AU students and faculty are now able to access thousands of online tutorials on software through Lynda, a Web-based training library for software, at on-campus computer labs or from their personal computers.
The program works much like an e-mail application, according to Kelly Donnellan, the manager of AU's New Media Center.
"It's really easy, you log in as if it were your e-mail," she said. "You can choose through a variety of tutorials, from Word to Adobe CS4."
Lynda includes more than 35,000 tutorials, offered at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.
On-campus labs with access include the School of Communication, Bender Library Digital Media services, the New Media Center and the Anderson Computing Complex. To reach the Web site from home, students and faculty must enter a password provided by one of the computing centers. The password expires after a week, so that other students may "check out" a login.
AU purchased 10 licenses, which means 10 individuals can access Lynda at one time. SOC, the New Media Center and Bender Library split the $3,000 cost.
"For people doing projects for classes that aren't media based, for example, making a commercial for a business class, it's easy to go to Lynda and look up a tutorial," Donnellan said.
The Web tutorial is more efficient than searching individual questions about software, she said.
"With Lynda, you can learn the fundamentals and build on them," Donnellan said.
Jared Macary, an SOC graduate student, said he uses Lynda to learn skills useful for his resume.
He said he checks out a password to access the Web site from his own computer.
"I'm looking for full-time work ... I see how employers want people in communications to know CSS and how to write HTML," Macary said.
You can reach this staff writer at klitvin@theeagleonline.com.
