Technology Assistants’ Corner

Posted on by
1

Technology Assistants are an important of the Library & STICC labs.  The provide software assistance to those visiting these places.  This semester we highlight Carlette (Carla) Williams.

Major/Career Plans
Social Work/Criminal Justice with a Certificate in Child Welfare –
Opening Domestic Violence House for Abused Women

What do you like best about the position you’re in now?
What I like best about this position in the STICC is the new technology I am learning.  I can take this knowledge and apply it to my life after Marygrove.

Why do you like working in Technology?
The possibilities are endless when you work with technology.  It allows you to let the imagination flow.  I like knowing that I can be as creative as I want with technology. (If you have ever worked with Publisher or Visio, you know this to be true).

What’s your earliest or funniest memory of using technology?
I would have to say the first time I got a computer and I was trying to type a paper as though it was a typewriter.  I had no idea how to spell check or make corrections to the paper without retyping it all.  It was really a mess.

What is your favorite software program? Why?
I enjoy them all, but I would have to say that Word is my favorite.  The simplest one, maybe, but it allows you to be creative in a lot of ways; from typing documents to adding information into that document to publishing that document.  I love it.  However, I am also a Publisher fan; I like that I am able to use the templates to create flyers and banners.

What position have you held in the past that is most different from what you’re doing now?
I used to teach pre-K, K and 1st grade, that is so far removed from what I do now.  While I enjoy them both, I prefer what I am doing now to what I was doing then.

What made you decide to attend Marygrove?
There was an open house at Oakland Community College, the school I was attending in 2010, and Chanda, from admissions, showed up and was speaking about the social work program as though it was something exciting.  I was hooked and the rest is history.

What has been your favorite class at Marygrove?
I would have to say English 312, Advanced Written and Oral Communication, has been my favorite class here. If you think you know how to write, you have no idea, until you have taken this class. I learned so much.

What other activities are you involved with at Marygrove?
I am a member of Phi Alpha Honor Society and Network.

Describe your best moment at Marygrove so far.
My best moment at Marygrove would have to be my decision to accept a position in the STICC lab.  I am learning so much more about technology and other things that will guide and direct me while I continue my education.

Any “Words of Wisdom” for students?
“Doing good is its own reward.”

Office 365/Outlook WebApp – Set an appointment and receive a reminder about it

Posted on by
Reply

Use the Calendar feature of Outlook WebApp (Office 365 for students and off-site version for Staff/Faculty) to set an appointment (group meeting, test, campus event) and also set a reminder for it.  Sign in to your Outlook Web App account and follow these steps:

  1. Click Calendar (lower left).
  2. Make sure Month view is selected (next to the word Share).
  3. Move cursor to the date of the event – Double-click to add an event.  will appear.
  4. Double-click; Untitled Appointment window will open.
  5. On the Appointment tab, complete the information about the event.
  6. Make sure the box in front of Reminder in the area just above the formatting toolbar has a check mark in it; if not, click inside the box.
  7. Use the drop down arrow to set the time before the scheduled event for the reminder to appear.
  8. Use the message body for any other additional information about the appointment.
  9. Click Save and Close.

A text box will appear on the calendar with some information about the Appointment.
Move the mouse over the text box to see more information.

A pop-up reminder should appear about the event at the time specified – if you are logged into Outlook at the time.

Student Tech Talk

Posted on by
2

Expand Your Learning with OER

Has your acting class made you want to learn about playwriting? Did you do “OK” in College Geometry but still don’t feel you’ve really mastered proofs? Could some additional translation exercises help you in your Spanish course? If you need a little extra something to improve your academic performance, or you simply want to expand on what you’ve already learned, the world of open educational resources (OER) is definitely worth checking out. These resources – which range from lecture notes to multimedia content to full courses – are high quality, numerous, and FREE.

Image courtesy of opensource.com

Of course the Internet has always been full of stuff you could potentially learn from, but the OER movement has led to the online publication of materials, known as digital learning objects, produced by college and university instructors from some of the nation’s top institutions. One of the first major projects came a decade ago when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published materials for fifty of its courses on the school’s website. A year later, in October 2003, MIT officially launched OpenCourseWare and released materials for 500 academic courses. Since then, many more online resources have joined the OER movement, providing a wide variety of learning objects to be used by students and educators alike:

MIT OpenCourseWare  The first and still one of the best, MIT OCW now offers over 2000 courses in a vast range of subject areas. You can download activities and homework assignments, read from textbooks written by MIT faculty, and view full lectures on iTunes.

Khan Academy  This site contains some 3300 videos, primarily in the disciplines of math, science, and economics. The focus here is on self-paced, customized learning for your specific needs.

Connexions  Calling itself a “dynamic digital educational ecosystem,” Connexions is, among other things, an open access repository of 17,000 learning objects, or modules, that are tied together to create collections. All materials, including textbooks, assignments, and journal articles, can be downloaded as PDF files.

MERLOT  The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching is an immense array of peer-reviewed tutorials, assignments, case studies, open license (free-to-reproduce) textbooks, and online courses covering topics of interest to college students, faculty, and librarians.

iTunes U  With the launch of the iTunes U app earlier this year, the world’s most valuable company put the world’s most extensive collection of free educational resources – and the ease of organizing those resources – at the fingertips of anyone with an iPad or iPhone. The free materials include videos, course lectures, and books provided by institutions such as Yale, Stanford, and Oxford; the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Public Library.

Free workshops …

Aside

Free workshops in the STICC (L012) for current Marygrove students, alumni and staff
Registration required – 313.927.1582

Word 2010 – Basic: Tues., October 2  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., October 3  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Word 2010 – Intermediate: Tues., October 9  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., October 10  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Word 2010 – Advanced: Tues., October 16  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., October 17  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
PowerPoint 2010 – Basic: Tues., October 23  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., October 24  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
PowerPoint 2010 – Intermediate: Tues., October 30  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., October 31  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
PowerPoint 2010 – Advanced: Wed., November 7  6 p.m. – 8p.m.
Excel 2010 – Basic: Tues., November 13  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., November 14  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Excel 2010 – Intermediate: Tues., November 20  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., November 21  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Excel 2010 – Advanced: Tues., November 27  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Wed., November 28  6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Weebly – Create a website: Mon., October 8  2 p.m. – 4 p.m. & Thurs., October 11  5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Excel 2010 Charts – Quick Learn: Mon., October 29  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Thurs., November 1  2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
PowerPoint 2010 -  Quick Learn: Mon., November 12  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. & Thurs., November 13  2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Word  – Basic:  Geared toward the novice user, participants in this workshop will learn to Identify the parts of the Word window, open, create, save, close, rename, and delete a document, select, insert, delete, replace, copy, and preview and print a document.

Word – Intermediate:  This workshop is intended for those who have mastered the skills introduced in Word Basic, and will cover the following topics:   paragraph alignment, indent markers, custom tab stops, line spacing, lists, headers, footers, page breaks, and templates.

Word  – Advanced:   In this third workshop in the Microsoft Word series, participants will learn advanced features of the program including Cover page, Text Box, background, style, theme, columns, tables, and Clip Art

PowerPoint  – Basic:  This two hour workshop has been crafted to help beginners develop the fundamental skill needed to perform a variety of basic tasks including Identifying  the parts of the PowerPoint window; opening, creating, and editing a presentation; using the  text style, spelling and grammar checker, changing slide layout, and slide transitions

PowerPoint – Intermediate: In this workshop participants will learn to use tables, charts, clip art images, pictures, shapes, un/group, WordArt & Quick Access Toolbar

PowerPoint – Advanced: Animation, sounds, movies, navigating a slide show, virtual pen, hyperlinks, changing default settings are the topics of this advanced PowerPoint workshop.

Excel  – Basic:  In this first of three Excel workshops, participants will learn toIdentify the functions and parts of the Excel window, create, navigate, format, preview, print a worksheet, and perform basic calculations

Excel  – Intermediate:   This workshop covers the intermediate features of Excel such as, charts, graphs, templates and formatting

Excel  – Advanced: Create formulas using the Insert Function; worksheet views (freezing titles, hiding data); consolidate worksheets, create a summary sheet; change page layout, create a header and footer

Weebly – Bring an idea and leave with a website

PowerPoint – QuickLearn – This one hour PowerPoint tutorial focuses on performing specific tasks needed to create a basic presentation.   Participants will leave with a basic document to use as a template  for future presentations.

Excel Charts – QuickLearn – This one hour tutorial focuses on performing template for future charts.

Current and Emerging Technologies

Posted on by
Reply

Windows 8: Definitely  NOT the Same Old Remix!  

Scheduled for release in October 2012, Windows 8 takes a giant leap in user experience with an all new touch interface.  This is the most radical change in the operating system since the launch of Windows 95 seventeen years ago.

How different is it?  Simply put, this version of Windows comes with a significant learning curve.  For starters, the Windows 8 interface is a tile based environment.  The desktop as we have come to know it, as well as the Start menu, has been replaced by a full-screen view of the tiles.  Applications and functions are pinned to these tiles — to use the apps you simply tap the tiles.  Figure 1 below provides a look at the new environment.

                                       Figure 1: Windows 8 Home Screen

Previous versions of Windows offered visual clues for pretty much everything that needed clicking or attention—buttons were raised and window colors changed, but that is not the case with this version.  Windows 8 offers a whole suite of gestures (special swipes and taps) that must be learned in order to navigate the operating system.  There is a mouse equivalent and/or keyboard shortcut for each gesture for those who prefer to use them.

Navigating Windows 8 is accomplished via the Charms bar.  Located at the right edge of the screen you can use the Charms bar to search apps and files, share content between applications, and configure external devices.

This version of Windows is completely new and different and will take some getting used to, especially for those who are upgrading from Windows XP and are unfamiliar with the concept of Gadgets or Apps.

One thing that has been made pretty painless though is upgrading! If you bought your computer after June 2, 2012, but before January 31, 2013, you’ll be able to purchase an upgrade for $14.99. People with older versions of Windows, i.e. Vista and XP, will be able to upgrade for around $40.00.

Teaching & Learning with Technology

Posted on by
Reply

Collaborating at a Distance: VoiceThread

With the addition of the new mediascape technology in the STICC, our campus  based  students have a new, exciting and useful way to collaborate on assignments,  projects, and presentations—and according to our user statistics, they have been taking advantage of these new resources in large numbers .

Recently, our group has been exploring ways for students who are off campus to collaborate.  One product that piqued our particular interest is called VoiceThread.   VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia program that enables students or anyone for that matter, to create a slide show (referred to as a VoiceThread) containing images, documents, and videos that others can view and comment on from anyplace they have an internet connection.  Among the things that makes this online collaboration program different from others is that no special software needs to be installed to use it, and the shear variety of ways in which people can leave comments.  Those ways include text using a standard keyboard, prerecorded audio file, video via a webcam and voice using a microphone.   If you don’t have a microphone, get this….. you can use a telephone!  The ability to add voice comments significantly enhances the overall experience in that lengthy more detailed feedback can be given, and the nuisances in voice tones that are often lost in text based feedback  can lead to better understanding.

VoiceThread is not a brand new program; it has been around for a while, primarily in K-12 education. However, the product is fast becoming a tool of choice in higher education for creating digital stories, conference presentations, and course design among other things.  Ease of use is a large part of the reason for its widespread adoption.  The program has a very intuitive interface, using tools that many users will already be familiar with.

In terms of pricing, you can make up to three FREE VoiceThreads, each containing a total of 50 slides, but there is no limit to the number of VoiceThreads you can comment on.

To learn more about VoiceThread, and how you might use it in your courses, attend the February Tea & Technology event where a demonstration of the program will be conducted. The event will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2012, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm in the STICC.  The STICC is located on the lower level of the Library in room L012.  The following links will also provide additional information about the program:

7 Things you should know about VoiceThread http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7050.pdf

VoiceThread Website http://itbabble.com/2011/08/03/voicethread-a-review/

Current & Emerging Technologies

Posted on by
Reply

SharePoint
Just as its name implies and the image (far right) illustrates, SharePoint is an online collaboration space that provides a central storage area for files, data, and concepts. It is used as a base point of contact that can be accessed at any time. SharePoint is a Microsoft product that has been in existence since 2001.

Information posted to Share-Point can be placed in privately accessible areas or public are-as that are accessible to any-one. There are also restricted areas where only individuals who are given permission can view these folders or documents.Information is stored in Share-Point using sites, work-spaces, and document libraries. Sites are containers for data such as web pages and lists and may also be used as secure places for groups to collaborate on data stored there. Work-spaces function like sites but they may be created in Word or Outlook. Usually work-spaces are created to have a short shelf life to work on a specific document or for a meeting. Once its usefulness has expired the contents of the workspace are published and the workspace is deleted. Document libraries are lists of files; the libraries not only provide storage for the files but also serve as a collaboration area for individuals and teams to work on them. Besides storing documents, libraries can also contain pictures, forms, and wikis.

Access to a web browser is needed to use SharePoint. Microsoft Internet Explorer is recommended and, in fact, additional features are available when a Microsoft Office product is used with Share-Point. In addition, server space is also necessary to install and run SharePoint.

SharePoint is a valuable tool developed to assist those who need to collaborate with others from a distance. It is extremely useful because it provides the user with anytime access, any-where you have an internet connection. For more information visit the SharePoint Help area of the Microsoft Of-fice website.