Appraisal of online tutorial materials/Evaluation report for MS Word 2013 Essential Training

Material evaluated
Lynda online course entitled "Word 2013 Essential Training".

Structured Evaluation

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

The video was straightforward, easy to access and very understandable. The direction the facilitator took was straight into the work, helping you understand each tab, each function and what can you do.


 * 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

It didn’t take too long, it was concise and to the point.

Other comments about the material
I would watch it over a few weeks; I would use it with every Word document that I created or maintained. The video was very helpful and I would use it quite often, with keeping my skills up to date.
 * I was asked to consider if I would keep watching the whole course to learn more about the subject, either immediately or over several weeks or months.


 * I found that I could apply the skills learnt through the Introduction but I’d keep watching the tutorial because it doesn’t cover enough of Word in the Introduction.


 * The online course from Lynda.com demonstrated the process of saving Word documents into SkyDrive, attaching YouTube clips onto a Word document. This may not be standard in other introductory guides to Microsoft Office.

I wouldn’t watch the video tutorial before actually using Word. Although Word is not as complicated as Excel it’s still fairly complicated to work with. And I would need to be somewhat familiar with functions and tabs before actually sitting down learning the application properly.
 * I was asked to consider whether the course would have helped me when I first started using MS Word.
 * Having an information booklet to help with creating a Word document would be more helpful than a video tutorial.

Searching for equivalent, freely accessible alternatives to the Lynda resource
The search process Using Google search engine I revised the alternative search a number of times. I started with search terms 'Word 2013 Tutorial', 'Word Tutorial' and 'Word 2013'. I had some problems with the search engine, all I could find was Lynda.com tutorials; I eventually found a clip on YouTube by SimonSezIt.com

SimonSezIt.com video tutorial on Microsoft Word
 * I was asked to note the time it takes to watch some of the videos to get an idea of whether or not they would be useful, pitched at the same sort of level as Lynda resource, or cover the same sort of material.

The video tutorial from SimonSezIt.com was 9 minutes long. It covered a lot of information, but as an introduction to Word 2013 as a tutorial for Word, it just went too long.

I returned to the search results and selected Microsoft Word 2013 Training - The Workspace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iHWcTZcXy8

The Workspace video tutorial on Microsoft Word
 * Was the material appropriate to beginner level? Why would you say it was appropriate/inappropriate?

The Workspace resources wasn’t appropriate for a Microsoft beginner. There was too much information and I probably would have needed to ask an IT consultant for extra assistance when I found myself in a position of difficulty.


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

The clip was of really good quality but the audio quality wasn’t very good.


 * 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.

Replicating the search using Google search
I went to the Google search page, clicked on Advanced Search, typed in Word 2013 Essential Training, found the Menu Bar and scrolled down to select videos. I found a clip on YouTube by Learnit Training Learnit Training

Learnit Training video tutorial on Microsoft Word
 * Duration

The clip was 10:45s in duration, it took twice the amount of time to watch when compared to Lynda.com. Although the amount of time the clip took, it still covered about the same amount of information as the Lynda tutorial.


 * Was the material appropriate to beginner level?

No, it definitely wasn’t. The material was way too advanced. This was compounded by poor production quality (see below).


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

The production quality wasn't ver good; I could barely hear the tutor or understand what he was trying say, the screen Learnit was trying to use was way too small which made it difficult to see what the tutor was demonstrating. I'd rate the production quality at 1 out of 5 (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest).


 * Rate the duration of the video or the time spent reading the webpage – did you feel it took too long to explain everything? Was it too quick? Was there too much text to read?

2 out 5 It took twice the amount of time.


 * 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.


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


 * Note down how many times you have to revise your search terms to get the results you think you want. Make a list of the different searches (easiest way is to copy and paste each new search into Word or other document).

Went to Google search menu, type in Microsoft Word 2013 Training Introduction, then went to menu and clicked onto Video.


 * 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.

It took about 9:04s to watch the clip.

Shift Key Solutions video tutorial on Microsoft Word Shift Key Solutions


 * Was the material appropriate to beginner level?

Yes it was appropriate; the clip started from the beginning and went through the introduction and overview of the tutorial, and then I was able start learning the different functions and other capabilities. It was, however, very similar to the Lynda.com tutorial but I did learn how to insert a video into a Word document.


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

It was excellent quality; 4 out of 5 (5 being the highest).

I believe in this case the duration was the right amount of time for the concepts being explained.
 * Duration of the video

Summary
It is pretty essential to receive MS Word training, it's finding the right course for the person. In this regard, I think Lynda is the right training program. And it's better training program because of the organised way it was delivered. The other video clips are almost as good as Lynda but using a search engine you could find the clips but you could find watching which is already halfway through the tutorial, which goes back to the organised manner the Lynda tutorial was delivered.