LearnKey Blog

Category: Insights

Word 2010

It doesn’t matter who you are, what profession you’re in, or what level of education you have, the tools you will learn in LearnKey’s Word 2010 course will benefit everyone! Expert Mandi Bergenfeld helps you navigate all of the new features and updates in our Word 2010 course.

Check out our Word 2010 promo as we are nearing the release of this great new product!

What it’s like in our Production Studio!

We’ve been having a lot a people inquiring about our production studio and what it’s like for the Experts when they come and film here at LearnKey. Of course every shoot is a little different from one another, but typically, here’s the layout…

Monday morning around 8:00 am the author usually arrives at our LK site in Salt Lake City, Utah. Once they meet the crew and get settled in a little, we go ahead and start with the wardrobe, hair and make up. Once an outfit that looks best with our set has been decided, the author is then turned over to the Director. The Director then does a screen test to ensure that all looks well from a visual standpoint. Then it’s time to discuss the curriculum of the specific course- which is where our Instructional Designer comes into play. The Author and the Instructional Designer review the course’s syllabus and all of the objectives that are going to be covered. Once this has been approved, it’s go time!

Here’s a fun little clip featuring our Word 2010 Expert Mandi Bergenfeld and her experience her at the LK studio!

Meet Chad…

This is Chad Troftgruben.

HappyChad2

He is the expert and presenter of LearnKey’s Flash CS5 training, which we finished filming last week.

Chad is a freelance media designer who has been working with Flash for a number of years.  By applying methods used from his cartoon animation background and ACE certification, Chad provides a simplistic yet creative approach to each lesson he teaches.  In 2007 Chad started providing free online video tutorials on Flash and other software.  Since then, his tutorials have been viewed by thousands of people, including entrepreneurs, teachers, students and many others.

Chad did a fantastic job in the production studio and for all of you Flash people out there, make sure you watch for the release of this new product – you’re not going to want to miss this one!

Excel 2010 is Now Available!

We are excited to announce that LearnKey’s Excel 2010 course is now available! Excel 2010 has some great new features as well some exciting new improvements that most definitely enhance the program!

The best upgrade to Excel 2010 is the improvement Microsoft made to the performance capability by doubling the file size limit to 4GB improving sped and performance. However, this is not the only change to Excel’s latest version… many new features were included. Some of my favorites are Slicers and Sparklines and Data Bars!

Slicer and Sparklines

The slicer allows you to easily analyze data in the spreadsheet. You can also use it to create dashboards for professional, easy to read reports.

Sparklines is a new feature that allows you to create single cell charts that are helpful when you are studying trends.

Data Bars

This feature makes reading the information easier and makes the information that is displayed straightforward. You can also use data bars to illustrate negative values.

Check out this video clip featuring our Excel 2010 presenter, Michael Meskers for more information on LearnKey’s great new course!

Implementing IOS Network Security

LearnKey’s Implementing IOS Network Security course featuring Tom Carpenter has been released!

The Implementing IOS Network Security course maps to Cisco’s 640-553 IINS certification. This exam is geared toward individuals who are looking to specialize in security. With a CCNA Security certification, a network professional demonstrates the skills required to develop a security infrastructure, recognize threats and vulnerabilities to networks, and mitigate security threats. The CCNA Security curriculum emphasizes core security technologies, the installation, troubleshooting and monitoring of network devices to maintain integrity, confidentiality and availability of data and devices, and competency in the technologies that Cisco uses in its security structure.

After taking this course, you will be able to recognize and describe the threats facing network infrastructures, you will learn to mitigate threats to your routers using ACLs and you will learn to implement firewalls and VPNs using the Security Device Manager, SDM.

MTA Certification

MCTS, MCITP, MCSE and now MTA! This is just too much! I’m so confused. Where do I start?

MTA, Microsoft Technology Associate is now the first step in becoming certified on Microsoft Software. The MTA designation identifies you as someone who has fundamental knowledge in Microsoft technology. In Microsoft’s opinion, earning the MTA certification in one of the technology areas; Server Administration, Network, Security, Software Development, Windows Development, Web Development and Database Administration; will help you stand out when you apply to a college or technology internship. In my opinion, this is Microsoft’s way of competing with other certification vendors of foundation level certifications like CompTIA and CIW for your business. Either way you look at it, an MTA is a great place to go if you are just starting out on your certification journey. Each of the 7 MTA certifications cover a specific set of principles and standards that when learned and mastered will give you a great advantage when applying for a technology based career or moving up the certification ladder.

“The nice thing about LearnKey’s Server Administration Fundamentals course is it really fills a big gap in the Microsoft certifications. Microsoft’s MCTS certifications just kind of throw you in there. And they assume that you understand the basics of using a windows system at all much less s Windows server and you know how to get around and how to work with things like the Microsoft Management Console and Server Manager and so forth. And they just trust you to get in there and learn the new stuff just for that specific MCTS exam. The MTA starts you at the beginning and helps you understand these concepts from the very beginning. So it’s a great place to start for those individuals that are new to the industry”

– Tom Carpenter, SYSEDCO.com

Post written by Ammon Wiese- Learnkey’s Instructional Design Manager

Outlook: Sending/Receiving Text Messages (SMS)

Did you  know that with Microsoft Outlook 2010, you can stay connected beyond just e-mail messages? You can now send and receive text messages (SMS) via Outlook 2010!

So there are two different ways to set up text messaging in Outlook 2010. The easier path is with a Windows phone running 6.1 with an update or 6.5, and connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 account. With this particular setup, your text messages are synchronized from Outlook to your mobile device for sending. It’s also important to add that messages in which you receive are synchronized back to Outlook for easy reading in your Inbox.

If, however, you don’t have a Windows phone or an Exchange 2010 account, you can still configure text messaging in Outlook 2010 by signing up for a third-party service that sends text messages on your behalf. These services charge a nominal fee for message delivery, but there is a free trial period so you can try it out before you subscribe to see if you like it. Although the use of a third-party messaging service requires more initial setup, after connected, you can then send texts from the convenience of your computer.

For additional information and instructions on how to set up text messaging via Outlook 2010, see Introduction to Text Messaging in Outlook on the Microsoft Office website.

LearnKey’s Project Management Professional Course has R.E.P approval from PMI

We are so excited to announce that LearnKey’s Project Management Professional course is finally PMI approved!

After working closely with Michael Meskers, a PMI member, and filming the course, we knew it was definitely worthy of PMI approval- it just took us a little longer to actually seal the deal!

Achieving Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) status from the Project Management Institute signifies LearnKey as an established producer of quality training for the Project Management industry!

Inventor of Cell Phone: We Knew Someday Everyone Would Have One

As I was skimming around CNN.com today, catching up on techie news, I found this awesome article called Inventor of Cell Phone: We Knew Someday Everyone Would Have One written by Tas Anjarwalla. I was fascinated as I read the history of the cell phone- which I knew nothing about before.

I don’t even own a home phone. My cell phone is my life! When my cell dies, I feel completely shut off from the world. I get a panicky feeling knowing that I’m unreachable for a temporary amount of time. I can’t really remember what life was like before I had a cell phone- and I’m not that old!

It was a  really great read- check it out…

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