Helping Students Access Latest Software Tools

To a law student, properly formatting a legal brief is one of the key skills they need to learn to get a favorable court ruling for a client.

At the University of Georgia School of Law, instructional support specialist JoEllen Childers helps law students get connected to the latest technology that will come in handy for their studies and future careers. She also guides law school faculty and staff in their technology needs for their professions.

With the University offering free lynda.com access to all students, faculty and staff starting on Nov. 1, Childers said everyone will have those resources available to make better decisions.

“People should definitely see what’s on lynda.com,” said Childers, a 14-year employee of the University.

Lynda.com is an online learning company that provides easy-to-understand video tutorials on software, design and business skills. It currently has about 1,500 video tutorials taught by industry experts. Popular courses include those in Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, MySQL, Excel, InDesign and JavaScript.

Childers said she likes lynda.com because its instructors provide high quality lessons in a format that allows users to narrow their content specific to their needs. Those using lynda.com can watch the video tutorials — which are segmented — from just a few seconds to several minutes at a time. Users can also stop, rewind or fast forward the online videos. Users may access lynda.com by visiting lynda.uga.edu.

“Lynda.com is just a wonderful option,” Childers said. “I think a lot of people are frustrated at times about what software can or can’t do for them.”

Lynda.com is also designed for those users who don’t have a lot of technology skills or who don’t know the “lingo” for using specific software, she added.
“I think it’s great that the University bringing these resources to those who need it,” said Childers, who encourages students, faculty and staff at the law school to use lynda.com.

Unlike other online training video programs, lynda.com is standardized, features subtopics of each course and technically works better, Childers said.

As part of a collaboration with the University’s Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS), Human Resources, and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), all UGA students, faculty and staff will have free access to lynda.com. In 2013, there will be other enhancements to online training and learning at the University.

Visit the Learning and Training section of our website for more information about all of the online training resources available through EITS.