All posts by lablearning

Advanced Excel Spreadsheet Functions You Need to Know

Every time students or employees take a course on Microsoft Excel 2013, they learn valuable skills that increase their efficiency. Some of these skills are simple, such as copying and transferring formulas from one spreadsheet to another. However, there are more advanced functions that make Excel even more valuable in the workplace.

Creating drop down lists. Using advanced spreadsheet functions, you can create a drop down list. Taking advantage of drop down lists limits the amount of entries that can be entered into a specific cell to a pre-determined list of entries, providing a higher level of quality control. It also saves time on data entry and prevents errors.

Source: Labyrinth Learning
Source: Labyrinth Learning


Conditional cell formatting
. We would wager most regular Excel users don’t know how to take advantage of this feature. Conditional formatting allows users to create specific formatting rules, depending on the information or data contained in the cell. For example, you may want number higher than 1000 to appear in bold, or negative dollar values to appear in red. Cells can have up to three different formatting conditions.

Goal Seek feature. Excel ‘s Goal Seek feature works in the opposite way of formulas. You enter the goal you are trying to attain, whether it be total retirement earnings, or determining what it would take to decrease your total business loan payments, Goal Seek will show you what’s required to get there.

Labyrinth Learning has a wide range of textbooks and learning tools to help your students and employees master introductory and advanced features in Microsoft Excel 2013.

Businesses Seek Tools to Improve Teamwork

As the modern workforce becomes increasingly mobile, businesses across the globe seek tools to improve teamwork and company-wide collaboration. One of the most effective innovations to break down geographic barriers is Microsoft 365. As this article in The Guardian points out, it’s not just the “whenever” and “wherever” that appeals to corporations, but also the “however” factor that matters.

Source: Shutterstock
Source: Shutterstock

Whether your offices are spread out across the sate, the nation or the globe, Microsoft 365 allows employees who have never met face-to-face to collaborate on projects. Prior to cloud-based technology, this might involve complex time scheduling across differing time zones, multiple copies of the same report or spreadsheet and a ton of wasted paper. Now, with just a little technology education to learn Microsoft 365 employees can collaborate from anywhere, anytime and within the same documents, spreadsheet and presentations.

But, let’s take a step back for a moment. In order to use Microsoft 365 effectively, users need to be proficient at the tools in the Microsoft Suite. This is where Labyrinth Learning comes in. We have developed a wide range of training materials and tools that are specifically designed to keep professionals up-to-date with current MS Office software.

We even offer a FastCourse series, in three different levels, that work in a day or less to get employees up to speed on the newest MS features and changes. Once their skills are honed, they can effectively collaborate with team members across the company spectrum.

Contact us at Labyrinth Learning to learn more about our technology education tools today!

 

Improve Your Business With FastCourse Learning Series

Microsoft Office has set the standard for desktop publishing. It would be considered rare if a business doesn’t use at least one MS Office program as a part of their day-to-day processes. It’s great when employees have Microsoft certifications, but have you checked the years on those certifications lately?

How can you determine whether or not your employees are on the same page in terms of their MS Office knowledge? Time passes quickly and a failure to keep up with evolving software changes can mean your employees’ skills are lagging.FastCourse Series

Our Labyrinth Learning training materials include a FastCourse series that is just the thing for office-wide training updates. Each FastCourse text is designed for instructor-led courses for one day or less. Teach one or combine them for a multi-day course to keep your employees up to date on the latest Microsoft innovations and software changes.

FastCourse materials are available for Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 currently while the 2013 texts will be released in October covering the following applications:

  • Word
  • Access
  • Excel
  • PowerPoint
  • Outlook

Courses are available in three levels — so that you can choose the one that fits your employees’ needs or combine all three to provide complete coverage. All texts include a full set of instructor support materials.

Please contact Labyrinth Learning to learn more about how to strengthen your Microsoft Office training with FastCourse texts.

Social learning

The Power of Social Learning

Social learning
Source: Shutterstock.com

There are some people who can learn with only a book and their own beautiful minds. However, most of us require a little social stimulation to get the juices flowing. This can mean sitting down in study group learning from one another’s ideas, or it can mean participating in an online chat about a particular reading passage or new concept that is giving you trouble.

Here are some technological tools that can help your students participate in social learning activities in a time frame that works for them.

Edmodo. This is like Facebook for the academic world. Your students can learn from one another, sharing ideas or a new great resource, and they can connect with other students from other schools/classes for an expanded view.

Wikispaces. Teachers who use Wikispaces have the ability to store lessons, resources, and provide media links that support a given lesson. Plus the instructor and students can communicate with one another, leave comments and feedback, etc.

OpenStudy. No time to get together for a study group? No problem. Students can use OpenStudy to set up their own groups, or meet other students from all of the country who are studying the same materials.

Looking for a way to promote social learning in your classroom? Contact Labyrinth Learning. Ask about our educator groups and explore our Facebook page to interact with other instructors and contribute to our learning solutions. Plus, our learning management system can provide the collaborative learning platform you have been searching for.

 

Teacher helping two students working in computer classroom

Tech Classrooms’ Benefits to Education

Teacher helping two students working in computer classroom
Source: Shutterstock.com

The benefits of the tech classroom are many. This is especially true for classrooms designed for technology education, such as computer courses, career training seminars, and IT classes. When students have access to the right textbooks, multimedia resources, and assessments, they can work at their own pace, utilizing the learning modalities that work best for them. The result is a student that feels empowered and successful in the classroom.

Here are ways technology education enhances the classroom experience.

Your classroom is everywhere. Online learning resources, such as eTextbooks, web tutorials, and assessments allow students to practice, learn, and work anywhere there is a computer and an internet connection. This paradigm shift is providing the opportunity for full-time workers and homemakers, who couldn’t have furthered their education otherwise, to obtain advanced degrees.

Video Tutorials. In the traditional classroom model, students have to grasp the material in the allotted time slot, as they sit and listen to the instructor lecture or watch demonstrations. Any concept or technique that is forgotten can’t be practiced until the student has the opportunity to meet again with an instructor, TA, or tutor. Video tutorials allow students to watch any skill-set repeatedly, 24/7 until they get it right.

Online assessments. Simulation questions and online reviews and quizzes allow students to assess their performance, and review the areas where they are weak. Professors can check in using Course Management systems to see where students are at at any given time.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to find out more about technology to enhance your classroom.

Engaging and Understanding Introverts

Engaging and Understanding Introverts in the Classroom

There are two types of students served well by traditional teaching methodology: those who can sit quietly and in a contained manner for eight hours a day, and those who are extroverted enough to comfortably participate, demonstrating their proficiency on a constant basis. In her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking, author Susan Cain discusses the challenges introverts face in a society, and education system, that celebrates extroverts.

In fact, Cain states the celebration of introverts begins in the classroom, which is why teachers should pay attention and consider whether or not they are instructing introverts in a manner than benefits the students.

Engaging and Understanding Introverts
Source: Shutterstock

Neatoday.org points out that not only should teachers refrain from intentionally drawing an introverted student out, there are methods for honing an introvert’s strengths in order to maximize their classroom experience. Things teacher should considering include:

  • Take it easy on the group work. Make sure your lesson plans strike a balance between individual and group lessons; introverts prefer to work autonomously.
  • Try pairs. Introverts do better sharing their ideas with a single individual. It is much less daunting than sharing with a group.
  • Use social media. Tweeting responses/comments to questions is much easier than sharing them out loud.
  • Make use of good technology in the classroom. Interactive technology allows introverts to interact with new materials, and complete measurable assessments, in a format that’s comfortable for them.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to find out about computer software, textbooks and course management systems that make instructing introverts more effective.

Take Advantage of the Web: Best Free Resources for Teachers

Prior to the internet, teachers relied on conferences and snail mail to tap into new teaching resources for ideas and materials. Now, an afternoon perusing the web provides a wealth of information and free downloads that will reinvigorate your lessons while adhering to both state and national standards.

Here are some of our favorite teaching resources:

Source: Shutterstock
Source: Shutterstock

National Science Digital Library. The NSDL has resources and materials for teachers from K through 12, as well as college. You can stay up to date on the latest and greatest advances in math and science, and download lesson plans and activities, including iTunes multimedia files.

FREE. The Federal Registry for Education Excellence offers – you guessed it – FREE materials pertaining to every subject under the sun, from music to physics. You can browse by topic but we recommend subscribing to their RSS feed so you know when new resources become available.

TeAchnology. The TeAchnology website is home to more than 9000 free teacher resources, including worksheets, lesson plans, rubrics, and the ever important “Time Savers.”

Teachers’ Domain. The website Teachers’ Domain compiles free digital media and resources from public broadcasting stations across the country. It also allows teachers to set up individual profiles from which they can share lesson plans and ideas that worked for their classes. Materials and lesson ideas can be searched for by individual states’, national, or core standard requirements.

You can also stop by the Labyrinth Learning website. Our textbooks and course management systems make it easy to incorporate technology into your classroom.

The Flipped Classroom Model

Turning Education On Its Head: The Flipped Classroom Model

The flipped classroom model is gaining popularity across the country. It’s the ultimate merging of technology and education, requiring the use of computers, videos and presentation software, in addition to traditional teacher-student classroom instruction.

Here’s how it works:

The Flipped Classroom Model
Source: Shutterstock

Teachers use programs like PowerPoint to create lectures. These presentations can be as creative as teachers want to make them, including video links and live links to supplemental resources. Teachers also have the option of recording themselves giving lectures and posting the videos on YouTube, or embedding them within their PowerPoint presentations. These lectures are all hosted online, where students can access them remotely.

Rather than coming to school to listen to a lecture and then do homework, students are required to access lessons beforehand. This gives them the opportunity to listen, read, and tap resources at their own pace. or to re-watch something over and over again. Students can use online portals to chat with other students and/or the instructor, regarding observations, questions, or comments. When they arrive to class, the instructor can begin the class by answering any remaining questions and utilize the rest of the class time by doing activities and hands-on work to reinforce the lesson’s key points.

The flipped classroom model allows students to have access to lessons and materials 24/7, and increases their efficiency and productivity in class.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to learn more about our wide range of products, including Course Management Systems, that include internet hosted software and supplemental learning resources for your flipped classroom.

Video: Enhancing Classroom Education

Videos can be a powerful addition to your “Technology Education” toolbox. This is especially true for your visual learners, for whom oral lectures or written notes may not be enough to truly convey the nuances of a particular lesson. While videos are often used at the lower levels, they are usually undervalued at the community college or adult education level.Video, Enhancing Classroom Education

Here are ways you can use videos to enhance your classroom education.

Embed into your lecture. If you use PowerPoint or another slide presentation program, videos can easily be embedded into your slides, to highlight certain points in your lecture, or provide a how-to lesson. For example, a lesson on a historical figure can be enhanced with a documentary showing the way people lived during that period, allowing students to form a more realistic image as they read.

Supplement the textbook. Videos bring textbook lessons to life. At Labyrinth Learning, our textbooks and online learning resources incorporate videos on a regular basis. They help visual learners to see the instructions or tasks from their perspective on the screen, which can help them to better understand how to utilize a particular skill.

Subtitles. You can enhance your use of videos by selecting the subtitles to be displayed. This helps to reinforce the words students are hearing, and ensures your hearing-impaired students aren’t missing out on valuable information. They can also help to keep students anchored in the experience.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to find programs and videos to enhance technology education in your classroom.

Photo Source: Shutterstock

Microsoft Outlook textbook

These Features Might Make You Switch to Outlook

Microsoft Outlook textbookThe e-mail hosting battle is a fierce as ever with options such as Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo all readily available. We have a feeling that because of the new features that have recently launched in Microsoft Outlook are going to swing the popular vote its way. Here are some of our favorite features that might encourage you to make the switch:

Send massive files. Tired of getting the message your files are too large to attach? Even Gmail has problems sending files full of photos or longer video clips. Outlook now allows users to send massive files, via its SkyDrive. You can be very particular about who you share them with and the file hosting privileges are free.

The Cloud. Speaking of SkyDrive, now all of your Outlook files can be stored and accessed via the Cloud from any electronic gadget. In today’s world, computer literacy means knowing how to navigate cloud-based technology. You can share any files you want with friends, colleagues, or family, and you can also edit and collaborate on documents and projects as long as you have an internet connection.

Update your connections. Sync your Outlook account with social media files to ensure your address book is updated regularly.

Unsubscribe. Using the “unsubscribe” feature is one thing when it’s a mass generated newsletter. But what about that annoying email thread? Those are more personal. No need to hurt feelings, simply use the “Ignore” feature to block future messages from that thread, and to delete the ones in your inbox.

Improve your students’ computer literacy by using Labyrinth Learning textbooks and software to teach the newest version of Outlook.