Click play on the following audio player to listen along as you read this section.

https://media.bccampus.ca/id/0_yn080p12?width=608&height=70&playerId=23449753

Pointing

Point and click

• Pointing device – a device used to control the movement of the pointer (cursor) on the screen.
• The major pointing devices in use today are the mouse, trackpad or touchpad (laptop), touch screens, etc.
• Point and click – point an object on the screen and then press a button on the mouse to select objects / commands, open menus / hyperlinks (links), or close windows.
• Double-click – quickly click the left mouse button twice on any folder, file, or program to open it.

Left and right click

• Left-click – press the left mouse button on the left side of the mouse. Left-click is often referred to as “regular-click” and it is used for many common computer tasks, such as selecting objects, closing windows, opening hyperlinks, double-clicking, etc.
• Right-click – press the right mouse button on the right side of the mouse to display a popup menu showing commands for a selected item.

Scrolling

Scroll bar

• Scrolling – sliding content (text, images, etc.) vertically or horizontally on a computer screen and allowing the user to view different parts of information in a window.
• Vertical scroll bar – a vertical bar on the right side of a window or screen that allows the user to scroll the window viewing area up or down.
• Horizontal scroll bar – a horizontal bar on the bottom of a window or screen that allows the user to scroll the window viewing area to the left or right.
  

Scrolling

• Vertical scrolling – sliding content up or down on a computer screen using a vertical scroll bar.
• Horizontal scrolling – sliding content left or right on a computer screen using a horizontal scroll bar.

Drag and drop – press and hold the left mouse button to grab an object (such as an icon on the desktop) and place it to a different location.

Laptop Touchpad

Laptop touchpad (or trackpad) – an input device for laptop computers that is made up of a flat, touch-sensitive surface. It provides a way to move the cursor around the screen or give an instruction (highlight text, select and open applications, etc.).

Use a laptop touchpad (or trackpad)

• 

  Tap (click) – point an object on the screen and then tap on the trackpad to select items / commands, open menus / hyperlinks (links), or close windows.

• Double tap (double click) – double tap on the trackpad on any folder, file, program, word, etc. to open / select it.
• Drag and drop – double-tap the trackpad to grab an object and place it to a different location. Example: drag the selected text to the new location.
• Right-click – tap two fingers anywhere on the trackpad to display a popup menu showing commands for a selected item.
• Scrolling – tap two fingers on the trackpad and slide fingers up or down to scroll.
• Select – swipe in from the left or right of the sentence or word (tap the right or left of the sentence or word and swipe towards the other side).