The Center for Learning & Technology

Information Desk
Where you can ask for help or check out equipment

Video Conference Room
Where magical things happen

At the Center for Learning and Technology on the first floor of  Coates Library, I found an array of options for the use of technology in future classes. There were 26 computers: 14 Macs and 12 PCs. Some of them even came equipped with a DVD and VCR player. The CLT has a variety of cameras as well including: action, flip, and DV cameras. In addition, the center can provide microphones, tripods, and headsets. One of the very interesting things we could use for our class was the Smartboard. It will record everything you write on it as well as audio, so the professor or even a student could "teach" a lesson and then let the students watch it. It would probably work best in a mathematics course for explaining how to solve a problem. The video conference room was really cool. We could potentially use it for a guest speaker over Skype.

Using Lynda.com

I watched segments 2,3,5,7, and 9 from chapter 7 (Working with Tables) of Word 2010 Essential Training. I found that navigating Lynda.com is quite simple and user-friendly. Everything is labeled clearly and in a logical order, making it easy to find what you're looking for. The instructional videos open in a new window, so it's easy to return back to the course you were looking at. The presenter had a distinct voice which you can clearly understand. She took her time to point out and explain the smaller things that a beginner may not be aware of. The order of the presentation was consistent and easy to follow. I encountered no problems while using Lynda.com.

In comparison, I found that this tutorial was easier than learning in a class as a group. You can watch the videos at any time, so they are easily accessible. Some people may feel embarrassed to speak up or ask a question during class. In the tutorial, you can just pause or rewind until you feel comfortable with your understanding of the information. Everything is nicely labeled, and so if you have just a simple question regarding something specific, you can do a search and easily find it. Now, on the other hand, some people may learn differently than others. They may need person-to-person interaction in order to fully comprehend. It may also be more convenient to have a person you can ask immediately during class, rather than trying to "google" or search for the answer.

Two things that Lynda.com helped me to understand about MS Word were being able to convert text to a table and vice versa, and sorting table data. I haven't given Word much credit in the past; I don't realize just how intelligent it really is. I never knew I could use tabs to sort data and then convert it to a table, just like that. Then, once I have created the table, I can sort the information in alphabetical order by the headers, and Word will recognize the difference between text or numbers within that information. Later, if I decide I don't want it in table form, I can easily revert it to text form.

Network Server Diagram

The idea behind the network servers is so that the student has a safe back-up, and there's a place for professors to send documents or other files to the students safely and quickly. It works because only the students have full access to their personal file and only the professors have complete access to the files in their folder. That way the student can't tamper with any of the professor's files and vice versa.


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