Lesson 1: Using the Mouse - A Cool Tool

Objectives of this Tutorial:

R   The student will be able to hold a mouse correctly.

R   The student will be able to understand the different functions of the left and right buttons of the mouse.

R   The student will be able to use the left and right buttons of the mouse to select items, and to click and drag items.

Unless you are going to try and do all of your computing via the keyboard, the mouse is a handy input tool to master. Here are just a few ways to use it:

R   You use the mouse to click objects, to select objects, and to right-click objects.

R   You use the mouse to interact with objects on the screen.

R   When you move the mouse on the mouse pad, the pointer, which is shaped as an arrow, will move to different objects on the screen.

R   You can change Windows setup options for right-handed or left-handed mouse operations.

The typical Windows mouse has two buttons—a left and right button.  Each has a different job. There is usually a ball on the underside which enables the mouse to “read your mind” about where you want to go. For most tasks, you will use the left button.

If your mouse has a wheel between the two buttons, the wheel can be used to scroll up and down pages of your document, or of web pages.  But, if you hold down your control key and roll the wheel, you can change the size of your document or web page. 

Some Mousing Terms:

R   Clicking is when you press a mouse button and immediately release it.

R   Clicking sends a signal to the computer that you want to perform an action on the object you clicked.

R   You usually click an object with the left mouse button.

R   Clicking with the right mouse button brings up different “contextual menus”

R   Try clicking the right button in various locations to see how versatile it is

R   Clicking Start opens this menu

Left Button:

R   Click 1x to select an item or close a window

R   Click 2x to open a document, file or folder

R   Click 1x, hold and drag mouse to move items

Right Button:

R   Hold down the right button to see additional menus (called contextual menus--they hold gobs of choices !)

R   Then left click to select one of them