Appraisal of tutorial materials/Evaluation Report for Microsoft Office 2013 New Features

Material evaluated

Lynda online course entitled "Microsoft Office 2013 New Features"

Structured Evaluation

• Was this video tutorial appropriate for a complete beginner using Microsoft Word 2013 for the first time?

This tutorial was appropriate for a beginner user of Microsoft Office because the video wasn’t too long, it was simple to understand and the overview was straight forward.

• Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

The production material was good; the clarity for both the video and audio was perfect.

• Rate the duration of the introductory chapter

4 out of 5, I’m sure if it was longer it would have been too much information; it covered all the topics without overloading you with information.

Other comments about the material

I found that I would have to watch the entire video clip immediately; there were a lot of topics to cover, plus the content was very interesting and informative. And I keep going back to the tutorial, to improve my knowledge of the new operating system.

Searching for equivalent, freely accessible alternatives to the Lynda resource

The search process

Using YouTube, I only had to enter the words Office 2013 New Features; the one time only and it came up straight away. It also had quite a few options to pick from.

• Note the time it takes to watch some of the videos or read the resources you find in those searches to get an idea of whether or not it will be useful, is the same sort of level as Lynda resource, or covers the same sort of material.

The video was only 3 minutes long; it was on the same level as Lynda.com and covers the same material.

GCF Free Learning

• Was the material appropriate to my level (beginner user of Microsoft Office, completely new to LinkedIn platform, undergraduate student applying for first job, etc)? Why would you say it was appropriate/inappropriate?

Yes the material was appropriate for a beginner for Microsoft Office, it provided good and easy to understand examples as well as exercises.

• Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

The video was of good quality and the audio easy to understand. It was produced really well.

• Does the website provide you with links to other materials that might give you more information or detail on how to use the software/platform? E.g. related videos, links to other websites.

YouTube was a very useful site, there were a number of other links; you could connect to other tutorials.I think YouTube provided a better tutorial video that was easier to understand and had examples to which you could work from.

• Go to a common public search platform – such as Google or YouTube – and search for a similar resource.

I typed in Microsoft Office 2013 –Lynda.com (minus Lynda.com) and came up with ‘New Features in Microsoft Office Project 2013’. It only took the one search and I was able this site straight away.

• Note the time it takes to watch some of the videos or read the resources you find in those searches to get an idea of whether or not it will be useful, is the same sort of level as Lynda resource, or covers the same sort of material.

The duration of the video clip was 2.21s and it was as well very similar to the other tutorials.

IT how to vids

• Was the material appropriate to my level (beginner user of Microsoft Office, completely new to LinkedIn platform, undergraduate student applying for first job, etc)? Why would you say it was appropriate/inappropriate?

I believe the material was appropriate for a beginner, the clip provided enough information for any beginner to get a good start.

• Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

4 out of 5, the material was good quality for both audio and visual. The tutor had a clear voice and there were plenty of examples on the screen for me to work from.

• Rate according to clarity of audio and video, syncing of audio and video – were lips moving at the right time?

4 out of 5, it was a little too quick; it could have a bit longer.

Summary

It didn’t really matter which tutorial you watch, every video clip that I watch was pretty helpful. It covered the broad subject of the essential use of Microsoft 2013. All the tutorials were good quality and effective in their teachings, and I was left confidant with the task of navigating through MS 2013.