JSS 1 WEEK EIGHT LESSON NOTE (ICT_323)

 

Jss 1

TOPIC: Mouse Techniques

Introduction

Most interactions with the computer is via the mouse, keyboard and screen. The mouse is used to move a pointer, or cursor, on the screen. To learn mouse technique, try playing some of the simple games supplied with Windows.

BASIC POINTERS

Hand position. Place the back of the mouse so it sits near the heel of your palm, with your thumb resting gently down one side and your fourth and little fingers down the other. Your index finger should be positioned on the left mouse button and your middle finger on the right button. For lefties, the index finger is on the right mouse button and the middle finger on the left, so you use the middle finger to click; the index finger to right-click.Many left-handers prefer to switch the button functions so they use the index finger to click and the middle finger to right-click, just as right-handed users do.

 

MOUSE TERMINOLOGY & TECHNIQUES

         i.            Click: Press and release the left mouse button once. Clicking is useful for highlighting (selecting) an object on the desktop or in a window.

       ii.            Right-click: Press and release the right mouse button once. Right-clicking often gives you access to special advanced menus relevant to the current activity (these are known as ‘context-sensitive menus’). For instance, if you right-click a Web page, you’ll see a menu of options that let you add the page to your browser bookmarks, print the page, and so on; if you right-click in a Microsoft Word document, you’ll see options that let you change the font you’re using or copy text.

     iii.            Double-click: Press and release the left mouse button twice in rapid succession. Make sure you don’t move the mouse at all between clicks. Even a very slight movement between clicks will make the computer think you’ve done two separate clicks instead of a single double-click.

Double-clicking an object lets you open it. If you double-click a document, the document is opened; if you double-click a program, the program is launched.

     iv.            Ctrl + click: Hold down the Ctrl key (sometimes labelled Control) while clicking with the mouse button. This technique is useful when selecting multiple files or folders. Normally, when you click one item and then click another item, the second item is selected the first item is deselected. That is, you can select only one item at a time in this manner. If you Ctrl+ click an item and then Ctrl + click another item, both of them are selected. You can Ctrl +click any number of items.

       v.            Shift + click: Hold down the Shift key while clicking with the mouse. Shift + clicking lets you select a series of contiguous files. For example, if you want to select a dozen files listed one after another in a folder, instead of Ctrl + clicking each file, do this: Click the first file in the list and then Shift + Click the last file in the list.

     vi.            Scroll: Roll your mouse wheel back and forth to scroll it. Roll the wheel away from you to scroll up, roll it towards you to scroll down. You’ll use this scrolling technique frequently on web pages and in any document longer than a single screen. Some mouse wheels even let you scroll sideways by pushing the wheel side to side

    vii.            Drag-and-drop: Also called ‘click-and-drag’. Depress the left mouse button and, while keeping it depressed, move the mouse pointer to another location, then release the mouse button. Drag-and-drop is used to move items about on the Desktop or within programs, for copying or moving files, and for placing one object onto another.

  viii.            Select: Click an object once to select it. For example, if you click a file in a list of files, that file is selected and any subsequent actions you take will affect that file. You can identify a selected file because it will be highlighted.