This guide is designed to meet the following goals: provide information that reflects the changes in technology in the 1990s; provide basic information to teachers, aides, and students who are not computer literate; and provide review information for individuals who are computer literate. The information provided may be used either for specific classroom use, or as a general reference document. Topics included are: (1) introduction to computer operations, computer hardware and software, major computer components, and computer languages and terms; (2) computer operations, keyboarding skills, preparation of diskettes, and information storage and retrieval; and (3) understanding software applications such as word processing, databases, spreadsheets, industrial robots, mathematics functions, and personal management. The appendices include a discussion of how to choose a computer system, an explanation of a disk operation system, a list of computer terms, and example test questions and answers. (27 references) (DB)