Computer Basics · Meet Your Computer · Lesson 3 of 5

Screen, Keyboard & Touchpad

The parts you touch: the screen, the main keys and the pointer.

The screen and the keyboard

Most of the time, you use a computer with your eyes and your hands. Your eyes are on the screen. Your hands are on the keyboard and the mouse or touchpad.

The screen shows everything the computer is doing. Some screens are touchscreens. A touchscreen lets you tap the glass with your finger, like on a phone. If yours is not a touchscreen, tapping does nothing, and that is fine.

Now the keyboard. It looks busy, but you only need a few keys to start:

• Letter keys in the middle, for typing words.
• Number keys in the row above the letters.
• Space, the long bar at the bottom. It puts a gap between words.
• Enter, on the right side. It starts a new line, or says go or OK.
• Shift, one on each side. Hold it down while you press a letter to make a capital letter.
• Backspace, at the top right. It erases the letter just before the blinking line. On a Mac, this key is called Delete.

The blinking line is called the cursor. It shows where your next letter will appear.

Don't worry if you type slowly. Everyone starts that way. Speed comes with practice.

Mouse or touchpad

Remember the pointer, the small arrow on the screen? You move it to point at things. There are two common ways to move it.

A mouse is a small device that sits on the desk next to the keyboard. Slide it on the desk, and the pointer moves the same way. It has a left and a right button on top. Many also have a small wheel between them.

A touchpad is the flat square below a laptop keyboard. Slide one finger across it to move the pointer. Press or tap it to click. Some people call it a trackpad.

To click means to press the left button once. You click to choose things on the screen. Most of the time, the left button is all you need.

The wheel on a mouse lets you scroll. Scrolling moves a long page up or down, like rolling a paper scroll. On a touchpad, slide two fingers up or down to scroll.

A few tips:

• Mouse at the edge of the desk? Lift it and set it down in the middle.
• If you can't find the pointer, wiggle the mouse or your finger. The movement makes it easy to spot.
• If the touchpad feels hard to use, you can plug a mouse into a laptop.

Remember, you can't break the computer by clicking around. Exploring is how you learn.