Creating Table of Contents in LibreOffice Writer

In my last post, I talked about how to use Styles to create a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word. This time, I will talk about how to create a Table of Contents in LibreOffice or OpenOffice.Org Writer.

It usually involves three steps. Click Insert, then select Indexes and Tables, and again, Indexes and Tables, like below:

It will open the dialog box like below. Make sure to select Index/Table, and select Table of Contents in the "Type" dropdown. You may customize the look of the Table of Contents here.

By default, LibreOffice Writer should create a TOC using your pre-defined Paragraph Styles. After configuring the TOC in the dialog box, click OK. It should create the TOC, like below:

Should you have any question, feel free to comment.

Creating Table of Contents in Microsoft Word

As mentioned in last week's post, Styles allow you to create Table of Contents in your word processor. In this post, I will provide steps how to create the table of contents in Microsoft Word.

Assuming you used Styles in your text, click the Reference tab in the ribbon, and click the drop-down arrow of Table of Contents, as shown here:

You will be shown various built-in TOC templates. I recommend that you create your own. To do so, click "Insert Table of Contents" located at the bottom of the drop-down menu. In Word 2013, it might show "Custom Table of Contents" instead.

A window will appear, with the Table of Contents tab selected. Here you can customize the TOC if it will have a tab leader (the fill between the TOC item and the page number), how it will look like, how many levels, etc.

By default, it will use Heading 1 for level 1 of the TOC outline, Heading 2 for level 2, and so on and so forth. When you click Options button, you will be provided more options what Styles to use, as shown below:

After choosing the Styles and the TOC level, click OK here and OK on the original window. It should create your TOC in a flash.

I will discuss how to create a Table of Contents in LibreOffice or OpenOffice.Org Writer next week. If you have any question, please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for reading!

Using Styles for Formatting Efficiency

Paragraph styles are useful paragraph-based formats. They are essentially what to paragraphs as what templates are to files. Just put your cursor on a paragraph that you want to apply this style, then click the style that you want from your word processor, and the computer will change all aspects of that paragraph based on the settings of that style.

Styles not only help you format your document more efficiently (you do not need to do the same sequence of configurations to different paragraphs multiple times because they are replaced by one-click to the style), it will help you when you want to create Table of Contents. We will discuss this next week.

Creating a Style in Word

To create a style, type a line of text first. Then, format it according to how you want it to appear. Take note of the font size, font style, font type, paragraph justification, bullets or numbering (if any), color of the text, space before or after the paragraph, line space, etc.

After you do that, select the whole text that you will use as basis of your new style. Click the arrow pointing to the lower right below "Change Styles," like below:

It should open a new window of controls, called Styles, like below:

Since you have selected the paragraph, you can click the button, "New Style," like above. When you click that, it will open a dialog box which uses the settings of your selected text, like below. You can check other settings in this window.

In this window, you can also configure what style Word will use for the next paragraph in "Style for following paragraph." For other configurations, such as paragraphs, spaces before and after, you can click on the "Format" button at the lower left side of the dialog box. It should display a menu for other configurations, like below:

After configuring all options, make sure to click "OK."

Your new style should appear in the list of Styles.

Creating a Style in LibreOffice Writer

Like Word, you can type a sentence first and format it before selecting the sentence as base of the new style. But first, you have to enable the Paragraph Styles window. Click Format, like below:

It should open the Styles window:

To create a new style, highlight the text that you want to use as base of the new style, then click the "New Style from Selection" button in the Styles and Formatting window, and select "New Style from Selection," like below:

It would not open a new style window like in Word. To configure the style further, you can right-click the newly created style in the list, and select "Modify." It will display a window like the one below:

Make sure to click OK to save your changes in the paragraph style.

Creating a Style in Google Docs

The procedure is pretty much the same. If you need details, you click go here:

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/116338?hl=en

Applying the Style

As mentioned earlier, just put your cursor anywhere in that paragraph, (or select numerous paragraphs if you will apply the style to many paragraphs), then click the style in the Styles list in your word processor. For LibreOffice Writer, you need to put the cursor in the paragraph where you want to apply the style, then double-click the style from the Styles list.

Do you have clarifications? Feel free to comment.

Education Theory

For this post, I will talk a little about my perspective on the role, or expectations, of a teacher. Of course, I will talk based on my experience as an alumnus and former staff of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in UP Manila.

I see teaching as a social instrument in an ever-changing socio-politico-cultural-economic environment. Education should provide the learner with the politico-social awareness to help and contribute to the development of society. The educator, meanwhile, should take an active role in social development, understanding that education shapes the very society in which it is operating. The teacher does not just mold future leaders, but must help society pursue its development goals.

In this post, I will talk about my bias on how I look at education technology.

Teaching: Instruction and Curriculum Development

Of course, teachers must teach, hence, teachers must instruct. Regretfully, some teachers do not want to learn new ways of teaching to enhance the learning environment. They want to stick to their old ways.

This is why there is this part. I want to say that teachers must also continue to learn—new ideas, new concepts, and new ways of teaching our subjects.

In a round-table discussion at the College of Arts and Sciences, UP Manila, I heard of a faculty member who shared the idea of learning objects. The system was already in place, but for more than  a year (and even until 2012), no one has submitted the learning objects (which was also mentioned to have a monetary compensation to the faculty member for producing one).

A learning object is the same lesson in digital form—how you could create the same learning experience and achieve the same learning objective (If you are a humanist, you would say “create the same learning outcome.”) considering that the teacher and the student may not face each other.

We will talk about learning objects when we discuss e-learning, but for our discussion, consider this scenario if this is true: A faculty member comes to school late, and so hurries to the classroom while just remembering the old techniques used before. The teaches does not consider the learning styles of the students in the new class. As Dr. Erlyn Sana (former Dean, National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions, UP Manila) mentioned, “Kapag hindi handa, magpapa-quiz.”(“Methods of Instruction,” delivered during the CAS Faculty Conference at the DAP Conference Center, Tagaytay City, on April 24-25, 2009).

The students do not deserve this permanent ad lib style of teaching. Surely, if you have been a student of such a teacher, would you not feel that you were short-changed?

The creation of a learning object will force the teacher to study the whole experience so that the environment for the learning process can be enhanced and that the learner will learn for himself or herself, not simply receive what the teacher is saying.

Considering this, I consider that technology for instruction and curriculum development should address its various aspects: identification of learning needs, preparation for instruction, implementation and evaluation of effectiveness for continuing development.

(To continue on Research and Extension)

What is cloud computing?

You must have heard of cloud computing. Otherwise, how did you get here?

Kidding aside, I just want to briefly talk about the topic and clear it out as we will be using it often in the upcoming posts. Actually, I have been talking about some of its implementations when I talked about Google Drive.

Wikipedia defines "cloud computing" as a "paradigm of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet." For me, it is just a way of computing (or doing your work with your computer) with your data or your applications--or both--on the Internet.

To provide a clearer example, look at Google Docs or Zoho. Also, previously, when one conceives of a website, you use either your Notepad or Microsoft Frontpage. Now, you can do so with Google Sites, which reduces your need to learn HTML or similar languages. Also, Google Sites allows collaboration, multiple types of access, and easy addition of content. Imagine if you will have to write all these in code, and you are not a computer science graduate.

Why "cloud compute?" As Eric Knorr and Galen Gruman say, it "comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software."

The previous paragraph summarizes the benefits. What are the costs? As I see it, it is minimal. Access to the Internet and necessary software for connecting to the internet (which can be free, considering open source solutions), which are all being used anyway. However, privacy advocates would warn you that you volunteering your information is the cost (In relation, you may want to read this). That is why there are now private versions of cloud computing.

I will stop here. But I hope this short post stimulates your creativity--focusing on your own interest while expanding your capability at minimal if no cost.

This post is updated from the original at http://castechbytes.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-is-cloud-computing.html

Use Google Calendar for Shared Schedules

Google Calendar is (obviously) Google's take on calendar and task management. As far as I can remember, Yahoo! also has calendar in their Yahoo! Mail, but it was not integrated with their other products, and it did not have a lot of collaborative functionalities (why does Google say that 'functionalities' is incorrectly spelled?) that Google Calendar introduced.

Google Calendar is a simple take and presentation on how we see dates vis-a-vis tasks, activities, sharing and communication. If you have a Gmail account, just look up, at the gray ribbon of Google services available, and you will see Calendar on the right-middle part. Click it, and that's almost it. (You will probably need to agree to the terms of services.)

There are a number of features in Google Calendar that I like, such as:

• Sharing of Calendar - By sharing calendar, this means you share one of your calendars. As people, we have different aspects of our lives. For example, we live as an employee, a part of a circle of friends, and member of a volunteer organization. For each of these circles, we can have a calendar, which we can share. And there are many ways of sharing: Allow certain people to see your calendar, edit existing appointments, create new ones, or manage the calendar, which means they can re-share your calendar to those who need access to your schedule. Of course, there is also the option of making your calendar public. When another user adds an appointment in your shared calendar, you get notified (via email or SMS, to be discussed next).
• Mobile Notifications - For me, I configured my Google Calendar to send me SMS to remind of in advance of my schedules  (many times for each event/schedule). This is, of course, in addition to notifications via the email and reminders with your smartphone. As discussed in the previous number, you also get be notified if a shared calendar is changed (someone requested an appointment or added a schedule, or edited an existing appointment, among others)
• Integration with other Google services - If you use Google Sites, for example, for managing a project or a team dashboard, you can (and I did) integrate the Google Calendar gadget so that it displays your calendar there. If your Google Sites is login-based, it would display your own Google Calendar.

Google Calendar is a very useful productivity tool that I hope you would use to increase productivity (of course) and enhance collaboration in shared activities.

For more information on how to do the things I listed here, you can go to the Google Calendar Help site https://support.google.com/calendar/?hl=en

No, I am not a Google advertiser or stockholder. Just a Google Fan. :D

I may update this as soon as I have the time and realize its other exciting features.

This was originally posted here: http://distinctshadow.blogspot.com/2013/09/google-calendar-users-introduction.html

Android Remote Control App for Presentations

In a previous post, I talked about using Extended Desktop in Windows and Presenter View to avoid showing your audience the content of your computer before or in-between presentations. I also introduced there the app which allows you to use your smartphone to control your presentation software.

Bluetooth Remote PC is an Android app that allows you to control the keyboard, mouse and basic presentation application controls in a Windows computer using your smartphone (obviously, an Android smartphone). I like this app because it allows you to control the pace of your presentation and move around while you present. You do not need to rely on someone else to click next in your presentation, with hidden signals that fail a few (or more) times. You also don't get stuck near your laptop.

To use Bluetooth Remote PC, your Windows laptop must have bluetooth capability. To make the connection faster, I recommend that you pair the two devices (your laptop and your Android phone) before installing the software, so that the two already have bluetooth connection history.

If it checks out, you can install the app in your smartphone by clicking here from your Android smartphone:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.rozkovec.android

Just check the permissions required if they are okay with you.

After successfully installing the app in your phone, you can now download the server app in your Windows laptop. You can download it here:

http://www.androidremotepc.com/downloads/

After installing, open the application in your laptop, like below:

It should say that the server is now running in your laptop in the notification area, like below:

 Select bluetooth (your phone should look like the one below, minus the blue circle), and your phone will confirm that you want to turn on your bluetooth. Select yes.

It will then display a list of devices with bluetooth, select the one for your laptop. It should look like this:

Once connected, it will allow you four options: Presentations, Mouse, Multimedia, and Power.

You can now select Presentations, which will give you the following controls:

Clicking "Full Screen" will toggle the slide show. In order to toggle the presentation, however, your laptop must have the PowerPoint or Impress as the main window.

Feel free to comment your questions.