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Length of Courses: The length of courses is determined
by the client’s needs. Most Online Strategies courses are presented
as either a half-day or full-day course, depending upon the amount of
detail and content desired and whether the course is presented in “hands-on”
(computer lab) format or in lecture/demo format. CUSTOMIZED COURSESThe majority of courses given by Online Strategies are designed “from scratch”, based on an assessment of client needs, covering specific topics selected by the client, and designed to accommodate the particular needs, backgrounds, and experience levels of the attendees. PRE-DESIGNED (BUT MODIFIABLE) COURSESThe following are some of the courses offered by Online Strategies. Even these courses, however, would typically be “customized” for the specific client. Individual parts of each of the following courses might be considered as “modules” that can be selected, deleted, or modified to meet your training needs. Click on the name of the course for a description. Web
2.0 - A User's Guide New! It is time to separate out the hype regarding “Web 2.0”
and get down to “What is it really”? and “What can it
do for me?” After a brief look at the technical side, including
the terminology, etc., this workshop focuses on what Web 2.0 is really
about, “ the user,” and looks at the central facets of Web
2.0, including participation, publication, social software, sharing, “the
Web as platform,” and more. It is filled with examples of Web 2.0
in action, including some things you may already be using but just didn’t
realize it, plus things you should be planning to use, as well as a look
at where Web 2.0 is headed. Attendees will be introduced to how even non-programmers
can actually create such things as "mashups". Internet for Beginners This course is designed for those who have no, or only the slightest, experience with the Internet. It covers basic terminology, understanding how to use a browser effectively, and how to move around within sites and between sites. It also provides a quick introduction to how to locate sites of interest, including the basics of using search engines, such as Google. Attendees will be introduced to two dozen or more sites that are either ones every Internet user should know about or are representative of the variety of Internet resources available. The only prerequisite is the ability to use a keyboard and mouse. Using the Internet Effectively This course emphasizes the variety of useful content available on the Internet and the techniques and strategies for effectively and efficiently finding answers there. Topics covered include reference sites, Web directories and resource guides, search engines, searching strategies, news, and audio/video searching. Techniques and sources for finding news and information on companies, people, and countries is included. Attendees will leave the course with a much better understanding of what is on the Internet and how to easily and quickly get to that information. Depending upon your particular needs, this course can also include a very basic introductory segment for those with very little (or no) Internet experience. OSINT on the Internet: Exploiting Internet Resources for Open Source Intelligence This workshop will bring attendees up-to-date on the current capabilities
of Internet search engines and other Internet tools and resources that
are vital in the OSINT context. Particularly in search engines, there
is constant change and enhancements. This course will provide a practical
look at the current features and content of these tools, with emphasis
on what is new and techniques for efficiently and effectively exploiting
these resources. In addition to the general "Web page" search
capabilities of the search engines, the course will cover developments
in news searching (including free alerting services, and newer channels
such as weblogs, RSS feeds, and Podcasts), image searching, audio and
video searching, and searching of discussion groups. Web search visualization
tools and the range of other OSINT-related resources will also be addressed. Working Smarter on the Internet Working Smarter on the Internet consists of a number of modules that can be included or excluded according to your particular situation and needs. These modules include:
Search engines are powerful tools that provide access to an amazing array of useful material now on the Web ---So why don't you always find what you need? It's because search engines vary considerably in capabilities, content, and quality of retrieval. This workshop will focus on what you need to know about search engines in order to use them most effectively to achieve the results they need. To better understand why you get vastly different results from different engines, the course will briefly examine how engines work. Search features will be covered and the major engines will be profiled and compared. The utility of meta-search engines, and why you should not get too excited about them, will also be examined. Attendees should leave this workshop with increased confidence that they are getting the most from these valuable tools.
Experienced searchers know the importance of using more than one search engine, but many have not yet had time to discover why Yahoo is now the other "required" search site. Yahoo has changed radically and now has a Web database that rivals Google's, plus more integration of more search-related tools than Google provides. This workshop will explore Yahoo!'s search function in detail, plus the range of other features relevant to the professional searcher, such as groups, portal and productivity tools, and Yahoo!'s news, image, video, audio, and other searchable databases.
Though Google may seem to have "cornered the market" for many search engine users, for the professional who does more than just casual research, knowing about, and using, other search engines is essential. This workshop will cover why this is so, and what things in particular about other search engines need to be known. Without a doubt, one of the richest categories of Internet resources is "News". The richness, though, also provides a challenge in terms of understanding and sorting out the kinds of resources for different purposes and different contexts. This workshop will look at how to locate and most efficiently use the range of news resources and services, including: newspapers, radio and TV websites, audio and video news, news wires, magazines, journals, news aggregation and search services,Weblogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, free alerting services, news tickers, etc. If what appears in the news, or has appeared in the news is relevant to your work, you should find this workshop extremely helpful.
Among current Web trends, one of the most significant and exciting is the growing importance, quantity, and searchability of non-HTML content. This includes video, audio, and images, plus a number of other non-HTML formats such as RSS/XML and other file types. This course will explore the importance, availability, and searchability of such content and provides attendees with skills, techniques and tricks for most effectively accessing it. Attendees will also gain an understanding of the increasing role of RSS, speech recognition, and other technologies in providing extensive metadata, searchable transcripts, improved relevance, and other valuable features that can accompany these resources.
The aim of this course is to provide awareness of, and facility in using, the broad range of resources on the Internet that are of use in understanding the background, cultures, traditions, daily life, and issues for any particular country. Attendees will examine: tools such as country guides and encyclopedias that provide general background; media sites such as newspapers and radio stations for local news and opinions; language tools such as dictionaries and translation sites (and their limitations); and discussion groups for gathering perspectives and opinions. Attendees will learn how to locate sites that provide, for any county, valuable information on cultures, traditions, religions, politics, economics, the arts, history, the military, cuisine, etc. Internet resources will be examined that will be helpful in performing professional duties and also those that can help make daily life easier and enjoyable.
Discussion groups ("Groups," "newsgroups," "mailing lists," "forums," etc.) and related “interactive” and “personal” websites are a very valuable resource in a variety of contexts, especially for "keeping an ear to the ground" regarding what people in any place are saying about almost any topic. Content of these groups ranges from scholarly exchanges on politics, economics, terrorism, etc., to less scholarly comments. To mine these resources without wasting time, however, is a challenge. This course will look at ways you can most efficiently and effectively find what is relevant and valuable, and often essential.
(Available 2006) Between the daily deluge of email, the wealth of Internet resources, and the ringing telephone, even well-organized professionals usually have an information overload problem. This workshop will identify and help you break some bad information habits and learn some new good ones for dealing with the amount and variety of information that comes at you through your computer. It will identify some software resources and Internet techniques that will enable you to easily filter out information you don't need, identify and organize the things you do need to know, locate them again when you need them, and in general do your job more efficiently, effectively, and with less stress. Training the Internet Trainer The workshop is designed for those who are involved in training others to make effective use the Internet. The objective of the session is to enhance expertise in planning and presenting Internet training sessions and programs. Starting with overviews of training basics such as adult learning characteristics, presentation skills and techniques, etc. it moves to how those can be best applied when teaching the Internet. Topics covered include: adult learning characteristics and modes, presentation skills, designing Internet training programs, developing objectives, selecting content/structure/format, equipment/facilities requirements, producing effective instructional materials, troubleshooting, and evaluating programs. Promoting and marketing Internet training programs will be also be addressed. Examples of some other courses that have been presented by Online Strategies:
Examples of Course Web Pages: Open Source Intelligence Using the Web for Reference News on the Internet The Multimedia Web |
