Connecting learning to the real world works. Designing activities that use familiar, tangible objects to demonstrate computer concepts can help learners grasp the basic concept in a more manageable way, and it makes learning fun!

Here are some examples that you can use to explain computer concepts on PCs using real world materials and analogies. Try to use computer vocabulary as much as possible when explaining a process:

A) File Explorer - To explain File Explorer use real manila folders that match the File Explorer icon. Include some hard copies of letters/resumes/pictures and other files/documents inside the folders. Have the students place these folders inside a larger folder; this helps the students understand how folders can contain folders and files. Now have them write their name on the tab of a folder and place and retrieve files/documents inside the folder to demonstrate "Save" and "Open."

B) Menu Levels - In the ESL tutorial USA Learns the menu hierarchy is Unit/Lesson/Activity. Learners have to click through these menus to reach the level they are working in. To give the learner the experience of moving up and down the menu hierarchy, stack and unstack Russian dolls that are labeled Unit, Lesson, and Activity.

C) Browser vs. Search Engine - Icons for these two different concepts can look very similar and may just have to be learned. However what each of them does is very different. Explain a browser as a window or a door to the information on the web, and a search engine as the binoculars or magnifying glass that looks through the window or door to help find what the learner is looking for.

D) Mouse Skills - moving the mouse around and clicking in a specific spot is a challenge for students without fine motor skills. It is especially challenging to move the insert text mouse cursor when editing text in Word. To demonstrate how the bar moves, lay out some words with alphabet letters and get learners to move a pencil or Cuisenaire� rod - right/left and up/down- through the words. They can move on to practice clicking with the mouse as they move the rod and practice Backspace and Delete letters.

For more information about using manipulatives to teach basic computer concepts visit Literacy Online.