After 35 years of teaching in IT at all levels I have developed a learning method that works with my students. The process is top down. After a brief overview, students are introduced to a new application through a working exemplar that they can explore. Once they have a concept of what a program can do they then investigate its features. In this way they have a framework to hang the new learning on. All instruction is detailed step-by-step with full images of what they aim to produce.