Tech Fundamentals Timing Guide (2 Hours)

Audience: 12–14 year-olds, beginners.
Goal: build confidence with computers, files, and the terminal. Keep energy light and celebrate curiosity.

0:00–0:10 - Welcome & Comfort Icebreaker

  • Objective: lower anxiety, learn names.
  • Prompt: “What’s one thing you used a computer for this week?”
  • Reminders: no wrong answers; curiosity beats correctness.
  • Materials: slide or whiteboard to capture a few examples.

0:10–0:30 - What Is a Computer?

  • Objective: hardware vs software mental model.
  • Demo: show a device, point to keyboard/screen; name CPU, memory, storage.
  • Activity: paper sort-circle which are hardware vs software.
  • Watch for: students mixing “cloud” with “storage”; keep it simple.

0:30–0:50 - Files, Folders, Extensions

  • Objective: how computers organize stuff.
  • Activity: create Tech-Workshop-1/ with notes.txt and about-me.txt.
  • Demo: rename a file; show what happens when removing an extension.
  • Tip: repeat “Files don’t do anything until a program reads them.”

0:50–1:10 - Text Editors vs Word Processors

  • Objective: plain text vs rich text.
  • Demo: open same file in Word (or Docs) and a plain text editor; show hidden formatting using od -c if time.
  • Discussion: why code breaks in Word; why editors matter.

1:10–1:20 - Break

  • Optional: post a quick puzzle; encourage movement.

1:20–1:40 - What Is Code?

  • Objective: computers are literal; code is precise instructions.
  • Activity: “human computer” game: follow vague student instructions exactly; debrief on missed steps.
  • Reinforce: errors are normal; specificity is kindness to computers.

1:40–1:55 - First Terminal Experience

  • Objective: demystify the terminal.
  • Commands: pwd, ls, echo 'Hello, computer!'.
  • Flow: model once, then let students run and share output.
  • Safety: remind them terminals are powerful; today is read-only and printing.

1:55–2:00 - Wrap-Up & Teaser

  • Objective: reflect and connect to next workshop.
  • Prompts: “One thing I learned…”, “One thing I’m curious about…”.
  • Teaser: “Next time you’ll tell the computer what to do with JavaScript.”