Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Workplace Technologies - Photoshop

Today, I learned how to use Photoshop for the first time. While using Photoshop, I learned how to edit photos, create a slideshow, straighten a photo as well as take wrinkles out of photos. This is the first time that I had to ever use Photoshop. My mom owns this program for their business, so it is helpful for their business when creating trophies, plaques, shirts and/or coffee mugs for their clients. At my place of work, I really do not think this could be of any use. With working for attorneys we really do not use pictures. In the field of employment law, we never have to deal with pictures so we wouldn't have to "restore" any pictures of any kind. Now, if I were to go further with my education and go into the field of art, then this could be extremely useful in my career. Since I am still undecided on what I plan on doing after graduating, I am not sure what I would use Photoshop for. That is to be determined later on. After class today, I plan on going over what I as a team member need to go over to work on our team projects next week. Next week, my group is going to working on the Dragon Naturally Speaking and Voice Recognition. So, for next week, I will need to have read the instructions sheet provided for the group on Blackboard.

Workplace Technologies - Scanning

Scanning on day 4 of Workplace Technologies was what I couldn't wait for. We finally learned how to create forms that you can fill in on the computer without handwriting everything in. This I really liked out of all the technologies that we have learned so far. I believe this way of scanning can benefit not just me but many people. At my place of work, I feel that this could be extremely beneficial. While working in an attorneys office, we have to file many things online and in turn have to convert a word document into a pdf document. So when the forms are not able to be filled in on the computer, we have to print the forms out, use a typewriter to fill in the form and then scan the document in, save it as a pdf and then file it online. I believe this could save a lot of headache and can make filing online easier and faster. I find that this would be very helpful in my career and/or job because it would be a lot easier to fill out forms and not have to worry about writing neatly. At my place of work, I still use a typewriter that almost every day wants to crash on me and stop working so I think that this would benefit the office I work for as well as many offices in the greater Toledo area and all around the world. Before the next class, I will be completing my scanning homework and talking to not only my coworkers who would absolutely love this program, but my boss as well. I hope by the time I talk to them, that he would consider purchasing this amazing software.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Day 3 of Workplace Technologies with OneNote

Day 3 of Workplace Technologies has already come and gone. Today, we learned how to use the Microsoft program, OneNote. I really like this program. I believe it could be an essential program for my workplace. I feel it could be easy to use and everyone in the office could use it, even the attorneys. In OneNote, I learned that you can grab documents from other programs and convert them into OneNote as a page in your notes. While completing my homework, I found at one particular part, OneNote is a lot like the paint software that comes with most if not all computers. When using OneNote at work, I complete a lot of dictation on a daily basis. This would be an awesome program for my boss to use for dictation. I feel it would be a lot easier and more cost effective because instead of using a Dictaphone and a device for me to hear the tape and type what I am hearing, all I would need is to open OneNote. You wouldn't have to worry about purchasing cassette tapes every time a tape is eaten up by the Dictaphone. Everything is saved in the program on the computer and nothing can get ruined. This would also help in my career and/or job because it is easier to keep notes with OneNote. Right now, I keep notes on post-it's and if you were to look at my desk at work, it is very neat and organized, but I have a blob of yellow post-it notes all over. I believe OneNote would help me organize my notes more professionally so my workspace at work will look more neat and/or organized. Before the next class, I will be completing my OneNote homework and hopefully able to talk my boss into purchasing this program. I love it and hope that I can get the chance to use it every day.