The Learning Ladder Computer Basics Module

Using the Keyboard (continued)

The insertion point

As you saw on the last page, the insertion point (the blinking line in a text area) shows where the words you type will appear.

Sometimes you need to move the insertion point before you start to type. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first is to just click where you want it to go. Notice that when you mouse over a text box, the cursor changes from an arrow to a line: this shows you that when you click, you'll be moving the insertion point.

The box below has text in it already. Use your mouse to click around and move the insertion point. Then type some letters and watch where they appear.

You can also use the arrow keys to move the insertion point. Practice in the box above.

Editing text

Sometimes you'll want to make changes to text that you're typing. This is called editing. If you make a mistake typing, for example, you'll want to be able to correct it.

For the first exercise, let's erase the entire line below. Start by clicking at the end of the sentence, so you see the insertion point blinking after the word "line!". Then use the "Backspace" key (on your PC) or "delete" key (on your Apple Mac) keyboard to remove the entire line.

Now click the "Reset" button and do the same thing, but start by clicking in the middle of the line, rather than at the end. Use the Backspace (PC) or delete (Mac) key again. Notice that this key only erases letters to the left of the insertion point. To delete or erase the rest of the letters, click again at the end of the line and Backspace (PC) or delete (Mac) the rest of the line.

This works fine, but there's a faster way to erase or delete the line. If you select the text before you type anything, you can delete it with one key. In part 1, we talked about dragging over text to select it. Click at the end of the line below and hold the button down. Then drag it back to the beginning and release the button. The entire line should be highlighted with a different color.

Now press the Backspace (PC) or delete (Mac) key once. The entire line is erased or deleted with one keypress! (Click "Reset" and practice this until you can do it easily.)

Notice, also, that if you select the text like you're doing above but then just start typing, instead of pressing the Backspace (PC) or delete (Mac) key, the selected text is replaced by what you type.

Use what you've learned on this page to change the word "fish" to "dog" in the line below.

Click "next" to continue to the next page.

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