Week 15

This week we were tying up any loose ends and finishing up with using webcam, tablet pc, and Google docs. Google docs is pretty useful if you’re at a computer that does not have Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. What is offered is pretty basic by comparison, but it does that job if it’s really needed. Though I think it may be pretty hard not to find the basic Microsoft programs on any computer these days.

The webcam can be a pretty useful thing. I have a webcam that’s built into my laptop and have been able to use it with Skype. It makes it possible to not only communicate with people in real time but you’re able to see them too. That could be really useful for meetings or interviews with people who may be on the other side of the country or on the other side of the world for that matter.

The tablet pc although I did find it a little finicky, could be very useful for taking notes during a meeting. Truly paperless notes since you literally write on the screen. The only problem is maybe saving your notes because I’m not sure how it could translate itself to a normal desktop computer.

Next week we come in on Monday instead of Wednesday for our exam time. The groups will be presenting their Photoshop decade projects and it will be interesting to see what the other groups came up with. Overall it’s been an interesting class and although there were some kinks along the way, I have learned some new things I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

Week 14

This week we showed high school students from Penta the OAD program and what they can do if they decide to come to Owens. Though there were a few kinks when we first started out working with students. We were able to figure it out and it was really surprising that technology was on our side for a change. In my group we had students scan an Owens letter head, use the Wacom Tablet to cut the Owens logo off the scanned sheet , and insert it into a greeting card template in Photoshop.

I thought it was pretty practical what we had the students do, there were varying levels of skill and comfort level with the equipment we had them use. I know I’m not perfect using the same equipment , but still it’s good to have exposure to different bits of equipment and technology. But on the other hand, I don’t know how excited the Penta students were to be in our class in the first place, so I do wonder how much they really cared to begin with.

I did like demonstrating and explaining what activity each student had to do in our group. Though I think that I need to remember to not just grab the mouse away from a student and do it myself, rather I should let them do it. It’s good too to see how much I really know or have learned in class in order explain what’s going on if a student had a question. I mean it’s good to be knowledgeable of what’s going on with a program or piece of equipment because I might find myself in a situation where I am the only one who knows how to work it. Demonstrating something knew requires lots of patience and again just not doing something for someone.

Next week it seems like we will be finishing up our rotation projects. Also within our groups we will need to decide what we want to saying during our decade college presentation. I have already found what I basically want to say for my section of the presentation. It just seems a matter of seeing what everyone else has and making it a whole.

High School Student Activity Ideas

Ideas for high school student activities: Adobe Acrobat- creating forms, LinkedIn, OneNote, how to use Blackboard site for class

Week 12

This week we worked with students for Market Your Assets Day. It was actually a little boring at least with what I was assigned to do. Because the students needed to make changes to their resumes it was not the time for them to scan. During the first part of class they would have been able to scan any way because there were problems with scanned items not showing up, but it was fixed eventually. Basically of the two students I did end up helping, I showed them my LinkedIn account and how they can upload different files to the site and pointed out other features on the site.

I would not have used LinkedIn if it were for this class and basically being required to. Of the two students, one said she had never heard of the site, but liked the idea of it. Because these students were able to see what I had done with my page on LinkedIn it hopefully gave them some ideas of what they might want to do with their own pages. I told them that their pages could be whatever they want to them to be, it’s discretionary.

Though I have not personally been contacted about any possible jobs via LinkedIn, it’s still a good idea to show what I can do from a professional standpoint. I like having an almost resume like page, but I am also able to actually attach some of my projects on the site. It can be physically seen what I have done and just not describing what I have done or just saying I know how to work the program.

Next week it sounds like we will be back on our rotation projects. We have only completed one project so far, but I guess it’s going ok so far. I guess it is good being in group of people working on the same thing, because then we can ask questions and help each other out.

Week 11

This week we started doing group rotation projects. Originally my group was going to start with PDA’s, but something’s got changed around so we worked with Adobe instead. Normally when I have used Adobe in the past it has been for viewing and reading PDF files and not really creating anything. It actually didn’t seem too hard what we worked on because I have previous knowledge of how to convert files to PDF’s.

I have had to convert files to PDF’s because sometimes when uploading it’s easier to upload a PDF rather than a Word file for example. I have had the instance in a past class where the instructor would only take assignments as PDF files. So in order to follow instructions I would have to convert my files to that so they could be viewed in Adobe.

I know that sometimes not everyone is using the same version of a program. Sometimes we are not able to view something for example if a sent file is only available in the newest version. If we send our files as PDF’s then it’s possible for everyone to be able to view something. But I think it doesn’t matter where someone is, if it’s at work or home they should really be up to date on software and just not always continue with older program versions.

Next week we are going to be doing Market Your Professional Assets Day for Owens students. With our groups it sounds like we are going to be helping out students with different tasks, such as recording a podcast. We are to dress professionally, so I will have to remember to do that because it’s not going to be a typical class day. Will have to see what happens because I not sure how the day will turn out until it actually happens.

Week 10

Today we used the Wacom Tablet when working on our decade projects in PhotoShop. It’s a little awkward using the tablet, though I do like the pen little better than the mouse. I can see how using the pen things can be drawn or erased a little more easily. As with a great many things in this class I wish I had some of the programs and equipment at home to spend a little more trying things out. At least I can get some exposure in class, better than having to go out and spend a lot of money.

We used the tablet mostly to help us change the background on some of our pictures in the decade collage. We wanted to have the background in our pictures to look the same as the background of our collage, because the white backgrounds on the pictures stood out a little too much. I’m sure that there are many more things we do using the pen in Photoshop, but we either just do not realize certain features are there or we have no use of them.

Particularly for poster design PhotoShop and the Wacom Tablet go together very well. I’m sure that a lot of people use both to help design posters and other things for upcoming events either personal or professional. Personally I don’t have any reason to make anything really outside of class projects, but I wouldn’t object to using the program for other things. It’s just a matter or knowing that the technology is there and more importantly how to use it.

Next week it seems that we are going to be started our rotations and it looks like the group I’m in will be starting with Palm and Blackberry. I own a Blackberry and really love it. It’s not the latest model since I got it two years ago and haven’t upgraded it yet. I have the 8830 World Edition, and now they would give me a Tour if I upgraded since it’s about the same thing. Blackberries really live up to the name Crackberry!

Week 9

Welcome back from SPRING BREAK! This week we were introduced to Photoshop for the first time. I have never used Photoshop and it seems pretty easy to use. I think it will just be a matter of getting used to it, just like all programs for the first time. I kind of liked messing around with my photos and it seems there can be a lot of creativity with this particular program.

I could see using this to clean up some pictures that I have. Such as correcting the brightness, because sometimes it’s really hard to help pictures from going too dark or too light. Redeye is a big thing too, it seems that I’m the one who always end up with redeye, but that can be fixed too! If I had this program at home realistically I would do a whole lot more, but since I’m just limited (at least right now) to using Photoshop in the computer labs on campus I will probably just do my class assignments and that’s it.

There are a whole lot of options with Photoshop and the possibilities can be pretty endless. I could create posters, newsletter, calendars, and greeting cards for personal or professional use. I think it would depend upon the situation, but as long as the project has a great need for photos Photoshop would work just fine. But I can see perhaps other office programs being used as well for similar projects such as Publisher.

I think for next class I should probably gather up some images for the group decade project. My group decided to do the 1980’s. Should be an interesting decade based on the way people used to look and how ancient all the office equipments looks too. There should be plenty of pictures out there to use, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Week 8

This week Access seems to be at an end finally at least in this class anyway. I still have to work on the portfolio project for the Access class, so I’m not entirely rid of it yet. I’ll be able to say that in May, then I’ll be 100% done with Access. In this class we worked primarily with filtering information in the database. That’s helpful and frankly really efficient for when there are large amounts of data to go through.

Our instructor for the Access class said she won’t post our instructions for the portfolio project until after spring break. So I guess that makes it totally possible for me to take what I have learned about Access from this OAD class and apply to the upcoming project while it’s still fresh in my mind. Since I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet for that project I may look at some of the databases we did for homework in this class for homework. Hopefully it gives me any ideas that aren’t too overly complicated.

The intention of this OAD class and the Access class is to give students exposure to the program so they know how to work it if it ever pops up. I can guess where it’s being used but I’m entirely sure how much people use Access or if they choose to work with another program. I guess it’s just a matter of preference. But I figure they still have Access available so someone must use it out there.

Next week is spring break so that means no class. But it’s not all well and good because we have to have an Access quiz. I’m going to have to review some of the material before that. I can just go to the companion website and work with some of the things offered on there as study aides. So hope for an ok quiz and that whatever we move on to next is not too complicated.

Week 7

More Access this week! But is that really a surprise? I’m ok with the fact that it’s taking a bit longer to get through this program. I would rather take more time to fully understand it than just rush on through. Access gets much more complicated as we move on, so I like our class pace. But it seems like we will be finishing it up next week. I’ll be happy to move on to the next topic, but unexcited about that Access test.

Since I am in the Access class IST236, we talk about Access all the time on the class discussion board and sometimes hearing what others say is really quite interesting. This week we were to think up uses for Pivot tables and charts. I really liked what someone suggested by using Access for comparing two products, showing gross pay, and comparing data from several time slots. I wouldn’t have thought of those uses, so I’m glad to hear others ideas.

All of those suggested uses work really well in the business field. My favorite and probably the idea I could figure out how to do on my own would be comparing two products. That could used in compiling data for record keeping or even preparing for a possible presentation about one of the products. The key always seems to be organization and planning, which goes without saying for times when we need preparedness.

My homework for next week is more Access! I did find the flashcards useful on the companion website for the book useful. I think those will help out big time when it’s time to get ready for that dreaded test. It’s really nice when study aides are readily provided like that. So I will be look at those flashcards for chapter two as well.

Week 6

After having a mini break last week because of a snow day we returned to class. The main activity was working on Access. It’s kind of no secret that Access is not a favorite amongst people in the class. Every program has it’s little kinks that make it unique, but at the same time make it quite frustrating. I was first introduced to Access in IST131 and am in the actual Access class right now, so it does take some of the edge off of the program since I am using it for another class. By comparison, although I have not completed it yet, the Access class seems much harder than what we are learning in this OAD class.

One of the activities in class was taking information that was in and Excel spreadsheet and inserting the same information into an Access database. This stood out for me because I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to keep track of my sold and unsold textbooks on Amazon.com. Maybe once we get a bit further with Access I’ll decide if Access will be better suited for my textbook record. But I do use the graph feature in Excel for my record and not quite sure yet if I can do something similar in Access, which might be a deal breaker.

Access seems ideal for recordkeeping as assignments have indicated. Though personally I have not run into it, I’m sure there are people and companies out there who use it for longer records. Sometimes there is lots of information that needs to be stored and Access fits the bill in that regard. Even though I am not the best with it, it’s good that I’m getting exposure to the program. If ever I do need to utilize it at least I’ll have some working knowledge of Access.

For next week, we need to finish up Access assignments and read about Access. Hopefully the class won’t be on an Access overload. Just have to take our time with Access since it can get so frustrating. We will be done with it soon enough, so there is an end in sight.

Week 4

This week we continued on using OneNote. It was kind of nice to hear what other people thought OneNote should be used for during a class discussion. I can easily come up with my own personal uses but it’s another thing to hear what others think. They came up with some interesting ideas and thought of places that could use OneNote that I honestly wouldn’t have thought of. This included everything from medical office use to a rolodex of clients.
Another point that was brought up would be using OneNote from an academic standpoint by using it to help organize a research paper. Different segments of the paper could be organized within OneNote, such as introduction in one area, purpose of research in another, and so on. It could also be ideal when sources need to be organized. A source’s URL could be pasted in and additional notes about that source could be written or highlighted. If they are necessary to the research pictures could be included with this as well.
If a presentation needs to be prepared for the workplace OneNote still fits the bill. Since it is possible to have multiple users, on a collaborative presentation everyone would be able to see and access the same thing. Also because OneNote integrates other Microsoft programs, if different parts of the presentation were in Work or Excel for example, they could be used within one program rather than being all over the place. Organization seems far simpler when everything is in one location.
Next week we will have to prepare for our quiz on OneNote, it really flew by. But I’m also dreading starting Access. I’m currently in the Access class and it is far from easy. I really have to devote the time when working with Access. But hopefully because I will have Access in two different classes it will give me more of a perspective with the program. I just don’t want it to turn into a big headache because frustration often comes with Access.

Week 3

This week as a class we started to utilize OneNote. It’s all quite new, so there is hesitation and uneasiness with working with it for the first time. Every program works differently, so it seems like just a matter of getting used to it. Now based on working with it in class, OneNote doesn’t seem too overly complicated because you can do seemingly anything. You can write anywhere and even draw on a page. It seems like it combines the best features of other programs into one organized thing.

OneNote I think can be used on so many different levels. Personally it can be used for organizing class notes and planning events. The exercise that we need to complete for class is an event and an advantage I can see with OneNote is that you can have all your information there and not in nine million different places. You can have tables, pictures, text, and links all on one page if needed. It seems a better fit rather than trying to make it work in another program such as Word for example.

The workplace is no different than personal use in how it can help organize. Though personally I haven’t seen it, but OneNote would be fantastic for meeting minutes. There could be screen shots of websites perhaps discussed in the meeting rather than just having a boring URL in the minutes. Important files could be attached, such appendixes surrounding a particular topic. Not to mention all the different part of the meeting divided off into tabs and subpages going in order from old business to new business and so on.

For next week I will need to finish up the OneNote assignment for class. It’s not half as bad as I thought it would be using it for the first time. It can’t compare by say using Access for the first time. On the whole, OneNote is very useful and practical and I hope that I will be able to use it in my own personal life and as well as being able to use it from a professional standpoint.

Week 2

This week although it was not part of the lesson plan, as a class we experienced something that is probably all too common with technology, glitches. Technology is always great when it works properly, but when it is not, it be very frustrating. For example, many were having problems creating their accounts for Twitter because the site was overloaded. Also when scanning documents, they would show up crooked and not straight. Technology although it can makes things very convenient, is far from perfect and will always have kinks. Sometimes we have to just deal with it or figure out and use alternative methods to accomplish the same task.

Focusing in on scanning although it may have not worked the way we wanted to during class, it is really quite practical. Besides scanning documents to computers, many people scan photos. We all have photos lying about the house that are before the digital age. Scanning photos is a fantastic way to organize them into simple categories/files rather than just having lots of loose photos lying around. This can be a way of not only preserving photos, but it also makes it possible to send these scanned images to other family member who may not have the same photos. Although I do not have a scanner, I know a friend’s family did this with old family photos and good thing because many of the original photos were later lost in a house fire.

The same concept I think can apply to the workplace. Not all documents are going to be digital files. So, by scanning these perhaps important papers, there can be a digital record. Also if there were perhaps newspaper clippings about the company, there’s another thing to scan in order to keep a digital record. Overall, scanning is another practical application that makes it possible to have our non-digitalized documents, photos, and whatever else, digital and have ready access on a computer.

I’ve been looking over the assigned pages for next week’s OneNote lessons. I have never used this program before and frankly I never heard of it prior. When I mention this program to others they have said they’ve never heard of it either. So, this makes me a little excited that I will be learning about something that not many people know about or use. I feel it may be able to set me apart from other who have no working knowledge of the program.

Week 1- First Blog!!

So, here goes on my first blog entry for OAD220! This week we were introduced to social networking and blogs. I would consider myself an avid Facebook user having an account since 2005 when it stated take off at least with college aged people, although it continues to expand and grow to seemingly everyone. Linkedin on the other hand, absolutely brand new for me! After creating an account, entering my information, and browsing around others accounts, I think it’s a fantastic idea to have a professionally based social networking site. Facebook seems far too personal a thing to be utilized in the same way, at least in my opinion. I hope by having an account with Linkedin I will be able to expand my information, connect with people, and perhaps take advantage of any opportunities that may come along. I am not a stranger to the blog world either, although this is the first time I have ever kept a blog. I’ve been more of a blog reader and one of my favorite blogs out there is http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/, which is a vintage dress blog. So, it is a little strange to be on the other side in the blog world, but this will defiantly be a learning process.

Continuing on with the subject matter of blogs, they can be used for seemingly anything. It was recommended in a class I took with Siena Heights University that we keep track of our goals. If we want to achieve our goal, then it should be measurable. Keeping a blog would be ideal for this. It is a way to keep track of one’s progress and record what need to be accomplished next. If for example my goal is to lose 5 pounds, I could report on what I ate during the week, what kind of fitness routine I had, and how much weight I have lost. I could keep the blog until I accomplish my goal to see what I did right, what I could improve upon, and reflect on the experience.

Having a blog would also be ideal in the work world. A blog could be kept about attending a conference in another city or country that coworkers back in the office can read. Entries could be made about the conference itself, what was learned or accomplished, people met, and even tidbits about the location of the conference. By reading this, they could have more or an idea of what went on without actually being there.

For next week, we will need to bring in a cover letter and our resume. I haven’t updated my resume in a while, so that will be something I need to get on this weekend. Hopefully there will be some pointers for perhaps improving my resume. If there’s room for improvement I want to hear about it! But overall, I look forward to each week of the class where I can learn something new that I can hopefully utilize professionally. Here’s til the next post!