04 Prepare a folder for your first projects

You will create AI-practice and save a description of three learning projects. Allow about 45 minutes. Prepare Windows with File Explorer, which shows files and folders, and Notepad, where you can write plain text.

In class

The teacher creates a folder and saves a short note, naming each action. Learners then close the file, find it in File Explorer and check that its text remains.

Where your work lives

A file is named, saved data; folders group files and other folders. Examples are desk.jpg for a photo and video-plan.txt for an outline. The ending after the final dot is the extension, which helps identify the format. Renaming .jpg to .txt cannot convert a photograph into text. [F224]

Our course folder will hold the materials of a fictional learner, Olena: a website, the My Day application and a short desk video. Follow her example first. Add your own name and interests to a separate homework copy, preserving the source for later lessons.

Create and save

1. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer. Select Documents on the left.
2. Right-click an empty area and choose New → Folder. Name the folder AI-practice, then double-click to open it.
3. Open the Start menu, type Notepad and launch the program. Copy the text below: select it and press Ctrl + C, then press Ctrl + V in Notepad.

Name: Olena.
Interests: books, walking, organising the home.
Website: interests and three small projects.
Application: My Day, a list of three daily tasks.
Video: 30–45 seconds about organising a desk.
Public contact: not chosen yet.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + S to open Save As. Choose Documents → AI-practice, enter about-me.txt, and keep the text-file type and UTF-8 encoding. Select Save. UTF-8 supports text in many languages, including Ukrainian.
2. Close the document. In File Explorer, double-click about-me.txt and check all six lines.
3. Make a copy: select the file, press Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + V. Select the copy and press F2. Change the selected name to about-me-backup, keep the .txt extension and press Enter. Edit the main file in later exercises; use the copy to return to the starting point.

A copy beside the original helps undo a bad edit. Protection against disk failure needs a copy on another device or in separate storage. We will create the website, app and video folders later.

A local file and an online page

A local file is stored on your device. Another person needs a copy or access through a service to open it. Downloading a photo brings it from a website to your computer; uploading sends a file from your computer to a service.

Your future website will also need files. Hosting stores them and serves them to visitors. A domain is a convenient name in an address, such as example.com. Buying a domain does not automatically create a page. The address https://example.com/projects includes the site name and a path to its material. HTTPS indicates a protected connection; it does not prove that every claim on the page is true.

Home practice

1. Copy about-me.txt within AI-practice. As in step 6, change its name to about-me-home, keeping the .txt extension. Open the copy and replace the name and interests with your own. Keep Olena’s original for the following lessons.
2. Save, close Notepad and find the copy in File Explorer. Open both files: the original should still describe Olena, while the homework file contains your version. Check that every letter displays correctly as well as checking the wording.

Self-test

1. How can you show that a file was saved?
2. The original and its copy are on one disk, which fails. Does that copy protect against this loss?
3. Is a domain enough for a complete website?

Words you will need

• Format: the way data is recorded inside a file.
• Path: the sequence of folders leading to a file.
• Domain: a readable name in an internet address.
• Hosting: placing material or an application somewhere accessible over a network.