Free Workshops Tame Microsoft Office

By Beth Goelzer Lyons

I remember the good, “old” days when you could teach yourself most of what you needed to know in software like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Nowadays, between all the features crammed into that software and the frenetic pace of work, well, I’m just grateful there are other options.

SkillSoft is one. It offers free, web-based courses available whenever you want. These are ideal if you have a Windows computer and prefer to work at your own pace, at your own desk or in one of Cornell’s public computing labs. If you don’t already have a SkillSoft account, ask for one from org_dev@cornell.edu or 254-6400.

Another option, newly minted this summer, is a series of free office productivity workshops developed by CIT’s Training and Documentation group. If you prefer to learn in a classroom with the help of a teacher, these are for you.

Each workshop spends 1-2 hours focused on a specific feature. Some examples include Word tables, Word mail merge, PowerPoint animations, PowerPoint diagrams, and Excel databases. Find out more and sign up at www.cit.cornell.edu/training/courses.

If your interest is in IT technical skills, there is also an IT professional training program. These full-day courses are fee-based but deeply discounted. Topics include security, Microsoft Windows Server, Oracle, Microsoft networking, FileMaker, and ColdFusion. Find out more and sign up at www.cit.cornell.edu/training/courses.