About IT Services Short Courses

IT Services offers free classes on various computer technology topics for School of Information students, faculty, and staff. Subjects range from operating systems like Unix to instruction in basic HTML and specific applications such as Macromedia Dreamweaver and Microsoft PowerPoint. Short courses are offered in the IT Lab Annex, Sanchez 451.

Spring 2008 Short Course Information

IT Lab Short Courses Are Here to Help You!
In 2006, the IT Lab took a new approach to instruction that allowed students to take Short Courses into their own hands: in addition to regularly scheduled topics (like "Introduction to Photoshop"), all new courses were constructed from student suggestions. Their ideas were based on their personal interests or class needs. These "on-demand" lessons gave students enrolled in iSchool courses like Organizing and Providing Access to Information, Advanced Usability, and Capstones a chance to go beyond what they learned in a classroom and get further assistance with class projects. By requesting Short Courses, iSchool students can increase their understanding of technologies and applications that are central to the field of Information Studies. So, please check out our list of previous topics, and if you're interested in attending one or more, make your interest known to a Purpleshirt! If you have an idea for a new one, let us know!

IT Lab Workshops Are Here!
In 2007, the IT Lab took a new approach to instruction that gave students a chance to learn a series of topics, either in one or two days or over several weeks. Through these different workshops, iSchool students can increase their understanding of technologies and applications that are central to the field of Information Studies. So, please check out our list of previous topics, and if you're interested in attending one or more, make your interest known to a Purpleshirt! If you have an idea for a new one, let us know!

Requesting an IT Lab Short Course or Workshop
If you have any requests for Short Courses or Workshops at any point in the semester, please email the Purpleshirts. We'll be happy to schedule a Short Course or make plans to help you one-on-one.

Additional Resources
We also offer instruction online in the Tutorials section of this website. Other online tutorials offered by the University of Texas are available at General Libraries, ITS, and Team Web.

Confirmed Spring 2008 Short Courses

Intro to Macs and Leopard (Mac OS 10.5)
Thursday Jan. 24 @ 1:30pm. Taught by Allison and Jesse

Intro to XML
Tuesday Feb. 19 @ 7pm. Taught by Maggie

Intro to Photoshop
Wednesday Feb. 27 @ 7pm. Taught by Alex and Yong
Thursday April 10 @ 6:30pm. Taught by Alex and Suzy

Getting Your Vision on Big Paper: Poster Sessions and You - these classes will be taught in 468
Sunday April 20 @ 2pm. Taught by Maggie
Monday April 21 @ 6pm. Taught by Alex and Allison
Resources for Poster Printing (PDF)

Link to the DIIA printer lab info.

Boot Camp

The IT Lab Purpleshirts are proud to present "Boot Camp Basics." This three-hour workshop is designed to give incoming and returning iSchoolers a chance to learn about applications and technologies frequently used in classes. The idea behind Boot Camp is to combine the most commonly-asked questions from the Lab and the most popular short courses with the goal of helping students get ahead in courses. The class is FREE!

Boot Camp Basics
Friday February 1 from 1:00-4:00pm, SZB 546

Boot Camp Schedule
Introduction to IT Lab resources
Server Space
Powerpoint
Excel
Introduction to Macs
Screenshots: Mac & PC
Search Engines
Creating PDFs

Web Workshop Series

Coming Friday afternoons this spring, a series of classes designed to help students create and maintain web pages. You are welcome to sign up for all the classes or just specific ones. Classes will be held from 1:00-4:00pm in SZB 546. All classes are FREE!

Mission Possible: Using Templates to Designing Your Website
Friday February 29

Introductions to Dreamweaver & HTML
Friday March 28

Using CSS
Friday April 4

Register for Workshops

Past IT Lab Short Courses and Workshops

If you are interested in attending any of these Short Courses in the Spring semester, email the Purpleshirts! Or, if you'd like to learn more about the information covered in a particular topic, feel free to contact the Purpleshirt who taught it.

Fall 2007 Short Courses

CSS Tips
Taught by Maggie and Jesse

Intro to Dreamweaver
Taught by Paul

Mail Merge and Office 2007
Taught by Allison

Getting Your Vision on Big Paper: Poster Sessions and You (View PDF)
Taught by Megan

Learn iMovie
Taught by Allison and Alex

Summer and Fall 2007 Workshops

Boot Camp Basics
Sunday September 9

Morning Class: 9:00-12:00am
Afternoon Class: 1:00-4:00pm

Boot Camp Web
Sunday September 23.

Morning Class: 9:00-12:00am
Afternoon Class: 1:00-4:00pm

Boot Camp Resources
If you missed Boot Camp or would just like extra information about Lab resources and technologies, you can now take a look at the PowerPoints and other reference materials (in PDF format) put together by the purpleshirts. You'll need Adobe Acrobat to view the PDFs (download here). Let the Purpleshirts know if you would like more information about any of these materials or Boot Camp!

L.A.M.P.
On three Fridays in July, the IT Lab presented LAMP. LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) is an open-source software bundle that allows users to run dynamic websites or servers. Learning LAMP gives you the ability to create and maintain dynamic sites without expensive software.

Other Past Courses

Introduction to Macs for PC Users
Advanced Searching With Google
Using RSS
Converting VHS Tapes to DVD
Introduction to Morae
Getting Your Vision on Big Paper: Poster Sessions and You
How to Create and Post a Web Page
How to Use Your School of Information Account
Introduction to PowerPoint
Introduction to Photoshop
Introduction to Fireworks
Introduction to Illustrator
Introduction to Microsoft Word
Introduction to Dreamweaver
Advanced Dreamweaver
Introduction to HTML
Introduction to XML
How to Use Cascading Style Sheets
Introduction to iLife (iPhoto, iMusic, iMovie, iDVD)
Usability Testing with Morae
Using Linux

Other Past Workshops

IT Lab Tech Boot Camp

On January 27, 2007, the IT Lab presented to the iSchool the IT Lab Tech Boot Camp for the first time, a chance for all iSchool students (new and old) to learn about applications and technologies that frequently used in classes. The idea behind Tech Boot Camp was to combine the most commonly-asked questions from the Lab and the most popular short courses with the goal of helping students get ahead in courses. It was an all-day event split in half: introductory courses in the morning and more advanced web design in the afternoon.