Session 8: Operating Systems & Settings
At a glance: pupils explain what an operating system does through the headteacher, name the main operating systems, lock a shared PC, tour Windows Settings (display, sound, Wi-Fi, keyboard, accessibility), keep a PC healthy with updates and Windows Security, install and uninstall an app safely, take a screenshot and end a frozen programme in Task Manager. · Time: 90 minutes (adjust the timings if your period is shorter) · Workbook pages: 6
Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, pupils can:
- Explain what an operating system does and match Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux, Android and iOS to the devices that use them.
- Find, change and restore settings (display, sound, Wi-Fi, keyboard, accessibility), lock a shared PC with Windows + L and take a screenshot.
- Keep a computer healthy: check for updates, use Windows Security, install apps only from trusted places, uninstall an app and end a frozen programme with Task Manager.
Before the session
- Choose one safe, free, small app from the Microsoft Store for every pupil to install and uninstall (for example Microsoft To Do or Microsoft Whiteboard). Install it once yourself on a pupil PC to check it works with the Hub's accounts and network, and that pupils' accounts may install Store apps.
- Check what kind of account pupils sign in with (Settings → Accounts → Your info), so you can explain standard vs administrator on the real machines.
- Make sure Windows Update is not halfway through a big update on the pupil PCs (check the day before), and that each PC can reach the internet for the Store and Update steps.
- Prepare a screenshot of a fake "Your PC is infected" pop-up to show on the projector. Never open a real scam site.
- Check each pupil still has
Documents\BIH_Practicefor the screenshot. - Test The Headteacher's Office lab on the projector PC and one pupil PC. Keep the offline pack on USB.
Running order
| Time | Activity | Workbook | What the mentor does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Typing warm-up | – | Pupils open the typing trainer (/typing/) and do their 10-minute practice. |
| 10–20 min | The headteacher | Page 1 | Role-play: one pupil is the headteacher; "app" pupils ask for "the printer" or "the memory" and must wait their turn. Read Figure 8.0 together. |
| 20–30 min | OS families, accounts, Windows + L | Page 2 | Ask "What OS is on your family's phone?" Show Accounts → Your info. Lock race: every pupil presses Windows + L and signs back in. |
| 30–42 min | Settings tour and the Settings scavenger hunt | Page 3 | Tour Settings on the projector. Scavenger hunt: call out "Find Text size!", "Find Narrator!", "Find the Wi-Fi list!"; the first team with it on screen wins a point. |
| 42–50 min | Healthy habits and the app traffic light | Page 4 | Show Windows Update and Windows Security. Show your fake pop-up and ask "What do you do?" |
| 50–58 min | 3D lab: The Headteacher's Office | Page 5 | Demonstrate, then pairs do the missions. |
| 58–82 min | Lab Mission: take charge of your PC | Page 5 | Pupils do steps 1 to 5 and fill in both tables. Check settings are really put back before ticking. Name the Store app aloud and write it on the board. |
| 82–86 min | Review | Page 6 | Show of hands for "What would you do?" Show-and-tell: one pupil demonstrates Task Manager on the projector. |
| 86–90 min | Self-assessment and sign-off | Page 6 | Sign off using the evidence below. Add up team points. |
Key ideas and how to explain them
- The headteacher: apps (pupils) never go straight to the hardware (classrooms, staff, store). They ask the OS, which shares the processor, memory, storage and devices fairly and keeps order. When one "pupil" misbehaves (freezes), the headteacher can send it home: that is Task Manager's End task.
- Same jobs, different headteachers: Windows, macOS, ChromeOS and Linux run computers; Android and iOS run phones. Most phones in Ghana run Android. Knowing one makes it easier to learn another.
- Standard vs administrator: the administrator has the headteacher's key. The "Do you want to allow this app to make changes?" box is Windows asking for that key. Say Yes only when you know exactly what you started.
- Change it, then put it back: on a shared PC, write down the old value first. This is how technicians work too.
- Healthy habits: update, keep Windows Security on, restart now and then, install carefully and remove what you don't use.
- The app traffic light: green = Microsoft Store or the maker's official website; amber = ask first; red = random sites, pop-ups, "free" paid games and files from strangers.
- Team points: 1 per scavenger-hunt win, 2 for all five lab steps done with tables filled in, 1 for helping a neighbour find a setting.
The 3D lab
The Headteacher's Office shows how the operating system sits between apps and hardware, lets pupils switch a laptop between Windows, ChromeOS and Linux, and has them judge app installs and rescue a frozen app. Its three missions are: 1. Send 3 different app requests through the OS to the hardware. 2. Switch the laptop to Windows, ChromeOS and Linux, and say what stays the same. 3. Judge all 6 app installs with the traffic light, and rescue a frozen app. On the projector, show an app asking the OS for the printer and the OS passing the request on, then switch the laptop between the three operating systems and ask "What changed? What stayed the same?" (the look changes, the jobs stay). Pairs then sort the six installs with the app traffic light (Figure 8.2) and do the frozen-app rescue (Ctrl + Shift + Esc → choose the app that is Not responding → End task) before they try Task Manager for real in step 5.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
| Pupils often… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Change a setting and forget what it was | Write "Before" in the table first. If lost, compare with a neighbour's PC. |
| Make the text size huge and cannot find the Apply button | Scroll, or press Tab until Apply is highlighted and press Enter. Or set it back on a neighbour's instructions. |
| Turn on Narrator and cannot stop it talking | Windows + Ctrl + Enter turns it off. |
| Add a keyboard layout and then type strange letters | Windows + Space switches back; remove the extra layout in Language options. This exact fault comes back on Fix-It Day. |
| End task on the wrong thing (Windows Explorer, the browser with other tabs) | Only end programmes you opened yourself. If the taskbar vanishes, restart the PC. |
| Find Task Manager "empty" | Click More details. |
| Click Get on a paid app or a look-alike app | Check the app's name and maker match what you wrote on the board, and that it says Free. |
| Cannot find where the screenshot went | Look in Pictures → Screenshots (saved automatically on most Windows 11 PCs), or paste into Paint and save. |
When things go wrong
- No internet: skip the Store and Update parts of steps 2–3 and demonstrate them later or in Skills Lab 1. Settings, screenshots, Task Manager and the lab all work offline.
- Not enough PCs: pairs share a PC; partner A does steps 1, 3 and 5, partner B does 2 and 4, then swap the settings step so both change and restore settings.
- A PC freezes or the power goes: a real freeze is a gift. Use Task Manager on it in front of the class. If nothing responds at all, hold the power button only as a last resort, and explain that unsaved work in memory is lost (Session 6).
Answer key
Your turn (Page 2): he should not guess or ask for someone's password. He should stop and ask the mentor, who decides whether the game is safe and allowed. (Only an administrator can approve it.)
Your turn (Page 4): any two of: updates fix mistakes (bugs); they close security holes that criminals and viruses use; they add new features; they keep the computer working with new apps and devices.
Lab tables (Page 5): answers depend on the PC. Every changed setting should be ticked as put back. Windows Update usually says "You're up to date" or lists updates. The screenshot should be in BIH_Practice with the BIH name.
Match the OS (Page 6): Tecno smartphone: Android. Hub desktop PCs: Windows. iPhone: iOS. Chromebook: ChromeOS. MacBook: macOS.
What would you do?
- Close the tab without clicking it and tell the mentor (it is a scam; real Windows Security never asks you to call).
- Don't download; look in the Microsoft Store or ask the mentor ("free" copies of paid games often hide malware).
Written Review Questions
- The OS is like the headteacher: programmes (pupils) ask it for the hardware (classrooms, staff, store), and it decides who uses what and keeps order. It also starts the computer, looks after files, talks to devices and keeps the computer safe.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, click the frozen programme in Processes, then click End task. (Unsaved work in it may be lost.)
Support and stretch
- Needs more support: do the lab in this order: screenshot, one setting change, Task Manager. Give them a card with the three Settings paths. Pair them for the Store install.
- Finished early: run a Quick scan in Windows Security and write how many files it checked. Or add a second keyboard layout (for example English (UK) and English (US)) and find a key that changes between them (try Shift + 2 and Shift + 3), then remove it again.
Evidence for sign-off
The pupil explains the OS with the headteacher, matches all five devices to their OS, shows three settings changed and restored (table complete), reports what Windows Update said, installs and uninstalls the named app, has a correctly named screenshot in BIH_Practice, and ends Notepad in Task Manager while you watch.
Safety and wellbeing
Pupils change settings and install apps only on the Hub's PCs and only the app you name; they never install anything on a home or school computer without the owner's permission. Never type a real password into the workbook; for Wi-Fi practice use a Hub network or a mentor's hotspot, with the mentor typing the password. Treat the scam pop-up calmly: pupils who have seen one at home have done nothing wrong, and the right move is always to close it and tell an adult. Remind pupils to press Windows + L whenever they leave a shared PC.