Data and Spreadsheets for Radicals: It's not that scary, I promise!
I love spreadsheets. Many of my friends and fellow organizers, however, wished they didn't exist. I'd like to introduce folks to the power of these tools (Excel, OpenOffice and GoogleDocs) because they can take out a lot of the tedium of organizing. I'll also touch on other free online tools for schedule coordinating, etc.
If you have a laptop that you can bring with you, great! If not, you can look on with someone else. If you don't have spreadsheet software installed on your computer, please
details
- when: saturday, april 16th, 2011, from 3:15 pm - 4:45 pm
- to attend: Please see the info page for more information on attending any of the workshops at the 2011 Boston Skillshare.
- facilitated by: Reed Miller, M. Eng
lesson plan
Beginner & More Advanced:
Introduction to the concept of spreadsheets
Spreadsheet vs Database, when to use each
Getting down to it: Practicing with spreadsheets
(I will have a pre-made file that everyone can download and work from)
Filling in data-- how to structure your spreadsheet
Importing data
Copying / Pasting / Manipulating data
Sorting / filtering data
Formatting data
More Advanced:
Making charts
Using formulas, how to input formulas and an intro to the variety of formulas available
Statistics tools (optional)
Intro to making databases
facilitator experience
I've studied engineering for 5 years, and have made hundreds of spreadsheets to crunch formulas. As a grassroots organizer, I also use them to keep membership lists and fundraisers in order.
intended audience
People who are somewhat familiar with computers (know about how to use a mouse and keyboard etc), but not too familiar with spreadsheets. Even if you dabble in spreadsheets, though, I'll teach you how to make impressive looking graphs and do things much quicker.
other resources suggested by the facilitator
GoogleDoc Collection (Excel and Open Office files):
http://tinyurl.com/spreadsheetsnotscary
Google Spreadsheet:
http://tinyurl.com/spreadsheetsnotscarygoogle
Download Open Office for free (includes spreadsheet program):
http://www.openoffice.org/