Computer skills
Introduction
As part of your studies, you will be required to complete several assignments, which may include essays, reports and dissertations, presentations and posters, and you may need to include some data analysis or prove an understanding of how to store, organise and manipulate numerical and other forms of data. You will need to use a word processing software, such as Microsoft Word, and you may be required to use a presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint and a spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel. Check the guides below to improve your skills using the applications listed below.
The guides have been prepared using Office 365. Office 2019 and Office 2016 will be very similar, although some of the functions may not be available or be in different locations. If you need help with an older version of Office, please contact cst@beds.ac.uk.
Cyber security awareness
If you would like to find out more about staying safe online, please read the cyber security awareness guidance by ICT.
Self-help guides available for download
Our guides are available as Word documents. If you need an alternative format, please email cst@beds.ac.uk.
Install free Microsoft Office
You can download and install Microsoft Office and use it free of charge as long as you are a student at the University.
Install Microsoft Office 365 (Windows or Mac) - instructions [DOCX]
Microsoft Excel
Our self help guides explain how to do short tasks in Excel. You can find additional resources, such as video training, tips and templates on the Microsoft support site.
- Excel - Add A Trendline
- Excel - Chart Elements
- Excel - Chart Filters
- Excel - Chart Styles
- Excel - Edit Or Rearrange Chart Data
- Excel - Enter A Formula
- Excel - Format Numbers
- Excel - Insert A Chart
- Excel - Insert A Function
- Excel - Print A Chart
- Excel - Print A Worksheet
- Excel - The Analysis Tools
- Excel - The Quick Analysis Tool
You can find more detailed instructions and examples in our workbooks.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Our self help guides explain how to do short tasks in PowerPoint. You can find additional resources, such as video training, tips and templates on the Microsoft support site.
- PP - Action Buttons
- PP - Adding Hyperlinks
- PP - Creating A Poster
- PP - Run A Slide Show
- PP - Apply A Transition
- PP - Applying Animations
- PP - Applying Timings To Slides
- PP - Changing The Slide Background
- PP - Editing Images
- PP - Inserting Charts
- PP - Inserting Images
- PP - View A Presentation
You can find more detailed instructions and examples in our workbooks.
Microsoft Word
Our self help guides explain how to do short tasks in Word. You can find additional resources, such as video training, tips and templates on the Microsoft support site.
- Word - Adding Captions To Images And Tables
- Word - Apply A Style
- Word - Bulleted And Numbered Lists
- Word - Changing The Spacing Between Lines
- Word - Creating A Table Of Contents
- Word - Creating A Table Of Figures Or Tables
- Word - Creating Tables
- Word - Editing Images
- Word - Formatting Different Sections
- Word - Header And Footer Tools
- Word - Headers And Footers
- Word - Indenting Paragraphs
- Word - Inserting Images
- Word - Introducing The Ribbon
- Word - Modifying Styles
- Word - Page Numbering
- Word - Shortcut Keys And Buttons
- Word - Sorting Alphabetically
- Word - Understanding The Backstage View
- Word - Using Section Breaks
- Word - Save As A PDF
You can find more detailed instructions and examples in our workbooks.
Microsoft Outlook Web
Other software and materials
ECDL
We no longer offer the ECDL qualification to students; however we still have many resources available if you wish to use them. Please email cst@beds.ac.uk if you need access to these resources.
If you are interested in achieving the ECDL or ECDL Advanced qualifications we recommend you contact Cranfield University.
Microsoft Teams
Please note that the University does not currently use Microsoft Teams as a teaching tool. It is however, available for students to use to create informal groups. Microsoft Teams training material is available directly from Microsoft.
IT basics
Excel
Excel: Inserting and formatting charts - Exercise file: Basic charts[XLSX]
Excel: Loading the Analysis ToolPak
Excel: PivotTable basics - Exercise file: PivotTables: Phone Sales Data[XLSX]
Resources for interpreting and referencing charts
Interpreting and using bar and pie charts
PowerPoint
Workshops
Study Hub can offer a number of workshops on these areas:
Additional reading
See more on these topics at our Readinglists site or see our readinglist by topic below.
study help
Search for guides in the Study Hub Self-Help repository
Our guides are available as Word documents. If you need an alternative format, please email studyhub@beds.ac.uk