In this course, you'll learn how to use the new features of Microsoft Office 2007. Through easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, you'll get comfortable creating Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and an Access database. On the surface, MS Office 2007 looks a lot different than previous versions (no more menus or toolbars!), but by learning to understand the dramatically changed, Ribbon-based interface, you'll quickly get back on the road to productivity.

In each program, we'll take a quick tour that shows you how to perform the most common everyday tasks. You'll work with a flier, a budget, a funding presentation, and an inventory database--all things you might need to produce in real life. And as you start to feel at home with the Ribbon and tabs, you'll find that underneath that shiny new dashboard, many "nuts and bolts" of the programs aren't really all that different than before!

In Word, you'll learn about QuickStyles and other ways to apply automatic formatting to your documents. You'll insert professional-looking graphics like text boxes and SmartArt. You'll use the new document themes--sets of delicious colors and matching fonts that will make you feel like a graphic designer!

In Excel, you'll use handy cell styles to quickly format your worksheets. You'll see how the new Page Layout view lets you work with your spreadsheets more easily. You'll customize great-looking Excel chart designs to make them totally your own with special effects like reflections, shadows, and WordArt. And you'll see how the Excel list feature lets you handle columnar data like name and address lists.

In PowerPoint, we'll explore new text and graphics features that will take your presentations to a new level. You'll use charts and diagrams to make your important points. And you'll really enjoy special formatting features that can make your presentations shine. Custom backgrounds plus slide show animations and transitions will get your audience's attention and keep it!

In Access, you'll find out how simple it is to create databases by using field templates and some new field types. You'll also learn to use classy new formats for forms and reports. And you'll see how database templates can help you get up and running sooner.

Before you know it, you'll be using each MS Office 2007 program with ease, accomplishing your work faster, and creating documents that look better than ever!

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Syllabus:

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

Have you looked at Microsoft Office 2007 and wondered, "What have they done to us?" Well, in this course we're going to solve the mystery and see just how user-friendly these programs can be. Today, we'll delve into Word by making a simple flier. You'll find out how to get to your old favorite features, and you'll probably even start to like Word's new interface.

Friday - Lesson 02

No matter what kind of documents you create in Word, making them attractive will always help to get your message across. So, in this lesson, we'll format a report using the new QuickStyles, color and font theme combinations, and some easy art elements. And we'll play with SmartArt, which lets even artistically-challenged folks create gorgeous graphics in a snap.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

Today is all about putting the final polish on your Word documents before printing and sending them out. We explore a new spelling feature and how to document sources using footnotes and source lists. Finally, we'll talk about the secret of compatibility between documents in Word 2003 and Word 2007.

Friday - Lesson 04

It's time to move on to Excel. In today's lesson, we'll review the Excel Ribbon and all the commands it houses. Then we'll enter and format some data in a simple worksheet. Because calculations are the heart of most worksheets, we'll cover a couple of helpful new formula entry techniques and see how to create a chart in the new Excel.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

Have you ever wanted to dress up your spreadsheets a little? Today, you'll learn how. Excel has exciting new formatting features that make it a snap. Starting with styles and themes to give your worksheet a polished look, you'll move on to professional-looking chart layouts and styles. You'll get to explore some classy-looking new special text and graphics effects too.

Friday - Lesson 06

If you ever need to manage lists of data, whether names and addresses or inventory lists, this is the lesson for you! Excel now calls lists tables. Today, you'll learn to create and modify tables using new Excel 2007 features, including calculated columns. You'll locate and sort data and then find out how to filter it to display only the information you need. Who knew creating spreadsheets could be so easy?

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

If you're looking forward to using PowerPoint 2007 to persuade people, this lesson is the place to start. We'll begin with a quick tour of the new PowerPoint interface. Then we'll create a text slide while we get oriented to the screen layout. Next, we'll apply slide layouts and use them to insert and modify graphics. It won't be long before you're using PowerPoint like a pro!

Friday - Lesson 08

Have you ever wished you could polish your PowerPoint presentations to make them look ultra-professional? Well, you're in luck! It's formatting time again, and in today's lesson, you'll get to explore text and graphic formatting. Get ready to discover WordArt and SmartArt so you can tailor text for pretty much anything you need. Then it's time for some simple tricks with shadows and 3-D effects.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In our final PowerPoint lesson, we'll examine ways to make our slides distinctive with slide backgrounds. We'll discuss how to use clip art as a slide background and make custom and reusable slide backgrounds. Then we'll get into the really fun stuff--finding out where slide show transitions and animations live now and how to use them to our advantage.

Friday - Lesson 10

The final Microsoft Office program we'll cover is Access 2007. We'll find our way around Access tabs by creating a database and entering a little data. At the same time, we'll discover how to navigate the Ribbon's tabs and meet database tables, forms, reports, and queries. The Access basics have never been easier.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Did you ever think you could make a database look nice? Well, today you're going to learn how to do just that. In this lesson, we'll focus on Access' new tools for formatting datasheets, forms, and reports. To start, we'll see how to perform basic worksheet sorting and filtering. Then we'll discover how the new Layout View and AutoFormats make it simple to manipulate our data so it can tell us more in less time. You're on your way to being an Access expert!

Friday - Lesson 12

In our last lesson, we'll tackle queries, which help you pull important information out of databases. What does this mean? It means it's easier than ever to extract data when you need it. We'll also explore the powerful new Control Layouts. And finally, we'll see just how easy it is to transport data elsewhere; we'll export data to both PDF and Excel formats. Then, along with our data, we'll be on our way.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Barbara Clemens.

Barbara Clemens has been a software product manager, editor, writer, and teacher since 1984. She has worked with educational publishers Addison-Wesley and Course Technology to create software textbooks for colleges and universities. She has edited, revised, and written many Microsoft Office texts and recently co-authored a textbook titled Upgrading to Office 2007. She holds a B.A. in English, an M.A. in English as a Second Language, and a Masters in Business Administration. She has worked as a university English instructor, computer trainer, and consultant, and is known for teaching computer software using careful, clear, and understandable instructions.

Requirements:

Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access) SP1, (software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins); Microsoft Windows XP or Vista; Internet access to obtain clip art and templates is recommended but not absolutely necessary; Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader). Note: This course is not suitable for Macintosh users. This course assumes a basic knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access 2003, but all tasks are taught using simple explanations in an easy step-by-step format, so that even someone rusty on some features will still be able to master the basics of Office 2007 and complete the course.

Student Reviews:

Reviews coming soon! Please check back next month.