Representatives of Penn Libraries, Critical Writing Program, Weingarten Learning Resources Center (VPUL) and Communication within the Curriculum (CWiC) will lead workshops to assist undergraduates with their research, writing, presentation and organizational needs.

Participants will learn the essential parts of a debate, including the structure of speeches, note-taking skills, and strategies for refutation. Presented by CWIC undergraduate advisor Dorna Mohaghegh. Registration opens on 7/16/2008 Participants will learn approaches to public speaking that influence speech anxiety, and they will practice specific strategies for managing nervousness. Presented by CWIC undergraduate advisors Harrison Greer and Adriana Massara. Registration opens on 7/23/2008

Learn how to manage your course site, upload documents and syllabi, send email efficiently to students, create announcements and manage your student rosters. Registration opens on 8/5/2008 We will show the discussion capabilities of Blackboard including discussion boards, chat sessions and threaded discussion options. We will discuss strategies for increasing peer interaction and out-of-class participation by your students. Registration opens on 8/20/2008 We will show examples of well-constructed Blackboard courses that are interactive and student-centered. We will provide guidance on how to customize your course to save you and your students time and increase engagement Registration opens on 8/7/2008 Learn how to use the BB Grade Center to work with different types of assignments, use the dropbox to collect assignments from students and make efficient use of assessment tools. Registration opens on 8/27/2008 Blackboard experts from Penn Libraries are available to help faculty and instructional staff with walk-in one-on-one assistance for courseware-related questions. Registration opens on 8/19/2008

We will explore strategies appropriate for a conference presentation including engaging the audience, using visual support such as PowerPoint, communicating research results, and fielding questions. We will conduct hands- on activities, evaluating and revising examples. Please email wic1@pobox.upenn.edu with any presentation materials that you would like the presenters to comment upon. Presented by Anu Vedantham and Sue Weber.

Registration opens on 8/4/2008

Learn how to create spreadsheets, enter and format data, use mathematical calculations, and more. This is a basic course, addressed to users with no previous experience with the software.

( Web Resource )

Registration opens on 7/5/2008

Some laptops will be provided, but please bring your own laptop if you have one: As the web is becoming a more flexible and robust research environment, the library is finding ways to use new technologies to more efficiently find and use research level resources. Attendees will be introduced to the library's groundbreaking tool for storing, sharing and organizing research links, and will learn how to customize Firefox to make it an efficient tool for research.

Registration opens on 7/8/2008

Students will be introduced to ArcGIS software and will learn how to make a map using data from Census2000. Students with some GIS knowledge who would like to learn more about adding census data, and those new to GIS are welcome to attend. To decide whether this workshop is right for you, contact Laurie Allen (laallen@pobox.upenn.edu).

This class will provide an hands-on introduction to using Apple's iMovie software, which is available for Penn students, faculty, and staff in the Vitale Digital Media Lab. You will learn how to capture video from a DVD, VHS tape, or from your own video camera. You will learn to organize or delete video clips, add a new soundtrack, add subtitles, and create special effects.

Please feel free to bring your lunch to this seminar series. Each seminar is a 30 minute presentation followed by a half hour for discussion.

Learn the basics of how to create your own personal bibliographic citation database using this web-based bibliographic management tool. The workshop will focus on how to create a personal database online, import references automatically from databases and library catalogs, organize and annotate references, format references and bibliographies in Microsoft Word documents and more. NOTE: RefWorks is freely available to all current Penn students, faculty, and staff. Learn the basics of how to create your own personal bibliographic citation database using this web-based bibliographic management tool. The workshop will focus on how to create a personal database online, import references automatically from databases and library catalogs, organize and annotate references, format references and bibliographies in Microsoft Word documents and more. NOTE: RefWorks is freely available to all current Penn students, faculty, and staff. Registration opens on 7/29/2008

A basic introduction to this powerful image editing software. Learn how to open image files, use the toolbox and palettes, convert formats and manage multiple layers.

Special topics with PhotoShop - assumes knowledge of topics covered in PhotoShop I.

In this fast-paced class, we will introduce and explore one of the most fundamental yet powerful features in Photoshop -- Layers, which allow you to edit your images in a nondestructive way, isolate areas of your images for specific adjustments, repair damage, correct & enhance colors, fix problems in composition, and more, all while retaining as much flexibility and editability as possible. We will examine the Photoshop Layers palette, color adjustment layers, layer masks, type layers, shape layers, blending modes, and tricks for organizing complex files. This class assumes a working knowledge of Photoshop basics.

Learn the basics of PowerPoint hands-on. Participants will learn to create new presentations, apply design templates, manipulate text, insert graphics, prepare notes and handouts from PowerPoint slides, save presentations, and more.

Registration opens on 7/15/2008

Second Life is an interactive virtual environment that shows promise for educational and creative activities in several disciplines.

A live artistic performance in Second Life by an international team of artists using the very best of SL technology to bring you a unique interpretation and vision of The Wall by Pink Floyd. ( Web Resource ) We will explore Second Life hands-on. Designed for beginners. We will learn how to move around the environment and we will explore nationally known sites. ( Web Resource )

This lunchtime series showcases new technologies. Vendor presentations may include sales-related content. Please feel free to bring your lunch with you.

Captivate allows you to easily take a video of your computer screen. Create tutorials, tours or overviews of any software program, or record a narrated presentation. Captivate adds instruction bubbles and records mouse strokes and audio. Registration opens on 7/7/2008 This workshop is designed for faculty and researchers at Penn to learn how to use Scholarly Commons, an online archive of scholarly articles and books, and Selected Works, an easy to use interface for creating personal research web pages. We will set up accounts and create web pages at the workshop, so come prepared with CVs, articles, or other materials you might like to put online. Registration opens on 8/8/2008

These workshops, offered at various levels, provide guidance on good web design principles, overview tools available and enable exploration of the technical aspects of web design. For more information, please email wic1@pobox.upenn.edu

Dreamweaver is the professional choice for web design. We take a guided tour followed by hands-on exploration of Dreamweaver. We will overview how site administration and fixing broken links can be made easy. We will discuss integration of Dreamweaver with Fireworks, Flash and image editing software. We will build a simple page with rollover effects. ( Web Resource ) Registration opens on 7/14/2008