When I start to teach people about computers I mention four things that help them to teach themselves, while they use the computer.
1. I start by explaining that the mouse has two buttons; the right button is for getting information about the area of the computer where you are working. It opens a box that shows you what you are allowed to do, the left button lets you action the information.
2. When a dialog box is opened I draw their attention to the little Question mark next to the close button. ? X. When you click on the question mark a small symbol of it appears and you can click almost anywhere in the dialog box to find out what will happen in that particular area.
3. If you press F1 you get help about what you are doing.
4. If you press Shift + F1 and then click on an icon it will tell you what the icon can do. If you click on your text it explains the kind of formatting you have.
