While I understand the organization discussed had undergone basic MS Office training, training in the in-house word processing software would need to be on any global list. Yes, there are still folks out there who don't know about cut and paste, or tabs and indents, or how to change a font.
But number one really must be about system access and security. Passwords and why they shouldn't be something like your last name. Why it's bad to let someone else logon as you. Why you should, and how to, log out or lock your workstation when you go to the restroom, lunch, or leave for the day.
And then number two is why not to open email attachments that are remotely suspicious, safe surfing, what phishing is, what is a virus and what that means if your antivirus (pray they are using antivirus!) says something is wrong.
And then what to do when your system locks up, what to do with error messages (not ignore them), who to contact for help when those things happen.
Basics, like how to change screen resolution (imperative if you have older staff with low vision), empty the rescycle bin, add a shortcut (or remove one) from the desktop, etc.
So, my top ten would try to include what Joshua Putnam Peskay did, with additions.
1) Basics about system access and security, password safety.
2) Basics about Internet and email security, viruses, phishing, safe surfing.
3) Basics about operations, errors, and who, how and when to ask for help. (As an afterthought- including the printer(s))
4) Basics about the system, like screen resolution, desktop icons and management, temp folders, help menus.
5) Understanding Email and Email etiquette (reply, reply to all, forward, to/cc/bcc, etc.), DO NOT USE CAPS LOCK or multiple punctuation marks!!!!!!!!!!!, how to open and/or save attachments.
6) File management (understanding how and where to save and access files on the network), how and where to create folders, the importance of useful names for documents and how to change them (so every document isn't "untitled word document 2.doc";, "untitled word document3.doc", etc.)
7) Word processing basics: tabs, line spacing, fonts, spell checking, headers and footers, print preview.
8) Advanced email/calendar: setting status, making filters, managing folders, setting permissions.
9) Advanced word-processing: collaboration, saving originals or using mark ups, importing/exporting.
10) Using collaboration features of their system: public calendars, shared folders, any software or features used heavily by that organization (eg. shared databases, in-house applications).
I guess it's a bit more dense than the original- hard to cram it all into ten! But skipping 1-3 will prevent many from ever getting further down the list, when their system crashes repeatedly and they only know to turn it off and on again, when their hard drive is full of temp files, and their system is crawling because of malware, and the network goes down because someone turned off their antivirus. Not to mention the expense of thousands of pages of worthless printed documents that "don't look like I thought they would"; and printed on letterhead or green paper!
Thinking on this was a great exercise, and aided in large part by my children, though credit is also due several coworkers in the past who'd never used a PC.
Shelley Rivers
(between gigs)
.