Nedavno sam napisao recenziju internetskog tečaja Windows 8 for Dummies , koji mi se jako svidio. ^{(Windows 8 for Dummies)}To nije jedini tečaj za Windows 8 dostupan od ekipe For Dummies , što je dobra vijest za ljude koji ne žele učiti samo putem internetskih videa. Ovaj tjedan pogledao sam Windows 8 for Dummies eLearning Kit , koji sadrži knjigu, CD i, kao poseban bonus, šest mjeseci besplatnog pristupa online tečaju za e-učenje Windows 8 for Dummies (što nije isto kao onaj koji sam nedavno pregledao). Zanimalo me je vidjeti kako se pristup ovog tečaja razlikovao od prethodnog potpuno online tečaja (osim činjenice da se uz knjigu dolazi, a drugi ne). Evo što sam pronašao.

Knjiga: U živoj boji

Prvo što ćete primijetiti je da je ovo jedna od novih knjiga Za lutke^{(For Dummies)} , tiskana na težem papiru iu punoj boji. Kao što sam primijetio u prethodnim recenzijama knjiga For Dummies , uz sučelje ^{(For Dummies)}sustava Windows 8^{(Windows 8)} , imati knjigu u boji pravi je plus.

Tečaj je namijenjen novopridošlicama u sustavu Windows 8^{(Windows 8)} , ali autor pretpostavlja da čitatelj nije na početnoj razini "ta stvar na vašem stolu zove se miš"^{("that thing on your desk is called a mouse")} i da ima neko osnovno znanje o računalu. Ne morate imati računalo sa sustavom Windows 8^{(Windows 8)} da biste koristili knjigu ili CD, ali s Windows 8 ispred vas za vježbanje, lekcije bi mogle imati više smisla. Svako poglavlje počinje popisom zanimljivih pitanja koja će privući čitatelja, s brojevima stranica na kojima se mogu pronaći odgovori. Autor je malo razmislio o ovim pitanjima; oni nisu samo upiti "Kako mogu" .^{("How do I")}

Postoje kutije s oznakom Lingo razbacane po stranicama koje objašnjavaju pojmove sustava Windows 8 koji možda nisu poznati, a svako poglavlje završava odjeljkom pod nazivom Know This Tech Talk koji služi kao pojmovnik za sve pojmove koji se nalaze u poglavlju. Mislim da će pojmovnik biti posebno koristan za početnike, jer je sve objašnjeno razumljivim jezikom. Same lekcije nisu osobito duge, a svaka je krcata ilustracijama za svaki novi koncept. Mislim da bi ovo bilo posebno privlačno i početnicima.

Lekcije su raspoređene prilično logičnim redoslijedom (slično kao struktura drugih knjiga o sustavu Windows 8^{(Windows 8)} koje sam nedavno pročitao) i napreduju od "početka"^{("getting started")} preko koncepta aplikacija (za razliku od aplikacija), zatim kako prilagoditi sučelje i upravljati datotekama i mapama. Sljedeći koraci su Internet Explorer 10 , umrežavanje i upravljanje korisničkim računima i postavkama. Stavio bih poglavlje o umrežavanju ispred onog na Internet Exploreru^{(Internet Explorer)} , jer ako vaša mreža ne radi kako treba, nikakav klik na to malo plavo E neće vas nikamo dovesti.

Knjiga logično završava istraživanjem sigurnosti i rješavanja problema, ali posljednje poglavlje je o aplikacijama, za koje sam mislio da bi trebali doći nakon poglavlja Internet Explorer jer mislim da će Microsoft Store biti vrlo privlačni i da će ljudi htjeti istražiti barem besplatne aplikacije. Zašto ostaviti ovu primamljivu metu do samog kraja? Sadržaj u^{(Table of Contents)} knjizi također služi kao popis lekcija na CD-u i na internetu.

CD: Oni pričaju, ti gledaš

Za početak tečaja na CD-u, samo ga ubacite u svoj optički pogon i odaberite pokrenuti shellexe.exe kada se pojavi prozor Autoplay.

Bit ćete upitani želite li se prijaviti na online tečaj ili koristiti CD.

Kada odaberete CD, pojavljuje se uvod. Ako ste već prošli neke od lekcija, bit ćete upitani želite li nastaviti tamo gdje ste stali. Ovo je vrlo korisna značajka.

CD bi trebao sadržavati set interaktivnih lekcija, što me je navelo da vjerujem da je svaki segment svake lekcije interaktivan, što nije baš tako. Neki dijelovi lekcija su interaktivni (možete sami isprobati stvari da vidite kako funkcioniraju). Ovo je jako dobro funkcioniralo. Ako samo želite vidjeti kako se to radi, možete odabrati da pokrenete cijeli demo bez da sami kliknete ili dodirnete bilo što. Požurim dodati da ne kritiziram tečaj jer sam krivo shvatio što je u njemu. 🙂

Lekcije su svijetle, privlačne i lako razumljive. Svaki segment je relativno kratak i kreće se točno. Možete se kretati od jednog kratkog odjeljka do sljedećeg klikom na strelice na dnu stranice.

Kao što sam spomenuo, struktura CD tečaja je potpuno ista kao što se nalazi u knjizi i vodi vas kroz sve korak po korak na isti način. Čini se da CD pripovijeda autor. Za CD se kaže da je 4-satni tečaj, ali nisam mjerio vrijeme koje je trebalo da se prođe. Vjerovat ću im na riječ. 🙂

Online: Isti materijal

Ako odete na Centar za e-učenje Za lutke^{(For Dummies eLearning Center)} , na lijevoj strani zaslona ćete pronaći popis tečajeva za e-učenje. Odaberite tečaj za Windows 8 i vidjet ćete da imaju besplatnu probnu verziju tako da je možete provjeriti prije nego što se odlučite prijaviti. Iako mislim da je ovo vrijedno divljenja, činjenica da morate dati osobne podatke prije nego što ih možete pogledati definitivno nije. Naravno, imate pristupni kod koji dolazi s knjigom, koji vam daje 6-mjesečni besplatni online tečaj i daje vam URLda biste otišli izravno na njega, zaobilazeći glavni zaslon. (Pazite da ne izgubite mali papirić koji sadrži vaš poseban kod. Pričvrstio sam ga na korice knjige.) Ako već niste registrirani na web-mjestu, morat ćete to učiniti, što također zahtijeva osobne informacija. U tom kontekstu, to ima smisla jer se upisujete na tečaj. Mislim da osoba koja provjerava besplatnu probnu verziju ne bi trebala dati nikakve osobne podatke da bi to učinila. Jedna od prednosti prijave za online tečaj je ta što možete raditi na lekcijama s bilo kojeg mjesta, a da ne morate nositi knjigu ili CD sa sobom. Ne možete istovremeno pratiti svoj napredak u oba područja, ali to zapravo i nije nedostatak. Online tečaj sadrži bonus lekciju o Windows Media Playeru^{(Windows Media Player)}što će većina ljudi smatrati vrijednim utrošenog vremena.

Zaključci: Kratki i slatki

Komplet za eLearning za Windows 8 za lutke^{(Windows 8 for Dummies eLearning Kit)} trebao bi zadovoljiti gotovo sve koji su novi u sustavu Windows 8^{(Windows 8)} i žele temeljito razumjeti osnove. Sva tri pristupa tečaju su atraktivna i informativna i jasno je da su autor i uredništvo For Dummies stvarno radili na tome da sve spoje. ^{(For Dummies)}Interaktivna praksa je vrlo korisna i trebala bi objasniti kako svaki koncept funkcionira na gotovo svačije zadovoljstvo.

Presuda

Trostruki pristup učenju Windows 8 je izvrstan i trebao bi zadovoljiti gotovo svačiji stil učenja. Bilo da odaberete dobro napisanu, sjajno ilustriranu knjigu, CD ili online tečaj, dobit ćete temeljito obrazovanje o osnovama sustava Windows 8 i trebali biste moći pristupiti vlastitom Windows 8 računalu s povjerenjem u vrlo kratkom roku. vrijeme.

Kit Review - Windows 8 for Dummies eLearning Kit, by Faithe Wempen

Recently I wrote a review оf the Windows 8 for Dummies online course, which I liked a lot. That's not the only Windows 8 course available from the For Dummies crew, which is good news for people who don't want to learn through online videos alone. This week I took a look at Windows 8 for Dummies eLearning Kit, which contains a book, a CD, and, as a special bonus, six months free access to the Windows 8 for Dummies online e-learning course (which is not the same as the one I recently reviewed). I was interested to see how this course's approach differed from the previous wholly online course (besides the fact that one comes with a book and one doesn't). Here's what I found.

The book: In living color

The first thing you'll notice is that this is one of the new For Dummies books, printed on heavier paper and in full color. As I have noted in previous reviews of For Dummies books, with Windows 8's interface, having a full-color book is a real plus.

The course is designed for newcomers to Windows 8, but the author does assume that the reader isn't at the "that thing on your desk is called a mouse" beginner level and does have some basic computer knowledge. You do not have to have a computer running Windows 8 to use either the book or the CD, but with Windows 8 in front of you to practice with, the lessons may make more sense. Each chapter begins with a list of interesting questions to draw the reader in, with the page numbers where the answers can be found. The author put some thought into these questions; they're not just run of the mill "How do I" queries.

There are boxes labeled Lingo scattered through the pages that explain Windows 8 terms that may be unfamiliar, and each chapter ends with a section called Know This Tech Talk that serves as a glossary for all the terms found in the chapter. I think the glossary will be especially useful for beginners, since everything is explained in easy to understand language. The lessons themselves are not particularly long, and each is loaded with illustrations for every new concept. I think this would be especially appealing to beginners as well.

The lessons are arranged in a fairly logical order (much like the structure of other Windows 8 books I've read lately) and progress from "getting started" through the concept of applications (as distinct from apps), then how to customize the interface and manage files and folders. The next steps are Internet Explorer 10, networking, and managing user accounts and settings. I'd put the networking chapter ahead of the one on Internet Explorer, because if your network's not working properly, no amount of clicking on that little blue E is going to get you anywhere.

The book concludes logically with an exploration of security and troubleshooting, but the final chapter is about apps, which I thought should come after the Internet Explorer chapter because I think that the Microsoft Store will have a lot of appeal and people will want to explore the free apps at the very least. Why leave this tempting target to the very end? The Table of Contents in the book also serves as a listing of the lessons on the CD and online.

The CD: They talk, you watch

To start the course on CD, just slip it into your optical drive and choose to run shellexe.exe when the Autoplay window appears.

You'll be asked if you want to sign into the online course or use the CD.

When you choose the CD, the introduction appears. If you've already gone through some of the lessons, you'll be asked if you want to take up where you left off. This is a very useful feature.

The CD is supposed to contain a set of interactive lessons, which led me to believe that every segment of every lesson was interactive, which isn't quite the case. Some parts of the lessons are interactive (you can try things for yourself to see how they work). This worked very well. If you just want to see how it's done, you can choose to run the whole demo without clicking or tapping on anything yourself. I hasten to add that I am not criticizing the course because I misunderstood what was in it. 🙂

The lessons are bright, appealing, and easy to understand. Each segment is reasonably short and moves right along. You navigate from one short section to the next by clicking on the arrows at the bottom of the page.

As I mentioned, the structure of the CD course is exactly the same as is found in the book and takes you through everything step by step in the same way. It appears that the CD is narrated by the author. The CD is said to be a 4-hour training course, but I didn't measure the time it took to go through it. I'll take their word for it. 🙂

Online: Same material

If you go to For Dummies eLearning Center you'll find a list of eLearning courses on the left side of your screen. Choose the Windows 8 course, and you'll see that they have a free trial version so you can check it out before you decide to sign up. While I think this is admirable, the fact that you have to provide personal information before you can take a look of it is definitely not. Of course, you do have the access code that comes with the book, which gives you the 6-month online course for free and gives you the URL to go directly to it, bypassing the main screen. (Be sure not to lose the small slip of paper that contains your special code. I paper clipped it to the book cover.) If you're not already registered with the site, you'll need to do that, which also requires personal information. In that context, it makes sense because you're signing up for the course. I do not think that a person checking out a free trial should have to provide any personal information to do so. One advantage to signing up for the online course is that you can then work on the lessons from anywhere, without having to carry the book or the CD around with you. You can't keep track of your progress in both areas at the same time, but this isn't really a shortcoming. The online course contains a bonus lesson on Windows Media Player that most people will find worth the time to go through.

Conclusions: Short and sweet

Windows 8 for Dummies eLearning Kit should satisfy just about everyone who's new to Windows 8 and wants to thoroughly understand the basics. All three approaches to the course are attractive and informative and it's clear the author and the For Dummies editorial staff have really worked to put everything together. The interactive practice is very useful and should explain how each concept works to just about anyone's satisfaction.

Verdict

The threefold approach to learning Windows 8 is excellent and should satisfy just about anyone's learning style. Whether you choose the well-written, brightly illustrated book, the CD, or the online course, you'll get a thorough education in the basics of Windows 8 and should be able to approach your own Windows 8 computer with confidence in a very short time.

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