Ubuntu desktop course

Training Course descriptions

Ubuntu Desktop

Course overview and target audience

This course provides both home and office users with hands on training on Ubuntu. No prior knowledge of Ubuntu is required, although computer literacy is assumed and is a pre-requisite. Ubuntu 8.04 LTS must be installed on the computer hard disk before starting this course. The Ubuntu desktop course is designed to be modular. If all lessons are studied in a classroom, it should be completed within two full days. However, topics and lessons can be selected as required and a day’s content designed to suit the key learning objectives.

Course outline

Introducing Ubuntu

  • Open source, Free Software Movement and Linux
  • About Ubuntu
  • About the Ubuntu community
  • Key differences between using Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows
  • Desktop quick-tour

Using the Internet

  • Connecting to the Internet – wireless / cable / dial up
  • Web browsing
  • Email and junk filtering
  • Instant messaging
  • Softphones – ekiga, wengophone
  • News readers

Using OpenOffice applications

  • OpenOffice.org
  • GnuCash Accounting Application
  • Scribus Desktop Publishing Application

Ubuntu and games

  • Frozen-Bubble
  • PlanetPenguin Racer
  • Scorched3D

Customising the desktop and applications

  • Desktop, preferences and navigating the file system
  • What is a package manager
  • Add/Remove Applications
  • Synaptic Package Manager
  • Installing a Single Package File
  • Software Repositories and updates

Making the most of images and photos

  • gThumb Image Viewer
  • The GIMP
  • Inkscape Vector Graphics Editor
  • f-spot
  • Downloading from digital cameras
  • Scanning

Playing music and videos

  • Legal restrictions
  • Playing and Organising Music Files
  • Playing and Extracting Audio CDs
  • Burning CDs
  • Video Playback
  • Multimedia Codecs
  • Using an iPod
  • Editing Audio Files
  • DVD Playback
  • Backing Up DVDs
  • RealPlayer
  • Video Editing

Ubuntu help and support

  • Free and commercial resources

Partitions and booting (optional – recommended but not compulsory part of course)

  • Graphical Partition Editor
  • Make Windows partitions available from Ubuntu
  • Make Windows partitions automatically available
  • Run a system command automatically at startup
  • Change default operating system at boot
  • Configure start-up services