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IT Fundamentals

How a computer works, inside and out — the groundwork for everything else.

Register for this course Back to the catalogue 12 weeks · 36 hours · free

The first real technical course in the catalogue, and the one most of our certification students start with.

You will take machines apart and put them back together, install operating systems from scratch, work out why a computer will not boot, and learn the vocabulary that the rest of the industry assumes you already have.

This course maps to CompTIA ITF+ and prepares you directly for A+ Core 1.

Jobs this leads towards

Real roles people do after this course and the ones that follow it.

  • IT technician (entry level)

    The first rung: sets up machines, fixes common faults, keeps things running.

  • Help-desk technician

    Answers the calls and solves the everyday problems — the next course leads straight there.

  • Anyone heading for the IT track

    This is the foundation every other course here builds on.

Certifications

What this course prepares you to sit. Exam vouchers are included.

  • CompTIA ITF+ (Tech+)

Is this for me?

Ninety seconds, no wrong answers, nothing recorded. It tells you how closely this course matches what you enjoy — and where to look if it does not.

Try it — two minutes

The kind of thing you would actually do in this course. Nothing is saved; it is just to see if you enjoy it.

What a week looks like

Day to day, so nobody is surprised.

  1. Two evenings a week: one on theory for the exam, one hands-on with real machines.
  2. You take computers apart and put them back together, and they have to work afterwards.
  3. Practice tickets: somebody 'breaks' a laptop and you fix it and write it up.
  4. A timed practice exam every few weeks so the real one holds no surprises.

Three questions from week one

Get them wrong and you belong here. Get them right and you belong here too. Nothing is recorded.

Books worth having

None of these is required — the course lends what it needs. These are the ones worth owning.

  • CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

    Mike Meyers

    The standard text; the course follows its chapter order.

    Find it ↗

  • Professor Messer's A+ videos (free, YouTube)

    Watch the topic before the class covers it.

What to bring

Usually nothing. Where something small helps, it is here.

  • ▸A cheap screwdriver set with small Phillips bits.
  • ▸An anti-static wrist strap (a few dollars).
  • ▸A USB flash drive, 16 GB or more, for boot tools.

Do this at home

Between sessions. Ten to twenty minutes; the people who do this are the ones who finish.

  • Habit 1Watch one Professor Messer video a day and take two lines of notes.
  • Habit 2Open Task Manager and figure out what every running process is.
  • Habit 3Explain to a family member how to back up their phone, then help them do it.

What you will be able to do

  • Identify and replace every major component in a desktop and a laptop
  • Install and configure Windows and Linux from installation media
  • Diagnose a machine that will not boot, methodically
  • Explain how storage, memory, CPU and bus interact
  • Use the terminology needed for a help-desk interview

What you will use

  • Windows 11
  • Ubuntu
  • Ventoy
  • Hardware lab benches

What the course covers

The lesson plan for this course is being written. Register and we will tell you the moment it opens.

Register for this course Back to the catalogue