Technology Tips On Your Schedule

Have you ever wished there was a webpage you could go to that would teach you about writing an email, keyboarding skills, artificial intelligence, Google Calendar, and creating animations in PowerPoint- all in the same place? If so, you are very ambitious. If not, have no fear, because that is exactly the niche that the Technology Instruction LibGuide seeks to fill!

The Technology Instruction LibGuide is the hub for all information relating to the Mercer County Library System’s technology instruction. For those unfamiliar, LibGuides is a content management system (CMS) that library staff use to manage digital content on a variety of subjects. The collection of guides created by the Mercer County Library System is housed under the “Resources” tab on the MCL website. LibGuides are meant to be easy to quickly update if information changes. Due to the evolving nature of some of the topics covered in the Technology Instruction guide, such as artificial intelligence and the impending end of support for Windows 10, it makes sense to use LibGuides as their repository.

As one of the authors of the Technology Instruction guide, I would like to take you through all of the different tabs and explain a bit about each one. I am always looking for new information to add, so by the time you read this, there may be even more tabs to explore! The explanation of each tab will also contain a list of the related computer classes located at the Lawrence branch, if you’re more of a hands-on learner. Click here to view the computer class calendar.

Home

The Home page contains general information about signing up for classes and using the Northstar Digital Literacy platform. The calendar on this page updates automatically, so you will always be able to view the most current class schedule for the month, as well as the coming month once that’s been published. Be sure to check back monthly to see what’s scheduled! Any text on the Home page (and any other page) that is blue with an underline can be clicked on, as these are weblinks. An example can be seen below this paragraph, where the blue phrases are links to Canva and related websites. Links are also included as the class names listed under the calendar; clicking on a class leads you directly to its registration page.

Related Class: Open Lab/Northstar

Accessibility Settings 

I didn’t necessarily plan to fall into a rabbit hole with digging into the Accessibility menu of Windows 11, but here we are. Through what turned out to be a very worthwhile endeavor, I learned a ton about how you can make your computer work better for you. It was also nice to discover that the company I spend a lot of time talking about is transparent with their accessibility efforts, as Microsoft has a whole website and YouTube channel about using their products in more accessible ways. I found myself really enjoying digging into all the accessibility features that integrate Microsoft’s Copilot AI. Since AI is evolving so fast, I am glad that there are people taking the time to think about how it can be used to help more people use the computer in ways that suit their abilities. For anyone feeling a bit intimidated by the idea of AI as an accessibility tool, I think you’ll find the videos of Microsoft employees talking about how it makes their workdays easier with their range of abilities interesting.

Related Classes: Windows 11 Accessibility Tools, PC Basics, Internet Basics

AI

I would be remiss not to include a section on artificial intelligence, with how prevalent it has become. Some goals for this page were to include a space for the ever-growing vocabulary associated with AI and to help foster an understanding of what AI is, and isn’t. This page is the one that points to the most library resources, so I encourage card holders to take advantage of the books and databases featured on the subject. I also encourage you to look through the various games, as they are a helpful and fun resources in the challenge of “how can I know anymore if what I’m looking at is AI?” If you can get a high score in “Real or Fake Text?” in the Recipes category I will be very impressed - those trip me up every time! In all seriousness though, while this guide does not get into detail about any specific AI products (Copilot in Accessibility Settings being the exception, but that focuses on a specific use case), the knowledge about how AI and specifically generative AI works and looks like can help you think more critically about the use of AI and evaluating what you see.

Basics

The material on this page is centered around the skills you want to keep practicing until they become muscle memory. The only way to get better at using the mouse, typing, sending emails, and using the Internet in general is to keep doing those things! While most of the resources on this page and in our classes focus on Windows and the Microsoft Edge browser, these skills are transferable to other operating systems (more on that topic later) and browsers as well.

Related Classes: Mouse Basics, PC Basics, Typing Lab, Internet Basics, Introduction to Gmail

Canva

Canva has a lot of resources on their Design School site, so this page is mostly an overview of Canva and links to their materials. If you’ve never used Canva before I encourage you to make a free account and play around with it, there is a ton you can do on the site without having to spend money. All of the videos and slide presentations in the LibGuide were created in Canva - it’s not just for posters! Canva is also a great option for resources that may need to be updated. Once a project is embedded somewhere, any changes in the original file will be made automatically to the shared versions. For example, if I needed to, I could go into Canva and completely change the slide presentation posted on the LibGuide page, and it would automatically update in both places.

Related Class: Introduction to Canva

Excel/Sheets

This page is where the really fun material starts. Along with various articles about different features of Excel and Sheets, there are also lessons you can practice at any time! These are the exact instructions used when teaching the classes in person, so you could practice what you learned at the library or catch up with a class you missed at any time! Some classes require downloading material ahead of time, found in the LibGuide and on the applicable lesson Docs. More of a visual learner? All of the written lessons also have accompanying videos, where each step is shown and explained along with handy captions to make it easier to follow along. If you want to come to a more advanced Excel class but aren’t sure if you have all the prerequisite knowledge, you could go through the previous lessons to brush up your skills first!

Related Classes: Intro to Excel, Excel Essentials, Excel: Charts and Graphs, Excel: Pivot Tables, Excel: Formulas and Functions, Excel: Budgets, Google Sheets

File Organization

If you’ve ever wondered where on your computer all the things you save and download are going, what Google Drive is, or why people are talking about cloud saving and sounding like they are throwing files in the sky, this page is for you. These materials will give you the tools to manage your files, but never tell you the exact way you should be arranging specific things in specific folders. File organization is a highly personalized process, as everyone has different logic of where files should be stored and why. If you need help organizing files on your portable personal device, you can bring it in to an Open Lab session for assistance.

Related Classes: Windows 11 Files and Folders, Google Drive

Information Literacy

Information literacy is a toolkit that helps you know what to search for when trying to answer questions, and how to analyze the information for reliability and accuracy. With the recent explosion of AI-generated content and AI summaries on search engines, it is even more important to practice evaluating the information you see and not take everything at face value. When reading anything online and on social media sites, try to be aware of how quickly you may breeze past headlines and posts, and be intentional about slowing down and taking a second to process what you read.

Related Class: Evaluating Online Information

Internet Safety

The Internet is great, but there are a lot of dangers out there. Scams are constantly evolving, so it is important to be aware of the main types of scams and the telltale signs. Although it is frustrating to be suspicious of every email and text you receive, it’s a lot less frustrating in the long run than having to deal with your identity being stolen or your money being taken by a bad actor. The games content from the AI page are also included here because AI is used more and more to create content for scams.

Operating Systems

Whether you’re confused what the difference is between Windows and Mac, or keep hearing people talk about Linux but have no idea what that is, this page has something for everyone. Although it is easy to get in the weeds about the subtle differences between OSes, the goal of this page was to put everything in clear, simple terms so you can learn the surface-level differences and understand how to operate your device in its current state with the help of articles from the creators of the operating systems.

Related Classes: PC Basics, Windows 11 Accessibility Tools, Windows 11 Files and Folders

Personal Organization

Google accounts can be used for so much more than just a Gmail account and creating documents! This page has helpful information for using Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Maps. I personally like using these products because Google’s built-in cloud saving means I can enter information into those programs on my computer and then see it on my phone later, or vice versa. As someone who is constantly making to-do lists, having my Keep notes available on all devices has been a real time saver.

Related Class: Google Organizational Tools

PowerPoint/Slides

Even though the slide presentation programs are easy to use on the surface, there are a number of tips and tricks to making a nice-looking and functional PowerPoint presentation. For example, trying to put as few words on any slide at a time, or making slides that can actually be seen from the back of a large room. In the PowerPoint and Slides classes we usually suggest writing out all the information you want to feature in a separate document first and then designing your presentation based on that, but it’s up to you how your presentation process works best. Also of note, while we don’t include the information about it on this page, Canva can be used to create slide presentations as well. If you’re a fan of easy sharing and cloud storage, you have the option of Slides and Canva.

Related Classes: PowerPoint, Google Slides

Word/Docs

All of our classes related to Word processing are here, and the lesson videos are pretty good if I do say so myself! Although, I may just be biased because I recorded them all. Even if you’re a seasoned Word user who doesn’t need any more lessons, I suggest reading through the articles and watching the Tech Trainer Tips videos to learn small skills you may not have known before. One of my favorites was when I learned I could customize the Quick Access toolbar with options besides Save, Undo, and Redo. Why don’t more people point this out! There is always more to learn about the programs we may take for granted.

Related Classes: Intro to Word, Word Essentials, Word: Pictures, Tables, and Text Boxes, Word: Mail Merge, Google Docs, Google Docs: Resumes

Practice Links and Videos

All of the lessons, supplemental materials, and videos for the lessons in one place, organized by software! The bottom box on this page also contains the guide for downloading the images associated with a few classes. If you know exactly which class’ materials you are looking for, you can jump straight to this tab, although I encourage you to also view the main tab associated with that software. Even if you are already pretty familiar with a software, I would bet that you can learn at least one new quick trick from perusing the articles.

Updating to Windows 11

If you are a Windows 10 user, you have probably already received notifications that Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. This page explains what exactly that means, and links to resources from Microsoft about upgrading to its current operating system, Windows 11. While upgrading isn’t required, it does ensure your machine is still included in future security updates.

-Anthony, Information Technology