Adventures in Staff Education

When attempting to master new skills, the most effective learning seems to often come from practice coupled with experimentation.  I found this to be very true when I decided I wanted to use Excel to manange my home budget, for example.  A few people showed me some basic information about formatting and using formulas; it was a few people because after the first couple of demonstrations, I promptly forgot what I had been shown when I then didn't practice it myself.  Upon finally sitting down and practicing, I began to confidently make my columns, name my categories, and use basic formulas.  When I wanted to start keeping track of more complicated information or make my worksheet look prettier, I spent a lot time clicking around in the menus to see how I could do more with Excel.  I am by no means an expert in Excel as a result, but I am proud of my simple and colorful budget, as well as the neat tricks, like conditional formatting, that I learned along the way through practice and experimentation.

How does this relate to you, you ask?  Well, if you are a Contribute user who is considering taking our upcoming workshops, we have created the perfect opportunity for you to practice and experiment.  We would like you to consider spending the afternoon this Friday, October 20, or next Friday, October 27 at your desk or in the CTC exploring Contribute more and exploring the academic websites at Bryn Mawr and our peer institutions. Perhaps you can create a personal webpage about you and your position that can link to your department's home page.  For assistance, contact webhelp@brynmawr.edu.  As you work, jot down questions you have or neat tricks you learn and share them at our November workshop. 

You may ask what collaboration has to do with this.  If you choose to come to the CTC instead of working in your offices, you will have the opportunity to work alongside others in the community who are exploring Contribute.  You will be able to ask one another questions, assist one another in your work, and generally support one another's experimentation.  I will be popping in to say hello to all of you, and we hope to have Computing personnel on call or even in the room to assist you as needed. 

Come one, come all!

Posted by Darla Attardi at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

EW3 (E-mail and the World Wide Web) is now in its third session, and it is taking off gloriously!

Previously referred to as "Using E-mail and the Internet," this course was created to meet a need identified by both Bryn Mawr College staff members and by the College administration that all staff members be able to access and use email and certain features of the Internet. With this basic goal in mind, the course was co-designed by differently positioned members of the community—administrators, faculty, staff, and students—with the additional and equally important goal of developing mutually respectful and educative relationships and experiences through which both students and staff members learn.

First offered in the spring of 2006, the course provides members of Dining Services and Housekeeping Services (and, starting next semester, other College departments) an opportunity to develop their computer skills through weekly class meetings and weekly mentoring sessions with students, and it provides students an opportunity to develop their skills as facilitators of adult learning.

Our fall 2006 session is starting this week, and we have some fantastic students and staff members working together.  Check back here for updates on what we're up to, as well as to possibly see actual pictures from our class!

**Readers**: When thinking about our class title change, I was struck with a question that I bet one or all of you can answer: What is the difference between the WWW and the Internet?  I have a rough idea, but I need clarification -- leave thoughts as comments.

Also, if you or anyone you know would like to participate in EW3 in the future, please let dattardi@brynmawr.edu know about it!

Posted by Darla Attardi at 9:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)