Author: Molly Sterns
Intro to Excel Workshop!
Working with data this semester? Want to brush up on your foundational Excel skills? Come to the DLC Thursday, March 13 from 12:30-1:30 to go through a basic training on how to format and summarize a data set. We’ll go over how to sort your columns and rows, hide what you don’t need (and unhide it if you decide you do), freeze panes to make scrolling easier, calculate summary statistics like mean and standard deviation, and anything else you want to know. This is a beginner class and we will move as slowly as needed. In future weeks we will offer more advanced classes depending on demand.
Bring your computer and any specific projects or questions you have.
Effective Data Presentation Techniques Wrap Up
For those of you who attended Profs. Ruehsen and Murphy’s workshop last week on Effective Data Presentation Techniques, here are their slides for your records. For those who were unable to attend, feel free to have a look through and try to identify the most effective and ineffective approaches. If you’re not sure, come by the Digital Learning Commons to get the recap!
Data Presentation Techniques 2013
Thanks again to Profs. Ruehsen and Murphy for a very helpful presentation.
Weekly Excel Workshop: Catch-Up Week!
Have you been attending the DLC’s weekly Excel trainings, but have questions about some of the material that’s been covered? Or maybe you haven’t made it to any sessions yet, but have been meaning to come by with specific questions. Either way, this drop-in catch up session is for you. DLC Staff will be available to review topics and troubleshoot – a great chance for 1:1 attention on all your Excel questions!
We’ll plan to meet in the upstairs of the DLC.
See you there!
Upcoming Event: Effective Data Presentation Techniques
A workshop @ The Commons with Profs. Moyara Ruehsen and Phil Murphy
Monday, November 18, 6:00 pm in the Design Space
Wondering how best to present your data for all of those course assignments and reports? Well, now is your chance to learn from the experts. Tell your story in a coherent and effective manner with a graph that your audience can interpret in two seconds. Should you use a pie chart for that data? Is there an optimal number of slices? What about an area diagram? When is it best to use a horizontal bar chart instead of a vertical column chart? When do stacked columns make sense? (Almost never.) How can 3-D deceive? Are there effective ways to combine lines and columns in the same diagram? (Yes.) And will it ever make sense to use a stacked area diagram (yes) or a donut or half-donut (yes)? Or should you abandon the chart idea altogether and just go with a table? (Sometimes.) Hear more nuanced answers to these questions and more!
YouTube Editor Wrap Up
Thanks to those who attended the YouTube Editor workshop last week! As promised, here is the quick link for adding/converting your own audio files, which includes specifications on which types of file it will accept.
If you have a minute, please also fill out the workshop feedback form to let us know how we’re doing.
Thanks and happy editing!
YouTube Editor Workshop on October 24
Want to learn a simple movie-making tool that you can use from either a Mac or a PC, anywhere you have access to the internet? The YouTube Editor might be the thing for you. This online tool will allow you to bring together footage, photos, titles, text, and music to create your very own short film for class projects or personal pursuits.
In this introductory workshop, we’ll go over the basics of how to get started and get familiar with each of the features of the editor. No prior experience is necessary. Just bring your own computer if you can, and any footage you might like to use (otherwise we can just use generic b-roll).
If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to email Molly (msterns@miis.edu). Thanks and hope to see you there!
YouTube Editor Workshop | Oct 24 | 12:15-1:15 | DLC Design Space
Welcome to Fall 2013 at the DLC!
Fall semester is officially upon us, and things are in full swing here at the DLC.
We’re kicking off the year with workshops of our own (Excel on Fridays!), hosting events like the Inn-Inc launch party in the D Space, and holding one-to-one appointments for students and faculty learning everything from how to record a class lecture podcast to how to set up their very own WordPress blog. We’re also opening the D Space for regular “Cafe Hours” where we encourage you to drop in to study on your own or work on a group project. If it’s your first time here, ask one of the staff for a quick tour!
As we look ahead to the year, we’re energized by the concept of Next Generation Learning that the entire MIIS campus has embraced as its theme this year and excited to help the MIIS community master the tools and skill they need to learn for the future.
More importantly, we’re looking forward to meeting and working with a new crop of students as well as our returning friends and peers. We can’t wait to see everyone, so stop by and visit us soon!