Home‎ > ‎Tutorials‎ > ‎The Internet‎ > ‎

Using the Internet

Contents

  1. 1 Learning Goals
  2. 2 What is the Internet
  3. 3 How You're Connected to the Internet
  4. 4 What is a Web Browser?
  5. 5 Download Files and Information
  6. 6 On-line Accounts

Learning Goals

  • Understand what the Intenet Is
  • Learn how to use a Web Browser
  • Become familiar with Web Pages
  • Learn to Search for Content
  • Download Files and Information

What is the Internet

Watch the video below for a basic understanding of the Internet

How You're Connected to the Internet

In order to connect to the Internet you require the following:
  • An Internet Service Provider - e.g. Bell, Rogers
  • A modem - like a telephone that lets computers talk to each other
  • Ideally you should have a router with a firewall between you and the Internet
  • A Web Browser - e.g. Intenet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox.. 
Want to know your current connection speed?  Try Speed.io or  Speedtest.net for a graphical view of your Internet speed.

What is a Web Browser?

A Web Browser is one of the most important programs on your computer.  It lets you view and interact with pages on the Internet. The video below explains this in more detail:


You can learn more about Web Browsers by visiting the website http://www.whatbrowser.org.  For this course we're going to be primarily focusing on Microsoft's Web Browser - Internet Explorer.

Getting on the Internet
You can access information on the Internet or "the Web" by using a Web Browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. Here's how:

Download Files and Information

Occasionally, you may wish to download, or copy a program or file from the Internet to your computer. Here's how:
  • Access the Download Practice Page link below.
  • Try clicking on some of the links to observe how the computer responds.  These links all copy the file to your computer.  The file can be saved to a location you specify using your skills from the Working with Files tutorial.  Or you can have the computer run a program using the file, in which case the file is copied to a temporary folder and then loaded in a program.
  • Click here to go to the Download Practice Page

On-line Accounts

In order for Internet sites to remember who you are and to save your settings, you may be asked to make an on-line account. This will always have a username and password associated with it. 

Google has many services and partners on the Internet.  Having a Google Account is one way to get the most out of various Internet sites and services.  Here's a couple of links that describe this further:





Comments