Northern College Computer Applications Self-Assessment Test

Welcome to the Northern College computer self assessment tool. The assessment has been developed to help you determine your level and comfort with the basic computer skills that you will need to successfully complete your college program of study. The assessment will help you identify areas of strengths and other areas where you may need to enhance your computer knowledge. This tool will help you decide whether you will need to take a computer course. You will see by the end of the assessment if you will need to take a computer course.

Should you have any questions relating to admission requirements call 705 235-7222 or 1-866-79-36-5877 or email us at: admissions@northern.on.ca.

If you do need to take a course there are several options available to you. One option is the ACE computer course available starting May 5th, 2008. This course is free, and you can get more information from our Academic Upgrading page.

Other fee paying options are available through the Continuing Education departments at your local Northern College Campus and the Distance Education department.

Note: This is your assessment tool and the College will not be tracking how you have answered or the final results of your assessment.

Windows/Computer Basics

Open, move, resize, scroll, move, and close a window/program
Create, copy, move and delete files from open windows
Use external flash memory (USB stick) to backup files
Recognize different filetypes and their associated programs Name and store files appropriately; create directories Use right-click, left-click, task bar, quick launch bar and edit menus appropriately

Working with the Internet

Connect to the Internet
Use a web browser to view, print and bookmark web pages
Use search engines to find information
Evaluate the quality and reliability of information found online
Predict URLs and information sources by understanding their elements (.on, .ca)

Working with Email

Create and send e-mail messages
Insert file attachments to e-mail messages
Save, Open and print e-mail messages and attachments
Forward and reply to e-mail messages

Working with Word

Customize toolbars
Display and remove formatting marks
Know nonprinting characters for tabs, spacebar, and enter
Change document view
Change the text font size before and after entering text
Enter text into a document using word-wrap
Use spelling and grammar checks
Right-align or center a line or a paragraph
Enter, move, double space, italicize, bold, and underline text
Undo and redo commands or actions
Insert, resize and center clip art, images and other graphic elements
Use Word’s Help Facility
Modify the left, right, top and bottom margin in a document
Apply a header and number the pages of a document
Insert footnotes to a research paper
Modify the footnote text to match manuscript style
Identify automatic page breaks
Insert and delete manual page breaks
Create a hanging indent format for works cited paragraphs
Create a hyperlink
Sort selected paragraphs
Find and replace text
Set and use tab stops
Insert a Word table, enter data into the table, and format the table

Working with PowerPoint

Choose a Design Template
Create a title slide
Use text attributes such as font size and font style
Add a new slide to a presentation
Create a text slide with a single-level or multi-level bulleted list
Advance from slide to slide
View a presentation in slide show view
Open and edit a presentation
Check the spelling and consistency of a presentation
Change line spacing on the slide master
Vary the slide layout
Add animation and slide transition effects
Apply animation effects to bulleted slides
Animate clip art objects
Run an animated slide show
Print presentation slides, handouts, note pages from a presentation

Assessment tool designed and programmed by the students in the Computer Science Program at Northern's Porcupine Campus