New Features of Excel 2013: Tools that Make Life Easier

When you first open Excel 2013, right away you see how much more visually appealing the program is.  Microsoft has also created new features that help save time and increase productivity.

In the Backstage View, you can choose a regular sheet or choose from the many template options.  If you have been working on a file, the program now has a “recent” section that shows all the files you have been working on so you can have quick and easy access.

When working within a document with a large amount of data, Flash Fill saves time, by recognizing patterns in your data, this new feature automatically fills in the information based on the pattern in the data.

Recommended Charts and Chart Tools can help you display your data dynamically.  You can easily edit the look and feel of the chart you choose with filters and pallets.  There is also a preview that shows what your data would look like in each chart.

 

Use OneDrive to save and share your files online and on any device.  You can even collaborate in real time on the same document.  There are features you can use to lock sections of the document, as well as, permissions and password protection features that help keep your document safe.

These are just a few of the useful productivity and time saving tools that you can learn in our new course Microsoft Excel 2013: Introduction.  With all the new features, you could play around with them and try to figure each out.  Or you could learn from an expert in Microsoft Excel.

Look for our new courses coming in the next few weeks: Microsoft Excel 2013: Introduction, Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud: Introduction, Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud: Advanced and many more on the way!

Visit www.knowledgecity.com to find these and our other great courses in Business, Computer Software, and Safety Compliance.

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How Video Training Helps Students Learn

Online courses and video training have steadily increased over the last ten years.  Recent research suggests that 77 percent of academic leaders now consider learning outcomes in online education the same or superior to that of courses taught face-to-face.

KnowledgeCity’s online video training courses are taught with an innovative approach to learning.  We offer courses not in traditional lecture format, but in micro-learning sessions of: chapters and lessons broken down into minutes—not hours.  Video training in this method is more engaging; enabling students to understand and memorize the course material.

According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), training sessions should be 20 minutes or less with short breaks in between.  The ATD calls these “brain breaks.” KnowledgeCity structures its courses in a similar manner allowing students to absorb and comprehend the information they have just learned before moving on to the next lesson.

Why is this important? According to a study on the Primacy-Recency Theory published by the US National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health; during sessions of learning, recall of information is better at the beginning and end of a presentation.  This means that students in a traditional learning setting would listen to a lecture for an hour or more but the only retention they would have of the discussion would be information contained in the beginning (primacy) and the end (recency) of the lecture.

KnowledgeCity is helping students learn better and retain what they learn, by using this research to develop a fresh, modern course structure.  Another difficulty for students attending a tradition lecture type class is the inability to rewind and review.  If you have not taken notes or brought a recorder to the session you may be at a loss.

At KnowledgeCity, not only can you rewind and review as often as needed to grasp concepts, but student also have access to course files containing examples and outlines to help retain the knowledge they learned long after the course is completed.

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Online Training: 5 Reasons Corporate America Favors Online Training Courses

It’s no surprise why corporate America fancy’s web based e-learning over traditional universities. According to an article featured on USA Today, “Online Courses the Rage in Corporate Training,” employers spent $57 million to train their workers. There are numbers or reasons why corporate are trending away from the traditional university model, the top five being:

1. The current economic situation necessitates the need to economize—any discovery to decrease expenses are welcomed by most corporate companies and with so many e-learning platforms that offer affordable monthly subscription based services, distance corporate training and development programs can help companies save millions of dollars each year.

2. Companies perception of training employees as an unredeemable cost has changed—unlike before, corporate do not view expenditures to develop the human potential a wasted investment anymore, but a worthy cause with infinite potential in return. The return on training improves performances and attitudes from employees necessary to achieve organizational growth.

3. Online training allow learners to learn at their own pace—Whether learners are required to learn technical work related training, complete full degrees or certification programs, web based e-learning allows learners to work at their own pace without having to wait for others.

4. Corporate training institutes has removed the need to travel—by removing the need for learners to join together to learn and study reduces a significant amount of cost in lost time and opportunity for companies by not having their employees away from their responsibilities for extended periods of time.

5. Online training is learner-centered—online corporate software training can deliver the concept of group learning and collaborative problem solving right to the employee’s home. Allowing learners more control with course pacing, sequencing and styles, online training is learner-centered.

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