A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or
more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two
months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons
are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have
to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until
the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each
lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such,
we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final
exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work,
including the final exam.
Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
Have you looked at Microsoft Office 2007 and wondered, "What have they done to us?" Well, in this course we're going to solve the mystery and see just how user-friendly these programs can be. Today, we'll delve into Word by making a simple flier. You'll find out how to get to your old favorite features, and you'll probably even start to like Word's new interface.
Friday - Lesson 02
No matter what kind of documents you create in Word, making them attractive will always help to get your message across. So, in this lesson, we'll format a report using the new QuickStyles, color and font theme combinations, and some easy art elements. And we'll play with SmartArt, which lets even artistically-challenged folks create gorgeous graphics in a snap.
Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
Today is all about putting the final polish on your Word documents before printing and sending them out. We explore a new spelling feature and how to document sources using footnotes and source lists. Finally, we'll talk about the secret of compatibility between documents in Word 2003 and Word 2007.
Friday - Lesson 04
It's time to move on to Excel. In today's lesson, we'll review the Excel Ribbon and all the commands it houses. Then we'll enter and format some data in a simple worksheet. Because calculations are the heart of most worksheets, we'll cover a couple of helpful new formula entry techniques and see how to create a chart in the new Excel.
Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
Have you ever wanted to dress up your spreadsheets a little? Today, you'll learn how. Excel has exciting new formatting features that make it a snap. Starting with styles and themes to give your worksheet a polished look, you'll move on to professional-looking chart layouts and styles. You'll get to explore some classy-looking new special text and graphics effects too.
Friday - Lesson 06
If you ever need to manage lists of data, whether names and addresses or inventory lists, this is the lesson for you! Excel now calls lists tables. Today, you'll learn to create and modify tables using new Excel 2007 features, including calculated columns. You'll locate and sort data and then find out how to filter it to display only the information you need. Who knew creating spreadsheets could be so easy?
Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
If you're looking forward to using PowerPoint 2007 to persuade people, this lesson is the place to start. We'll begin with a quick tour of the new PowerPoint interface. Then we'll create a text slide while we get oriented to the screen layout. Next, we'll apply slide layouts and use them to insert and modify graphics. It won't be long before you're using PowerPoint like a pro!
Friday - Lesson 08
Have you ever wished you could polish your PowerPoint presentations to make them look ultra-professional? Well, you're in luck! It's formatting time again, and in today's lesson, you'll get to explore text and graphic formatting. Get ready to discover WordArt and SmartArt so you can tailor text for pretty much anything you need. Then it's time for some simple tricks with shadows and 3-D effects.
Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
In our final PowerPoint lesson, we'll examine ways to make our slides distinctive with slide backgrounds. We'll discuss how to use clip art as a slide background and make custom and reusable slide backgrounds. Then we'll get into the really fun stuff--finding out where slide show transitions and animations live now and how to use them to our advantage.
Friday - Lesson 10
The final Microsoft Office program we'll cover is Access 2007. We'll find our way around Access tabs by creating a database and entering a little data. At the same time, we'll discover how to navigate the Ribbon's tabs and meet database tables, forms, reports, and queries. The Access basics have never been easier.
Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
Did you ever think you could make a database look nice? Well, today you're going to learn how to do just that. In this lesson, we'll focus on Access' new tools for formatting datasheets, forms, and reports. To start, we'll see how to perform basic worksheet sorting and filtering. Then we'll discover how the new Layout View and AutoFormats make it simple to manipulate our data so it can tell us more in less time. You're on your way to being an Access expert!
Friday - Lesson 12
In our last lesson, we'll tackle queries, which help you pull important information out of databases. What does this mean? It means it's easier than ever to extract data when you need it. We'll also explore the powerful new Control Layouts. And finally, we'll see just how easy it is to transport data elsewhere; we'll export data to both PDF and Excel formats. Then, along with our data, we'll be on our way.