Workshop

Script

With funding from

 1. Welcome to our session on discovering online basics.

We’re going to have some time for questions at the end, but I’d
also like to invite you to just raise your hand any time you have
a question along the way.

2. Before we get started, I’d like you to think for a minute about
what you’re hoping to get from this workshop.

You don’t have to answer out loud. Just think about

What are some things you like to do?

What are some things that you wish you could do?

How do you think the internet could help you do those things?

3. The internet can make it a lot easier to do things like watch

TV and movies, keep in touch with friends and family, and find
important information. More and more, you need to use the
internet to get government services or apply for a job.

It’s easy to feel left out if you’re not online, or even not using it
as much as you’d like to.

The good news is that it’s not hard to learn some simple things
that will help you get a lot more out of it.

4. At the end of this workshop, you will know how to...

Visit a website

Search the internet

Use a voice assistant, and

Fix the most common things that can go wrong when using a
computer or smartphone.

5. There are lots of different devices that you can use to connect
to the internet. Desktop computers have a separate screen
and keyboard, while laptop computers are built all in one
piece. These are both made to be used for a lot of different
things, so they tend to be a bit more complicated to use than
smartphones and tablets.

Smartphones and tablets are another way of connecting to

the internet and are made to be a bit simpler. Instead of a

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 keyboard, most things are done by touching the screen.

Some things, like filling out forms, can be harder to do on a

phone or a tablet, but basic things like watching videos and
sending emails are usually easier.

6. There are lots of different companies that make devices that

connect to the internet, but there are only a few operating
systems.

An operating system, or OS, is basically the computer program

that lets your device run other programs. It runs as soon as you
turn on the device. A program that’s made for one OS will not
work on another one.

There are three common OSes for computers: Windows, Mac,

and Chrome. There are lots of different types of computers that
run Windows (these are sometimes called PCs) and Chrome
OS (these are called Chromebooks.) Only computers made by
Apple run the Mac OS.

There are just two common OSes for phones and tablets, iOS
and Android. Lots of different people make devices that run
Android, but only Apple makes devices that run iOS.

If you have a device with you, do you know which OS it is? If

you don’t, turn it on and look for one of the icons here – the
android, the apple and the Windows logo.

If you don’t have a device yet and you’re thinking about

buying one, the OS is probably the most important choice.
Chromebooks are usually the cheapest computers, while Macs
are usually the most expensive. If you want to buy a used
computer – which is often the best choice – you’re most likely
to find a Windows one. Android devices are usually cheaper
than Apple ones.

What’s probably most important, though, is finding out which

OS your friends and family use. If you know someone who has
used one kind of device for a long time, then you know you’ll
have someone to turn to if you need help.

7. Once you’ve chosen a device you need to connect it to the

internet.

There are two main ways to connect to the internet: through a

cable connection or using a cell phone data plan.

With cable internet, the signals go through the same cable you

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 use for TV. With a data plan, they use the same transmission
towers as a cell phone.

You can use a data plan anywhere you can get cell phone
signals, but it usually costs a bit more.

Cable internet is usually a bit cheaper.

Some plans give you unlimited data, but in a lot of cases both
kinds give you a certain amount of data that you pay a flat fee
for, and then make you pay extra if you go over that limit.

8. WiFi is a way of letting you connect to cable internet without

having the cable plugged into your device. A lot of cable plans
now include a router for rent because so many people use WiFi,
but you can also buy a used one instead of renting it.

A lot of libraries, coffee shops, city buildings and other places

now have free WiFi, so it can be the cheapest way to connect to
the internet. If you have WiFi at home you should use it instead
of a data plan when you can, because cable internet is usually
cheaper than data.

(To participants) What are some places you go that have free
WiFi access?

9. Laptop and desktop computers run different programs to

do different jobs. To connect to the internet from a computer
you usually use a program called a browser, which lets you
visit websites. To use Facebook or Google on a computer, for
example, you would open your browser and then go to the
Facebook or Google website.

(We’ll talk a bit more about websites in a few minutes.)

There are a few different types of browsers, but most

computers come with one already installed. Chromebooks
come with Chrome, PCs with Edge, and Macs with Safari. It’s
easiest to start out using the browser that comes with your
computer.

Apps are programs that run on smartphones or tablets. Most

devices come with the ones you’ll need already installed.

Not all apps have to connect to the internet. For example, most
phones and tablets have a Calendar app that lets you give
yourself reminders for particular times and days.

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 Phones and tablets also have browsers built in – Chrome for
Android devices, and Safari for iPhones and iPads. But you can
also use apps to do some things you would use a browser for
on a computer: there are apps for YouTube, Netflix, Google
and Facebook, for example. If you want to do any of those on
a mobile device you would use the app instead of the browser.
You still use the browser to go to other websites though.

10. Let’s try that now. We’re going to do a quick poll to find out
how much you already know.

You can answer the first question by raising your hand­—how

many people here are using devices, such as phones or
computers, that you brought with you?

How many people are using devices that you haven’t used
before?

If you’ve got a device you already know how to use, start it

up and use your browser to go to the website on the screen.
Once you’re there you can do the poll. It should only take a few
minutes.

If you haven’t used your device before, look for one of the
browser logos you see on the screen. Then you can put in the
web address to go to the poll.

I’ll come around and help make sure everyone is able to get to
the poll. If you finish ahead of other people, you can help one of
your neighbours.

11. Now that you’re connected, let’s look at how you can find
things that might be useful or interesting to you on the internet.

For now we’re going to be talking about using a browser to

look at websites.

12. Here’s an example of a popular website, Kijiji. It’s a Canadian

site that lets people find things to buy and sell. People also use
it to find pets to adopt, to find homes or apartments to rent, to
find work, and for many other things.

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 13. Every website has a web address that tells your browser how to
find it. Each browser has a little box at the top that shows you
the web address. If you type a web address into that box the
browser will show you that site. If you get to the site a different
way – we’ll talk about that in a minute – it still shows the web
address, so you know where you are.

Kijiji’s web address is kijiji.ca.

14. On the left of the dot is the name of the website – in this case,
Kijiji.

15. That’s usually the part of the address that you’ll recognize:
YouTube, Facebook, MediaSmarts, and so on.

16. On the right of the dot is the domain – in this case, .ca.

17. The domain shows what kind of site it is, or where in the world
it is. Dot ca stands for Canada, and most websites with that
domain are Canadian.

The two most common domains are dot com and dot org. Dot
com means it’s a business and dot org means it’s some other
kind of organization, but there aren’t really any rules covering
who can have a dot org address.

Some sites have more than one address. Google and Amazon,
for instance, have both dot com and dot ca addresses. With
Google it doesn’t make a big difference, but using Amazon
dot com and Amazon dot ca can make a difference when it
comes to things like what’s for sale and how much you pay for
shipping.

A lot of websites have sub-pages with more text after the

domain. For example, this is the website to register a change of
address with the federal government.

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 18. Besides typing in the web address, there are two other ways of
getting to a website.

The first is using a search engine. This is a website or app that

searches the internet for you. Google is the best-known search
engine.

To use a search engine you type what you’re looking for into
the search bar. If we didn’t know the web address for Kijiji, for
instance, we would type it here—

19. —we’d get results that looked something like this.

(Google results change all the time and also change based on
where you are, so if you did this search now it might look a bit
different.)

All of the words or phrases in blue are links. Clicking or tapping

on a link will take you to a new website.

Links aren’t just in search engines—they can be on any web

page, and work the same way. Don’t click on one unless you
know where it’s going.

There are two ways you can spot a link. They are usually blue,
like here, and often underlined. In most browsers, when you
hover the arrow over them it turns to a pointing finger to show
that it’s a link.

20. If you’ve been to a website once and want to be able to

go back more easily, you can bookmark it. This makes your
browser remember the site so you can go straight there next
time.

To bookmark a site on Chrome, you click on the two dots at the

top right, then click Bookmarks, then Bookmark This Page. (It’s
three dots in the version of Chrome for phones and tablets.)
It’s a little different on different browsers, and in some they’re
called Favourites, but they always work in pretty much the
same way.

21. Once you’ve bookmarked a website, you can see it again by

clicking on Bookmarks, and go straight there by clicking on it.

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 22. Let’s do a quick quiz to check that you caught everything we
just covered. It’ll work the same way as the poll you did a few
minutes ago.

23. Let’s try that now. Use your browser to go to mediasmarts dot
ca.

If you want you can follow some of the links on the site to find
something that’s interesting to you, or you can just stay on the
main page.

Use your browser to bookmark whichever page you’re on. I’ll

come around to see if anyone needs help.

Now go to another page, it doesn’t matter which one – just

use google dot com if you want. Then open Bookmarks again
and click on the bookmark you just made, to go back to the
MediaSmarts page you bookmarked.

24. One thing that can make finding things on the internet a lot
easier is using voice search.

To use voice search you need to have a device with a

microphone. Smartphones and tablets all have microphones
built in, and so do most laptops. Desktop computers usually
don’t, but you can get microphones that plug into them.

25. If you’re using the Chrome browser, you can turn on voice
search by going to Google and clicking the little picture of the
microphone on the right. After that you just say what you would
normally type.

26. A lot of devices also have voice assistants that are made for
voice search. They’re made to be a bit friendlier and easier
to use than a regular search engine, and can be better for
practical things like finding out the weather forecast or getting
directions.

Macs and iPhones have Siri, which is probably the best-known.

On Android devices you can use “Okay Google,” and computers
with Windows have one called Cortana.

Each one has a different phrase it responds to: “Hey Siri,” “Okay
Google” and “Hey Cortana.”

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 27. To turn Siri on, press the side button or home button on the
phone. (Your phone may work either way.)

28. Setting up OK Google is a bit harder.

From your Home screen, tap Google (at the top right) and then
Google again in the new screen.

29. When Google opens, tap “More” at the bottom right of the
screen, then tap “Settings.”

30. Once you’re at the Settings screen tap “Voice,” then “Voice
Match.”

31. Now move the slider next to “Access Your Voice Match” so that
any time you say “OK Google” when your device is on it will
turn on the assistant.

32. To use Cortana, click on the Windows icon and then the button
for Cortana. You’ll need to sign in with a Microsoft or Hotmail
account—if you’re using a Windows computer you’ll have
already made one to sign in to Windows.

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 33. Once you’ve signed in, you can click on “Try to respond only to
me” and then “Learn how to say, ‘Hey Cortana.’”

34. Let’s give voice search a try, so you can see if you find it easier
than typing your searches. See if you can use voice search to
find out these things:

What will the weather be tomorrow?

What time does the public library close on Fridays?

Where is the nearest Chinese restaurant?

I’ll come around and help anyone who’s having problems.

Now turn to the person next to you and compare notes. How
easy was it to use? How good was the information you got? Did
you run into any problems?

35. One of the most common reasons that people sometimes

don’t want to use the internet is because they’re worried that
something will go wrong.

What are some things that you think might go wrong while
using a device? What are some things you’re worried about?

The good news is that most of the time, it’s pretty easy to fix
your mistakes.

36. When you’re using a browser and you go somewhere you didn’t
mean to, clicking on the Back button will bring you back to the
last page you were on before.

Android devices and some programs, like Microsoft Word, also

have an Undo button that looks like this. Clicking on that will
undo the last thing that you did. You can usually undo several
things by clicking it more than once.

If a window opens that you didn’t want, clicking on the X at the

top right will close it. It only turns red when the pointer is over
it.

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 37. On phones and tablets you can usually leave an app without
closing it by pressing the Home button.

If you want to close an app on the iPhone or iPad, push the

Home button twice. Then use your finger to swipe the app you
want to close off the screen.

If you have a more recent iPhone or iPad with no home button,

swipe young finger halfway up from the bottom of the screen
and then lift your finger. This will open a new window where
you can close apps.

On an Android device, tap the square next to the home button,

then swipe the app off the screen. (Sometimes this is on the
right, sometimes on the left.)

38. If you’re using a computer that runs the Windows OS, press the
Control, Alt and Delete buttons at the same time. (They may
not be in exactly the same spots on your keyboard.)

39. That will bring up this Task Manager window. Click on the
program that you want to close and press End task.

40. If you’re using a Mac, press Command, Option and Escape

instead.

41. Now try closing your browser using one of the methods we just
talked about. I’ll come around and see if anyone needs help.

42. Now open your browser again and try the quiz for this section.

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 43. Before we finish, let’s review some of the new terms we’ve
learned in this session. The OS is the biggest difference
between different kinds of devices.

An OS is the program that runs a device and lets you run other
programs. An app is a program on a phone or tablet that lets
you do something, like send email or surf the web.

A browser is the app or program that lets your device visit

web pages. Examples of browsers include Chrome, Firefox and
Safari.

A link is something you click onscreen in a browser that leads

from one website to another, or sometimes between two pages
on the same site.

44. Cable internet brings internet signals through the same kind of
cable as cable TV. A data plan brings internet signals using cell
phone signals.

WiFi sends internet signals to your computer without any kind

of wires or cables by using a wireless router that’s connected to
cable internet.

45. We’re almost done this workshop, so let’s stop for a second
to see if anybody has any last questions about what we’ve
covered so far.

If you’d rather not ask your question now, I will be here for a
little bit after the workshop, so feel free to come ask me.

46. Make sure to take home the Practice Sheet for this workshop.
Use the video link on it to review what we covered today.

47. We’ve covered a lot in this workshop. Now we’d like to hear
from you about what you learned, what you still have questions
about, and your suggestions for how to make the workshop
better.

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