How do I...

This page contains links to articles on how to perform various computer tasks.  Screen videos linked from this page require the flash player.  Much of our training material has been moved into Blackboard (see below).

Academic Technology Training Materials

• All faculty members and staff are pre-enrolled in a Blackboard course titled "Academic Technology Training".  Once you login to Blackboard you will find it in the My Courses area under "Courses in which you are enrolled".  You will find many Academic Technology training materials within this course, including several self-paced online courses which can be taken for PD credit.  Login to Blackboard with your Palomar username (the name to the left of the @ sign in your email address) and your Palomar email password.  Click here to access Blackboard.

Acrobat

• How do I make a PDF file?     
• How do I apply security (disallow printing or changing) to a PDF document? 
• How do I control the opening view of a PDF document? 
• How do I search a folder full of PDF documents? 

Blackboard

• How do I use Blackboard?  Teaching with Blackboard training screen videos  
• How do I migrate materials from my Blackboard 8 courses to my Blackboard 9 courses? 
• Latest videos:
• How do I use Learning Modules in Blackboard 9? 
• The Glossary Tool Series:
  • How do I create/manage a glossary in Blackboard?
  • How do I create flash cards for my students based on a Blackboard glossary?
  • How do I create a zipped Blackboard "package" file with Windows?
  • How do I upload a package file and link to it in Blackboard?
• How do I create a voice announcment in a Blackboard 9 content area? 
• How do I send a voice email to students in Blackboard 9? 
• How can students send a voice email to an instructor in Blackboard 9? 
• How do I add a new content area to my Blackboard course and course menu? 
• How do I add an item or a file to a Blackboard content area 
• How do I copy an item/file/link within/between current Blackboard courses? 
• How do I export a single course content area from Blackboard 8 and import it into a Blackboard 9 course? 
• How do I create a file link to a Camtasia produced video in Blackboard 9.1? 

Elluminate eConferencing Tools

• How do I use the Elluminate eConferencing Tools for synchronous eConferencing, archiving and asynchronous viewing, or online office hours? 

Google Tools

• How do I use the Google Public Data Explorer? 
• How do I use Google Body? 
• How do I use Google Earth?
• How to use Google blog search. 

Flip Video Cameras

• How do I use the Flip video camera?   

Fonts

• How do I download and install fonts in Windows 7? 
• How do I install a new font or fonts in Windows Vista, Windows XP or Mac OS X? 

General Multimedia

• How do I use the Olympus digital audio recorder? 
• How to I place a simple voice recording on my web site or in Blackboard? 
• Copying a file from the Olympus voice recorder to a computer 
• Upload and link an audio file in Blackboard 8 
• Download audio file from Blackboard 8 and copy into iTunes 
• How do I subscribe to a podcast? 

Jing

• How to provide audio-video feedback on student papers using Jing? 

Journal Databases

• How do I access the journal databases at Palomar College? 
• How do I find resources in Safari Tech Books Online? 
• How do I create links to Safari Tech Books Online that will work for on and off-campus students? 
• How do I create on a web page, blog or in Blackboard a link to a Safari Tech Book Online? 
• How do I find proxy URLs and create external links in Blackboard to articles in EBSCO, JSTOR and ProQuest databases?   

Learning Objects

• How do I use the journal, blogging, wiki, podcast, web page and search tools built in to Blackboard?   

Office 2010

If you are new to Office 2010, we have developed a set of orientation materials into an online course on our Blackboard Sandbox.  To self-enroll, login to the Sandbox, enter the Academic Technology Training course, click on the "Enroll in Workshops" course link, and then click the enroll button for "What's New in Office 2010" link.

• How do I find Office 2010 training on the ATRC web site? 

Excel

• How do I embed a spreadsheet from an Office 2010 web app on a web page or blog?   

OneNote

• How do I create self-test flash cards with OneNote? 

Outlook 2010

• How do I insert create and insert blocks of text so that I can use them repetitively in Outlook or in Word 2010? 

PowerPoint

PowerPoint 2010

• How do I create a narrated presentation at Slideshare.net?   
• How do I make a narrated video from a PowerPoint 2010 presentation? 
• How do I use the new animation painter in PowerPoint 2010? 
• How do I use the new sections feature in PowerPoint 2010? 
• How do I create custom editable handouts with PowerPoint 2010? 
• How do I embed a presentation from an Office 2010 web app on a web page or a blog?   

General PowerPoint

• How do I compress photos in PowerPoint so my presentation file size does not get too bit?

Word 2010

• How do I find and replace in Word using caret codes? 
• How do I replace text formatting and search on text formatting in Word? 
• How do I use the new Navigation Pane in Word 2010? 
• How do I create a PDF file from a Word document?   
• How do I create and insert blocks of text so that I can use them repetitively in Outlook or in Word 2010? 

Office 2011 for Mac

• How do I remove old versions of Office from the Mac?

RSS

• How do I subscribe to an RSS feed? 

Safe Assignment

• How to create a Safe Assignment using the Safe Assign anti-plagiarism tool in Blackboard 8?
• What is Safe Assignment? 
• How do I Create a Safe Assignment? 
• How do I grade a Safe Assignment 
• Safe Assignment: A Tutorial for Students 

StudyMate

• What is StudyMate and how do I use it?   
• How do I publish from StudyMate to Blackboard? 
• How do I publish StudyMate activities to the iPod? 

Video

• Why don't my videos play? 

• How to use the English Wikipedia Book Creator tool. 

Wimba Voice Tools

• How do I use the Wimba Voice Authoring tool in Blackboard 9 to create audio messages for my students? 
• Overview screen video of the Wimba Voice Tools.   
• How do I use the Voice Authoring tool?  
• How do I create a voice email to my Blackboard students?
  There are two methods:
  Method 1 - a voice email in a Blackboard content area    ;
  Method 2 - a direct voice email from the communications area
• How do I use the Voice Email Archive for Voice Emails sent using method 1 or method 2 above?   
• How do I create a Wimba Voice Board?   
• How do I use a Wimba Voice Board?  
• How do I import an audio file to a Wimba Voice Board?   
• How do I export audio files from a Wimba Voice Board?    
• How do I publish a message from a Wimba Voice Board and place it as a stand-alone voice recording in Blackboard or on an external web page?   
• How do I use the Voice Presentation tool?   
• An alternate method for creating a Voice Presentation while viewing URL resources. 
• How do I use the Wimba Podcaster?   
• How do I subscribe to a Wimba Podcaster podcast? 
• How do I save an individual audio message?

Windows 7

• Keyboard shortcuts using the Windows key: Part 1  |  Part 2

• How do I control my mouse? - Demonstrates how to speed up, slow down, change shape/color/size, and control other characteristics of a mouse attached to a Windows computer.

• Note:  There is an extensive set of screen videos on how-to perform Windows 7 tasks in the Academic Technology Blackboard Training Course.  Login to the Blackboard Sandbox, click on the Academic Technology Training link in the "Courses in which you are enrolled" area; click on the Self-Enrollment button in the Windows 7 course.

YouTube

• How do I convert an imported Blackboard 9 embedded YouTube to the new Blackboard 9 thumbnail view? 
• How do I embed a YouTube video in Blackboard 9? 
• YouTube Tools You Should Be Aware Of 
• How to "Jump Into" a Linked YouTube URL 
• How to "Jumpt Into" an Embedded YouTube Video   

Web Authoring

• How do I open my web site with Expression Web? 
• How do I upload files to my web site with Expression Web? 
• How do I open my FrontPage/Sharepoint Designer web site? 
• How do I decide what colors are best to use on my web site if I have a color blind student?