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Office 2007
From Word to Excel to PowerPoint to Access, the New Microsoft Office 2007 interface is designed to increase efficiency and make it easier for users to find features and get their work done more productively. Changing over to Office 2007 is challenging, but once you have adjusted you will really appreciate the new features. Don't get frustrated when you are first learning Office 2007. Give it time and you will become an Office 2007 supporter.
You will notice that many of the dialog boxes are similar to the ones found in older versions of Office, but the elimination of the traditional menu bars requires a different way of thinking.
At the very top left corner of the Office window, you will see what is referred to as the Office button, mainly because it has the Office logo on it, but also because it gives you quick access to many of Office's most important tasks. Among those tasks: open a document, save your work, print your document, publish your work to a shared work space, plus a lot more. From this button, you can also access a list of the most recent documents you have worked on.
Goodbye to the menu bar, traditional menus, and tool bars. Office 2007 uses what is referred to as The Ribbon. The Ribbon takes up a good portion of the screen--the section once occupied by the menu bar and various tool bars. After using the Ribbon for a while, you will see how its use can result in significant improvement to the way you work. The Ribbon is broken down into a number of tabs on which buttons are located.
As you can tell, Microsoft has made huge changes with Office 2007.
Some additional changes include:
Contextual tabs appear only when you need them to complete your current task.
Live Preview makes it possible to preview style changes before applying them to objects.
New galleries offer predefined styles, table formats, list formats, and graphical effects for one-click formatting.
A customizable Quick Access Toolbar is the home for the commands you use most often.
Professionally designed templates help you quickly get up and running with a new document.
New themes allow you to easily create documents in any Office program with the same fonts, colors, and effects.
The tabbed document interface allows you to quickly navigate between the documents you are working on.
Don't be afraid to try Office 2007. Once you do, you will be hooked. The new version of Office is definitely worth the update.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking
The future is here--software that will let you talk to your computer instead of typing. Mrs. Jacobi wrote a grant for Dragon NaturallySpeaking software that sophomores, juniors, and seniors in her classes are learning to operate. As you speak, you words appear on the computer screen just as if you had typed them. Students can talk into many programs, including Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, e-mail programs, personal information organizsers, and more.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking can be used to:
Compose letters, memos, and e-mail messages. You just have to think about what you want to say and then say it into the microphone.
Enter data into forms or spreadsheets. Most people can dictate numbers faster than they can type. You can even create custom voice commands to enable you to move from field to field on your form by voice.
Work on the Web. You can search the Web, access information, and navigate Web pages by speaking URLs and links.
Once a person becomes comfortable talking to a computer, one can take the convenience of dictating a step further by using a handheld recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. With a handheld recorder, one can dictate while away from a computer. When you return to your computer, Dragon Naturally/Speaking will type out or transcribe what you said.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking turns speech into text at up to 160 words-per-minute, and allows users to control Microsoft Windows and their PC applications completely by voice. The product is tightly integrated with Microsoft Office, which allows users to create new documents, or change the layout of existing documents, using their voice. The product≠s new Natural Punctuation feature offers automatic insertion of periods and commas in applications such as e-mails, instant messages and Web-based forms.
The accuracy and ease-of-use advancements in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 represent a step forward in speech recognition technology for users at home and in the office. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 was designed and optimized to take advantage of Intel® Pentium® 4 processor based PCs, said David L. Brown, General Manager of Intel≠s Software Enabling Division. Intel is pleased to have worked with ScanSoft, a member of the Intel® Early Access Program, to deliver the performance needed to make speech recognition a valuable solution for all PC users.
Handwriting Recognition
With Wacom Handwriting Tablets, Twin River business students are learning the most exciting new computer interface since the mouse was introduced in the 1980's. With the release of handwriting tools in Microsfot Office XP, computer users have been substituting digital pens for keyboards and the mouse to input information into their computers. The pen, quite literally, replaces both the keyboard and the mouse.
The new pen-based PC handwriting interface was further popularized by Tablet PCs. The Twin River business department, through grants, has three Tablet PCs and 24 Wacon writing tablets for student instruction. Schools are finding that handwriting recognition is an essential computer literacy skill required for every student. In fact, penmanship is now the most important computer literacy skill. Computers have changed. The way we use them has also changed. Wacom has created writing tablets that attach using USB connectors to traditional PCs. These writing tablets sit next to the computer where the old mouse pad once rested. You handwrite on your desktop writing tablet just like you write on a piece of paper.
Microsoft OneNote
With Microsoft OneNote, Twin River business students are
using a combination of the keyboard, mouse, speech and handwriting recognition to learn how to take notes. OneNote can be used in combination with Microsoft Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Microsoft Outlook. OneNote takes note taking to an exciting, new level. OneNote is the kind of software program that can drastically change the way people learn, study, and work. OneNote may very well be the next essential application--a must-have for every student and employee.
Scanner and Digital Cameras
Twin River business students are also applying scanner and digital photography skills with desktop publishing and presentation procedures through classroom, school, and community projects. Photoshop Elements and InDesign software are units of instruction for students.
In Summary
You can see that technology is constantly changing and in order for our students to remain competitive in the workforce we must keep current with technological trends. Through grant funds and the support of Twin River's administration, Board of Education, and taxpayers, Twin River students are able to keep current on technology advancements. Come visit the business department to see technology in action.
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