The modern day Airbus family is considered as one of the most advanced in the industry. This is accomplished by the extensive use of computers. Almost every system on the Airbus is controlled by a computer, from the lavatory flushing systems to the fly-by-wire control systems. The reason why these aircraft are so efficient is the advanced Flight Management and Guidance Systems (FMGS's). The flightcrew communicates with these computers by the use of Multipurpose Control and Display Units (MCDUs), located on the central control pedestal. These are usually considered the 'heart' of the aircraft. In addition to accessing the flight managing computers these provide systems maintenance data in the air and on the ground. Failure messages can be printed out for later action or they can be transmitted ahead during flight to give advance warning of problems.
Again, like with most systems on the Airbus, they are very user-friendly once you get to know the design philosophy. I’ve found out that a lot of people are using the FMC from the PMDG 737 instead of the real MCDU from an Airbus. The FMC from the 737 is different and more complicated then the MCDU. People who use this FMC won’t find any useful information here because this page is particularly for an Airbus’s MCDU, so here are two links to tutorials on how to use the FMC from the PMDG.
Now let's continue to the MCDU. Here are some links that could help you out:
- Real-world pilots guide for the MCDU with Thales software
- MCDU Tutorial video based on the PSS A320
- Tutorial Flight Wilco A320
To provide you with more help I've made a tutorial myself aswell, it is web-based and very easy to use. This website is brand-new and still work in progress. Therefore this 'education center' is still in the old format.