Learn From an Expert: Jason Manibog and Word 2016

Last month, we released our new Word 2016 course, the second in our line of Office 2016 training. I’ve been using Word 2016 for years, and it seems like each version of Word just gets better than the last one, adding more and more features to help the user work more efficiently.
I recently caught up with our resident expert, Jason Manibog, to ask him a few questions about this course.

What advice would you give to a user new to Word? Know that this program is there to help you build documents of all types: letters, simple flyers, booklets, term papers, lists, basically anything you can write on paper. As to the program, learn the ribbon and the Backstage View as what you need to do will usually be found in one of those two places. And, don’t worry about typing perfect documents right away. Get your thoughts typed up and then use the tools Word has (like spelling and grammar check and the thesaurus, to name a couple) to help you proofread and edit your documents.
What type of student did you have in mind when you were creating this course? Actually I had two types: First, students looking to pass the Word 2016 Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification test (exam 77-725). This course has a session for each exam domain, so one can basically follow the course and the test objectives at the same time. Secondly, people may just want to acquire job-ready skills needed for Microsoft Word. This course has plenty of practical situations to help one make that goal.
If a student has very little experience using Word, how would you recommend they start using our training? At the beginning (ha ha). Seriously, though, spend time in the “Tour of Office” and “Tour of Word” sections, especially the Tour of Office section. This will help lay a foundation on how to navigate through the program. And, don’t be afraid to try a couple of things on your own. You can usually click the Undo button if needed.
What are some of the new features in Word 2016? Three in particular stand out to me. First, the Tell Me feature, which allows one to ask a question on how to do something, like “add borders to text” and then get the actual task presented to do. Secondly, a document can be saved to a OneDrive site and then multiple users can collaborate, real-time, on a document. Thirdly, research features have been enhanced through the Smart Lookup feature, which allows one to search for a term and get definitions, explanations, website links on the term, and many other types of information on the term.
What was your favorite thing about filming this course? That the filming went well and for me, it was a relatively easy shoot given I’ve been working with Word since, well, before the turn of the millennium 🙂

Excel 2016 Released

Today, we are excited to announce the release of our Excel 2016 course. If you are looking to start a career in business or finance, having a working knowledge of Microsoft’s Excel 2016 is a must. Our new and exciting course taught by LearnKey’s Senior Instructor, Jason Manibog, will teach you how to reveal insights hidden in your data with the help of new features such as the Tell Me feature, chart options, and more! This course will also help you study and prepare to take the Microsoft’s Excel 77-727 Certification exam.

Our hope is that through our courseware we may provide learners with the guidance, preparation, and skills they need to succeed. For more information and to learn about additional LearnKey products visit our website.

Word 2016 Released

We are excited to announce the release of our Word 2016 course. If you are working toward becoming career-ready you must have a working knowledge of Word 2016. LearnKey expert Jason Manibog will teach the basic concepts of Microsoft Word and build on those ideas to help you master this program. This course will teach you how to create and manage documents, and format text, paragraphs, and sections. This course will also help you study and prepare to take the Microsoft Word 77-725 Certification exam.

Learn From an Expert: Jason Manibog and Excel 2016

What runs through your mind when you think about Microsoft Excel? Personally, my relationship with Excel has been complicated and ranges from avoiding it at all costs to using it excessively. I have found Excel to be a useful tool for tracking personal finances and information, as well as making lists and daily schedules. I know many people may feel apprehensive about learning Excel, so I thought, who better to provide some positive insight than Jason Manibog our in-house IT expert? Recently, I visited with Jason and asked him if he could give us some advice that would be beneficial to new users of Excel. Whether you are learning Excel purely for certification purposes, or for more efficient personal use, be sure to read Jason’s feedback below.

What advice would you give to a user new to Excel? I would start with (of course) viewing our Excel 2016 course! But to start working with Excel? I would start with building a simple file or two for something you can relate to, like a phone list of family and friends, or a budget or expenses sheet with calculations. Most importantly, make the files YOUR files as in something you can relate to.
What type of student did you have in mind when you were creating this course? Someone trying to learn Excel and perhaps looking toward passing the Microsoft Office (MOS) 2016 Excel exam. And, someone who is trying to get important job-ready skills in Excel. The practice files are really geared toward the job-ready aspect of training.
If a student has very little experience using Excel, how would you recommend they start using our training? Start with the very first part of the course and make sure to mix the video training with the practice exercises in the project workbook which accompanies the course.
What are some common uses for Excel that people can use their new Excel skills for? The list is large. I would say lists, budgets, expense sheets, workout logs, golf scores (had to throw that in), or anything else that involves building a list and then, when needed, analyzing that data through charts and calculations.
What are some of the new features in Excel 2016? There are a few, but the two which stand out to me are the “Tell Me” feature, which I brought up in a previous blog. The “Tell Me” feature allows one to search for a “How-To” and then get the actual tasks to do. For example, I can do a “Tell Me” search on “Get the Average of data” and it will lead me right to the AVERAGE function. Also, for those of you who like charts, there are several new chart types in Excel 2016, so analyze away!

Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 Test Prep Released!

Today we released the second of our exam prep courses, and the first test prep course for Adobe CC 2015. Our Photoshop CC 2015 Test Prep course is a complementary resource to go along with the Photoshop CC course, authored by LearnKey Expert Chad Chelius. Although the Photoshop CC course readies you for the Photoshop CC exam, there are new objectives and types of test questions which are covered in the Photoshop CC 2015 Test Prep course. LearnKey Senior Instructor Jason Manibog takes you through these changes, so you will have the tools you need to confidently pass the Photoshop CC 2015 exam.

CompTIA A+ (220-901 and 220-902) Series Released!

Today we are excited to announce the release of our A+ (220-901 and 220-902) Series courses. Authored by LearnKey expert Jason Manibog, LearnKey’s A+ (220-901 and 220-902) Series includes the four domains that are covered in CompTIA exam 220-901 and the five domains that are covered in CompTIA exam 220-902. This series thoroughly covers the objectives in each domain and will prepare students for A+ exams 220-901 and 220-902. The A+ (220-901 and 220-902) Series includes one complete series course comprised of two series courses broken into nine domains:

A+ (220-901 and 220-902) Series
- A+ (220-901) Series
- A+ (220-902) Series

CompTIA A+ (220-901) Series Released!

Today we are excited to announce the release of our A+ (220-901) Series courses. Authored by LearnKey expert Jason Manibog, LearnKey’s A+ (220-901) Series includes the four domains that are covered in CompTIA exam 220-901. This series thoroughly covers the objectives in each domain and will prepare students for A+ exam 220-901. The A+ (220-901) Series includes four domains and one complete series course:

The A+ (220-901) Series is Part 1 of a two-part series required for full A+ certification. Part 2, the A+ (220-902) Series, is scheduled for release in about a month.

LearnKey Announces First Key Contributor Award

At LearnKey, the 2016 year is starting off great as we get to recognize one of our people who lives and breathes our core values of Ease, Value and Trust. It gives me great pleasure to announce that Jason Manibog is the first recipient of LearnKey’s Key Contributor award!

Jason joined LearnKey last June as our Senior IT Instructor and has not only improved the quality of our courses but won over all of our production team members with his “can do” attitude, willingness to help anyone out, and, most of all, working endlessly to improve the learning experience for our students and teachers. At LearnKey, we have been fortunate to keep our core employees; therefore, when someone comes on board they are always welcomed with open arms and set up for success. Jason was so impressed by that he went the extra mile to “seek first to understand, before trying to be understood.” This was most impressive when he traveled to meet each team and member (i.e. in Sales, QC, Writing, and the Design teams) in St. George and Cedar City, UT, to make sure he learned existing processes and then presented ways to improve them that reduced a lot of re-work and down time. Marian Eckley, our Video Production Manager, had this to say about Jason: “a tireless worker, he always gives 110%. The guy is a work horse and will never say no to anyone when they ask for help. Jason always outputs more work than asked for.”

Once again let me congratulate Jason on being our first recipient of this award. We promise to keep him really busy as we have a full plate of courses to be released this year that started with MTA Mobility and Device Fundamentals in January. Now we are focused on A+ 220-901 and 902 exam courses, with Adobe CC soon to follow.

Here’s to a great start for 2016!

Sincerely,

Jeff Coruccini

MTA Mobility and Device Fundamentals Training and Certification Prep Released!

Its great to start the year off with a new course released! I am excited to announce the release of another amazing MTA course. Our MTA Mobility and Device Fundamentals training and certification prep course was released earlier this week.

Project 2013 Exam Prep (74-343) Released!

We recently released our first Exam Prep course. Our Project 2013 Exam Prep Course is complementary with our Project 2013 course with a purpose to provide students with the last bit of preparation and confidence they need to pass their certification exam.

Recently our Senior Instructor Jason Manibog wrote a blog about the great features of this course. We are excited to add more Exam Prep courses to our library. So keep an eye out for additional courses.