[nabs-l] Free lesson on Microsoft Excel Pivot Table

[Phil]

Hi everyone,

 My name is Phil So. I am designing a course on Microsoft Excel Pivot
 Table for blind and low vision computer users. I'm recruiting both
 screen-reader and magnification users who are interested in receiving
 a brief 30-minute Excel Pivot Table lesson over the phone for
 absolutely free.  In exchange I'd be very grateful if you would give
 me constructive feedback to help me improve the clarity and relevance
 of the lessons. If you are interested in becoming a participant,
 please send me an email at philso1003 at gmail.com.  You should have
 basic knowledge of Excel but do not need to have any prior knowledge
 about Pivot Table.
 Thanks everyone! Please also read the information and article below
 for more about Pivot Table.

 Best,
 Phil So

 FYI, many professionals cite Pivot Table as one of the most important
 and useful Excel skills to have. A search on job search site
 Indeed.com for "Pivot Table" yields job results such as Research
 Assistant, Operation Assistant, Program Evaluation Research Analyst,
 Digital Marketing Assistant, Education Policy Analyst, Cancer Service
 Program Coordinator, Payroll Analyst, E-Commerce Manager, Business
 Analyst, Financial Analyst, Survey Research Assistant, Sales Analyst.
 Click on the links below to see jobs that require Pivot Table:

 Sample Los Angeles job search results:
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22pivot+table%22&l=los+angeles


 Lastly, below is an article called "5 Microsoft Word and Excel Skills
 You Must Have to Succeed At Your Workplace". Pay attention to skill
 #3!

“Get that report to me, ASAP!” That’s the line that can stricken many
 office workers with abject terror and fear. Well, it doesn’t have to
 be that way, if you can develop at least 5 essential Microsoft Office
 skills.

 What are these Microsoft Office skills?

 If you are expected to write up any kind of report, analyze
 information, or give occasional presentations, you’ll want to make
 sure you’ve got these skills.

 Microsoft Excel Skills

 Skill #1: Make Use Of Autofill
 You can save a tremendous amount of time with two methods of filling
 in data in Excel. Skill #1 is the “autofill” feature –  filling out
 numbered data in columns and rows.  While tutoring a realtor on how to
 use Excel to replace his paper financial documentation, I learned
 quickly that many people are not aware of this one, single feature of
 Excel that can save hours of data entry. To use it, simply type
 anything into the first cell that ends in a number.
 Click and hold the lower-right corner of the cell, and drag the mouse
 down the column. You’ll notice that the number on the right will
 automatically increment for each cell.

 Skill #2: Use Autofill For Formulas
 Skill #2 to learn is using autofill for formulas. If you write a
 function at the bottom of each column – for example averaging all of
 the values in that column – you can use this same autofill feature to
 do the same calculation at the bottom of each other column as well.
 You’ve basically performed the identical formula for every column in
 just a few seconds, and you didn’t even have to type another
 keystroke.

 Skill #3: Manage Data Easily With The PivotTable Tool
 The third skill you really need to learn in Excel if you want to save
 yourself a tremendous amount of analysis time is a tool called a
 PivotTable.  PivotTable is accessible under the “Insert” menu. Just
 look for the “PivotTable” icon. If you click this icon after
 highlighting an entire table of data (including headers), the
 PivotTable tool summarizes, organizes and analyzes that data and
 brings it into a new sheet where you can manipulate that data in
 various ways.
 The PivotTable tool allows you to select the columns of data that you
 want to analyze, and then choose how you want to manipulate the data.
 Simply add them all up? Average them? Calculate the standard
 deviation?

 Using a PivotTable saves a tremendous amount of time. To accomplish
 these same things in a standard Excel sheet would require all sorts of
 functions and re-formatting data. PivotTables automatically do the
 work, while you can spend more of your time studying the results.



 Microsoft Word Skills

 Skill #4: Format & Re-Use Headers
 The reason headers are important is because once you have a good
 header design for something like a letter or a certain type of report
 that you have to fill out, you never have to design or create that
 header again. You can save a document with all of the header
 formatting you need, and save all of that effort the next time you
 create the same document. Headers can be formatted by clicking on the
“Insert” menu and choosing the “Header” icon.

 Once you review the header editing menu, you’ll see just how versatile
 and useful headers can be. You can automatically have headers
 alternate between two designs between even and odd pages, and you can
 even break your document into sections and give each section its own
 unique header.

 This flexibility allows you to automate all of the repeat sections of
 documents for the various documents you have to write up for your job,
 saving a tremendous amount of time.

 Skill #5: Manage Page Layout
 The next Microsoft Word skill that every office worker should know is
 how to set up and preview the page format of any document.
 Understanding how to do this gives you the flexibility to make a
 document look however you want, rather than being stuck with the
 default settings for things like page margin size (which many people
 have no clue how to change).
 A few of the tools you should learn to format page layout are on the
“Insert” menu. Things like the “Page Number” tool, which will automate
 and manage the page numbering for you.

 The bulk of the page formatting options you need are actually on the
 aptly named “Page Layout” menu.  If you’re writing up a newsletter for
 your company, why mess around with manually trying to work out the
 formatting into sections of the page when you can just use the
“Columns” tool found here to do this?

 And that mysterious margin around the page that most people call their
 local IT technician to learn  how to modify? Don’t bother calling,
 just click on the “Page Borders” icon, go to the “Page Border” tab,
 and click on “Options.”

You can set top, bottom, left and right page margins there. By the
 way, on that “Borders and Shading” menu, check out all of the other
 cool things you can do, like place border lines on any side of the
 page, apply to only sections of the document, and much more.
 Learning these MS Word and Excel skills, you’ll impress everyone in