Online Collaboration

Recently, I tested WiZiQ for an online meeting with a client, and wrote about the experience. In the comments, Pierre suggested edufire and andy recommended showdocument.

I took a quick look at both sites. Edufire looks like it would be great for running training sessions and small classes. ShowDocument lets you upload and work on files, so that could be a good way to work with a client, without having to install anything.

Bob Ryan commented that he plans to use DimDim for his business. I set up an account there, and ran a trial meeting, which worked well, but my screen settings seem slightly different, after using their screen sharing option.

For yesterday’s meeting with my client, I tried Office Live Meeting (OLM). Before the meeting, I set up a practice session, the tested the controls and settings. You can upload files, and share the screen, or a portion of the screen. Also, you can share a specific program, so that’s the option I used most of the time.

OLM was my favourite online meeting tool so far. I could pass the controls to my client, so we could both test the Access database that we were discussing.

I had to use Internet Explorer, instead of Firefox, and there are some components to download and install. But, most people have a computer that’s full of Microsoft products anyway, so that might not be too big a hurdle.

Dick had volunteered to be a guinea pig, if I tested WiZiQ again (thanks, Dick!). I’ll be trying OLM again, to see how some of the fancier tools work, so may he’ll agree to join that test session, if I set something up for later this week.

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More Online Meeting Tests

Last week I tried WiZiQ for an online meeting with a client. There were a few snags, that I mentioned in the class evaluation form that popped up when I finished my session.

The next day, someone in the WiZiQ customer support department emailed me, with a few suggestions for improving the audio. He also asked for details on the problems that I had with my uploaded Excel files.

In a followup email, he said that only a one-page portion of an Excel sheet will be visible onscreen. Most of the sheets that I create for clients are considerably bigger than that, so uploaded files won’t be too useful.

I did another test later, with my desktop running a session, and the laptop attending as a guest. That went better than the session with my client (due to better settings, not better guests!), so I’ll try WiZiQ again later.

For a free service, it seems pretty good. It will be a good place to practise this type of interaction, before moving to a paid service.

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FTC Disclosure Icons

New FTC Disclosure regulations for bloggers took effect on December 1st. I’ve added disclosure information to my blogs and website, and hope that’s sufficient.

On Louis Gray’s site today, there’s a set of FTC Disclosure icons that you can download, and use on your blog. There’s one for every level of disclosure, from a free book,

ftc_book 

to shared jail time.

ftc_jail

I won’t need too many of them, but they’ll come in handy if Microsoft decides to send me some stock options!

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Online Training For Clients

Do you do any online, real-time teaching or learning?

A client wanted to learn a bit more about Excel VBA, so we arranged a phone call for today. He sent me a couple of workbooks to use during the session.

The Free Session

I thought it might help if we could both see the same screen, so I set up my first training session on WiZiQ, where I have a free account. I had attended a training session there in 2008, and it went reasonably well. There’s a whiteboard for interaction, and you can upload files to use during the session. You can also record the session, for attendees to download later.

The session was set up as private, and I sent an invitation to my client. He had to register and log in, but said the process was quick and easy. If I upgraded to an Organization account, attendees would not have to register.

A Few Problems

It took us a couple of minutes to sort out the optional settings for audio and video. I enabled my audio and video, and could allow attendees to share theirs.

The uploaded Excel files didn’t work too well. Instead of sheet names, I could select “Page 1, Page 2, etc.” from a drop down list. Only a portion of the sheet showed, which was a problem. There was no way to see the VBE, as far as I could tell.

We gave up, and used the phone instead, with each of us having the same workbooks open on our desktops. That worked fine, as it has in the past.

Try Again

Later, I went back to WiZiQ, and found a Share Screen setting. I’ll set up a test for myself later, and see if that’s a better option. Then I can round up a guinea pig or two, and try an online session.

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I Have a Question

If you have an Excel blog, or have written an Excel book, or ever answered a question in an Excel newsgroup, you probably get questions in your email inbox.

Most of the emails can be answered by pointing the person to Google, or to the Microsoft newsgroups. A few questions are asked politely and clearly, and a short answer will suffice, so I answer those.

If people contact me about one of my pivot table books, I try to help them. They’ve invested in me, and I want to help them get the most from that investment.

Today, a reader asked about the Report Filters in one of the examples in my Beginning Pivot Tables book. He told me which book he had, mentioned the chapter and page number, and asked the question very clearly. Oh, and he spelled both my first and last names correctly!

Now that’s how you get help, as soon as possible. I’ll have to remember to do those things myself, if I ever run into problems with someone else’s material.

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Interactive Excel Learning

Thanks for participating in my Online Excel Tutorials survey last week. There were 21 votes, and I wasn’t surprised that 57% or the votes were in favour of written instructions. Written tutorials with screen shots are my favourite way to learn online.

Only 2 people voted for short videos, but in the comments, Mathias said that videos were slowly growing on him, and I agreed. They can be a helpful supplement to written material, allowing you to see some or all of the steps performed. Maybe bookmarks or captions of some kind would help, so you could skim through the video, and get to the specific section you need.

What did surprise me was the 33% vote for interactive lessons. My experience with those is limited, so if you like interactive lessons, could you let me know where you find them?

I tried a virtual lab on the weekend, to test PowerPivot, so perhaps that’s the kind of thing that people find useful. The hands on lab let me test the PowerPivot without installing tons of stuff on my machine, and had written instructions at the side, to guide me through the steps.

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Web Host Problems

This blog was down for most of the day, but seems to be fully functional again. It’s hosted on DreamHost, and the System Status forum there was full of complaints, as you’d expect.

Apparently the servers were down for a few hours last week too, and people in the forum were complaining about lost sales in the holiday season. Other posters pointed out that if you depend on a server for your income, you should invest in a top quality service. Don’t depend on a shared server, using a service plan designed for personal use or small businesses.

My main site, Contextures, and Contextures Blog, have been hosted by longhead.com since 2001. Longhead is owned by Jake Marx, a former Excel MVP.  There have been a couple of blips along the way, but the customer service is great, and the few problems have been sorted out very quickly.

I hope your web site is on a dependable server, and the web host gives you great customer service.

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Online Excel Tutorials

Do you learn about Excel online, through blog posts, websites, or video libraries? I’d really appreciate your comments on these two questions:

A. What kind of online Excel tutorials do you like best (explained below)?

(polls)

B. Have you always liked that type of online instruction, or did your preference change at some point in the Excel learning curve?

Written Instructions

When I started the Contextures website, my Excel tutorials had simple written instructions, with key points illustrated with screen shots. Sometimes I’d add a circle or arrow to the screen shot, or a line and label, to make things clearer.

For example, here’s a tutorial for Excel conditional formatting examples.  It has lots of words, and a few pictures. You can skim through the page to find a specific topic, or work your way from  top to bottom, trying the examples.

There’s also a link to a sample file that readers can download, to follow the tutorials.

Short Video Tutorials

A few years ago I dabbled briefly with Camtasia Studio, and created a short pivot table tutorial. It explained how to change pivot table data fields from vertical to horizontal (warning – the sound comes on immediately). Apparently I was speaking into a tin can while recording it, but it is short, and to the point.

In early 2008, I started recording Excel video tutorials again, using a newer version of Camtasia Studio. The quality was a bit better, and I posted them on my Contextures YouTube channel, and embedded them in my website.

The feedback has been very positive, and the videos have been viewed thousands of times.

Interactive Learning

Recently, I heard about ViewletCam software that lets you create interactive videos. The output can be SWF (Flash) files, so you could put them on the website directly, since they’re much smaller than video files.

I haven’t tried this software, but it might be a good middle ground, where words aren’t enough and a video is too much.

Maybe people remember things better if they try them onscreen, instead of reading or watching.

Webinar

Have you attended any Excel webinars? I’ve signed up for a few non-Excel webinars, of varying quality, but nothing Excel related. In a webinar, you could see an Excel technique demonstrated, and ask any questions that you had.

What Do You Prefer?

So, going back to my original questions, I’d love to hear what you think. It’s not a scientific survey, just gathering opinions, so please vote, and comment on both questions, or just one, or make up your own question and answer that. 😉

A) Do any of these online Excel training tools appeal to you?

B) If so, have you always preferred that type of online Excel training?

Thanks!

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