Computing Courses in Detail

CMP 01: COMPUTING FOR TOTAL BEGINNERS

Tutor: Thea van Kints                             
Day and time: Tuesday 9.10 - 10.10        
Venue: Room 3, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                      
Number of places: 5
This is a course for people who have had no real / independent hands on experience on computers.  Maybe you feel the time has come to get one but it is scary.  We will cover, in layman’s terms, the concept and use of operating systems, word processor, spreadsheet, files, directories and browsers.  Users will be encouraged to ask questions, syllabus flexible to the need of the students.
Note: Additional fee £10 to pay for the use of a U3AC laptop.

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CMP 02: MAPS IN THE COMPUTER AGE (SPRING TERM)

Tutor: Peter Woodsford                          
Day and time: Thursday 9.45 - 11.00       
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.                                        
Number of places: 25
We will start with a brief history of maps and mapping, and then look at some of the new ways we can nowadays use information traditionally shown on maps – SatNav systems, web mapping, Google Earth, geographic information systems, etc.
We will then look at the new techniques that make these new developments possible, and how they work, including map databases, GPS, satellite imagery and relevant IT standards.  We will consider a range of applications of geographical information systems including e-government, planning, the environment, transportation and location based services and some of the ethical and societal issues involved.  Hopefully there will be time to do a little crystal ball gazing.  No previous knowledge will be assumed, but some level of familiarity with home computing and the Internet would be useful.  The course will introduce a wide range of websites with geographical content.

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CMP 03: MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY (STARTER 1)

Tutor: Kenneth Turner                            
Day and time: Friday 3.15 - 5.00             
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                      
Number of places: 8
The advent of digital technologies has provided a huge boost to photography for the amateur.  The course will be a practical hands-on series of workshops about aspects of contemporary photography, utilising digital and filmed images.  This ‘beginners’ course will deal with the capture of images with compact, ‘bridge’ and SLR cameras, film and mobile phones.  Simple storage, editing, re-sizing, printing, scanning and distributing of images will be covered.  The use of photographic portals such as Picasa and Live Photo Gallery will be covered.  A basic working knowledge of home computing will be assumed and printing facilities at low cost will be integral to the course.  A limited number of laptops will be provided but members’ own are a real bonus.  Use of members own memory chips will be encouraged.  Members may be linked to a private on-line Internet course conference for enhanced home study if desired.
Note: Additional fee £5 to pay for the use of a U3AC laptop.
5 weeks only starts 14th October.

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CMP 04: MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY (STARTER 2)

Tutor: Kenneth Turner                            
Day and time: Friday 3.15 - 5.00             
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                      
Number of places: 8
Repeat of CMP 03.
Note: Additional fee £5 to pay for the use of a U3AC laptop.
5 weeks only starts 18th November.

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CMP 05: MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY (ADVANCED)

Tutor: Kenneth Turner                            
Day and time: Friday 1.00 - 3.00             
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                      
Number of places: 10
The course will be a practical hands-on series of workshops about aspects of photography, utilising mainly digital but also scanned film images.  The course will deal with the capture of images with compact, ‘bridge’ and SLR cameras, film and mobile phones.  This more advanced course will reprise the basics but will proceed to include quality scanning, manipulating images with more powerful editors, printing images, posting images on the internet and the use of other contemporary applications of photography such as digital and printed albums, panoramas, calendars and posters and ‘cloud’ computing for photography.  A basic working knowledge of home computing will be assumed for the course and printing facilities at low cost will be integral.  It will be expected that members will provide their own ‘flash’ memory chips for storing and transporting their images.  A limited number of laptops will be provided but members’ own would be a real bonus.  Members will be linked to a private on-line Internet course conference for home continuation study.
Note: Additional fee £10 to pay for the use of a U3AC laptop.

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CMP 06: PICASA 1

Tutor: John Suffling                                
Day and time: Wednesday – see below   
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                      
Number of places: 10
Downloading software, loading photos, saving to hard drive, basic editing (crop, straighten, label etc.) Tuning (fill light, highlight, shadow etc.) Effects (sharpening, contrast, toning, tinting etc) Slide show, selection, exporting, making a CD. Working on own photos, making a CD of own photos.
Additional fee of £3 to pay for the use of a U3AC laptop.
Note: 3 sessions 12 October 2-4pm, 19 October 1-4pm, 2 November 1-4 pm.

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CMP 07: PICASA 2

Tutor: John Suffling                                
Day and time: Wednesday – see below   
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                      
Number of places: 10
Repeat of CMP 06.
Additional fee of £3 for the use of a U3AC laptop.
Note: 3 sessions 16 November 2-4pm, 23 November 1-4pm, 7 December 1-4pm.

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CMP 08: SIMPLE PROGRAMMING

Tutor: Peter Burkinshaw                          
Day and time: Monday 2.00 - 3.30          
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.            
Number of places: 6
The course will teach you how to write simple programs in ‘comal’, an international programming language that originated in Scandinavia and is widely used for teaching.  Access to an Intel-based PC running Windows 98 or Windows XP would be advantageous.

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