1.2  Perform tasks using Word.

Read the instructor’s biography and post your own.

Read Ch. 1­–3 (WD 1–WD 213) in the Microsoft® Word 2007 section of Microsoft® Office 2007.

Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Formatting Issues

2.1  Diagnose common problems encountered in Word.

2.2  Troubleshoot common technical issues within Word.

Knowing Where You Placed Your Document

Microsoft® Word Exercise

Complete the following tasks by using the Microsoft® Word document provided within Course Materials:

·         Change the document body to left alignment.

·         Correct any header and footer misspellings.

·         Set margins at 1 inch.

·         Wrap text around graphics.

·         Insert page numbers within the header.

·         Replace the existing date with the auto date function.

·         Set the hanging indention for all paragraphs at .25 inch.

·         Create a comment for the introductory paragraph.

·         Change bullet point styles.

·         Create a table of contents using the Table of Contents feature.

Part II

Read the following scenarios:

You are working at a support desk for a company providing onsite and telephone support to customers with Microsoft® Word questions. On this particular day, you are presented with the following three situations:

Situation 1: A student, planning to attend a local college in the fall, has been told to purchase word processing software for an English class. He is currently looking to buy Microsoft® Word, but he wants to know the major functions of this software.

Situation 2: A woman, who owns her own business, calls the support desk looking to create a Microsoft® Word template for mail sent to customers. She wants each letter to look similar; she is also tired of cutting and pasting her company logo and contact information into each letter.

Situation 3: An employee working in the human resources department of your company is writing the Employee Handbook. He wants to insert various headers and footers in different sections of the handbook, but needs it all to be contained in a single Microsoft® Word file. He tells you that he has already set section breaks within the handbook, but all headers and footers he has inserted are the same for all sections. He asks you why this is happening and how he can fix it.

Write a 1-page response for each of the three situations. Include the following in each response:

·         Identify a general approach for facilitating the customer over the telephone. What are possible challenges in the given situation? What strategies would help you overcome the challenges?

·         If causes to the problem or question described by the customer are unclear in the situation, explain how you would further diagnose the problem or question.

·         Once the causes are identified, describe a step-by-step troubleshooting process to help the customer complete the task.

·         If the customer has problems understanding your instructions, briefly explain an alternative solution.

3.1  Identify the functions of Excel®.

3.2  Perform tasks using Excel®

Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Simplifying Your Excel® Usage

4.1  Diagnose common problems encountered in Excel.

4.2  Troubleshoot common technical issues within Excel.

The Risk of Macros

Microsoft® Excel® Exercise

·         Format appropriate cells for currency.

·         Merge title cells.

·         Construct a bar graph using the existing data and provide labels and a legend.

·         Insert a border around data.

·         Freeze the first column of the data set.

·         Sort the daily spending amounts in ascending order.

·         Using the Tools menu, set the Excel spreadsheet to be protected.

·         Calculate the sum of the entire data set.

·         Calculate the average of the entire data set.

·         Delete any empty cells between the data cells to condense the data.

Read the following scenario:

You are working at a support desk for a company providing onsite and telephone support to customers with Microsoft® Excel® questions. On this particular day, you are presented with the following three situations:

Situation 1: A business professional wants to use Microsoft® Excel® to organize data for the monthly expense report. He has never used Microsoft® Excel® and is inquiring about the functions that would support him with this task.

Situation 2: A husband is having difficulties with his Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet. He has been trying to track his monthly grocery spending to find the daily average he spends on food. The spreadsheet is organized by day, and for the days in which no groceries were purchased, he enters zero. He is seeking assistance to calculate the correct monthly average.

Situation 3: A local grocery store owner has created a spreadsheet containing the types of inventory she carries within the store. The spreadsheet contains 235 different kinds of inventory, defined by price, quantity on hand, ordered quantity, and category. She loses her placement every time she scrolls through the data set. She wants to know how to effectively scroll through the data sheet and manage this large data set.

Team up with another student assigned by the facilitator.

Discuss how to diagnose and troubleshoot the situations.

Write a 1-page response for each of the three situations. Include the following in each response:

·         Identify a general approach for facilitating the customer over the telephone. What are possible challenges in the given situation? What strategies would help you overcome the challenges?

·         If causes to the problem or question described by the customer are unclear in the situation, explain how you would further diagnose the problem or question.

·         Once the causes are identified, describe a step-by-step troubleshooting process to help the customer complete the task.

·

·         If the customer has problems understanding or following your instructions, briefly explain an alternative solution.

Complete your written responses individually.

5.1  Identify database principles.

5.2  Perform Access tasks.

Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Mail Merging

6.1  Diagnose common problems encountered in Access.

6.2  Troubleshoot common technical issues within Access.

Analyzing Data

Microsoft® Access® Exercise

·         Create a database consisting of two tables.

·         Name both tables.

·         Create fields for each table. The first table must contain the following fields:

o    Student ID number

o    First name

o    Last name

o    Gender

o    Phone number

o    Address

o    Major

o    Minor

·         The second table must contain the following fields:

o    Student ID number

o    Course

o    Letter grade

·         Establish a primary key for each table.

·         Create a relationship between the two tables.

·         Set appropriate properties for all fields.

·         Enter at least five mock student records in the first table. In the second table, enter at least three courses for each student listed in the first table.

·         Create a report containing student ID numbers, first names, last names, courses, and letter grades for all students.

·         Create a query to search for students who received an A in a course. Display student ID number, first name, and last name in the query.

Read the following scenarios:

You are working at a support desk for a company providing onsite and telephone support to customers with Microsoft® Access® questions. On this particular day, you are presented with the following three situations:

Situation 1: Jack, a veterinarian, has experienced tremendous growth within his business. All animal records are shelved in folders and are sorted alphabetically by the owner’s name. Jack is ready to rid himself of the time and space these files take and has inquired about Microsoft® Access®. He wants to know about the key functions of using Microsoft® Access® and how a table, query, primary key, and a report are important to his database needs.

Situation 2: Frank has created a database to inventory his customers’ past due accounts to ensure that he receives payment. He has created two tables: one for customer demographics, and the other for the type of service rendered. When he creates a report, the customers’ demographics are all that show and not the amount that is past due.

Situation 3: Stephanie has been using a Microsoft® Access® database and queries to track her commemorative plate collection. She recently discovered that her plates have serial numbers and decided to record these within her database. When she replaced each plate’s ID with the appropriate serial number, she was unable to use her queries. She wants to know why this has happened. Stephanie also wants to know if each serial number is unique or similar to the assigned ID number she has used in the past.

Write a 1-page response for each of the three situations. Include the following items in each response:

·         Identify a general approach for facilitating the customer over the telephone. What are possible challenges in the given situation? What strategies would help you overcome the challenges?

·         If causes to the problem or question described by the customer are unclear in the situation, explain how you would further diagnose the problem or question.

·         Once the causes are identified, describe a step-by-step troubleshooting process to help the customer complete the task.

·         If the customer has problems understanding your instructions, briefly explain an alternative solution.

7.1  Identify the functions of PowerPoint.

7.2  Perform tasks using PowerPoint.

Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Other Uses for PowerPoint®

8.1  Diagnose common problems encountered in PowerPoint.

8.2  Troubleshoot common technical issues within PowerPoint.

Pitfalls to a Presentation

Microsoft® PowerPoint® Exercise

·         Create a Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation with at least six slides.

·         Make the topic of the presentation on how a support desk can communicate effectively with customers.

·         Create a master slide with a logo, footer, and font.

·         Add notes to each slide.

·         Insert a graphic or picture.

·         Implement a background.

·         Place a text box in the title slide with your name.

·         Insert transitions for each slide.

·         Adjust text alignment in the title slide so it is centered.

·         Insert an organizational chart.

Read the following scenarios:

You are working at a support desk for a company providing onsite and telephone support to customers with Microsoft® PowerPoint® questions. On this particular day, you are presented with the following three situations:

Situation 1: Susan, a pharmaceutical representative, must create a presentation about a new drug recently approved by the FDA. She wants to know the main functions of Microsoft® PowerPoint®. Susan’s gathered data includes graphs, videos, and statistics of the new drug.

Situation 2: The training department from a local electronics store provides presentations to newly hired employees about the company and its operations. There are four different presentations created by four different people. The training supervisor wants to unify all four presentations into one without manually manipulating each slide.

Situation 3: Tim, a college sophomore, is having trouble with a Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation he e-mailed to himself from the library’s computer. When he executes the presentation, the slides change too fast, the font changes, and the audio from each transition does not match. Tim wants to know why this has happened and what can fix it.

Write a 1-page response for each of the three situations. Include the following in each response:

·         Identify a general approach for facilitating the customer over the telephone. What are possible challenges in the given situation? What strategies would help you overcome the challenges?

·         If causes to the problem or question described by the customer are unclear in the situation, explain how you would further diagnose the problem or question.

·         Once the causes are identified, describe a step-by-step troubleshooting process to help the customer complete the task.

·         If the customer has problems understanding or following your instructions, briefly explain an alternative solution.

9.1  Identify the functions of Outlook® Express.

9.2  Perform tasks within Outlook® Express.

9.3  Produce a technical manual addressing common Microsoft® Office errors encountered by low-level users.

Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

·         Create a draft of an application support checklist for Outlook®. You should first identify and diagnose five frequent errors in Outlook®. Each error must then offer possible diagnosing strategies and troubleshooting tactics. Provide an alternative support approach for each error for customers who might be at a lower skill level.

Common Microsoft® Office Errors

·         Summary of the application

·         Five common errors for each application

·         Strategies used to diagnose the errors for an array of different audiences

·         Proposed support tactics to resolve the errors for different audiences

Create and submit a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation to summarize your findings. The slideshow should resemble an actual presentation that could be used for training application support staff.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.