G-Rated Tips for OS X
By Ralph Tolbert, Educational Technology Consultant ()
Get Your Software Updates
As the school year begins and you boot up the Macs and PCs, run Software Update in OS X System Preferences, and go to www.microsoft.com for PC updates and security fixes. Also, check out Mac and PC free/shareware and updates at macupdate.com or versiontracker.com.
Free Clipart for Office
To add free clipart for the Office products Word, PowerPoint and Excel, go to office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx and make your selections. Create a Favorites folder and double-click your downloads to open the files. Then drag-and-drop or use the Insert menu to enhance your slide, document or spreadsheet.
Copying Files
To create a copy of a file in OS X, hold down the Option key while dragging the file; hold down the Option-Apple keys to create an alias of the file; and hold down the Apple key when double-clicking a folder to have both the original and new folder open.
When you drag a folder of pictures into iPhoto's Albums List column, you will quickly create a new album containing those photos.
PowerPoint 202 Tips
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Highlight and copy text in PowerPoint, and then Paste Special to treat it as a graphic that can be stretched and formatted like a picture.
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Use Word Art to generate your titles, and then animate, group and add effects. Create an animated title in iMovie with music, effects and transitions, and then Save and Quit.In PowerPoint insert the QuickTime movie from File and be amazed at what you can do.
Fear Factor Philosophy 101
As new faces enter your domain of influence and you realize that time is no longer your friend, maybe the following quote will help: "You can never get much of anything done unless you go ahead and do it before you are ready." Too many teachers avoid implementing new technologies because they haven't mastered the software or equipment to the point where they feel confident. Reverse this mindset and plan to learn and experiment with the students; let them show you how the camcorder buttons work or learn how to import QuickTime movies into PowerPoint shows. The rewards of learning together will far outweigh the mistakes made together.
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