E-Readers

Description:  "An e-book reader, also called an e-book device or e-reader, is an electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital books and periodicals and uses e-ink technology to display content to readers."  (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_readers)  

Material Covered:  The Sony reader.




What I learned:  I learned that E-readers are light-weight and easy to get up and running.

Best Features:  I thought the best feature was being able to click on a word and find out what it means. Being able to download out of print books to the reader is also a mark on the plus side for purchasing an E-reader. If your bookshelves are full to overflowing then having E-books may be a plan as they would take up much less space in the bookcase.

Problems/Limitations:  The problem with E-readers is not to be able to hold the book or newspaper you are reading in your hands.  

What I would still like to learn:  I would like to use the reader to read a book to see if it is an option for me.

Memory Cards

Description:  A memory card (sometimes called a flash memory card or a storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data such as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable or remote computing devices. From SearchStorage. 

Material Covered:  What memory cards are and how to use them.

What I learned:  I learned that when downloading photos to the memory card they cannot be in folders if you want to take the memory card to have prints made. The readers at the photo stores are not able to find the photos if they are in folders.

Best Features:  Small & light-weight and many photos can be saved on one memory card.

Problems/Limitations:  As the memory cards are small you have to be careful not to lose them. 

What I would still like to learn:  How long will a memory card last?

Picasa

Description:  Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great and is easy to use.

Material Covered: Downloading Picasa, editing photos, making photo collages, emailing photos, exporting photos and making slide shows with music.

What I learned:  Picasa is easy to use, just as advertised. It organizes all the photos on your computer so they are easy to find and edit. With this program I was able to edit, add effects, and make photo collages within hours of downloading the program. I think this is a great program and it is free. I currently use Photoshop for my photo editing and creating effects and it is an amazing program. Photoshop takes weeks and months to learn and is very expensive. Within minutes of watching the Picasa 5 minute introductory video you will be able to create very professional looking photos, photo collages, and slide shows using Picasa.  For videos, tutorials and help with the program visit Picasa and Picasa Web Albums Help.

Best Features:  The most outstanding feature of Picasa for me was being able to make photo collages. There is more than one option for the type of collage and it is easy to add or remove the photos that do not work.  Photoshop is an industry standard but in my books Picasa wins hands down for creating photo collages.

Problems/Limitations:  Picasa locates all the photos on the computer and puts them into folders. When setting up Picasa to locate photos there are two options. The first option searches My Documents, My Pictures and the Desktop for pictures. The second option searches the entire computer looking for pictures. When installing and setting up Picasa on my home computer I selected the first option and numerous folders with images appeared. Many of the folders' names I did not recognize. The reason for this is I had many images in my document folder for other school projects. All of the small, medium and large thumbnails images used in the Dreamweaver program were put into folders. These folders can be removed but this is time consuming. The program would be better if it had an option to bring in photos just from My Documents or just from My Pictures folders.

When creating the Alphabet collage I realized that some of the features I used in Photoshop would have come in handy. Aligning the photos used in the collage was difficult. In Photoshop you can align the photos by selecting them and choosing align bottom, top, left or right edges.

What I would still like to learn:  I really feel quite comfortable with the Picasa program and will continue to use the program and test out the various features. I would like to know how to make copies of the slide show that would play on the television.

My first slide show of the garden with music.

My second slide show of Autumn Leaves.

From Movies

Smart Phones

Description:  A smart phone is a device that lets you make telephone calls, but also adds in features that you might find on a personal digital assistant or a computer--such as the ability to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents, for example. From About.com

A Different take on the Smart Phone - Enjoy

Material Covered:  Guest speakers from Best Buys demonstrated the Smart phones.

What I learned:  I learned that Smart phones are expensive with most plans costing $50 per month.  Smart phones are like mini computers and you can download many applications.  Getting to use the phones was very helpful and they do seem easy to use.

Best Features:  Lighter and much smaller to carry around than a lap-top computer.

Problems/Limitations:  The cost would be a limitation for me.  Smart Phones have lots of bells and whistles but since I have managed to get by without even a cell phone or lap top computer up to now I could not justify the expense.   

What I would still like to learn:  I would like to see how the new I-pad works. I think that would be useful for me instead of a Smart phone.  I also would like to see a comparison of the costs and features of the Smart phone compared to a lap top computer and a basic cell phone.  

Google Gmail

Description:  "Gmail is a free, advertising-supported webmail, POP3, and IMAP service provided by Google."  From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Gmail.

Material Covered:  Google's approach to email; setting up a Gmail account; and getting started with Gmail.

What I learned:  I set up a Gmail account and I was able to create and organize my contact list, add contacts to my chat list, create labels, and chat with those in my contact list.  I have an E-mail account on my home computer and I am very comfortable using it for sending & receiving messages.  My home E-mail account does not have the chat feature. As I often hear about "Chats" from my nieces it was good to know how it works. 



Best Features:  I have not figured out how I can access my home E-mail except at home. For me the best feature of the Gmail account is that you can access your E-mail from any computer. 

Problems/Limitations:  The only problem for using Google Gmail is that it is a Google product and Google wants to be the "primary depository of all things digital about you".

What I would still like to learn:  I would like to learn how to access my home E-mail from other computers.  This would come in handy when travelling.

Print Screen

Description:  "Print screen is a keyboard function that takes a quick 'snapshot' of your computer screen, copying it to the clipboard. By pressing the print screen key, then opening a paint or image program, the screenshot can be pasted into the program as an image file. From there, it can be saved or printed. If you don’t need a snapshot of the entire screen, but only want an image of the active window, hold down the alt key while pressing the print screen key. This is a great way to save menu screenshots for instructional Web pages, making it easier for people to follow along when configuring software, for example." (From http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-print-screen.htm) 

Material Covered:  How to use the Print screen key.

What I learned:  How to take a picture of the computer screen and then edit it for use.

Here is an example of a Print screen that I have edited.

Best Features:  Being able to take snapshots of the computer screen is the best and only feature of the Print screen key.  Just learning how to use the Print screen was worth the price of the course. 

Problems/Limitations: The only problem is that Print screen seems to be a well hidden secret. 

What I would still like to learn:  Nothing more to learn as it is simple and easy to use. 

Wiki

Description:  A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified mark-up language or a WYSIWYG text editor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki).



Material Covered:  What Wiki is and how to create a Wiki using wetpaint.  

What I learned:  I learned that Wiki is like Wikipedia and that the information in the Wiki is created by everyone. I could see many ways to use a Wiki. Pastoral Care committees at churches could use a Wiki to schedule meals or visits for those in need. This would save many E-mails and calls. For volunteers in the congregation without computer access, they need only phone the church office to find out when would be the best time to visit a shut-in. The Secretary could then check the Wiki and know that it is up to date as it is the only copy. He or she could then tell the person on the phone the days for which visits are needed and then sign that person up to provide a visit. 

Best Features:  Wiki's are easy to setup and use. There are three easy steps: Edit, Write and Save.

Problems/Limitations:  When too many people try to edit at the same time some of the information can be written over.  You have no idea who made the edit.

What I would still like to learn:  At the moment, I do not think I need to know anything more about Wiki.