 15
Connecting a Computer.................................................................................................................. 16
Lab Exercise..................................................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 2: Internet and Web ......................................................................................................... 18
Internet Connection Types ............................................................................................................. 18
Setting Up a Network Connection ................................................................................................. 19
Setting Up a WiFi connection ......................................................................................................... 23
Troubleshooting an Internet Connection ...................................................................................... 23
Setup Network Printer ................................................................................................................... 24
The World Wide Web ...................................................................................................................... 25
Working with Internet Explorer ..................................................................................................... 27
Working with Emails ....................................................................................................................... 28
Lab Exercise..................................................................................................................................... 32
Chapter 3: Word Processing .......................................................................................................... 33
Working with Word......................................................................................................................... 33
Editing and Formatting Text .......................................................................................................... 34
formatting Options .........................................................................................................................36
Spell Checker ................................................................................................................................... 41
Working with Tables ....................................................................................................................... 41
Images and objects ......................................................................................................................... 43
Printing Prepartion ......................................................................................................................... 45
Printing ............................................................................................................................................ 47
 Useful Keyboard Shortcuts ........................................................................................................... 48
Lab Exercise.................................................................................................................................... 49
Chapter 4: Spreadsheets ................................................................................................................49
Introduction to Spreadsheet ......................................................................................................... 49
Basic Operations ............................................................................................................................ 49
Working with Data .......................................................................................................................... 55
Formulas and Functions .................................................................................................................58
Formatting Cells .............................................................................................................................. 55
Charts ............................................................................................................................................... 67
Analyzing Data in Excel .................................................................................................................. 68
Printing ............................................................................................................................................ 74
Lab Exercise..................................................................................................................................... 76

‫حقوق النشر والتأليف لوزارة الصحة والسكان ويحذر بيعه‬

Computer Skills 8

Week Theory practice

1st week Computer Components I Review computer
components and plugs

2nd week Computer Components II Review Windows menus and

commands

3rd week Internet and Web Setup LAN/WiFi connection

Working with web browser
Working with Emails
4th week Word Processing: Basic Apply given concepts
operations and formatting

5th week Word Processing: Work with Apply given concepts

Tables and Graphics

6th week Midterm -

7th week Word Processing: Page Layout Apply given concepts

and Printing

8th week Spreadsheets: Basic operations Apply given concepts

and formatting

9th week Spreadsheet: Formulas & Apply given concepts

Functions

10th week Spreadsheet: Functions & Apply given concepts

Charts

11th week Spreadsheet: Data Analysis Apply given concepts

12th week Spreadsheet: Printing & -

Revision
 Computer Skills 9

CHAPTER 1: REVIEW ON COMPUTER BASICS

As you have learned in the computer basics course, computing knowledge is comprised of
interactions with hardware and software. The hardware is the tangible equipment, such as the
monitor, central processing unit, keyboard, and mouse. The software is a collection of computer
programs or instructions and related data that tell the hardware what to do and how to do the
desired tasks.

The main body of computer hardware is the system unit. The system unit case consists of
essential components, including

1. A motherboard, which is a large circuit board into which all the other components
connect.
2. A central processing unit (CPU) or the processor which represents the brain of the
computer where all operations run inside. CPU is installed in a special socket on the
motherboard.
3. Random access memory (RAM), a set of data storage chips that temporary stores data
and computer programs that are currently in use. The programs and data are necessary
to temporarily reside in RAM to allow the CPU processes them.
4. A hard disk drive (HDD) is a storage unit that holds the operating system files, programs,
and data that are retrieved by the CPU to RAM when needed. Unlike RAM, a hard drive is
non-volatile which means it retains the stored data even when the computer powered
off.

There may be other components inside the system unit, such as extension cards that add other
capabilities like sound, graphics and network support. Let’s briefly explain some details of the
main components.
 Computer Skills 10

System Unit Case Motherboard

CPU RAM HDD

THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

The CPU is responsible for processing the computer data by executing software programs which
turn input into the desired output. The speed and performance of the CPU is one of the
important factors that determines how efficient a computer works. A CPU is a very small, thin
silicon wafer that is encased in a ceramic chip and then mounted on the motherboard, as shown
in Error! Reference source not found.. CPU speed is measured in gigahertz (GHz). The higher
his number, the faster the CPU can operate. A hertz is a cycle per second; a gigahertz is 1 billion
cycles per second. CPU speed is not the only factor of its performance, but also number of
cores. Most CPUs have multiple cores, which means there are multiple sets of the key
components inside the chip, so the chip can process multiple computer instructions
simultaneously. Dual-Core (2 cores) and Quad-Core (4 cores) CPUs are quite common nowadays.
If the CPU runs at 1.8 GHz, for example, and is quad-core, it can process up to 4 times as much as
a single-core CPU could process at 1.8 GHz. There are other efficiency-boosting technologies
 Computer Skills 11

that can increase data throughput. Thus, a better comparison between two different CPUs is the
number of instructions per second they can perform. There are two main manufacturers of
CPUs for personal computers: Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

Memory consists of computer chips that hold data. One type of memory, called Random Access
Memory (RAM), forms the central area of memory that a computer uses to execute programs
and related data currently running. The more RAM a computer has, the more programs or
applications it can have open at once. More RAM can also make some applications perform
better in general. Memory capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB), which is a billion bytes. Most
basic computers have at least 4GB today, with higher end systems having 16GB or more. Like the
CPU, memory consists of small, thin silicon wafers, encased in ceramic chips and mounted on
circuit boards. The circuit boards holding memory are called DIMMs, which stands for dual inline
memory module.

HARD DISK DRIVE (HDD)

An HDD stores all software data and programs. When the computer is turned off, whatever is on
the hard drive remains there. The operating system and programs load from the hard drive into
RAM, where they run. Hard-drive capacity is also measured in gigabytes (GB), like RAM. A typical
hard drive might be 500 GB or 1 terabyte (1,000 GB) or even more. Most hard drives sold today
are the traditional mechanical type that use metal platters to store data with magnetic polarity,
but a newer type, called a solid-state drive (SSD) which uses a type of memory, resulting in a
fast, quiet, and reliable (but expensive) storage alternative.

INPUT DEVICES

In addition to the components inside the system unit, a computer usually comes with one or
more input devices:

1. A keyboard, which is similar to a

typewriter keyboard. In addition to
typing words, you can use a keyboard to
 Computer Skills 12

give the computer commands or writing text.

2. A mouse, which is used to give computer commands by moving it around your desk with
your hand, which in turn moves a pointer around onscreen. Using this pointer, you can
click an item, like a button or menu item that causes an action.
3. A trackball which is like a mouse except it’s stationary and a ball is rolled to move the
pointer onscreen.
4. A touchpad or touchscreen which is a rectangular touch-sensitive pad with buttons
adjacent to it. On many notebook computers and smartphones, a touchpad is a built-in
mouse substitute. You drag your finger on the pad to move the pointer onscreen.
5. Other devices such as joysticks for computer games and scanner that converts hardcopy
documents into softcopy images.

OUTPUT DEVICES

An output device is any peripheral that

receives data from a computer system
and output them to a user in a sensible
form like images on a screen or sound on
speakers. Monitors, printers and
speakers are the most common output
devices used with a computer. Each
computer has some type of display
screen.

Depending on the type of computer, the display screen may be built-in, or may be a separate
unit called a monitor. Some displays are touchscreen, where the screen provides input to the
computer.

In this case, the touchscreen acts as input and output devices in the same time. Display size is
measured in diagonal inches, the same as TVs. A typical size for a notebook computer display is
from 13" to 17". A typical monitor for a desktop computer might be from 17" to 25". Some
computers can support multiple monitors working together to provide a wide working area for
computer professionals. Computer displays are formed as a matrix of pixels which are the
smallest unit that can take a color. The display quality is measured in resolution that which is the
 Computer Skills 13

number of pixels in the display rows and columns. A typical resolution for a notebook PC ranges
from 1024 x 768 to 1920 × 1080, although other resolutions are still common depending on the
monitor capabilities. The first number of a resolution expresses on the horizontal number of
pixels and the second one is the number of vertical pixels. The aspect ratio of a display is the
ratio of its width to its height, expressed in pixels. Displays may either be standard aspect ratio
(4:3) or widescreen (16:9). For example, a small device might have a maximum resolution of 800
× 600; if you simplify that to a fraction, it comes out to 4:3.

OPTICAL DRIVES

Most desktop and notebook computers come with an optical drive, which is a drive that will
read CDs, DVDs, and/or Blu-ray discs. Optical drives get their name from the way data is written
and read on the disc. A laser light shines on the surface, and a sensor measures how much light
is bounced back from a certain spot on the removable disk. Many laptop computers come
without DVD capabilities because most of media come on optical disks (like software or videos)
are accessible from the the Internet. Laptop users who still need an optical drive, they can buy
an external drive and connect it to a USB port.

The optical drives in computers vary according to these factors:

 Which disc types will it support? The best drives support all three types: Blu-ray, DVDs,
and CDs. Lesser drives may support only DVDs and CDs.
 Does it write discs, or only read them? Writeable drives allow the user to save data to
blank discs. Some blank discs can be written only once (such as DVD-R); others can be
rewritten multiple times (such as DVD-RW).
 How fast the drive can read or write data? The popular writing speed of CDs is 52X while
it is 24X for DVDs. 1X is a reference speed and differ based on the disc type. For example,
the 1X of DVD is 1,385,000 bytes per second, while 1X of CD is only 153,600 bytes per
second.
 Computer Skills 14

NETWORK AND INTERNET

Whatever the type of the computer, it can be connected to the local network at home or
hospital and to the global network, the Internet. The connection is done through a network
adapter installed inside the computer. This adapter may be built-in the computer motherboard,
or it may be added to the computer

via an expansion board or a device that plugs into a USB port. Network connectivity can be
either wired or wireless. A wired connection requires connecting a cable from the computer to
the device that supplies

the Internet connection. That type of connection is known as Ethernet. A wireless connection
allows the computer to communicate with the network through radio waves and is called Wi-Fi,
or wireless Ethernet.

Apart from the physical transmission media (wired or wireless), there may be networks
comprise additional basic system building blocks, such as hubs, switches, routers, and firewalls.
Any particular piece of equipment will frequently contain multiple building blocks and perform
multiple functions.

A network switch is a device that connects multiple computer togethers and allows forwarding
and filters data between switch ports based on the destination physical address. A switch is
distinct from a network hub in that it only forwards the data to the physical ports involved in the
communication rather than all ports connected. Switches normally have numerous ports,
commonly 24 or 48 ports, facilitating a star topology for devices, and cascading additional
switches to form a bigger network. A router is device that connects different networks together
and forwards data based on the routing information included in it. For example, an ADSL router
 Computer Skills 15

at home connects the Internet, which is a global network coming from a service provider, with
the local network.

Beside the networking devices, all networked devices must be uniquely labeled by an IP address
which is formed from 4 integers, each integer ranges from 0-255. For example, an IP address can
be [Link]. The IP address must be configured correctly to be able to communicate with
other devices in the network or connect to the Internet and usually obtained automatically from
a special server or device exists in the network.

SOFTWARE

Software is a collection of computer programs or applications along with its related data.
Programs are installed on the computer hard drive, which resides in the computer system unit.
The software programs are way that allow users interact with the computer hardware and get
their work done. For example, Word or Excel are very common programs used at office. Some
programs come preinstalled on the computer. For example, a computer always has an operating
system, such as Microsoft Windows, because the operating system runs all the other programs
and manages the computer hardware. Also, some programs are included within the operating
system, such as WordPad, a simple word-processing program that comes with Windows. Adobe
Acrobat reader, a program with which you can open PDF files, is an example of a popular
program that you can find on the Internet and install on the computer for free.

OPERATING SYSTEM

The operating system (OS) is a system software that manages computer hardware and software
resources and provides common services for computer programs. Microsoft Windows is the
most popular computer OS, and we will look at its features soon. There have been several
versions over the years; such as Windows vista, 7, 8.1 and 10. The second-most-popular
computer operating system is Apple’s Mac OS X. This operating system is for Apple computers,
although recent versions can also run on the same hardware that Windows runs on. Both of
these operating systems use a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the user to interact
with the operating system by clicking on pictures with the mouse. There is more software
available for Windows than for Mac OS X. For a desktop or notebook computer, it is possible to
buy an operating system separately to setup on it. A tablet PC or smartphone doesn’t give you a
 Computer Skills 16

choice of operating systems; it comes with the OS that it can run, and you can’t change
operating systems on it later. For example, an iPad only runs the Apple iOS operating system.

CONNECTING A COMPUTER

The computer components are connected to the system unit through specific ports for each
component. A desktop PC comes with a system unit, a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor. The
monitor connects either to a VGA, DVI or HDMI port on the back of the system unit. The
keyboard and mouse connect to USB or PS/2 ports. The computer may have further USB ports
which can be used to connect other devices such as a printer, scanner, camera and flash disks.
Ethernet port is used to connect to the wall network socket to connect to the local network and
the Internet. USB ports have different speeds, according to their version. USB 3.0 is the
currently highest speed and has internal blue color. These ports should be used with flash disks
or high-resolution cameras to get high performance.

PS/2 Ethernet VGA HDMI Speakers

USB DVI USB 3 MIC

LAB EXERCISE

1. Check the computer components and the different types of plugs

2. Practice all commands and menu of Windows operating System given in the Computer
Basics course.

REFERENCES
Computer Skills 17

 Wikibook: Introduction to Computer Information Systems [Link]

Introduction_to_Computer_Information_Systems/
 Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum. [Link]
us/DigitalLiteracy/ [Link]
 Wempen, Faithe. Digital Literacy for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
 Computer Skills 18

CHAPTER 2: INTERNET AND WEB

The Internet is a large network of computers, servers, and networking devices that contain
information and technology tools that anybody with an Internet connection can access. One of
the main features of the Internet is the World Wide Web (or web for short), a huge collection of
documents with links to one another. An individual document is called a web page. A related
group of web pages published by the entity is called a website. The user can access and view
these pages and websites through an application called a browser. Browsers offer tools to help
the user navigate from website to another and from one web page to another. Websites have
many purposes. For example, a website can be informational like news, functional as a retail
store, or host social networking communities where people can exchange ideas and thoughts
like forums and social media. Besides the web, the Internet also enables several other types of
online activity.

For example, you can send and receive email, participate in video conferencing, and exchange
instant text messages with others.

An intranet is a computer network that works on the same technologies as the Internet does
but is private inside a certain company. Employees can access company information and systems
hosted on the company own servers their connection to the intranet.

A cloud is an area of the internet in which registered users can safely store and retrieve files, run
programs, and process information rather than doing those action on local computers or
servers. For example, Microsoft’s OneDrive service, which is free to anyone who signs up for a
Microsoft account, offers free, secure online file storage, as well as access to web-based
versions of popular Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Cloud
service are becoming more and more popular these days; and it will be covered later in this
book.

INTERNET CONNECTION TYPES

To connect to the Internet, you need a computing device, a connection device, and an Internet
Service Provider (ISP). The computing device can be a computer, a tablet or a mobile device. The
connection device is any separate or embedded device that connects the computer to the ISP
devices, such as a USB modem, router or the embedded modem inside a smart phone. A modem
 Computer Skills 19

is a device that converts digital information (used inside the computer) into analog information
to be transmitted over a physical cable or a wireless medium. The ISP is a company that owns
dedicated servers and big networking devices to provide access to the Internet.

The common types of Internet connection are ADSL, Cell phone networks and wireless hotspots
as explained soon. However, not every type of connection is necessarily available at all ISPs or
areas. Internet connections have different bandwidths (speeds) that depend on the connection
type obtained from the ISP, the billing plans that you subscribe to, number of people sharing the
same connection at the same time and other factors. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can
be transmitted over a network in a certain amount of time and is measured in Mbit/s (megabits
per second), Kbit/s (kilobits per second), or bit/s (bits per second).

ASYMMETRIC DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (ADSL)

This service is delivered through the phone land line, although the phone is available to use
while connected to the Internet. The basic idea of the ADSL is to split the frequencies allowed
on the phone line so that the voice of phone calls is allocated in the low band (up to 4 kHz) while
the Internet data are transmitted over higher frequencies. The big advantage of ADSL is keeping
the phone available while the user is always connected to the internet. Asymmetric means that
the speed for download is not the same as upload. To connect an ADSL router, the following
components are required: ADSL Router, DSL splitter, Ethernet cable, 2 phone cables, and the
router power supply. First, plug the equipment as shown in the figure below. The splitter should
be connected to the phone master socket, where the telephone line enters the premises, to get
the best performance and reliability from the phone line. One phone cable should be connected
from the splitter ADSL port to the WAN port in the Router and the other cable should be
connected from the telephone port in the splitter to the telephone. The Ethernet cable should
be connected to the network adapter of the computer and the other end should be connected
to one of LAN ports in the router. Finally, the power supply should be connected to the router.
The router should be configured by the information given by the ISP to enable the internet
service. The configuration steps and settings differ from an ISP to another and from a router to
another.
 Computer Skills 20

CELL PHONE NETWORKS

Currently, all cell phone operators provide Internet access through their GPRS, 3G or 4G
networks. Some tablets and smartphone can connect directly to the mobile network through
the installed SIM card. To connect a desktop computer or laptop this way, an USB modem is
necessary. The SIM card is inserted in the modem which, in turn, is connected to the PC and
laptop. The operating system will recognize the modem as a network interface and connects to
the internet through it. If Wi-Fi access is needed for multiple devices, a more advanced device
called 3G/4G wireless router is needed where it connects to the Internet through the installed
SIM card and distribute it to the WiFi network. The Internet connection through cell phone
networks is more expensive than ADSL.

WIRELESS HOTSPOTS

Many public places, such as airports, cafes, and hotels offer public hotspots. If you’re in range of
such a hotspot, your computer usually finds the connection automatically, making Internet
service available to you for free or for a fee.

SETTING UP A NETWORK CONNECTION

After setting up the ADSL or 3G/4G USB modem, usually nothing needed to be configured on the
computer. It just works in a plug and play manner. However, in some cases, you need to look at
or modify the settings of the network adapter.
 Computer Skills 21

Windows usually detects the presence of a network adapter automatically; typically, you don’t
have to install device drivers manually for the adapter. When Windows detects a network
adapter, Windows automatically creates a network connection and configures it to support
basic networking protocols. The following steps show you how to configure your network
adapter on a Windows 10 system:

1. Click the Start icon, and then tap or click Settings. The Settings page appears.
2. Click Network & Internet. The Network & Internet page appears.
3. Click Ethernet. The Ethernet settings page appears.
4. Click Change Adapter Options.
5. The Network Connections page appears lists the available network adapters. In this case,
only a single wired Ethernet adapter is shown. If the device has more than one adapter,
additional adapters will appear on this page.
Computer Skills 22

6. Right-click the connection that you want to configure and then choose Properties. The
Ethernet Properties dialog box opens.
7. The important connection settings are the IP address and DNS servers. Usually it is
obtained automatically from the DHCP server inside the ADSL router or at the company
intranet. Sometimes these settings should be configured manually.
8. To do so, select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” from the shown list and click
Properties to display the TCP/IP Properties dialog box; adjust the settings; and then click
OK.
9. The TCP/IP Properties dialog box lets you choose among these options:
 Obtain an IP Address Automatically: Choose this option if your network has a DHCP
server that assigns IP addresses automatically. Choosing this option dramatically
simplifies administering TCP/IP on your network.
 Use the Following IP Address: If your computer must have a specific IP address, choose
this option and then type the computer’s IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway
address.
 Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically: The DHCP server can also provide the address
of the Domain Name System (DNS) server that the computer should use. Choose this
option if your network has a DHCP server.
 Use the Following DNS Server Addresses: Choose this option if a DNS server isn’t
available. Then type the IP addresses of the primary and secondary DNS servers.
 Computer Skills 23

SETTING UP A WIFI CONNECTION

If you want to connect to a wireless WiFi network, follow these

steps:

In the notification area (the icons near the clock in the lower right

corner of the screen), click the wireless networking icon, , The

Networks pane appears. If one of the wireless networks says
Connected under it, you are already connected to the wireless
network. If not, click the wireless network you want to connect to.

Networks with a shield icon on them are unsecure networks.

Anyone may connect to them. Networks without the shield are secure and require a password.

If the network you connect to requires a password, and this is the first time you have connected
to it, a prompt appears. Enter the network password and press Enter.

TROUBLESHOOTING AN INTERNET CONNECTION

If you can’t view web pages or send and receive emails, the Internet connection is probably
down. This section walks through some troubleshooting help, but there’s one important thing
to note. ISPs can have their own problems that result in temporary outages, ranging from a few
seconds to a few hours. In addition, sometimes the data traffic on your Internet connection gets
bottlenecked which makes you feel things more slowly than usual. Many times the problems are
resolved automatically. However, there are some things to try when troubleshooting, in the
following order:

1. Restart your computer.

2. Turn-off the router for 30 seconds, and then turn it back on again. Some devices take
several minutes to fully come back up after a power cycle.
3. If the connection is wired, make sure the cables are plugged in well into the computer
and the wall socket or router port.
4. If the connection is wireless, make sure the wireless networking feature is turned on. On
some notebooks, there’s a button somewhere near the keyboard that turn the wireless
networking on/off. In Windows 10, the button on the bottom left in the network pane
 Computer Skills 24

should be highlighted to indicate the wireless networking capability is enabled. If you

look for the wireless icon in the notification area and it has a red X on it, that’s a good
clue that the wireless networking is turned off on the device. In addition, your computer
should be located at a good coverage area (within few meters) of the WiFi access point.
5. Right-click the networking icon in the notification area and choose Troubleshoot
Problems. Then follow the prompts to walk through a Windows Network Diagnostics
utility, which will ask you some questions about your problem and try various fixes.

SETUP NETWORK PRINTER

Printers are usually connected directly to the computer through a USB cable. However, in office,
it is not reasonable to have a dedicated printer for each clerk. Thus, many printer models come
with network interface whether Ethernet or WiFi. In this section, we see how to configure a
networked printer in Windows 10.

First of all, you should follow the printer user guide to configure and know its IP address. Once
known, the further configuration is straightforward.

1. Select “Start” and type “printers” in the search box and choose “Printers & scanners“.

2. Select “Add a printer or scanner“.

3. Wait for the “The printer that I want isn’t listed” option to appear, then select it.
 Computer Skills 25

4. Select “Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname” , then select “Next“.

5. Select “TCP/IP Device” in the “Device type” list.

6. Type the hostname or the IP address of the printer. Select “Next“.

7. Windows should find the printer if the printer is on and configured correctly. You may
have to specify more information. If prompted, Select the type of network adapter
installed in the printer in the “Device Type” drop-down list. You can also click “Custom”
to specify custom settings for the network printer. Select “Next“.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB

The World Wide Web or simply the Web is different from the Internet. In the early times of the
Internet, it was complex so that it is only used by scientists, private industries, and the
government. The public had not used it for the most part because it was complex and you had
to have a computer in order to access it, which not everyone did. In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee came
up with the World Wide Web as a way for organizing information, make it public for everyone
and placed in the Internet. The Web is not owned by one single business or person, but the
webpages are. A collection of related web pages, such as all the pages of a company, is known
as a website. Websites are hosted on a web server that is reachable through the Internet.
Therefore, the Web is a part of the Internet which is interconnected pages of information stored
on publicly accessible web servers. A web browser is a program that is used to view, interact
 Computer Skills 26

with and navigate among websites and webpages. Popular web browsers include Microsoft
Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome. Most of them provide similar
features and their main role is interact with the web server hosting the desired webpage to
fetch and display it.

The Web is built upon main components such as HTML, URL, and HTTP. HTML stands for Hyper
Text Markup Language and is used for writing and formatting webpages on the Web so that
they are nicely displayed in the web browser. URL is the Uniform Resource Locator which the
full address to a webpage like [Link] To view a web page, you must know its
URL, either by typing it into the address bar of the browser or by clicking a hyperlink. A hyperlink
is a clickable link to another webpage, and it can be either text or a graphic. When you hover
(move) the mouse pointer over a hyperlink, the pointer turns into a pointing hand, indicating it’s
over a clickable hyperlink. Sometimes text hyperlinks are underlined or in a different color from
the rest of the text to make them more obvious.

A web URL looks something like this: [Link] which

consists of the following parts:

 http: stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol which is the standard governs how web
data is transmitted. Sometimes its https which indicates the data exchanged between
the browser and server is secured.
 www: stands for World Wide Web. This indicates that you consider the web domain or
content on the server you are going to be accessing.
 [Link]: is the domain name. That’s the name of the website you are visiting.
 Everything that comes after the domain name is a path on the server to the page or
content you want. For example, theducation/[Link] is the file path containing the
content you want.
 The forward slashes (/) in the address are separators.

There is an important note on the domain name. Domain names are human-friendly versions of
internet addresses. They are easy to remember, and easy to understand. However, domain
names are translated to their equivalent Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to allow networking
devices reach the designated server. There are special servers, called Domain Name Server
(DNS) servers, that translate between domain names and their IP addresses. When the browser
 Computer Skills 27

sends out a request over the Internet to navigate a particular web page, the computer issues a
request to the configured DNS server and looks up that domain name’s IP address over
distributed databases. When the computer gets a reply from the DNS server, it uses the
obtained IP address to route the request to the server that contains the requested web page.
The DNS server is either obtained from a DHCP server with the IP addresses or manually
configured as discussed earlier in section ‎0Setting Up a Network Connection.

WORKING WITH INTERNET EXPLORER

At the top of the internet Explorer (IE), you can find the navigation bar where you can write the
URL and press Enter. There are interesting features in IE that support your work. The main menu
of IE is hidden by default. To show it, press F10 or right click on the title bar and select Menu bar.

WEB BROWSER FEATURES

Navigation: You can go back to the page you were previously on by clicking the “Back” button
on the navigation bar. After going back to the previous page, you can go forward again by
clicking the “Forward” button.
 Computer Skills 28

Zoom: To enlarge the appearance of the displayed webpage, press Ctrl and + or Ctrl and scroll
mouse up. To zoom out the page, press Ctrl and – or Ctrl and scroll the mouse down.

Multiple Tabs: Right click over a blank area of the current page to open the tabs menu and then
click the “New tab” button to open a new tab. You can then type in the URL for the website you
wish to view. You can quickly switch between tabs by clicking on them in the tabs menu. You
can close tabs by clicking the “X” button on the tab you wish to close.

Favorites: if you like a webpage and you are interested to save it for later use, click the
“Favorites” button (star) beside the navigation bar to open the favorites list. Click the “Add to
favorites” button, then click “Add” to finish adding the webpage to your favorites. Pages you
save can be arranged into folders and subfolders. It can be also permanently displayed in the
Favorites bar. To show this bar, right click the title bar and select “Favorites bar”.

History: IE maintains a history of pages you’ve visited, so you can revisit it later. To view the
history, click the Favorites and select the History tab. You can click Today to see the sites you
have visited today, click Last Week to see sites from last week, and so on.

WORKING WITH EMAILS

Electronic mail or email is similar to traditional postal service mail. Instead of hardcopy paper
and envelop, you use the computer to write your message, and send it over the Internet to be
delivered to its recipient. A message can travel halfway around the world within minutes or
seconds, and can have all types of content: text, pictures, files, etc. To send and receive emails,
you need to register with an email service such as Outlook, Yahoo and Gmail. Your email address
is unique in all the world, like your postal address or phone number is unique. An email address
might look like this:

myemailname@[Link]

The first part (myemailname) is your user name on the mail server. The @ sign indicates the
break between the username and the domain name. Everything after the @ sign is the domain
name, which indicates the mail server. Email service relies on mail servers, much like postal mail
delivery relies on the local post offices at each end of the transaction. When you send email, it
goes to the mail server belonging to the company that issued your email address (for example,
 Computer Skills 29

Google). That mail server forwards it to the recipient’s mail server, where it is stored until the
recipient logs in and views it. Most mail servers provide a web-based interface that you can use
to send and receive mail. If you use the web interface, your mail is available from any computer,
as long as you have Internet access. You can also send and receive mail using an email client,
which is an application that sends and receives email. Microsoft Outlook is an email client, for
example. If you use a mail client, your previously sent and received mail is accessible even when
no Internet access is available.

EMAIL BASICS

To get a web-based email address, visit one of these websites and follow the prompts to
register.

 Yahoo! Mail: [Link]

 Gmail (Google): [Link]
 [Link]: [Link]

Once your account is created, you can compose email messages, usually by clicking on a button
or link labeled “new message” or “compose”. You should type one (or more than one separated
by a comma) email address in the box labeled ‘To:’. The ‘From:’ box is usually filled in
automatically by your email address. There are “CC” (Carbon Copy) and ‘Bcc:’(Blind Carbon
Copy). You can put email addresses in them and the email will be copied to them so that all can
 Computer Skills 30

see it was copied to all the persons (Cc) or so that they cannot (Bcc), respectively. Then, you
should write the title of the message in “Subject” box and the message content in the big box
of the message body.

If you are connected to the Internet when you click the ‘Send’ button on the email it will go
immediately. If you are not connected then the messages go into your “Outbox” until you check
your mail.

To check your email for new messages, click the ‘Check Mail’, ‘Send and Receive’ or other similar
buttons. All new messages go into your Inbox. You can then move them into other folders that
you have created by drag-and-drop. Some emails have attachments which are files that are in
the email that you can open and/or save. The universal icon for attachments is a paper clip. You
can attach file to your emails by clicking the ‘Attach’ or similar button. You can open files in
email that you receive by either clicking on their icon at the end of an email, or double clicking
on it in the ‘Attachments:’ spot at the top, depending on your program. It is important to take
caution when opening attachments, as viruses are easily hidden inside attachments. There are
also some other features that you should be aware of.

 Account quota: each account includes a certain amount of storage for your saved
messages. Messages content including file attachments are counted into this quota. You
cannot receive new messages if the account space is full.
 Address Book: The account should also include an easy-to-use address book feature to
save your contacts’ information.
 Spam email filter: Many advertisers send tons of emails (called spam) to advertise their
products and services. These emails are annoying because it makes working with
important messages difficult. Most email services provide spam filters to keep such
messages in a separate folder usually called junk or spam folder. However, you have to
check this folder from time to time to ensure that there is no important messages went
there. You can also modify spam filter settings so that the email service places messages
from certain senders or with certain content in the spam folder.
 Computer Skills 31

WORKING WITH EMAIL MESSAGES

To reply to a message, look for a Reply button when you are viewing the message. Clicking it
opens a message composition window with the original message quoted below the message
body area and with the recipient’s address already filled in. Just type your reply and click Send.
There will also

be a Reply All command that does the same thing except it includes all of the original recipients
in the reply also, if there were more than just you. Forwarding a message is like replying but it
doesn’t fill in the email addresses for you. It sends a copy of the original message along in the
body area, but you must choose new recipients for it yourself.

By default, a message remains in the Inbox folder until you dispose of it somehow, by either
deleting it or moving it to another folder. You can create your own folders and move messages
into them to create a message storage system that makes sense for your needs. If you don’t
need a message any longer, delete it. To do so, select it and press the Delete key on the
keyboard, or select it and click the Delete button in the application. Deleted messages go to a
folder called Deleted Items or Trash. You can retrieve them from there if you’ve made a mistake.

Writing an email message should convey politeness and good will which is referred to as Email
Etiquette. Here are some tips:

 Don’t leave a sender hanging if a reply is required. Users understand that email is not
instantaneous, but it is polite to reply as soon as you are able.
 Don’t write in all-caps. It is considered shouting. On the other hand, don’t write in all-
lowercase; it is difficult to read.
 Don’t send email formatted with wild, difficult-to-read colors and backgrounds or
extremely large or small fonts.
 Don’t overuse abbreviations, especially when writing to someone who may not
understand them.
 In business communications and also in more formal personal communications, it is
considered good manners to begin with a greeting and close with your name (and also
your title and company if it’s for business).
 Don’t overuse emoticons (smileys), which are little happy face symbols
 Computer Skills 32

LAB EXERCISE

1. Setup network connection in the lab and use ping command

2. Work with Internet Explorer and practice all features listed in this chapter
3. Create an Email account. Send, reply and receive emails to your colleagues.

REFERENCES

 Wikibook: Introduction to Computer Information Systems [Link]

Introduction_to_Computer_Information_Systems/
 Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum. [Link]
us/DigitalLiteracy/ [Link]
 Wempen, Faithe. Digital Literacy for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
 Computer Skills 33

CHAPTER 3: WORD PROCESSING

As you have studied in the Computer Basics course, the Microsoft Office Word allows you to
create and edit personal and business documents, such as letters, reports, invoices, emails and
books. In this chapter, we review its features and explain other advanced ones.

WORKING WITH WORD

OPEN AN EXISTING DOCUMENT:

With the Microsoft Word program already open, select File menu, then select open. An open
dialog box will appear, select the location that the document has been saved. Locate the
document, select it by clicking once and then click open.

CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT

With the Microsoft Word program already open, select File menu, then select New.
 Computer Skills 34

SAVE A DOCUMENT:

Click the File tab and select Save As, this will open up a save as
dialog box. In the save in section at the top, click the arrow so
that the drop-down menu with a list of folders/drives appears.
Select the location you wish to save the document. Enter the
filename into the File Name text box. Click the save button to
complete the process. You can select also the file type such as
PDF in the drop-down list. To save a document under another
name, choose “Save as” option instead.

MINIMIZE THE RIBBON

Right click on the ribbon and select “Collapse the ribbon”

SWITCH BETWEEN PAGE VIEW MODES

The default setting shows the page in print layout. This view shows the margins, although you
may not see all the page displayed in the space available. The document can be viewed in normal
view which shows the text extending fully across the Word screen. In addition to these two
views, you can view a document in web layout (to see how a document might be viewed as a
web page), Reading Layout (to view the document without toolbars and menus) and Outline (to
show how the document is organized). To select a view. Click on the desired view from the view
tab.

EDITING AND FORMATTING TEXT

ENTER TEXT

Text is inserted into the document at the cursor (a blinking bar). Change the cursor position
using a mouse click or keyboard arrows. To insert a new paragraph, press Enter key.

INSERT SPECIAL CHARACTERS

There is a limited number of keys on the keyboard and it is needed to insert other characters or
symbols, such as a copyright or trademark symbol. To insert special symbols, put the cursor at
 Computer Skills 35

the desired location and then click on the Insert tab and select the Symbol Command. You can
select a symbol from the list or for more symbols, click the more symbols into the document.
The down arrow next to the font section will display other fonts that contain symbols.

SELECT TEXT

To apply formatting to a word, sentence or even a paragraph, you need to select this part first.
To select text, click just in front of the text that you wish to select, press shift key (and keep it
pressed), then press the right arrow key till the end of the desired text. Finally, release the shift
key. You can do this using mouse as well. Move the mouse pointer to the left of the text, click
once with the left button, move the mouse till the end of the text, keeping the left button
pressed then release the button. To select all text, press Ctrl + A.

SEARCH FOR A SPECIFIC WORD

To find text in a document, place the insertion point where you want to begin the search. Select
the Find command from the Home tab or press Ctrl+F to display the find and replace task pane.
Type the text that you wish to find into text box and press Enter.

FIND AND REPLACE TEXT IN A DOCUMENT

Place the cursor where you want to begin the search. Select the Replace command from the
Home Tab or press Ctrl+H to display the find and Replace dialog box. Type the text that you wish
to find and replace in the find what text box, this can be up to 255 characters in length. Type the
replacement text in the Replace with text box. Depending on the function you wish to perform,
you can select from the following:
 Computer Skills 36

 Find next: Finds the next occurrence of the selected word, phrase, or format.
 Replace: Replaces this instance of the word, phrase or format.
 Replace all: Will replace all occurrences of the selected word, phrase or format with the
text in the Replace with text box. (Be careful using this option as results are not always
as you expected)

COPY AND PASTE

Text can be copied and moved within the document. In fact, when anything is copied, it’s
transferred to a shared place called Clipboard. When you issue a Paste command, you transfer
whatever in the clipboard into the document. Copy, cut and paste buttons can be found in in the
Home tab. Copy and cut commands are working on the selected text, so you need the desired
text first.

DELETE TEXT

To delete text or characters, select it and press the delete key on the keyboard.

UNDO, REDO COMMAND.

To undo or reverse the last action, select undo from the title bar. To redo a reversed action or
command, click redo button.

FORMATTING OPTIONS

MS Word Home Tab. Most of formating options can be found in this tab.
 Computer Skills 37

MS Word offers powerful formatting features that can produce professional documents. In this
section, we show these features which are placed in the Home Tab in the Word Ribbon (see
figure).

TEXT FORMATTING

To change the font type used by selected text, click the font drop down menu from the Home
Tab and choose the new font from the list. To change the font size used by selected text, enter
the font size required into the font size field or select one of the preset values from the drop
down list. To change the font style, select the Bold, Italic or Underline icons from the Home Tab.

To apply subscript or superscript formatting, select the desired text and from the Font Section
of the home tab, click the subscript or superscript button. Subscript text is lowered below its
normal position on the text line like H2O. Superscript text is raised above its normal position on
the text line like 1st day.

To change the font color, select the text and choose the Font Color from Home Tab.

To change the text case, select the text, select the change case command either make all letters
capital or small, etc.

TEXT INDENT

You will have already realised that there are more ways than one of doing things in Word. Some
of the different ways are equivalent, but there are good reasons for doing others in a particular
way. It is good practice to change your way of doing things to suit your situation. When you
align text you might be tempted to make the gaps between words bigger by repeatedly hitting
the space bar. This will not result in neatly aligned words and columns. So this is seen as bad
practice. To quickly indent or un-indent a paragraph, you can use the increase indent or
decrease indent icons on the toolbar. Select the paragraph you wish to indent, then from the
paragraph section of the Home tab, select the paragraph collapse button to display the
paragraph settings dialog box. You can choose from the following options:

 Left: Aligns the paragraph to the left-hand margin when you enter a positive number.
Entering a negative
 number will align the paragraph to the left of the left-hand margin.
 Computer Skills 38

 Right: Aligns the paragraph to the right-hand margin when you enter a positive number.
Entering a negative
 number will align the paragraph to the right of the right-hand margin.
 Special: Determines whether the indent is to be a first line or hanging indent.

TEXT ALIGNMENT

Text alignment is the process of aligning text relative to the left and right margins and the
center of the page which affects the way the text will look. Normally Arabic text will be aligned
to the right side of the page. To align text in a document, place the cursor at the beginning of
the paragraph or select the text that you wish to align, use the alignment icons located on the
formatting toolbar:

 Align left: Aligns text flush with the left Margin. This is the default setting for English
documents.
 Center: Centres text between the left and right margins
 Align Right: Aligns text flush with the right margin
 Justify: Spreads text evenly between the left and right margins by expanding or reducing
the space, between individual words.

PARAGRAPH SPACING

Just like when adding the space between lines, it is not

good practice to keep hitting the return key to add a line
between paragraphs. You should always use the correct
procedure to adjust space before and after the paragraphs.

 Apply spacing above or below paragraphs. To

control spacing above and below paragraphs,
position the cursor within the paragraph of which
you wish to alter the spacing, in the paragraph
section of the home tab, select the collapse button.
This will display a paragraph dialog box. Within the
 Computer Skills 39

dialog box, change the spacing section of the dialog box, modify the spacing before and
after as required.
 Apply line spacing within paragraphs. Line spacing and paragraph spacing can also be
changed by selecting the paragraph and clicking on the line-spacing button in the Home
tab, then select the appropriate option

FORMAT PAINTER

To repeat the formatting to other parts of text, select some text which has been previously
formatted. Click on the format Painter icon from the clipboard section of the Home tab. The
mouse pointer shape has changed to the shape of a small painting brush. Select the text to
which you wish to copy the formatting to. After releasing the mouse button, you can notice the
formatting has been copied to the newly selected text.

BULLETS AND LISTS

Bullets are used to set off and emphasize parts of the text in list form such as dots or diamonds.
You can select from a number of different bullet types or create your own bullets. Any character
within your fonts can be used as a bullet. To apply bullets to a list of text, select it and click on
the bullets within Home Tab. To remove bullet formatting from a list, click on the bullets icon
once more. To add numbering to a list, repeat previous steps but click the numbering icon
instead. To change the style of bullets and numbering, select the arrow to the right of the
button. This gives you a list of other bullets styles.

To make a multi-level list, select the bullets or numbers that should have a lower level, and press
Tab key. To make a bullet a higher level, press Shift+Tab keys.

BORDERS

Borders are often used to emphasize and structure document items such as important text,
tables, and even whole pages. To add a border using the border icon, click the arrow beside
borders and shading button from the paragraph section of the Home Tab. The borders and
shading dialog box appears.

Select the borders tab within the dialog box and modify the following settings:
 Computer Skills 40

 Settings: defines what kind of border you will use, choose from box, shadow, 3-D or
custom.
 Style, Color, and Width: define the type, color and width of the line used for the border,
respectively.
 Preview: shows the effect of the various formatting combinations you have chosen.

To remove a border from an object, select it, then click on the arrow besides the borders icon
and select “No border”. If you want to remove only part of the border like Top or left, choose
the corresponding menu item from the list. Note that if you clicked on the item once more, it

will return this border again.

To add a page border, open the Borders and shading dialog box and select the Page border tab.
Select the required setting, style and color and click the OK button. This border will apply to all
pages of document. Note that you can add borders and boxes to headings, text, pictures and
tables. Borders can have a shadow around them or be shaded in various patterns. To add
shading, select the text, or other object, you wish to format. In the paragraph section of the
home tab, click the arrow to the right of the shading icon and select the color of shading.
 Computer Skills 41

SPELL CHECKER

Word will display incorrectly spelt words as underlined in red. You can
run the spell checker program at any time by clicking on the Spelling
icon in the Review tab. To immediately correct an incorrectly spelled
word, right click on the word and a pop-up dialog box is displayed,
suggesting alternative, correctly spelt words.

To check spelling in a document, place the cursor where you want the
spell check to begin, or select the text that you wish to check. Click on
the spelling icon within the Review tab to display the spelling and
grammar dialog box. The first unmatched word will be displayed in the
Not in Dictionary text box. You can select one of the following actions:

 Ignore: leaves the word as it is

 Ignore all: Will not change any further occurrences of the word.
 Add: Adds the word to the dictionary.
 Select one of the suggestions to replace the un-recognized word.

WORKING WITH TABLES

Tables allows organizing items in columns and rows, instead of adding spaces. In many cases it is
better to organize your data in a table, rather than using tab stops. The advantage of using a
table is that one line of text will flow into the next line within a table. The quickest way to create
a table is to use the Insert Table icon on the Insert Tab. Place the cursor where you want the
table to be inserted. Click on the Insert Tab and then click on the table button and then select
the number of rows and columns.
 Computer Skills 42

EDIT DATA

To enter data into a table, click on any cell and insert text. To move from cell to cell use the Tab
key. To edit data in a table, click within the cell. You can use all formatting techniques to edit and
format the data within the cell. Press the Tab key to move to the next cell within the table.

SELECT ROWS, COLUMNS, CELLS, ENTIRE TABLE.

To select a column: Place the cursor above the column until it turns into a black downward
arrow, click the mouse left button to select. You can select a row using the same technique.

To select the entire table, click within the table, then move the mouse pointer till the top left
corner of the table, then click the small 4-headed arrow there.

INSERT, DELETE, ROWS AND COLUMNS.

To insert a column or row in a table, click within the row or column next to where you wish to
place the new row/column, and then select Layout tab of Table tools. Choose and click the
appropriate option from the ones available: Insert row above, insert row above, below, Insert
column above, or below. To delete a row(s) or column(s) within a table, select them and then
click the backspace button. If you pressed the delete button, the contents will be deleted but
the table remains as it is.
 Computer Skills 43

WIDTH AND HEIGHT

To change the column or row height or width, move the mouse pointer to the intended row or

column border till the pointer changes to or . Click the mouse button, keep it pressed and
move the mouse till the desired width or height. You can write the desired height and width in
the layout tab of the table tools tab.

TABLE BORDERS

Select the table and then select the design tab of the table tools. Click on the down arrow next
to the Border icon to select and apply border formats to your table. To specify a border width,
style and color, select the table, click the down arrow to the right of the borders button, and
then select borders and shading, the borders and shading dialog box will open. Select the style
as required. Click the OK button to apply your selections. To apply shading to a cell within a
table, select a particular cell(s) within a table. From the design tab, click on the shading button
and select the desired color.

IMAGES AND OBJECTS

Word is a graphical Word processor and allows typing text and inserting pictures. These pictures
may be taken from clip art library (an online gallery of picture images) graphs (charts) or even
movies.

CLIPART

Click at the location where you wish to insert the clipart

picture. Select the Insert tab, then select Online Pictures. A
task pane will open on the page side. Search for the desired
of clipart by write a suitable keyword in the search box.
Several clipart images will be shown in the task pane, click
on the one that you wish to place in the document.
 Computer Skills 44

PICTURES

Place the cursor at the point where you wish to place the picture. Select the insert tab and then
picture. This will open a new dialog box that. Select the location where the picture is saved.
Select the picture and then hit the insert button. The picture will be inserted into the document.

CHARTS

Place the cursor at the point where you wish to place the
picture. Click on the insert tab, then chart. You will be
asked the type of chart that you wish to place into the
document. Select the appropriate one. A chart will be
inserted into the document. Charts are used to visualize
data, thus a data sheet will also open where you can enter
the data

RESIZING A GRAPHIC

To change the size of the graphic, move the mouse pointer to one corner of the selected
graphic (on one the handles), until the mouse pointer changes to a line at 45 degrees with an
arrow head at each end. Click the left mouse button and drag the mouse diagonally to resize the
graphic and then release the button when the desired size is reached.

EDIT THE PICTURE

You can change the appearance of the image by selecting the picture and use commands in the
Format tab. For example, you change its contrast and brightness, add some artistic effects and
style, add borders, etc. Try them to see the effect.

Format Tab. It appears in the Ribbon when a picture is selected and contains several formatting options. Try them yourself
 Computer Skills 45

DELETE A GRAPHIC

To delete an image, chart or clipart, click on it and press the delete key.

PRINTING PREPARTION

By default, Word prints pages in Portrait orientation. There is likely to be occasions that you
wish to print out a page in Landscape orientation. You can change the orientation of your
document and the printer will automatically print on the paper in the layout you have selected.
To change the orientation of a page, select the page layout tab, click orientation button and
then landscape, or portrait.

Layout Tab. Page organization features can be found in this tab.

 Computer Skills 46

PAGE SIZE

Sometimes you need to use a different paper size than the standard A4. The page settings
should be changed to match the paper source to be printed out properly. To change the paper
size that is to be used by a printer, click layout tab and then select size and choose the
appropriate size for your document.

MARGIN

You might also decide to change the margins for a neater appearance or give a bigger area for
text to make it fit on a single page. To change the margins of a document, click the layout tab,
click margins and select Custom Margins. A dialog box will open, where you can write the
margins in 4 directions.

PAGE BREAK

It is more professional to insert a page break rather than using the Return key to have a blank
page. Hitting the Return key will cause objects (images and charts) to move down the next
page, thus affecting all your document, a page break will insert a new page without affecting
any of the other pages. To insert a new blank page, place the cursor at the place where you
want to place the new page and select the insert tab and then page break. The new page will be
inserted. To delete a page break you will need to display the non-printing characters by clicking

the show/hide button in the home tab. Where a page break has been inserted, there will be a
dashed line with page break in the middle of it. Place the cursor at the start of the dashed line
and hit the Delete key. The page break will disappear.

HEADERS AND FOOTERS

Headers and footers are areas at the top and bottom of a page that are repeated on all pages in
a document. They normally contain information like chapter headings, page numbers etc. To
add Header and footers, from the Insert tab, select the header command, a header and footer
tab is displayed, and outlines of the header and footer sections appear at the top and bottom of
the page. Insert text into the header/footer by clicking into the section and typing the text. To
close the header and footers, click close on the header and footer tab or double click in the body
of the document.
 Computer Skills 47

Headers and footers are useful for putting in page numbers, dates, names and filenames so that
they appear throughout the document. They are added to the document as fields which are
automatically updated. This means you do not have to remember to change them each time you
alter the document. To insert a date field which will update automatically each time the
document is opened, click the headers and footers tab and place the cursor within the
document at the position where the date should be inserted. Click on the design tab and select
the option that you wish to add to the header/footer e.g. date. A dialog box will open asking you
the type of date you wish to insert, select one. Make sure that the Update automatically box is
checked. Click the OK button.

To insert page numbering into a header and footer, from the design tab, select page number,
select the position that you wish to place the page numbers and the type of number that you
want to have

PRINTING

The final and important feature of Word is the ability to print what you made on the computer.
Word has many printing options as explained next.

PREVIEW A DOCUMENT

Before printing, Word can simulate the preview of the

document when it will be printed to be sure everything is all
right. To preview a document, click on the print preview icon
from the quick access toolbar, the print preview screen appears.
Click once on the document and the mouse cursor will change to
a Zoom tool. Click on the document again to view it more closely
and click again to zoom back out.

PRINT A DOCUMENT

To print the entire document, select File tab and click Print.
Printing options appear. Select the printer where you want the
document to be printed. The printer should be installed first in
the system. To print the entire document, select print all pages
 Computer Skills 48

option. To print only the page that you are viewing, click the first arrow and select, print only
current page. To specify the pages you wish to print, click on the text box to the right of the
word “pages:” and enter the pages which you wish to print (comma separated). For example, if
you want to print pages 3, 6 and 7, you would enter 3, 6-7. You can also select to print on the
both sides of the paper by selecting

To specify the number of copies required, enter the number of copies required within the copies
section of the dialog box. To print a document, click the OK Button.

USEFUL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

To interact with Word quickly, you need to memorize some keyboard shortcuts to do most of
the operations without leaving the keyboard to use the mouse. The most popular shortcuts are
listed as follows:

 CTRL+N = Create a new document

 CTRL+O = Open an existing document
 CTRL+W = Close the document
 CTRL+S = Save the document
 CTRL+B = Apply bold formatting
 CTRL+U = Apply underline formatting
 CTRL+I = Apply italic formatting
 CTRL+C = Copy the selected item to the clipboard
 CTRL+X = Cut the selected item to the Clipboard
 CTRL+V = Paste item from the clipboard
 CTRL+Z = Undo the last action
 CTRL+Y = Redo the last action
 CTRL+F =Display the find dialog box
 CTRL+H = Display the replace dialog box
 CTRL+P = Print the document Heading
 Computer Skills 49

LAB EXERCISE

Apply all MS Word features explained in this chapter.

REFERENCES

Wikibook: Microsoft Office [Link]

Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum. [Link]

us/DigitalLiteracy/ [Link]

Wempen, Faithe. Digital Literacy for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
 Computer Skills 50

CHAPTER 4: SPREADSHEETS
INTRODUCTION TO SPREADSHEET
Spreadsheet is an interactive computer application for organization, analysis and storage of
data in tabular form. Spreadsheets developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting
worksheets. This program operates on data entered in cells of a table. Each cell may contain
either numeric or text data, or the results of formulas that automatically calculate and display a
value based on the contents of other cells. Microsoft Excel is an example of a spreadsheet
program. MS Excel comes in a variety of versions. This chapter considers version 2016 but the
instructions apply to earlier version 2010 and 2013 with slight changes.

BASIC OPERATIONS

OPEN MICROSOFT EXCEL

To open Excel, click on the Start Button and select Microsoft Excel. MS Excel screen displays a
grid of rectangles like a graph paper. This grid is known as a spreadsheet or worksheet. It is the
primary document where you store and manipulate data. A worksheet is made up of vertical
lines called columns and horizontal lines called rows. A group of worksheets make up a
workbook.
 Computer Skills 51

By default, each MS Excel workbook displays one worksheet identified by its tab along the
bottom of the screen. You can add more worksheets by clicking on the + button beside the
sheets tab. Worksheets are like pages in a book and allow you to split your data into
manageable sections. The workbook is the book containing these pages or worksheets. You can
switch to another worksheet by clicking on the appropriate tab at the bottom.

Each column has a heading, consisting of one or two alphabet letters. Each row has a heading,
consisting of a number. The screen shows only a small portion of the whole worksheet. Every
single worksheet is made up of 256 columns and 65,536 rows. The intersection of each column
and row is a cell. The total number of cells in a worksheet is 16,777,216.

Each cell has a unique address known as its ‘cell reference’. A cell reference consists of: the
column heading the row heading (A, B, C…) (1, 2, 3…) Examples of cell references include A1,
C20, AB31 etc. Cell references always start with the column heading and then the row heading.
Cell references are not case sensitive lowercase letters (a1) or uppercase letters (A1) can be
used.

Exercise: Use your MS Word knowledge, to create a new workbook, save it on Desktop, exit Excel
and then re-open Excel and open the saved file again.

ENTERING DATA

Cells can hold three types of data: text, numbers and formulas.

 Text entries are labels such as Name or Address, text/number combinations such as birth
dates etc.
 Numeric entries are numbers on which calculations can be performed such salary, age,
etc.
 Formulas are calculations involving two or more values and.

A cell in a worksheet should contain only one element of data, for example, first name detail in
one cell and surname detail in the adjacent cell. As a good practice when you create lists: avoid
blank rows and columns in the main body of list. Insert blank row before Total row Ensure that
cells bordering the list are blank.
 Computer Skills 52

To enter a number, text or date in a cell: click the cell where the data will be entered. The
selected cell will show a thick border. Its reference will also be displayed in the Name box (over
the top left box of the worksheet). When you select a cell, you make it active and so you can
type in this cell (replace its content). After editing the cell, press Enter key which select the next
below cell automatically. To move to another cell, you can press the arrow keys on the
keyboard. You can also click on any cell to make it active. You can edit the cell content of a cell
by double‐click the cell which opens an editing box over the cell and its old content is there.
After editing, just press Enter.

SELECTING CELLS

Cells can be selected to apply formatting or change their properties. You can select them
individually or in groups. The following table shows how to select cells.

To select Steps
a single cell Left click on it
a range of adjacent cells Drag from the first cell to the last cell, or click on the first cell,
hold the Shift key and click on the last cell (scrolling if
necessary)
non-adjacent cells or ranges Hold CTRL key and click or drag
an entire row or column Left click on the row or column heading
all cells Left click on the blank header in the upper left corner
the next cell to the right Use the Tab key
the next cell down the column Use the Enter key
the A1 Home cell Press Ctrl + Home keys together
the last cell in a sheet Press Ctrl + End keys together
the cells around the active cell Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 keys together (Select Region)

Exercise: Use your MS Word knowledge, to undo/redo actions and find and replace text.

INSERTING, DELETING, AND CLEARING DATA

In Excel, always select then do. Select the cell you want the data to go into and then enter the
data (or the formula). To delete or clear data, select the cell or the row or column and press
 Computer Skills 53

Delete on your keyboard. To delete a whole row or column, click on the row number or column
letter and Edit > Delete.

USING AUTOFILL

Autofill allows you to quickly fill data in a series (e.g. months, days of the week, or a numeric
series) into adjacent cells. To autofill text series, type in the first word of the series (e.g.
January), move the mouse pointer on the bottom right corner of that cell, and you should see

the Autofill cross like this cell . Click and drag the series down or across the
appropriate number of cells. Excel knows how to Autofill months (January or Jan) and days of
the week (Monday or Mon).

Beside text Autofill, you can also use this feature to quickly enter numeric patterns
(e.g. 1 2 3 or 10 20 30) into adjacent cells. To use Autofill with numeric patterns,
enter the first two values in the series, one value in one cell and the next in the cell immediately
below or to the right. Now select both cells, release your mouse button, then move the mouse
pointer on the bottom right corner of the selected area so you see the Autofill cross. When you
see the Autofill cross, click and drag down or across the cells you want to fill, then release the
mouse button. Autofill is very important feature when constructing formulas, as we discuss
later.

CONTROLLING YOUR VIEW OF THE DATA

Row Heights Column widths can be changed to allow enough space for the data to fit in the
cells. Place the mouse pointer over the right border of the column or row heading to adjust.
Click the left button of the mouse, and then drag and release the mouse button to complete the
adjustment. To modify row heights or column widths to a specified value. Right click the column
or row header that you wish to modify. Select column width or row height. Enter the desired
value and press Enter.
 Computer Skills 54

Auto Size

Sometimes data extends beyond the width of the column. To be able to see the whole data, the
column width should be increased. To do so, move to the edge of the header row and place the
mouse pointer between the columns (e.g. on the line that separates the letters A and B). You
will notice that the pointer becomes a black double arrow. If you double click on this arrow, the
column will automatically size itself to fit the longest string of data in the cells of this column.

Freeze Panes

This feature is useful when you are working with a document of so many rows. By freezing a
certain row(s) (usually the data header), you make that row visible wherever you are going
below in the document. For example, if you have a document with 100 rows, you can’t see the
header row when you’re at cell A100. To overcome this problem, click on the row below the one
that you would like to freeze. Then go to Window > Freeze Panes. Note that you can also freeze
column. If you just click at an arbitrary point in the second row, not only will you freeze the top
row, you’ll also freeze all columns to the left of the cell you’ve selected.

Reveal Formulas

If you want to see and/or print all the formulas in a spreadsheet (as opposed to the values) there
is a really handy shortcut. Simply press Ctrl + ~. To return the view to displaying values, press Ctrl
+ ~ once again.

WORKING WITH ROWS AND COLUMNS

To insert a new row, right click into the row below where you wish to place the new row and
select insert. A row will be placed above the selected row. Do the same for inserting a new
column. Right click into the column to the right of where you wish to place the new column and
select insert.

To delete cells, rows or columns, select the desired cells, rows or columns to delete, right click
on them and click Delete. Select the appropriate option and click OK button.
 Computer Skills 55

WORKING WITH WORKSHEETS

The worksheets could have the same type of information, for example, sales per person per
month i.e. each sheet would be a different month. Or, the sheets could contain totally different
information, but you have a need to use data from one sheet on another sheet.

To insert a single sheet, click the new worksheet button at the bottom of the page or plus
button depending on the Excel version. To delete a sheet, right click on the sheet and select
Delete Sheet. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion, click Delete button.

To move or copy sheets within a workbook or another workbook, right click on the sheet you
want to move or copy and click Move or Copy. A dialog box will appear. In the To book field,
select the workbook to receive the sheets (maybe another workbook). In the Before sheet field,
select the sheet before which you want to insert the moved or copied sheets. To copy the sheet
instead of moving them, select the Create a copy check box and then click OK button. As you
start to use multiple sheets, you should give meaningful names. To rename a sheet, right Click
on it and choose Rename.

FORMATTING CELLS

By default, MS Excel uses the General format for numbers that you
type in cells. The General format has the following characteristics:

 Zeros are not displayed after the decimal point – if you type
23.50 this will be displayed as 23.5.
 Thousand numbers are not separated by the comma symbol
– if you type 4,000 this will be displayed as 4000.

You can use several methods to change the formatting of numbers.

Several number format features are available on the Number
section in Home tab. There are pre-defined formats for decimal
number, currency, accounting, date, time, fraction, etc.

There are also option buttons to change the currency and number
of digits displayed after the decimal point. The increase decimal button
 Computer Skills 56

Increases the number of digits to the right of the decimal point by one. The decrease decimal
button decreases the number of digitts to the right of the decimal point by one.

Besides number formatting, there are further formatting options for other data types, changing
font and size, content alignment, etc. All these options can be changed through “Format Cells”
dialog box. To open this dialog box, select the cells that their formatting should be changed,
right-click and select Format Cells.

WORKING WITH DATA

SORTING DATA

Sorting data is simply a way of automatically re-ordering rows on a spreadsheet to put them in a
more useful order. For instance, you might sort an address book alphabetically by last name, or
a list of items you’d like to buy from most expensive to least expensive.

Start by selecting the data you want to sort. It’s important to select all the columns in the data,
not just the column you want to sort by. For instance, if you have a list of items in one column,
with the prices in the next column, you would select both columns before running the sort.
Otherwise, the prices will be shuffled when the items are sorted. If your sheet has a “header
row” at the top with labels for your columns (like “name,” or “price”) it’s a good idea to include
that row in your selection as well, as you’ll see in a moment.
 Computer Skills 57

After selecting data, click Sort button in Data tab. You’ll see the sort window as the figure
above. If your data has a header row, be sure the “header row” checkbox is selected in at the
top. Excel will then use your labels in the “Sort by” boxes instead of the usual (unhelpful)
“Column A,” “Column B,” etc. Now you can use the “Sort by” box to select the column you’d
like to sort the data by (if that column contains text, it will sort alphabetically; if the data is
numeric it is sorted in number order). The two “Then by” boxes select what column to use next
if there is a tie in the “Sort by” column. You can add more sorting levels (i.e., other “then by”
columns) by clicking the “Add Level” button and selecting the column.
 Computer Skills 58

FILTERING DATA

Another way to organize data is to filter it. A filter only displays data that meet certain criteria,
such as all records for a certain day. To do this, go to Data > Filter > AutoFilter. A dropdown
arrow will appear in the header cell of each column of your worksheet. Click on the arrow and
select the criteria that you would like to use as a filter (e.g. April 10th). The worksheet will now
display only the records from that day. You can also use the AutoFilter tool to display the top or
bottom 10 numbers in a column, only records with blank spaces in that column, records that
have a value greater than a certain number in the column that you are filtering, etc. These
options are all available under the dropdown arrow that you will see after going to Data > Filter
> AutoFilter.

FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS

One of greatest Excel features is the ability to calculate a cell value based on some calculations
of other cells. For example, you can create a price column by multiplying the quantity and unit
price an invoice sheet. And you can also calculate the invoice total by summing all cells in the
cost column. Excel formulas allow you to perform calculations – addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. You build formulae using the arithmetic operators: the plus sign (+)
for addition, slash (/) for division, minus sign (-) for subtraction, asterisk (*) for multiplication.

There are some basic rules associated with formulas.

 A formula always begins with an equal (=) sign. This is the only way that let Excel treat a
cell content as formula not as a mathematical text. In other words, if you forgot to write
this equal sign, Excel will not calculate its value.
 Cells are referenced in a formula by their column-row identifier, i.e. A1, B2 etc. You do not
have to enter capital letters in your formula; MS Excel will automatically capitalize them
for you.
 A formula cannot contain spaces.
 Always press Enter key to confirm your formula.
 The answer to the formula displays in the cell into which the formula is entered.

Consider the following example, the Excel formula is written in column E, while the formula text
(without the = sign) is written in column F. You can notice that the formula is displayed in the
 Computer Skills 59

Formula bar (just above the column header) when you select containing cell. In the figure
below, the formula A1+B1+C1 is displayed in the formula bar when cell E1 is selected, while the
formula result is displayed in the cell itself.

The formula can also be worked out by typing =100+90+80 in cell E1, however, if any value of
cells A1, B1 and C1 change, you will also need to change its number in the formula in cell E1.
Therefore, formulas are always written in terms of cell references instead of the actual numbers
so that the result will be automatically updated when values change.

Lab Exercise: create an Excel workbook as in the example and use other numbers in the given cells.
What does happen in cell E4 when the value A2 is changed to 0?

AUTOFILL REVISITED

Autofill feature helps in filling in formulas quickly once you have constructed one in a cell. In the
invoice example, you need write the Price formula once in the first item row (which is (D9*E9) –
F9) and press Enter. In order to Autofill, select the G9 cell, place the mouse pointer so the small
black cross appears in the lower right corner of the cell (+). Once that pointer is visible, simply
drag the mouse down the column. Autofill will change the cell references accordingly.
 Computer Skills 60

Note that cell references can also change automatically when you copy and paste a formula
using the clipboard, unless you use an absolute cell reference. E.g.: If the formula in A3 is
=A1+A2, when you drag that formula over to B3 then the formula becomes =B1+B2.

CELL REFERENCES

Relative Cell References: cell references that change when the formula is autofilled into
different cells, as in the example above.

Absolute Cell References: if you don't want a certain part of your cell reference to change when
you copy the formula to a new cell, you need to put a $ in front of the row and/or column part of
the reference (see example below).

E.g.: If the formula in A3 is =$A$1+A2, when you drag that formula over to B3 the formula
becomes =$A$1+B2.

To quickly add the dollar symbols use the F4 key, which toggles four ways. First press gives both
row and column absolute, $A$1, second press gives row absolute, A$1, third press gives column
absolute, $A1 and finally fourth press returns to fully relative, A1.
 Computer Skills 61

FORMULA ERROR MESSAGES

Excel displays error messages when your formula/function cannot do the calculation. The
following are some standard error messages associated with formulae:

 Error Explanation ##### The cell contains a number or calculation result that is too wide
for the cell to display. Adjust the column width to accommodate the result.
 #VALUE! The formula contains text (or a cell reference that points to a cell containing
text) instead of a number. Edit the formula or cell to sort this problem.
 #REF! Probably the formula contains a cell reference that points to an invalid cell (the cell
could have been deleted).
 #NAME? Excel does not recognize text contained within a formula.
 #DIV/0 The formula divides a number by zero or by a cell reference that points to a cell
containing a zero. The same message is displayed if you divide a number by a cell
reference that points to an empty cell.

RELATIVE & ABSOLUTE CELL REFERENCING

You need to use the AutoFill with caution when replicating formulas and functions. Let’s change
the invoice example a little bit by calculate the tax for each item. Since tax rate is constant for all
items (e.g., 14%), we write it once above the items table in cell C7 (see the figure).
 Computer Skills 62

As shown in the figure, we replaced the Discount column by a Tax column. The Tax column is
also calculated field by a formula of D9*E9*C7 (Remember that C7 is the tax rate). We need also
to change the Price formula to be D9*E9+F9 to add the tax to the price. To replicate the Tax
formula, drag the formula in F9 using Autofill. However, the AutoFill resulted in errors.

The problem is that the auto-filled cells shifted the Tax Rate cell as well, for example, in cell F10
the Tax formula becomes D10*E10*C8 instead of D10*E10*C7. This happens because the Autofill
auto-increments row reference while we drag down and auto-increments column reference
while we drag right. This happens because we use relative row references. To avoid this
behavior, we have to use absolute cell referencing. Absolute cell references allow you to
 Computer Skills 63

continue to refer to a cell, no matter where you copy a formula. You create an absolute cell
reference by entering dollar signs ($) before each part of a cell reference of a formula you want
to copy. The above tax rate formula will be modified to = D10*E10*C$7. Therefore,

 Relative Cell References: change when the formula is auto-filled into different cells.
 Absolute Cell References: does not change when you copy the formula to a new cell. You
need to put a $ in front of the row and/or column part of the reference.

EXCEL FUNCTIONS

Excel functions allow you to perform advanced calculations using values from any cell/s in a
spreadsheet, such as =sum( ) =average( ) =count( ) =min( ) =max( ) and =round( ). Functions
have specific names and can take one or more parameters placed within round brackets ( ). For
example, to sum function takes a cell range as a parameter to sum all cells in the range. The
function =sum(C5:C7) adds cells C5, C6, and C7 together (equivalent to C5+C6+C7). Thus, in the
invoice example, to calculate the invoice total, we need to add the price of all items together
=sum(G9:G20).
 Computer Skills 64

BASIC FUNCTIONS

There are more than 480 functions in Excel 2016. Here we will describe some important
functions, as shown in the next figure.

=AVERAGE()

Average works similarly to SUM and calculate the average among the cell values given in the cell
range. If you have a worksheet containing monthly earnings over the past five months in
columns B1 through B5, type =AVERAGE(B1:B5) into B6 to get the average of all monthly
earnings (see next figure).

=MEDIAN()

The median and the average are often confused, but they are not the same thing. The median
takes a group of numbers such as 2, 6, 15, 31, and 56, and figures out the middle point of the
group, 15 in this example. In other words, half the numbers are above the median, and half are
below. To get the median of the earnings example, type the formula =MEDIAN(B1:B5) and press
Enter. In the example, the median is 900.
 Computer Skills 65

=MAX() and =MIN()

If you need to find the smallest number in a range of cells, use MIN function. Max function is the
counterpart to MIN and does the opposite showing you the largest number contained in a range
of cells.

=COUNT()

If you need to know how many cells in a given range contain numbers, don’t count them by
hand—just use the COUNT function. If you have a mix of numbers and text in cells A21-A50, for
example, type into cell A51 =COUNT(A21:50) and you’ll have the answer in no time. Excel's
COUNT function can tell you how many cells in a series contain numbers rather than words,
dates or other kinds of entries. This can be helpful when you're managing a complex
spreadsheet.

=COUNTA()

=COUNTA is similar to =COUNT(), but it counts the number of cells that are not empty.

=ROUND()
 Computer Skills 66

As its name suggests, this function lets you round off numbers. ROUND requires two
arguments: a number or cell reference, and the number of digits to round to. If you have the
number 231.852645 in A1, for example, =ROUND(A1, 0) gives you 232, =ROUND(A1, 1) gives you
232.9 and =ROUND(A1, 2) gives you 232.85.

=DAYS()

Want to know the number of days between two dates in a spreadsheet? If you had for example,
September 5, 2018 in cell A4 and December 27, 2018 in A5 just use =DAYS(A5, A4) to get the
answer as 22 days.

USING LOGICAL FUNCTION IF

The logical function IF (also known as the IF statement) tells MS Excel what to place in a cell
(text, number or calculation) if certain defined conditions are either met or not met. Consider
the following values A=5 and B=6. The results of the following logical tests are:

Operators Symbol Values for Evaluation Result

Equal to = A=B FALSE

Not equal to <> A<>B TRUE

Greater than > B>A TRUE

Less than < B<A FALSE

Greater than or equal >= B>=A TRUE

to

Less than or equal to <= B<=A FALSE

The IF( ) function decides the contents of a cell based on whether a test condition is TRUE or
FALSE. It returns a value if a one condition is TRUE, and another value or result if the condition is
FALSE. The IF( ) function is written as: =IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false) where:
logical_test is any value or expression that can be evaluated to TRUE or FALSE. value_if_true is
the value returned if the logical test is TRUE. value_if_false is the value returned if the logical
test is FALSE. For example, let’s make Excel show the availability of a product based on the
amount of the product in the inventory. The spreadsheet uses the IF() function to display a
 Computer Skills 67

message (Available/Not Available) in column C depending on the Amount for each product
which is recorded in column B. If the Amount is 0, column C displays ‘Not Available’ otherwise it
displays ‘Available’. The formula in C2 is written as follows: =IF(B2=0, "Not Available",
"Available"). The logical_test is B2=0, the value_if_true is “Not Available” and the value_if_false
is “Available”.

Exercise: Create an Excel sheet of student name, mark and grade columns. The grade column
should calculate the student grade (A, B, C, or F) according to the student mark. The student takes
A grade if her mark >=85, B grade if her mark >=75, C grade if her mark >=65 and F grade if her mark
< 65.

CHARTS
A chart/graph is a graphical representation of the numeric data in a worksheet. Each cell
represented in the chart is called a data point. Data points are represented on the chart by bars,
columns, lines, or some other graphical device. A group of related data points is called a data
series.

CREATING A CHART

To create a line chart, follow these steps:

 Computer Skills 68

1. Select the range A1:D7.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click the Line symbol.

3. Click Line with Markers. The chart will be displayed like the one below.

You can change the chart to a different type of chart at any

time. To do so, select the chart and on the Design tab, in the
Type group, click Change Chart Type. On the left side, click
Column and click OK.
 Computer Skills 69

SWITCH ROW/COLUMN

If you want to display the animals (instead of the months) on the

horizontal axis, select the chart and on the Design tab, in the Data
group, click Switch Row/Column. The chart will be change as below

CHART FORMATTING

You can full control the chart elements by changing its position, color,
size, etc. For example, to move the legend to the right side of the
chart, click the + button on the right side of the chart, click the arrow
next to Legend and click Right.
 Computer Skills 70

ANALYZING DATA IN EXCEL 1

MS Excel can be used for simple, efficient data

analysis. Using the sample data on the right, we will
show data analysis basic techniques in Excel, including
the sort function and the Pivot Table.

The sort function is best used for relatively small

databases, while the Pivot Table is helpful for
analyzing larger datasets and quickly grouping items.
Utilizing the sort function on the data set, it is
possible to count the number of people with allergies
and determine how many of them are male or female.
The data is sorted first by diagnosis and then by
gender.

HINTS FOR ANALYZING DATA

Before using the sort function or Pivot Tables, the data must be “cleaned”, as explained in the Data Entry
and Analysis course. This means that the first step in data analysis is to go through the data and ensure
that the style of data entry is consistent within columns. In this case, for diagnoses, it is important to
make sure that only one word, phrase, or abbreviation is used to describe each diagnosis. If multiple
words are used to describe the same thing— for example, if “allergy” is written in the database as
“allerg,” “allergy,” and “allergies” — the analysis will be more difficult, so it is best to choose one term
and use it consistently. It may be necessary to change the terminology used in the dataset in order to be
consistent throughout; such changes ought to be made at this preliminary stage. If there are multiple
diagnoses for a single subject, it is important to list the diagnoses separately. It may be necessary to
create additional columns labeled “Diagnosis 2” and “Diagnosis 3,” listing one diagnosis in each column.
(If this is the case, it is possible to create multiple Pivot Tables and manually add the results together.)

1
[Link]
 Computer Skills 71

USING THE SORT FUNCTION IN EXCEL

Select the data (“Ctrl+A” selects all) and click sort button in the Data Tab. In the window that pops up,
click “Sort by ‘Diagnosis.’” To sort again by gender, click the “Add Level” button in the upper-left corner
of the window. Then, click “Gender” and click “OK” button. (See picture below.)

Sorting is a good tool to identify trends and to analyze small amounts of data. In the example above,
once the data are sorted by diagnosis and then by gender, simply count the number of people with each
diagnosis and record the gender breakdown, either manually or using the Excel “COUNTIFS” formula.

To use the formula to count the number of females with an allergy diagnosis, select an empty cell and
type “=COUNTIFS” followed by the range and criteria. For this example, the first range is D2:D23 and the
 Computer Skills 72

first criteria is “Allergy.” The second range is C2:C23 and the second criteria is “F.” See the picture for the
proper formula. Press “Enter,” and the number of individuals who have an allergy diagnosis and are
female is revealed in the cell. This formula is an excellent way to count specific data if it is too time
consuming to count manually. Simply alter the range and criteria in the formula to examine different
subgroups.

USING PIVOT TABLES

With large data sets, manually counting or using a formula to count can be tedious and create
opportunities for error. Pivot Tables will automatically sort data and list values, producing efficient and
accurate information. To create a Pivot Table, select the data, click on the “Insert” tab, and then select
“Pivot Table.”

The Pivot Table will open in a new sheet of the Excel file. The next step is to add values. On the right side,
there is a box that says “Choose fields to add to report.” To first sort by diagnosis, drag the “Diagnosis”
label (the one with the checkbox next to it) into the “Rows” box. It will look like the figures below: To next
determine how many people had each diagnosis, drag “Diagnosis” (the one with the checkbox next to it)
to the box with the heading “Values.”
 Computer Skills 73

To sort by gender, drag “Gender” to the box with the heading “Rows,” and Excel provides an automatic
breakdown, which can be used to calculate percentages and to create graphs. Alternatively, to sort first
by gender, and then by diagnosis, switch the order of “Gender” and “Diagnosis” in the “Rows” box.

This is just one example of how Pivot Tables can be used. Fields can be added or removed as necessary.
It may be helpful to practice dragging different fields to different categories in order to develop an
understanding of how Pivot Tables work.
 Computer Skills 74

THE IMPORTANCE OF REPORTING ALL RESULTS

When analyzing data, it is critical to report all results, even if they seem insignificant. It is also essential to
not lump data analyses together and make generalizations. For example, a researcher conducting a study
on the effectiveness of a visual aid to increase knowledge of cataracts administers a 10-question survey
to patients before and after showing them the visual aid. The researcher finds that the visual aid
increases the overall number of questions answered correctly. This is a good start, but it is not enough. It
is critical that the researcher analyze the results of each individual question. Just knowing that the
intervention increases overall knowledge provides little information about the strengths and weaknesses
of the intervention. Perhaps the intervention caused a significant increase in the number of people
understanding what a cataract is, but not the number of people understanding proper post-operative
procedures. This is important to know because the intervention can then be modified to better convey
the necessary information

PRINTING

Usually you don’t need to print the whole worksheet, but only the part that has data inside. To
select the print area, select the cells that should be printed, select Page Layout tab, choose Print
Area, and click Set Print Area.

Like MS Word, you can select the paper size, page orientation, and margins.

When you are working with large worksheets, it will be printed on multiple pages. You can also
adjust the page setup such that worksheet contents fit on a single page or on a specific number
of pages: To set the number of pages, click on the page layout tab, in the scale to fit section,
select the number of pages wide on the number of pages height. i.e. if you wish to print on 1
page only: 1 page wide x 1 page high. To manually determine the positions of page breaks, select
 Computer Skills 75

the View tab, and click page break view. The worksheet will be divided by blue dashed lines. You
can drag these lines by the mouse to set the page break positions.

PREVIEWING A WORKSHEET

By previewing the worksheet, you can see each page exactly as it will be printed, with the
correct margins and page breaks in place. Click File tab, click Print, the print preview will be on
the right side of the screen

PRINTING

To print the entire spreadsheet, click Print button. Doing the above prints one copy of the entire
workbook to the printer. However, in some cases, you want to print parts of the workbook or
else more than one copy of the workbook. All these options can be found on the Print pane
under settings section.

You can either print the current worksheet, entire workbook or print select. You can also select
which pages to print by writing the range of pages.
 Computer Skills 76

LAB EXERCISE

Apply all MS Excel features explained in this chapter.

REFERENCES

Wikibook: Microsoft Office [Link]

Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum. [Link]

us/DigitalLiteracy/ [Link]

Wempen, Faithe. Digital Literacy for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

Analyzing Data in Excel [Link]

Book Coordinator ; Mostafa Fathallah

General Directorate of Technical Education for Health

‫حقوق النشر والتأليف لوزارة الصحة والسكان ويحذر بيعه‬