What's New 7 September 2011

Getting Started Series: Free Self-paced Instruction

This site offers clear explanations of popular software and web applications, addressing the fundamentals without over-simplifying all in a series of six downloadable self-guided tutorials in PowerPoint format:

·         Microsoft Office 2010 covers the basics of Excel, PowerPoint and Word in the latest release of the standard Microsoft office tools.

·         Getting Started with Blogging and Blog Writing Workshop for Librarians provide an overview of blogging and “no panic” methods for generating ideas and becoming a successful blogging librarian.

·         Getting Started with Facebook walks through creating an account and untangles the labyrinth of privacy settings and how to manage them.

Try them now.

Top 10 iPad Tips & Tricks

http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=3001

                        

1. Reset - Probably the first thing a new user to an iPad is going want to do is learn how to reset their iPad without having to turn it all the way off and on again. To do this, just hold down the power button and home button for a few seconds and the iPad will reset.
2. Force Quit - This is really simple to do. If a program gets frozen or you want to exit right away, just click on the home button to return to the main screen.
3. Screen Shot - Something I do on a daily basis as an educator is taking a screen shot on my mac for tutorials and professional development. This can also be done on an iPad by holding down the power button and home button for a second and then releasing. A camera sound will go off as the screen turns white. The screen shot will be stored in photos.
4. File Transfers - Probably the easiest way to transfer a file from the iPad is simply to click the share button in the upper right and then email the file as an attachment.
5. Copy and Paste - Just tap and hold down on the text and select copy; go to a new app and then tap and hold down and click paste. To copy a whole paragraph, tap and hold down on a paragraph 4 times to select it all.

Other tips include: Web Scrolling, Wireless Keyboard Deleting and Copying and pasting.

Customize Clip Art to Meet Your Needs

Even though it looks like a single image, a piece of clip art is made up of a number of layers—the background, the foreground, text, etc.—that are drawn on top of each other. When you insert a clip into Word, you can work on and change each layer separately, which means you can customize the clip art that you get from the Clip Art and Media site to fit the look and feel of your project.

Separating a piece of clip art into layers is called "ungrouping" it.

Consider this clip art of the baseball player. There are many layers to this piece—for example, the black border around the green background, the green background, and the batter himself: his cap, his shirt. What if you don't like the colour of his cap, the location of his bat, or the green in the background? Change them.

The first step in making these elements of the picture fit your needs is to separate them.

 Note   Although this tip uses Microsoft Office Word, this general task can also be performed in Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office PowerPoint.

 

How to ungroup clip art

Ungroup clip art

1. Copy the clip you want to work on into a Microsoft Office Word document.
2. Click on the clip. A box appears around the clip. Now you can edit it.
3. Right-click on the clip and select Edit Picture.
4. Select the clip, and then right-click on it. Point to Grouping, and then select Ungroup.

After you've ungrouped the clip, you can change any part of it separately with whichever graphics editing software you choose.
 Note   Only vector art can be separated into layers. Clip art is vector art. Photos, for example, are not.

Here are some examples:

As you can see, you can ungroup the clip art to pull out characters or props, modify the people, and create custom backgrounds. 

Create Silhouettes

Silhouettes are the hot thing. You see them all the time in advertising. They work great for elearning because they represent objects without any detail.  It’s easy enough to take photos in-house and then convert them to silhouettes.  This way you can make up for fading fashion styles, bad lighting, or blurry images. 

You can also create silhouettes out of clip art, which is another way to get more life out of something many people find old and overused. 

• Find your clip art.
• Ungroup it.
• Select the clip art character and fill with black (in the demo above, I left the notebook white).
• Regroup the character.

Tip: You’re not limited to black.  And you can make use of some of the graphic effects in PowerPoint to add variety.  You can also right click and save the silhouette as its own image rather than keep it a PowerPoint object.

QR Codes Explained by Common Craft

You may have seen these little codes around.  They're in newspapers, on storefronts and products.  They're called Quick Response (QR) Codes and they're meant to be used with your smartphone. They could be a very big deal in the future.  Watch the video here.

Just for fun - Geek + Fashion = How to Organize Your Wardrobe Using Picasa

Would you be keen to find a way to easily keep track of everything in your wardrobe, mix and match all your clothes, and create outfits using technology? Creating a closet or wardrobe database, like Cher's in 'Clueless', is a fantastic way to help you remember the items hiding in the back of the closet that you don't wear as often and may help you pack or get dressed faster in the morning.

Specialized applications exist for the computer and mobile devices, but since Picasa is free, possibly even more versatile, and able to handle this project very well, it's an ideal way to fix your wardrobe with ease.

Why not run a holiday program for your community? Find out how here.