October 14th, 2009 by Allison
I have a moral conundrum. When teaching someone how to use the new features in Office 2007, is it OK to show them how to install a “classic” user interface to regain the old menu structure? A product such as Ribbon Customizer allows a user to do just that with a free version of their Office 2007 plug-in (advanced features can be had for an additional $29).

There are numerous new tools now available in Office 2007, and the new Ribbon structure to the menus makes this functionality more accessible. The company marketing RibbonCustomizer admits that “If one defers learning the Ribbon, one will eventually be simply behind.” I choose to look at it much the same way I view nicotine patches… not great in their own right, but a useful tool for someone looking to change their habits.
Posted in Jake, Outlook 07, Excel 07, Powerpoint 07, Word 07 | No Comments »
September 30th, 2009 by
jake kulstad
jkulstad@richmond.edu - x8258
Goals
Learn key features of Google Maps and Google Earth
Create Custom Maps and Tours
Explore online tools to find data and tools
Share custom Maps and Tours with others
Understanding the basic features of KML
Google Maps
“My Maps” (log-in or create an account)
save/send/organize
GPS Visualizer tool http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/
-create KML overlay using coordinates from Google
USA Photomaps http://www.jdmcox.com/
free
more data / pictures/options
a little hard to use
KML factbook http://www.kmlfactbook.org/
-Good for displaying country-level data
-Adjust “Full Chart Value” to “data max”
example data query
save KML
display in Maps or Earth
Lighthouse Geospatial Data Gateway http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/
National Landcover dataset
Google Earth
Controls
Layers
Speed considerations
“Zoom in to materialize”
-Geographic Web
-Roads
-Street Views
-Panoramio
-YouTube
-3D Buildings
-Terrain
Placemarks and lines
Tours
Taking a tour
Grand Canyon Example: http://www.gearthblog.com/kmfiles/GrandCanyonTour.kmz
http://www.googlelittrips.org/
http://citytours.googlelabs.com/
http://www.googletouring.com/
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/google-tour/google-tour.html
http://googlesightseeing.com/
Recording a tour
———————
Links:
http://sites.google.com/a/kimbridges.net/google-earth-workshop/
http://geoday.nl.googlepages.com/index
http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/google_earth/how.html
http://www.googlelittrips.org/
100 tools: http://mashable.com/2009/01/08/google-maps-mashups-tools/
NOAA Maps: http://demo.geogarage.com/noaa/
Wifi hotspots near UR: http://hotspotr.com
Original post by Jake
Posted in Web 2.0, Google, Teaching and Learning, Jake, Workshops | No Comments »
September 21st, 2009 by
Read the Harvard Business Review’s Death by Information Overload

Less is More!
Avoid the Wikipedia Effect.
- iGoogle
- Delicious
- LastPass
- Organizational Schemes
- Email
- ToodleDo
- Data Backup and Synchronization
- get a good, cheap, highly-rated external hard drive (Newegg provides useful data)
- practice using your drive with some test data (a copy of unimportant files)
- delete test data from your computer and find out how you are going to get it back, seriously
- Once you are satisfied that you understand the nuances of the routine and scheduling, back everything up
- finally, ask yourself what would happen if your computer and the backup were compromised simultaneously
- Useful Websites:
Original post by Allison
Posted in Teaching and Learning, Jake, Workshops, Allison | No Comments »
September 21st, 2009 by
Read the Harvard Business Review’s Death by Information Overload

Less is More!
Avoid the Wikipedia Effect.
Original post by Allison
Posted in Teaching and Learning, Jake, Workshops, Allison | No Comments »
July 20th, 2009 by
Here are the links provided in the “Introduction to Excel 2007″ workshop:
VTC – www.VTC.com — Email me if you would like an account
Safari Books – Access via library Research Databases
Ribbon Customizer
Do you have the Compatibility Pack installed on your non-Office 2007 Computers?
Original post by jkulstad
Posted in Jake, Workshops | No Comments »
March 20th, 2009 by
This post is a supplement to Tuesday’s workshop on creating a web presence. Happy reading!
Blogs shown during the workshop:
Where to get a blog:
Original post by Allison
Posted in Workshops, Allison | 1 Comment »
March 3rd, 2009 by
I have a moral conundrum. When teaching someone how to use the new features in Office 2007, is it OK to show them how to install a “classic” user interface to regain the old menu structure? A product such as Ribbon Customizer allows a user to do just that with a free version of their Office 2007 plug-in (advanced features can be had for an additional $29).
There are numerous new tools now available in Office 2007, and the new Ribbon structure to the menus makes this functionality more accessible. The company marketing RibbonCustomizer admits that “If one defers learning the Ribbon, one will eventually be simply behind.” I choose to look at it much the same way I view nicotine patches… not great in their own right, but a useful tool for someone looking to change their habits.
Original post by Jake
Posted in office 2007, Teaching and Learning, Jake, Workshops | No Comments »
February 25th, 2009 by
Twitter Lingo, Basics:
Making Twitter useful to you
Twapplications:
Find Tweeple
Broader questions:
Now that you’ve seen what Twitter can do…
What are the benefits of being so connected?
What are the drawbacks?
Can Twitter benefit higher education? Can it possibly improve pedagogy?
Publicity:
Original post by Allison
Posted in Workshops, Allison | No Comments »
February 17th, 2009 by
Tim O’Reilly: Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing
Tim says:
- Any web application is a cloud application in the sense that it resides in the cloud. Google, Amazon, Facebook, twitter, flickr, and virtually every other Web 2.0 application is a cloud application.
- People use the term “cloud” more specifically in describing web applications that were formerly delivered locally on a PC, like spreadsheets, word processing, databases, and even email.
Examples:
Online Office software:
Resources:
Original post by Allison
Posted in Workshops, Allison | No Comments »