Debbie Long

About Debbie Long

My name is Debbie Long. I am the Sr. Training Operations Administrator for Learning Solutions and have been employed by the university for over 33 years. I started my career at JHU in 1980 as a keypunch operator. I sat at a machine and typed in the information which punched little holes into a card. The cards were ran through a machine which sent the data into the mainframe computer. Throughout the years, I was a Data Control Clerk, the very first Help Desk employee for Administrative Computing, a Training Coordinator and now the Sr. Training Operations Administrator. Being part of this creative and very talented team is very rewarding. When I am not in work mode, I love spending time with my family and going to our property in West Virginia.

Posts by Debbie Long:

OneNote 2013

By in Technology Tags: ,

Using_OneNote

In my role, I create marketing emails at least twice a month and collaborate with others to develop content. That’s why I find Microsoft OneNote to be so helpful! I love being able to have a different tab for each collaboration session, searching for content by key words, having the ability to pull content from all kinds of resources, and easily referencing those sources. You can centralize notes, files, projects, and more for FREE using OneNote 2013. Take this Microsoft OneNote 2013 Essentials Course to learn more!

~Michelle Robinson

System Source Learning Center Director

 

iPhone 6 – Tips and Tricks to Make Your Gadget Go!

By in Technology Tags: ,

iPhone6

I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping up with the cool new features of all of my gadgets. Searching out Tips and Tricks websites has become the norm. Luckily, since information is so readily available online, we can all be experts!

Do you have a new Apple iPhone 6? Check out this Tips and Tricks site to get the most out of your iPhone. For instance, learn how to print wirelessly from your iPhone, or create your own shortcut phrases for use when texting. Most of all, have fun and get productive!

Thanks to our learning partners at System Source for writing this article.

 

 

 

Excel 2013 Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

By in Technology Tags: ,

KeyboardShortcuts

Your mouse might get lonely!

I am a big fan of Excel 2013! I spend much of my time there and love learning new shortcuts. I recently found a website offering 10 Quick Time-Saving Excel Shortcuts and I thought I’d share a few with you.

  1. Automatically sum using ALT= 
    Quickly sum the data in the entire column by using this in the first empty cell.
  2. Quickly tab between worksheets using Ctrl, Page Up or Ctrl, Page down
    There’s no need to use the mouse to move to the next worksheet.
  3. Working with lots of data? Move to the beginning or end of a column quickly using Ctrl ↑   or Ctrl ↓ Scrolling can take forever when working with lots of rows of data. This little shortcut is a big time saver!

Many thanks to John Gagnon for putting this together in Search Engine Watch, December 2013. I hope you find it as helpful as I did.

Learning Solutions would like to thank System Source for creating this blog article.

Closing Applications When Not in Use on Your iPad or Windows 8.1

By in Technology Tags: , ,

Ipad

iPad – The way you quit an application changed with iOS7. To close apps, simply:

  • Double-click the Home button to show the running and recently used apps. Each app icon will have a sample page above it.
  • Swipe up on the page (not the app icon), and the page will fly away and the app icon will disappear.

Windows 8.1 – Microsoft says that apps in the Windows Store will not slow down your PC when you are not using them. Once you stop using them, they run in the background and then close after some period of time. However, if you want to close the app manually, simply do the following:

  • Drag it from the top of the screen to the very bottom, or move your mouse pointer to the top of the screen until the title bar appears and then click the Close button in the title bar.
  • Note: If you don’t see the title bar, you do not have the latest update to Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1.

Learning Solutions would like to thank System Source for submitting this article to us.

Learning Interruptus?

By in Learning Tags: ,

Multitasking

I was exploring the Masie’s Learning 2014 Conference website and came across a phrase that I had never seen before but knew exactly what it meant. Our team has had a few discussions on this exact topic, but we did not have a name for it. “Learning Interruptus,” what a perfect name!

For years, people have attended and completed courses that are one or more days long. But busy schedules make it more and more difficult for people to attend such lengthy courses. Although online courses and webinars offer opportunities to learn that are more compressed and controllable, many people start a course but never complete it because of constant interruptions during their work days.

Elliott Masie has defined a few types of Learning Interruptus:

  • Distraction and Work Conflicts: You start to watch a powerful 18 minute TED Talk about leadership styles. The phone rings, a colleague drops by, or your mind wanders to other projects. So you pause the TED Video, hoping to return, but you don’t. Learning Interruptus.
  • Multitasking Becomes Shifting: You start a webinar, prepared to focus on the designated topic. Multitasking takes over and soon you’re reading your email, editing documents, or eating lunch while the webinar continues. You could always go back and watch it again as a streamed segment, but you don’t. Learning Interruptus.
  • Come Back Next Week, Please!: You sign up for an eight-week online course. The first and second weeks are good, efficient, and interesting. By the third week, your attention and priorities shift. So the eight-week program stops at week two. Why didn’t you finish? Learning Interruptus.

I know I have “been there and done that” with at least one of these types. I am sure most of you can relate to these as well. What will the future of workplace learning look like? Only time will tell. I know it has been on all of our minds here at Learning Solutions, and we are continuously working to adjust our approaches and methodologies to make sure our employees are given the chance to learn.

 

Helpful Tips When Preparing to Speak in Public

By in Learning Tags:

Public_Speaking

Need to speak in public? Here are some tips to help you prepare.

Does clothing make the speaker?

Yes, it really does. While wearing a suit or a dress makes you look professional, sometimes your attire can put you in the wrong frame of mind. For example, if your speech is about something humorous, it might not seem so funny if you’re all dressed up. Think about what you are going to be presenting and dress the part.

Vocal variety and gestures

Vocal variety and gestures can add entertainment to your speech. To get people in the back rows to notice you, you should use exaggerated and animated gestures. Your facial expressions and gestures should stand out. Warm up your vocal cords by completing quick voice exercises. The exercises will help relax your voice, control your breathing, and assist you in projecting your voice. You can find voice exercises at www.toastmasters.org/199-YourSpeakingvoice.

Rehearse

Practice your presentation and record it. Watch the recording and analyze your voice volume and speed. Pay attention to your body language, gestures, and facial expressions. Do your facial expressions and body language match your message? Make any alterations you feel are necessary to help you deliver a confident and outstanding presentation.

 

 

Worklife Balance

By in Living Well Tags: ,

circle of balance

What does worklife balance mean to you? It is different for everyone. It depends on how you prioritze your life. What might work for one person will not work for another. This is something you need to discover on your own and find out where your balance line lies. Set your priorities for what you want them to be, not what you think they should be.

Always take time for yourself, even if it is only 5 minutes a day. No matter what you choose to do, make sure it is just for you. You might feel guilty at first, because you are always so concerned about everyone else, but once you start doing this you will find that you become a better person at work and to the ones you love.

Remember, your career is very important to you, whether it is for personal growth or financial reasons. But without your family, friends, and your health, where would you really be?

 

Don’t Allow Fear to Disable You

By in Learning Tags: ,

Fear

False

Evidence

Appearing

Real

 

What fears do you have? Everyone feels fear at different times in life. We allow fear to paralyze who we are. It can affect our performance at work and in our everyday lives. Fear causes people to over analyze things instead of going into action and moving forward. Some people can shake off things a lot easier than others can, which makes it so much easier for them to go after what they want. Others, like me, have a tendency to dwell on their fears, which prohibits them from making progress. We do not try because we are afraid we will fail and if we fail, what will people think?

Most of us will stumble and fall in life at some point. Nobody is perfect. When trying to speak in front of people I do not know, I am always afraid of making mistakes. This fear stays in my mind the whole time I am trying to speak and it causes me to lose my train of thought. The only one that makes this fear real is me.

Erik Wahl was a keynote speaker at a conference I attended a few weeks ago. Part of his keynote speech was on fear. He made me realize the opportunities I could be missing out on and that sometimes it pays to take a risk, take ownership of your ideas, and move ahead. He said you need to find your own definition of risk and determine if the risk is really worth taking. I volunteered to speak to a group at one of our Live Events before we started the session. When I was introduced, I stood up, did not think about all the people sitting there, and kept my head clear of any negative thoughts. I proceeded to talk without the fear. Happy to say, I did not make any mistakes and received applause from the group of people.

This was my first stepping stone. I will continue to take small steps to achieve the goal of speaking in public without making myself crazy days before and during my next speech.

“Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will.”  – W. Clement Stone