Information Technology Services Computer Training Newsletter June 2005 Issue 50 ITS Training offers a wide range of computing courses throughout the year. This monthly newsletter provides details of upcoming courses and highlights some of the services provided by the ITS Training Department. For further details and Application Forms contact: ITS Reception, telephone: (03) 479 8559, email: its.reception@stonebow.otago.ac.nz or check out our WWW pages: http://www.otago.ac.nz/ITS/training Condense Excel data - use Pivot Tables If you have vast amounts of information in your Excel spreadsheet the pivot table is a great tool to use to group and summarise certain areas of your data. Your pivot table can sort and sum independent of the original data layout in your spreadsheet. Pivot Tables have the ability to be manipulated via ‘Trial-and-Error’ and immediately show the result. If it is not what you want, simply have another go or use the Undo feature. Remember you are not changing the structure of your original table in anyway at all, so no harm can be done! Pivot Table reports are organised into fields and items. Fields are the rows or columns of data; items are the specific entries within a field. • Page fields display one data item by which all table values are filtered. • Column fields display the column categories for the table. • Row fields display the items shown in individual rows. • Data fields display the values and calculations. The Pivot Table and Pivot Chart Wizard will help you to get started. The wizard guides you through the steps required: 1. How is your data set-up and do you also want a Pivot Chart? 2. Where is your data stored, eg, range in the same Workbook, a database, or another Workbook? 3. Which column of data is going into which Field i.e. the optional Page field, Row field, Column field and the mandatory Data field? 4. Where do you want to put your Pivot Table, eg, new Worksheet or existing one? See Page 4 for upcoming Pivot Table courses!! When you click the finish button on the wizard a blank Pivot Table report appears on a new worksheet. Now comes the fun part!! All the fields are displayed in the Pivot Table Field List. All that remains to be done is to drag and drop the fields required into one of the 4 areas of the Pivot Table. If your pivot table is not displaying the information required simply drag the field off the pivot table and try again. There is no need for fields to be dropped on all 4 areas of your pivot table layout. The example on the left displays information from fields placed in the row and data areas only. Tip: Changing the Fields in your Pivot Table Select the Pivot Table Wizard from the Pivot Table drop down menu on the Pivot Table Toolbar. Click on the layout button and make any amendments to the fields used. COMPUTING TRAINING COMING UP THIS MONTH Presentation, Spreadsheets, Internet, Databases . . . MACINTOSH COURSES MAC OS X POWER USER Tuesday, 14 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 This course will provide further skills in using the key features of Mac OS X and give a better understanding of file management, sharing options, linking to other computers, and productivity tips. DATABASE COURSES CREATING AN ACCESS DATABASE Wednesday, 8 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 An introduction to databases using Microsoft Access, including database terminology, planning and creating a database, defining fields and data types, entering and importing data, generating reports and simple queries. ENDNOTE OVERVIEW Monday, 20 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 An introduction to EndNote used with MS Word to store and track references. Learn to place and format citations, compile bibliographies, create a subject index and transfer references from electronic databases such as Ovid. CREATING A FILEMAKER DATABASE Friday, 24 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 Use FileMaker Pro to define fields, enter data, browse records, perform searches, create layouts and simple reports. PRESENTATION COURSES CREATING POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS Friday, 3 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 An introduction to this presentation software, used to produce slides and transparencies for lectures/ presentations and for the preparation of notes and handouts. CUSTOMISING POWERPOINT Thursday, 23 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Include background pictures , action buttons, hyperlinks to other presentations, files or web pages. Design your own templates and create custom shows. SPREADSHEET AND STATISTICS COURSES EXCEL MULTIPLE WORKSHEETS Thursday, 2 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Develop skills in Excel including using multiple worksheets and workbooks, 3D formulae, group editing across worksheets, naming cell ranges, sorting, and using tracers to audit formulae. EXCEL PRODUCTIVITY Monday, 13 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 Investigates the more advanced, specialised features of Excel. Use filters to store and search for information, and Pivot tables to summarise data. Import text files from other applications and perform statistical analysis. EXCEL CORE CONCEPTS Friday, 17 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 A basic introduction to spreadsheet concepts and elements, navigation, inserting and editing data, using formulae and functions. DATA MANAGEMENT COURSES PROJECT OVERVIEW Wednesday, 1 June, 9am - 4pm, Cost: $290 An overview of project management using Microsoft Project to schedule, organise and analyse tasks, deadlines and resources. INTERNET COURSES USING THE WEB EFFECTIVELY Wednesday, 22 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 An introduction to using the World Wide Web (WWW) using Internet Explorer to demonstrate searching techniques and explain Internet related computer jargon. BLACKBOARD AND DOCUMENT PROCESSING COURSES POWERPOINT TECHNIQUES FOR BLACKBOARD Tuesday, 7 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, No Charge Look at modes of delivery and file formats then learn how to upload a range of PowerPoint presentations to Blackboard. Prior attendance at the Blackboard Overview and PowerPoint Overview is strongly recommended. TESTS ASSIGNMENTS AND MARKING IN BLACKBOARD Friday, 10 June, 9am - 12noon, No Charge A 3-hour workshop on the use of the Assessment Manager to make online tests and surveys. Create and modify pools of questions, assemble a selection into a test, run a test, monitor results online, and manage student grades. PREPARING FILES FOR BLACKBOARD Thursday, 16 June, 9am - 12noon, No Charge Techniques for preparing and distributing documents via Blackboard covering document formats, readability, speed and traps. COMPUTING TRAINING COMING UP THIS MONTH Blackboard, Document Processing,Linux, Crystal Enterprise . . . BLACKBOARD COURSES cont... BLACKBOARD DEMO Monday, 27 June, 1pm - 2pm, No Charge This 45-minute demonstration will show the key features of Blackboard from the point of view of a student and a tutor. Bookings are not necessary, but we recommend that anyone intending to attend a hands-on course should attend one of these demonstrations first. INTRO TO BLACKBOARD Tuesday, 28 June, 9am - 12noon, No Charge AND Thursday, 30 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, No Charge Hands-on practice from the perspective of both a student and a tutor. Topics include login, announcements, course documents, tasks, calendar events and communication through Blackboard. DTP AND GRAPHIC COURSES DIGITAL IMAGE WORKSHOP Thursday, 2 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Learn about resolution, file types, editing and improving images from scanners or digital cameras. PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS OVERVIEW Thursday, 9 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Learn the preparation and basic tools for photo retouching, image editing and colour painting for the web and print. PHOTOSHOP OVERVIEW Wednesday, 15 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 Learn about basic Photoshop tools, file types, line art, grayscale and colour images and colour models to manipulate scanned images. ILLUSTRATOR OVERVIEW Friday, 17 June, 9am - 12noon, Cost: $115 An introduction to the computer drawing program, Adobe Illustrator, including its uses, tools and information windows, creating a drawing, importing files, incorporating and formatting text, editing and printing. PHOTOSHOP LAYERS AND SELECTIONS Monday, 27 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Learn about working with layers in Photoshop, advanced selection techniques, masks, and building composite images and panoramas. INDESIGN INTERMEDIATE Tuesday, 28 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Explore options in InDesign including use of styles, multiple master pages, tables, long documents, tables to contents and printing. CONFERENCE POSTER PREPARATION Wednesday, 29 June, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, Cost: $115 Present the results of studies and experiments at Conference and within Departments, using graphics and text in the University style. CRYSTAL REPORT DESIGNER COURSES INTRODUCTION TO CRYSTAL ENTERPRISE Monday, 13 June, 1.30pm - 3pm and 3.30pm - 5pm, AND Thursday, 30 June, 9.00 am - 10.30am, 11.00am - 12.30pm. No Charge Crystal Enterprise allows staff to generate reports using a web browser and save the data for further manipulation. Run a sample report and export the data. You MUST have your username activated for Crystal Enterprise access before you attend this class (ask ITS Helpdesk). TECHNICAL TRAINING 2273 - MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2003 (5 DAYS) 20 June - 24 June, 9.00 am - 4.30 pm, Cost: POA An intensive 5-day course (combining courses 2274 and 2275) providing the knowledge and skills to manage accounts and resources, maintain server resources, monitor server performance and safeguard data in a Microsoft Windows Serfver 2003 environment. This is the first course in the Systems Administrator and Systems Engineer tracks for Windows Server 2003. LINUX+ (5 DAYS) 27 June - 1 July, 9.00 am - 4.30 pm, Cost: POA A 5-day course teaching the Linux skills needed for CompTIA Linux+ certification covering basic installation, operating and troubleshooting services for the Linux OS and hardware on workstations and servers as well as basic system administration tasks. EXCEL PIVOT TABLE REPORTS Thursday, 26 May, 9am - 10am, Wednesday, 8 June, 1.30 pm - 2.30 pm, AND Tuesday, 21 June, 9am - 10am Cost: $40 Discover an incredibly useful way of categorising data and produce summary statistics in Excel in this one-hour session.