Computer Literacy: Use IT or Lose it!

By: Kimberly W. Bartholomew, David W. Johnson, Pat R. Ormond, and Keith R. Mulbery

Abstract

Employers have raised their expectations of Business Management graduates in the area of computer literacy. As Business Schools attempt to provide an environment where students obtain expertise in using computer applications to solve business problems, questions about the success of such programs should be asked. Are students retaining these skills as they advance through their programs, or is there a gap between expectations and students' actual performance? This paper will present an assessment of Business Management students at our institution in the area of office suite computer skills. Findings from hands-on testing and surveys of students and local employers indicate that if students were skilled and confident in their computer skills at one time, by graduation, most students are sadly deficient and have nearly reverted back to their pre-training levels.

Introduction

More than two decades ago the US economy entered what has become known as the “Information Age.” Businesses small and large have invested considerably in computers, networks, and information systems so that today these infrastructures cross all business functions and management levels. In fact, businesses have become totally dependent on information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) for survival. This dependence brings with it an overarching need for technical professionals to install and maintain these infrastructures, but even more importantly, the need for computer and information literate business managers and staff who can use information systems and technology to appropriately operate the business and solve business problems. This need is well documented by surveys of employers who hire business management graduates. Davis (1998), for example, found that 83 percent of 300 corporate recruiters surveyed indicated that basic computer literacy plays an “important” or “very important” role in the hiring process.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which higher education is preparing computer literate business majors who are ready to meet this critical business need. The impetus for the research arose from the observation that a large percentage of business management majors in junior level MIS classes at two different higher education institutions had considerable difficulty in using Microsoft Excel and Access to solve simple business problems. These observations led to the authors' further attempts to measure the extent of this problem and to assess the computer literacy skill levels of business graduates at their current institution.

The next section of this paper provides our working definition of computer literacy. Following this we discuss the approach that most colleges and universities take toward students' attainment and maintenance of computer literacy skills. We next describe the research questions and methods utilized in our attempts to better understand and measure the computer literacy skills of business students as they progress through their educational experience at our current institution. The findings of our research are then presented, and the paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of our findings and recommendations for future actions and research.

What is Computer Literacy?

Students, educators and employers differ in their perspectives when it comes to computer literacy. Students may think they are computer literate if they can beat their friends in a computer game or spellcheck a word document. A teacher may feel students are computer literate if they can use a computer application to complete an assignment without additional tutoring or hand-holding. Employers want productive, highly motivated, computer-savvy employees who can make things happen, now. Every time an employer has to resort to additional training for an unskilled employee, it costs the employer time and money. Whose viewpoint of computer literacy is most valid?

The younger generation of students has a universal view of computer literacy; they want to know how to use the computer for activities that are important to them. Students can be highly motivated to use a computer if peer pressure, entertainment, or saving money is involved. Teachers have an immediate view of computer literacy, often referred to as computer competency. Teachers just want students to be successful solving computer-based problems without any additional work on the teacher's part. Work conducted by Tanyel et al (1999) shows that faculty and employers do not always agree upon the same definition of computer literacy. An employer wants workers who are competent in industry specific computer applications, who can easily learn new computer skills, and who can adapt to new situations. Employers value computing fluency and expertise. In reality, each of these viewpoints is valid if one views computer literacy as a continuum: beginning with computing awareness, computing literacy, computing fluency, and ending with computing expertise (Halaris, 1985). The skills and knowledge of this continuum are ordered by complexity and evolving levels of independency.

The meaning of “computer literacy” has evolved over the last 50 years. Early in the history of computing, computer literacy meant having the ability to program a computer in COBOL or Assembly Language. The advent of integrated computer environments and application suites and the prevalent use of microcomputers instead of mainframes have shifted the classification of computer literate persons from those that are low-level tool builders to those who are high-level tool users (Chung, 1994). Modern definitions of this term focus on two areas: “whatever a person needs to know and do with computers in order to function competently in our society” and “a measure of competency to exploit computer technology”(Halaris, 1985). Chung also states that the teaching of computer literacy for business majors should emphasize a “personal needs” approach that recognizes the diverse needs for computer knowledge and skills of individuals in different functional areas (Chung, 1994).

The term, “computer competency”, places emphasis on learning a specific, valued set of computer skills. Many industry-specific computer competency standards have been set. There are skills assessments and industry certifications such as Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) or other vendor-independent certifications such as IC 3 conducted by Certiport Inc. which integrate both performance and knowledge-based modules. The National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS) is a project of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Skill levels that every student should obtain are defined (McCade, 2001). The difficulty in creating a “laundry list” of skills is separating the nice to know from the need to know. The local employment environment may determine a refinement of the skills that are required for computer competency at different educational institutions.

In addition, professionals in the area of Library Science have coined the term “information literacy.” People who are information literate change their focus from “how” to use computers to “when” and “why.” According to McCade (2001), it is essential that all students learn to access information from a variety of sources, both electronic and non- electronic, evaluate the validity of what they find, use the information to solve real problems, and communicate their conclusions using a variety of formats (McCade, 2001). Information literacy requires frequent use of computer skills as students follow the information inquiry process related to their specific disciplines.

For the purposes of narrowing our research focus, we define a limited view of computer literacy. Our focus will be on measuring our business students' computer competency in using a productivity suite of applications, namely the Microsoft office suite that includes: Word, Access, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Attaining and Maintaining Computer Literacy

In 1999, 12 of the higher education institutions in our state collaboratively developed a computer competency standard for business students. This process was necessary to ensure articulation among these institutions when students transfer credits. Students must pass hands-on production tests at 80 percent accuracy in six categories. Windows Operating System and General Computer Information, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Database, Presentations, and Internet and E-mail. See Appendix A for a listing of these specific Business Computer Proficiency Requirements.

All two-year and four-year degrees in the School of Business at our institution require this computer competency in one form or another as a prerequisite for students entering these programs. In order to meet this need, the School of Business offers students a series of course modules that teach the techniques and concepts needed to pass these hands-on tests. Students who have learned these skills on their own or in high school may choose to take the production tests without being enrolled in a course. By the end of their freshman year, most business students should have completed this computer proficiency requirement. Unfortunately, because our school does not enforce course prerequisites very well, some students enroll for advanced courses without having yet completed this computer proficiency.

Business Management majors are also required to take a junior-level Management Information Systems course that is taught as a service course by the Business Computer Information Systems Department. This course incorporates many activities that require students to use the applications found in the office suite to solve basic business problems, or to conduct research and report their findings. Anecdotal evidence suggested to faculty teaching this course that many students were struggling with how to use these computer tools. Some remediation of skills was required to help students successfully fulfill assignments. If faculty were seeing a lack of computer competency as students were given problem solving tasks, were employers of our graduates also dissatisfied with our student's skill level when they entered the workforce? This question prompted our research into the area of student retention of computer competency skills and knowledge that are required at our institution.

Research Questions and Methodology

Following our narrowed, foundational, definition of computer literacy discussed previously, this section details a number of research questions aimed at obtaining a better understanding of how computer literacy skills are attained and maintained as business graduates prepare for employment. These research questions include:

•  What are the computer literacy expectations and assessment from employers of business graduates?

•  What are the various mechanisms for assessing computer literacy skills and which are most appropriate for our environment?

•  What are the computer literacy skill levels of business majors as they progress through the business curriculum?

•  Are there differences in the computer literacy skill levels between various business majors?

•  To what extent do non-computer related business courses build on computer literacy skills taught in the basic computer literacy class?

•  To what extend are computer literacy skill levels dependent on other factors such as time since taking the basic computer literacy course, delivery method (in-class vs. online), and specific course/location where computer literacy skills were learned?

•  Are there differences in computer literacy skill levels between students at different higher educational institutions?

To help answer these questions, both subjective and objective measures of computer literacy were collected from our own students, students at another institution, and from other studies reported in the literature. The need for both objective and self-appraisal testing has been previously recognized (van Vliet et al.,1994). Their research indicates, however, that self-appraisal tests are typically more lenient indicators of performance than objective tests. The research of Karsten & Roth (1998) and Compeau and Higgins (1995) further suggest that measures of student computer self-efficacy can contribute meaningful and demonstrable outcomes assessment information.

Based on these results, we developed several survey instruments to collect data at key points along the business curriculum. The first survey was taken immediately following the freshmen computer literacy class. The second survey was administered at the beginning of the junior level Management Information Systems class required of all business management majors. At the same time, we also administered an objective, hands-on, basic Excel spreadsheet competency exam in order to compare students' self-assessment scores with their actual performance. A final student survey instrument was used to collect data from business majors in their final semester prior to graduation. In addition to these student focused data collection efforts, we also collected data from employers of our graduates. One area that we did not survey was the competency level of incoming freshmen. This was because several other incoming student assessments have been reported elsewhere (Redford, 2001 and Amini, 1993).

In order to help answer the research questions posed above, we utilized several statistical approaches in addition to descriptive statistics. These included correlation, regression, ANOVA, and t-tests.

Findings

In this section we detail the results of our data collection and analysis. The organization of these findings will parallel the research questions posed in the previous section. We discovered that the general practice of declaring students as computer literate following a freshman computer literacy class in not necessarily sufficient. If the newly acquired computer literacy skills are not reinforced and applied throughout the curriculum they are lost at an alarming rate. The end result being that the average computer literacy skill level of Business Management seniors is only slightly higher than that of incoming freshmen – hence the title of our paper “Use IT or loose it!”

Computer Literacy Expectations and Assessment from Employers

Previous studies (Verville, 1995; Levenburg, 1996; Thornburg, 1997) have looked at the question of employer expectations. In each of these studies, computer knowledge and skills are high on the list. Of particular interest to this research is the work of Davis (1999) who surveyed potential employers of students at Cornell University concerning the use of office suite applications. He found that 96 percent of the employers expected at least basic word processing skills, 86 percent basic spreadsheet skills, and 75 percent a basic understanding of presentation software.

As Tanyel et al. (1999) point out; a mission driven business school seeking to meet the needs of area employers must continually assess the local environment. To help us better understand these needs, we conducted phone and mail surveys with 23 local employers of our graduates as indicated on recent alumni surveys. Table 1 summarizes employer's computer literacy expectations of our business management graduates.

	Not Important	Somewhat Important	Important	Very Important
Word Processing	11%	5%	21%	63%
Spreadsheet	5%	0%	32%	63%
Database	5%	21%	53%	21%
Presentation	11%	31%	42%	16%

Table 1: Computer Literacy Expectation of Local Employers

Summing the important and very important columns, we find 84 percent for word processing, 95 percent for spreadsheets, 74 percent for database, and 58 percent for presentations. These expectations are comparable to those reported by Davis (1999).

As part of the same survey we asked the employers to express their confidence in the computer literacy skills of our business management graduates that they have hired. Table 2 summarizes these results.

To test statistically if employer assessment is less than expectation, we performed a paired t-test for each aspect of computer literacy. We found statistical significance for Word (p=.09), Excel (p=.005), and Access (p=.017), but no statistical significance for PowerPoint.

	No Confidence	Little Confidence	Moderate Confidence	High Confidence
Word	7%	20%	47%	27%
Excel	10%	37%	37%	17%
Access	42%	25%	25%	8%
PowerPoint	8%	33%	42%	17%

Table 2: Employer Assessment of Computer Literacy Skills

Subjective and Objective Assessment of Computer Literacy Skills

As discussed earlier, most of our data has been collected as the result of students' self-efficacy assessment of their level of computer literacy. In an effort to help understand the differences between subjective, self-efficacy evaluations and objective assessment, we developed a hands-on, basic Excel proficiency laboratory exercise. This test was given to students in the junior level MIS class during the class period following their self-assessment questionnaire. A scoring rubric was defined to assess basic proficiencies such as column and row headings, simple formulas, summation, and simple graphics. To facilitate the comparison of student self-efficacy ratings with their actual score on the above test, we made the following transformation in the self-efficacy ratings. “High Confidence” was given a score of 90, “Moderate Confidence” a score of 75, “Little Confidence” a score of 60, and “No Confidence” a score of 45. The basic statistics for the two assessments are shown in Table 3.

The hypothesis that the Excel proficiency exam scores were greater than or equal to the self-efficacy scores, using a paired t-test for means were tested. This hypothesis was rejected (p=.00004), leading us to the conclusion that objective scores are less than subjective scores. For our sample the difference in the means was nearly 20 points. More about the relationship between objective scores and subjective scores can be found in the section below discussing the factors affecting computer literacy.

Excel Prof. Exam		Excel Self-Efficacy
Mean	62.24138	Mean	82.03125
Standard Error	4.469837	Standard Error	1.903141
Median	73	Median	90
Mode	90	Mode	90

Table 3: Basic Statistics for Objective and Subjective Assessments

Assessing Computer Literacy Skills across the Curriculum

Business management majors were asked to self-assess their computer literacy skills at three points along the curriculum. The first point was immediately following their freshman computer literacy class, the second at the beginning of their junior-level MIS class, and the third during their senior level capstone course.

Table 4 shows the percent of students that reported a positive confidence in their abilities. A positive confidence is defined as any response in the upper 50 percent of the confidence rating scale.

 

	Incoming Freshmen	After Literacy Class	Prior to MIS Class	Senior Level Capstone Class	Employer
Word Processing	72.2%	97.5%	95.5%	85.0%	74%
Spreadsheet	43.1%	94.0%	75.0%	52.0%	54%
Database	29.0%	89.0%	44.0%	44.0%	33%
Presentation	34.7%	95.0%	78.0%	53.0%	59%

Table 4: Computer Literacy Skill Levels across the Curriculum

We have included two additional columns (shaded) to the table. The first shows similar data for incoming freshmen reported in Radford (2001) and Amini (1993) and the last shows employer ratings of our students' computer literacy levels.

An interesting twist to the above data is that 96 percent of Business Management majors on the senior survey reported positive confidence in their ability to use computers. This paradox mirrors similar data reported by Amini (1993) who reported 74 percent of students considering themselves computer literate yet only 38.5 percent were comfortable with their knowledge of computer software. The following chart, Figure 1, shows the average of the percentages from Table 4.

 

Figure 1: Average Computer Literacy Levels from Table 4

Comparing Computer Literacy Skills of Different Business Majors

In our previous analysis we focused exclusively on Business Management majors. In this section we turn our attention to comparisons with other business majors. The data is taken from the senior survey of other majors including Accounting, Information Systems, Finance, Marketing, and International Business. In Table 5, Finance, Marketing, and International Business were combined due to the limited number of observations. As stated earlier, percentages are positive confidence with the specific application.

	Word Processing	Spreadsheet	Database	Presentation
Information Systems	100%	100%	92%	92%
Accounting	98%	93%	70%	72%
Finance, Mktg., Int'l	97%	83%	52%	69%
Business Management	85%	52%	44%	53%

Table 5: Computer Literacy Skill Levels across Majors

To test statistically for differences between majors, ANOVAs were performed using the self-appraisal scores for each application. No statistical differences were found for word processing skills. Statistically significant differences were found for spreadsheets, however (p=.001). When testing paired differences following ANOVA with alpha=.05, Business Management was found to be statistically different from Information Systems and Accounting. Statistically significant differences were also found for database (p=.0004). Again Business Management was statistically different from Information Systems and Accounting. Finally, significant differences were found for presentation software as well (p=.048). Here the only difference was between Business Management and Information Systems.

Building on Skills Taught in the Basic Computer Literacy Class

In keeping with our theme of “Use IT or Lose it”, we also asked students on the senior survey to estimate the number of times they used Word (during last term), Excel (total number of times), and PowerPoint (total number of times) during their tenure. Access was inadvertently left off the survey. Table 6 summarizes the averages.

	Average # Word/Semester	Average # Excel Total	Average # PowerPoint Total
Business Mgmt.	20.0	10.3	2.9
Accounting	31.6	56.3	3.4
Finance	41.3	30.8	6.8
Marketing	27.5	12.2	5.1
Int'l Business	16.3	12.3	2.9
F,M,I - Combined	24.7	15.4	4.5
Information Systems	32.8	18.3	7.6

Table 6: Average Student Usage of Applications

Table 6 shows that Accounting majors indicate that they have nearly six times the usage of spreadsheets in their academic tenure as do Business Management majors. This may help explain, in part at least, the difference in their Excel literacy scores of 93 percent for Accounting and 52 percent for Business Management majors as shown in previously in Table 5.

When testing for statistical differences between majors using ANOVA, there were statistical differences in Excel usage (p=.0003), and PowerPoint (p=.011). No statistical differences were found in the usage of Word. For Excel, Accounting was found to be different from the other majors. For PowerPoint, Information Systems was found to be different from the other majors.

Factors Affecting Computer Literacy

In an attempt to ascertain the factors that might affect students' computer literacy scores, we utilized t-tests and ANOVAs to analyze the results from the objective Excel exam discussed earlier. The following factors: gender, specific computer literacy class taken, form of computer literacy class (on-line or in-class), location of computer literacy class, grade in computer literacy class, time since taking computer literacy class were tested. No significant differences were found between these factors except for time since taking computer literacy class (p=.071).

We also utilized regression analysis with student's objective score on the Excel exam as independent variable and the student's self-efficacy assessment score together with the above factors as dependent variables. All variables except years since taking computer literacy class and student's self-efficacy assessment were eliminated, leaving us with the following regression equation.

objective score = 1.25 * subjective score – 7.12 * years since literacy class - 25.46

This interesting result gives a sense of measure to our “Use IT or Lose it” hypothesis. Even assuming that an individual's subjective score stays the same over time, which we have seen it does not, the passage of time will lower the objective score approximately 7 percentage points each year.

Comparing Computer Literacy Skills across Institutions

As was previously mentioned, the authors have observed this decreasing computer literacy phenomenon at several other higher educational institutions. In an attempt to solidify this anecdotal evidence, the authors administered the same Excel competency exercise to undergraduate Business Management majors at an AACSB accredited Business School in the Southern U.S. The same individual using the same rubric scored the exams. The results were compared using a two-sample t-test assuming equal variances. No statistically significant differences were found.

Implications and Recommendations

The result of our more formal quest to measure the computer literacy of Business Management majors at our institution has revealed that we are not achieving our goals. After taking an initial course that teaches computer competency in the Office suite applications, students seem able to perform adequately and feel confident in their skills. But, later at the junior level, students seem to have decreased in their ability to perform required assignments in an MIS course, especially in database or spreadsheets. Finally, at the senior level, students surveyed are less confident of their computer skills than they were when they began their studies. This situation is not unique to our institution, as shown in our comparisons to students at another institution.

In a literature review that focused on skills and abilities believed to lead to success for business graduates, Tanyel et al (1999) found the use of technology, working knowledge of computers, computer knowledge, computer competency and computer skills to be listed as necessary competencies. As mentioned earlier, the author cautioned that constant assessment of the needs of important stakeholders is critical. Following this admonition, additional research was conducted to assess local employers' satisfaction level with our business school graduates in the area of computer competency. The results of this localized measurement were also discouraging. Our business graduates are not performing up to the expectations of employers in the areas of spreadsheets or database skills.

A much more difficult problem awaits us as we begin to examine solutions for strengthening the computer literacy component of our Business Management curriculum. As Chung (1994) stated, “We believe that certain intellectual/conceptual aspects of computer literacy cannot be learned effectively in one introductory course; rather, they must be accomplished through subsequent courses which both reiterate the basic knowledge and at the same introduce more sophisticated applications of computer technology in specific discipline areas.” Chung also concluded that a more complex application of computer literacy, like the ability to analyze challenges and opportunities, to communicate possible solutions, and the ability to motivate and coordinate fellow workers are skills that are often are not listed in job descriptions developed by human resource offices. However, these are the very skills that many companies are seeking in today's job market.

There will be no easy fix to this dilemma of helping students to obtain and retain their computer skills. The solution will depend on the support and cooperation of faculty who teach courses in our Business Management program. Future research in this area will examine what kinds of course assignments are currently being given to Business Management majors that require the use of computer applications and where improvements can be made. A computer literate faculty is also necessary to model skills, techniques, and behaviors if we want to deliver a computer literate graduate. Wolfe (1996) states that the most important factor in establishing computer competency in students is the faculty. “The major problem, therefore, to be addressed is how to provide computer literate faculty and having achieved this goal, how to get that particular faculty to incorporate the computer as a tool in the curriculum.”

Wolfe also leads us on a path with this guidance, “Colleges and universities must develop a large body of faculty who are tool users and then capitalize on the few creative ones who can become adapters by providing then with proper incentives.” Measurements of computer literacy should also become more advanced as faculty increase their skills and their expectations for students.

The challenge of computer literacy and retention cannot not reside solely on the department or faculty who teach courses on computer literacy (MIS or other IT courses that service Business Management programs). The vision must come from the Administration of the Business School and the institution to require and facilitate a computer literate business faculty and to empower them so they are excited about incorporating computer applications into the areas of problem-solving at every level of the curriculum. If we believe our students need the advantage of functioning at a competent and skilled level of computer competency, then like other movements to incorporate Writing and Ethics across the curriculum, our Business School vision statement should include faculty training in IT skills, making hardware and software resources available, and providing incentives for faculty who will then be able to model the behaviors and skills most in demand for our graduates.

*Professor Kimberly W. Bartholomew, M.S., is an Associate Professor; Dr. David W. Johnson is an Associate Professor; Pat R. Ormond, M.S. is a Professor; and Keith R. Mulbery, M.S. is an Associate Professor at Utah Valley University. All teach in the Business Computer Information Systems Department.

 

References

Amini, M. (1993). Assessing Computer Literacy of Business Students in a Regional University . Journal of Information Systems Education , 5(3).

Chung S. Kim & Nancy K. Keith (1994). Computer Literacy Topics: A Comparison of Views within a Business School . Journal of Information Systems Education , July, Volume 6, Number 2.

Compeau, D. & Higgins, C. (1995). Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test. MIS Quarterly , June, 189-211.

Davis, Philip M. (1997). What Computer Skills do Employers Expect from Recent College Graduates? T.H.E. Journal, 25 (2): 74-78.

Eisenberg, Michael B. & Doug Johnson (2002). Learning and Teaching Information Technology: Computer Skills in Context. Eric Digest , Eric Clearinghouse on Information and Technology at Syracuse University , September, www.ericit.org .

Halaris, Anthony & Lynda Sloan (1985). Towards a Definition of Computing Literacy for the Liberal Arts Environment. Association of Computing Machinery, pp. 320-326.

Levenburg, N. (1996). General Management Skills: Do Practitioners and Academic Faculty Agree on their Importance? Journal of Education for Business , 72(1), 47-51.

McCade, Joseph C. (2001). Technology Education and Computer Literacy. The Technology Teacher , October, 9-13.

Radford (2001). Radford University Computer Literacy Survey 2001. http://www.radford.edu/~irpa/SurveyResearch.html.

Tanyel, F.& Mitchell, M.& McAlum, H. (1999). The Skill Set for Success of New Business Graduates: Do Prospective Employers and University Faculty Agree? Journal of Education for Business , 75(1), Sept/Oct, 33-37.

Thornburg, L. (1997). The New Crop – Recruiting Today's Graduates. HR Magazine , 42(5), 74-79.

van Vliet, P.& Klutke, M.& Chakraborty, G. (1994). The Measurement of Computer Literacy: a Comparison of Self-Appraisal and Objective Tests. International Journal of Human Computer Studies , V40, May, 835-857.

Verville, A. (1995). What Business Needs from Higher Education. Educational Record , 76(4), 46-50.

Wolfe, Barbra B. (1996). Achieving Computer Literacy. ACM SIGUCCS Newsletter , Volume 26, Issue 3-4, pp. 29-32.

 

Appendix A

Business Computer Proficiency Requirements

 

Students must demonstrate proficiency in each of the six segments by achieving a minimum score of 80 percent as evaluated by a hands-on production test. Scores cannot be averaged for an overall test or course grade of 80 percent.

•  Windows & General Information

Working with Files

Creating folders

Renaming/ Deleting/ Restoring

Moving/ Copying

My Computer & Windows Explorer

Finding Files/ View Options

Start Menu & Shortcuts

Ctrl + Ctrl & shift + Click

General Concepts

Basic parts of a computer

Information processing cycle

(input, processing, storage, etc.)

File names & extensions

Windows

Minimize, Maximize, Restore

Left & Right Mouse

Getting help (F1)

Ethics & Other Issues

Proprietary, shareware, public domain

Site licenses

Computer Viruses

Copyright issues

Other

Control Panels

Changing properties

Drag & Drop

•  Word Processing

General Skills

Page setup options

Spelling, thesaurus, grammar

Changing toolbars

View and save options

Working with windows

Print preview

Formatting

Bold, underline, italics, typefaces

Line and paragraph

Indenting options

Justification

Page breaks

Widow and orphans

Date & time options

Specialized skills

Bullets & numbering

Inserting & sizing graphics

Setting & modifying all tab types

Headers & Footers

Tables & columns (sections)

Commands to Know

Cursor movement commands

Selecting text(cursor in text & in margin)

•  Spreadsheets

General Skills

Same as in word processing

Inserting and naming worksheets

Paste special

Edit -> Clear options

Math operators (^, *, /, +, -)

Absolute, relative, & mixed cell addressing

Types of entries

Naming ranges

Moving & selecting

References to other sheets or files

Formatting

Numeric formats

Auto formats

Conditional formatting

Line drawing & shading

Column & row size

Title lock/ Freeze pane

Graphics

Creating & modifying charts

Specialized Skills

Sorting

Data filters & subtotals

Dynamic links

Pivot Tables

Functions

SUM, MIN, MAX, COUNT, AVERAGE, PMT

•  Database

General Skills

Same that apply from earlier sections

Switching views (design & datasheet)

Creating object with wizards & from scratch

General Concepts

Fields, records, tables, databases

Queries and forms

Relational files

Field types

Specialized Skills

Simple and complex queries

Designing and modifying reports

Expression builder (forms)

Typing reports to queries & tables

•  Presentations

Items Covered

Creating and sorting slides

Custom animation options

Basic organization & content

Types of slides

Drawing tools

•  Internet & E-mail

Basic Skills

Logging on

Browser operation

Sending a message

Typing an address

Using a search engine

Connecting to a library search bank

General Concepts

E-mail addresses

WWW

HTML, URL

Hyperlinks

Specialized Skills

Sending attachments

Creating groups

Searching for specific information

Inserting URL