2 Essential computer skills
You’ll need a basic level of computing skills to study with the OU and it’s important to check before you start studying that you don’t have any gaps you need to address.
You may already be a confident computer user but it’s still worth checking these so that you get off to the best possible start in your studies.
Do this in following activity.
Activity _unit6.2.1 Activity 1 Assessing your computing skills
Complete the following self-assessment activity. Click on the image to get to the activity. You may have completed this before you registered, but it’s worth revisiting now you’ve found out a bit more about OU study.
Please note that if you live outside of the UK you will not be able to access this activity as it is on a website for students resident in the UK. There is, however, lots of information about the skills you will need in the Help Centre [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .
Discussion
If you found you were lacking in any of these basic skills then we strongly recommend you visit this basic computing skills page in the Help Centre and brush up on the basics.
The Help Centre, the OU Library and the Computing Guide offer a wealth of resources to help you develop your online and computer related skills. So if you’re struggling to do something at any point in your studies, remember to check any of these for help.
There is also a wider set of skills relating to using digital devices, such as computers or mobile devices. These are known as digital skills and are the subject of the next section.