Have you noticed that the calendar in Blackboard is… bad. Well, no longer. Blackboard has just released an update (their first significant update to the calendar tool, perhaps ever) to the Calendar tool now that Service Pack 10 is out, which makes calendaring finally useful. Drag-and-drop functionality to move calendar events, the ability to create events for multiple courses from one interface (although not all at once, sadly), automatic calendar entries for anything you set a due date on, even iCal feed functionality! This new calendar may not “have it all” but it is a serious step...

Palomar College pays for the rights for its faculty to work at home with certain Microsoft products.  This is a benefit that is often under-appreciated.   When I give workshops on Office 2010 products, I mention that faculty members can get it though the FCCC (the Foundation for California Community Colleges) and walk them through the steps.  I often see people make notes, but then we move on to other things.  I’ve got a feeling that those notes get lost in the grand rush of things, because I am often asked by workshop attendees later—often much later—how to obtain Office 2010 for $45,...

Did you know it is simple to send SMS text messages from Outlook?  If you read the Outlook help file on this topic your head will start spinning before you get to the really simple instructions you need to make this work.  After reading about Exchange server settings and Windows Mobile devices 6.5 or higher you will be apt to give up and think it is only one of those works-for-MS-fanboys-but-not-for-me things. Not so.  All you really need to know is the text message email address for the party you want to send the text message to, along with their phone number, of course.  Then you simply address...

Do you find yourself typing the same response over and over to students at the beginning of a new semester?  They are having problems logging in; they want to add your class; why isn’t the Blackboard component of your class available?; and so on.  The same repetitive questions.  You could create an online FAQ and refer them there, but that is so impersonal.  It will make a much bigger impression if you email each student directly, and include some personal comments and encouragement.  But how to keep your fingers from wearing out by typing the same thing over and over…?  Quick Parts...

I delivered a What’s New in Office 2010 workshop recently, and I would like to summarize here.  I set myself the task of naming the 5 biggest what’s new features in each of the major office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).  What about OneNote?  Yes, with the advent of web apps it has finally grown up, but more on that below.  The ribbon interface introduced with Office 2007 has now been extended to all the programs, including Outlook, which is the major what’s new with that venerable program.  OneNote and Outlook aside, I have constrained my comments below to the big 3 Office...