Thursday, February 09, 2006

Welcome to Advanced Applications!

Over the next 18 weeks we'll be learning how we can customise standard office applications (spreadsheets, wordprocessors etc.) for clients by creating our own little computer programs (a.k.a. macros), as well as learning some nifty little features of the standard office Applications.

We will be using MS Word, MS Excel and MS Access in class (as this is all that we have access to), but if you would like to use other software at home (such as the free OpenOffice suite) just let me know and I'll do all I can to accommodate you!

But, let's get started! Learning the basics of programming is just learning to solve problems with some special tools. Problem solving is a skill that needs practice! I always like to get started with a brain-teaser... just to exercise our minds a bit.

Other things we need to cover before we get started:
  • Join email group
  • SAGS
  • Overview of Assignments
  • Required Text
  • Deciding on breaks!
Then we'll get started by flexing our Excel skills with a little revision exercised. Once you've finished the worksheet, have a think how you feel about your Excel skills... do you feel confident, are there areas you feel you need to brush up on?