aclJohn's eCPD Finds

Common Craft recently released a new video that is ideal for functional skills and everyone who banks, shops, or just uses email.

Secure Passwords in Plain English walks viewers through the pitfalls of weak passwords and how to create strong passwords. The video explains why the same password shouldn't be used for all online accounts.

Watch the video on the Common Craft website at http://www.commoncraft.com/secure-passwords-video.

If your organisation is thinking about or has just migrated to Google Apps for Education, the Google Apps Training Centre will be a great resource for learning about the things that can be done with Google Apps in the learning environment.

This new training program available from Google, "The Google Apps Training Centre", is an online learning environment in which practitioners and learners can train to effectively use Google Apps in an education setting. The training centre offers six modules. The modules are...

• Google Apps Education Edition,
  
• Apps Mail,
  
• Calendar,
  
• Docs,
  
• Sites, and
  
• "Other Tools."
  

Each module consists of several chapters.

In conjunction with the Google Apps Training Centre, Google has launched the Google Certified Trainer program. The Google Certified Trainer program gives people who provide professional development to schools and have passed the tests for all six modules the Google "seal of approval" as Certified Trainers. If you plan to pursue becoming a Google Certified Trainer, bear in mind that you must complete all six modules and pass the tests within 60 days of starting the program

Visit http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/certification_index.html to find out more about the Google Certified Trainer program; and
http://edutraining.googleapps.com/Training-Home to find out more about the Google Apps Training Centre.

Like me, Phil Bagge believes in free and he hopes that practitioners and learners will something useful to use on his ICT Video Help pages.

ICT Video Help has a collection of videos which show visitors how to use a wide range of ICT tools and will keep many educated and entertained for hours.

Visit http://www.ictvideohelp.co.uk/ to find out more.

Although in it's early development, Learning with technology is a website which has been created to support those engaged with Informal Adult Learning (IAL) - when they use technology with any group.

This website provides a series of resources which have...

• either been designed specifically;
  
• or will point users in the direction of existing online resources.

The Learning with technology resources have been designed to help users build their confidence and ability to use technology as part of their activities.

The website can be used by anyone leading a group in a learning environment including...

• volunteers;
• facilitators;
• support staff; and
  
• group leaders.

Note: In order to access the resources and course materials users do need to have Internet skills.  If they are new to using the Internet then it is recommend that they take an Online Basics course prior to using the materials. If users are not confident in their ICT skills then they will find the resource, Building ICT Skills in Group 1 useful.  The content of the website can be downloaded and adapted to suit the needs of your group.

Visit http://www.ialsupport.org.uk/ for more information. 

Tech Training Wheels is a new video sharing site designed and built by five Google Certified Teachers.

The purpose of the site? - To share how-to videos for practitioners.

It is very early days and currently there are only five videos on the site and they are all how-to videos related to using Google products. The site is open to user contributions.

Visit http://techtrainingwheels.com/ to take a closer look.

Upgrade computer skills, by signing up for free, at GCF Learn Free.

The Getting Started Lessons cover...

• Computer Basics
• Windows
• Internet Basics
• eMail Basics
• Internet Safety
• Mozilla Firefox and
• Facebook 101

The Using Software lessons cover...

•  Word Excel
• PowerPoint
• Access
• Office
• Open Office
• Outlook 2003 and
• Publisher 2003

I also feel that visitors to this website will find the Work & Career Section worth a closer look.

Some 'lessons' include video clips and all seam a little wordy.

Visit http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/ where limited access is available prior to a free signup.

JISC Digital Media's new advice document Creating an Audio Ident provides information on...

• what an ident is;
• desiging an ident; and
• how-to create an ident using Audacity software.

Visit http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/audio/advice/creating-an-audio-ident/ to find out more.

What do you do if you start a new job and find yourself in a technology rich culture, with so many IT systems around, and so many different software resources, that your head ends up buzzing?

Many managers, administrators, subject learning coaches, eGuides, practitioners, learners etc., have never used...

• internet telephony,
• encryption,
• instant messaging,
• live meeting,
• SharePoint or
• Groove before.

Meanwhile, those around them seem to be metaphorically whizzing along as they...

• collaborate;
• share;
• publish; and
• distribute information.

Work Smart Guides may be the godsends such people are looking for.

This set of documents walk readers through the basics of some of the new technology they may encounter.

Work Smart Guides...

• bridge the gap between technology and users;
• provide employees with scenario-based, best-use productivity aids on Microsoft products and technologies.

The guides have also published for users to modify and use. This is a great step – every learning provider in the UK is producing user documentation where 80-90% of the content is identical. These guides make a good starting point, either for their format, or instructions, or screen shots.

The subjects covered in these step-by-step guides include:

• Environmental sustainability (hints like using Balanced power settings on your laptop)
• Protecting data with BitLocker
• Getting started with email
• Transfer files and settings to a new computer
• Collaborating with SharePoint
• An overview of collaboration tools
• Customising SharePoint sites
• Integrating Outlook with SharePoint
• Basics of managing email (Are you a stacker or a filer?)
• Office tips
• Outlook email signatures
• New features for users in Windows 7

There are 23 of them, and they come in one big Zip file for users to play with.

Download the customisable versions of Work Smart materials from TechNet at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb687781.aspx.

Bonus: Also take a look at the Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder, described by Long Zheng as a miracle tool. It does what it says on the tin, and the best bit is that the document it creates is brilliant for creating user guides, with screen shots and step-by-step instructions. Just stick “problem steps” into the search box of your Windows 7 Start menu.

I've written about Educause a number of times before, a website that offers its monthly 7 Things You Should Know About… series of PDFs, which break down emerging technologies into an easy-to-understand format, describing not only what the new technology does, but why it matters in education.

Their most recent 7 Things is about Google Wave, which only rolled out its first invitations a month before the 7 Things article was published. Other topics that have been covered include...

• microblogging,
• VoiceThread, and
• UStream.

The pdfs are easy to understand and could be made available to practitioners and /or learners as part of CPD, induction, etc.

Visit http://www.educause.edu/7Things to find out more.