U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • A Different View Of German History
      • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
      • Demystifying Psychology
      • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
      • Zoom Short Course
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet >
          • + Ian's Blog
          • + Links and references
      • O - Z >
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Tech Savvy Drop In
        • Travel Group
  • A-Col
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Armchair History
    • Armchair Traveller
    • Art Appreciation
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'Causes'
      • 'Rebellion'
      • 'On Friendship'
      • 'Community'
      • 'Anzac Day'
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Com-G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research >
      • Glossary and Tips
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Lessons
      • German - Beginners
  • I-P
    • Investment
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meditation
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork >
      • Patchwork Home
      • Patchwork Exhibition 2020
      • Patchwork - Beginners 2019
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
  • R -Z
    • Recorder Group
    • Russian Literature
    • Saturday Cards - '500'
    • Singing for Fun
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Apple
    • Tech Talks
    • The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Wine Appreciation
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Program Guide 2022
    • Membership Application 2022
    • Month Overview Semester 1 2022
    • Full Timetable with Dates Semester 1 2022
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • June Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

'Family History, Other Projects and E-Shed Project groups'

28/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Tech Savvy Projects is now operating in its new format, with ‘Family History’ preceding ‘Other Projects’ on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, and an ‘E-Shed’ group on the 4th Thursday for members who also go to the ‘Tech Savvy Talks’ café discussion group.   

The focus in the ‘Family History’ session is on using information technology and programs such as ancestry.com for family history projects.  At our last session, U3A member and experienced family historian, Heather Sloan, spoke about her family history journey.  Heather shared many ideas for using the computer for family history, and stressed the importance of always double checking evidence before adding to family trees.   

The projects in the ‘Other Projects’ group are quite diverse, including developing an animation; producing a ‘perpetual’ calendar with birthdays listed on it;  producing travel blogs, examples of  which are already being published to the web and checked out in class, and more.  

The ‘E-Shed’ group before Tech Savvy Talks each month is also likely to result in a diversity of projects.  At the first session Bill began to develop a slide show presentation which required organising a huge collection of photos while Neville began work on fine tuning his blog, which is now three year old. Les bought along his Arduino board and idea for a project, but he will need to tell us about this next time as he was kept quite busy as a mentor in the group.

Beverley Lee

PS - A FB post by group member Margaret Walshe....
0 Comments

Projects 'notes'... developing  a simple blog website...

27/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Looking forward to 'show and tell' today, and to hearing about different projects.   I'm also going to show and tell the new things I'm trialling on my own project https://leedevittfh.weebly.com website.   

If you are new to website development and would like to start a blog based site, start with a simple, one column blog.  This page is a blog page, but it has a side column.  You don't need to have a side column to start with, but as you will see from the information on the side, they can be useful.

There's a link to a simple You Tube video on creating a blog on a page for U3A Benalla bloggers - you might like to check it out.   Here's the link... ​u3abenalla.weebly.com/bloggers

In Projects today we are going check out the resources on  this page... internet willing...then get on to problem solving with our projects.

Bev
​Wednesday 27 March
0 Comments

Tech Savvy Projects - Family History Online

13/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Today's session will start with Show and Tell, then Internet willing, we will check out the search features of Ancestry.com; then have a look at MyHeritage.com.                        
Other link if this doesn't open - Top Ancestry Search Tips and Tricks ​https://youtu.be/uZnshl_fxmIyoutu.be/uZnshl_fxmI 

Another one... 
Five Reasons You are Not Finding your Ancestors
Then we will have a look at another online program which has complementary features to Ancestry.com - MyHeritage.com  -   
  • myheritage.com in 100 seconds
  • Making the Most of My Heritage
  • About My Heritage:
My Heritage Video Tutorial 
0 Comments

Coming up in Tech Savvy Projects - 'Other Projects' March 12

12/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Some links which, internet permitting, we will check out...

Check up - Scam news; U3A Benalla website:  U3A Benalla Tech Savvy Projects Page.  U3A Benalla Facebook Page:  Member websites; Member Twitter accounts, other possibilities.  

Google Slides - an app which is always available if you don't have Microsoft Powerpoint.  Check out:  ​https://youtu.be/kYA6GLAzz9youtu.be/kYA6GLAzz9AA   This is good to watch after you have had a first session - the narrator moves quite quickly.   Similar principles apply to powerpoint.  
Using Movie Maker - this time as an animation tool (Frank's project involves animation)
ML
Still thinking about a blog?  Working a single 'blog page' effectively to learn basic principles.  Example:  my 'armchaireconomics.weebly.com' Starter Page.  

Learning Skill - 'Categories' 
0 Comments

'Other Projects' - Session 1

7/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Despite difficulties with the internet, the 'other projects' group began to 'scope' the possible apps and skills needed for some of their projects, with lots of ideas being shared on lots of project directions.

Slide Shows for Special Occasions - Apps: Power Point, Movie Maker Skills: Photo Resizing 

Nearly every project is going to require preparing a folder with numbered photographs to be uploaded into the project - whether a calendar, photo book or slide show.  Web sites and blogs are best developed with a related folder system containing photo images used on different pages.

Bev showed us a file folder containing numbered in order photos for a memorial slide show developed for an Aunt's funeral, then screened two versions of the memorial 'movie', one produced with Power Point, the other with Movie Maker. Bev then demonstrated the files from the file folder to introduce working with both the  Power Point process  and   Movie Maker (Microsoft) program.  Lots of discussion followed the demonstration.  

​Resizing photos is an important skill when sending photos by email, putting them in newsletters and webpages, and more.  Bev demonstrated using Microsoft Office's Picture Manager to focus on core features of the process, then everyone went off to check out what was available on their device and problem solve about how to transfer what Bev had shown them in an app or program on their device.  .  

We all have different devices and different apps and are likely to continue to do so.  The most important thing is to get to know the apps you have on your devices well and become skilled at using them.  It's also important to think outside the square for possible programs - with 

Alternatives to Microsoft Office

From John Barry: 

​"The free programs to which I referred today are LibreOffice at libreoffice.org and XnViewMP or XnView at xnview.com.

I have used them both for years. They work really well. LibreOffice consists of all the equivalents to Microsoft Office without the $150 annual charge. Even Word and Excel macros work in LibreOffice and all files created in Word etc translate readily to and from LibreOffice. Even if I were given a copy of Microsoft Office, I would not bother installing it.

Both programs are able to be installed in Windows, Linux, IOS & Android".

From Wendy Sturgess: 


'The free program that is equivalent to Microsoft Office that can be used with Windows 10 is called Apache Open Office – 4.  https://www.openoffice.org.  I just googled it.'





0 Comments

Tech Savvy Projects: Family History, E-Shed & 'Other Projects'

3/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Our Tech Savvy Projects have now been clustered into three sub groups, ‘Family History’, ‘Other Projects’ and ‘E-Shed’. With diverse devices, systems, applications, learning needs and project ideas, members within the groups are making valued input to class discussion and informally clustering, encouraging and assisting one another.

Our aim is to come to each new session having achieved something on our projects since the last session, however small.

Lots of challenges are being faced, not least the difficulties with the WiFi internet in the U3A meeting room. A family history group member was to start a recent session trialling a new ancestry.com account with us all watching via the overhead projected screen when the internet froze. It was unavailable for the remainder of the class. Members, ever patient and enterprising, set to using their phones and other methods to do as much as they could. Is it impact of the NBN works nearby? Are we in a black spot? Is it a combination? Divided into subgroups, we do not have more than 10 in each subgroup and the modem is supposed to cater for 20.

​Don’t be surprised if you find us sitting as a group on the other side of town trialling the use of the U3A modem at the Royal Hotel or Golf Club next month!

Meeting times – 2nd and 4th Tuesdays: Family History 1.30 to 3 pm/Other Projects 3 to 4.30 pm; 4th Thursday 1 pm to 2.30 pm ‘E-Shed’.
Bev Lee
0 Comments
    Family Stories

    Family Research

    ​Family Research is a guided self-help group for members who are already working on their family tree.  Sessions commence with report backs on ‘pains and gains’ during research over the previous month accompanied by shared problem solving and lots of encouragement and ideas for next steps.  Presentations by group members and guest speakers provide inspiration and suggestions of different approaches and resources.  Social distance regulations permitting, ‘hands on’ segments to learn new skills on our devices will be included in 2022.  Stories are also shared each month on topics designed to encourage deeper reflection on our research.  Topics to begin 2022 include ‘A Sense of Place’, ‘Hunch’ and ‘They were there when…’. 

    Convenor/s Contact Details

    Bev Lee
    ​0478 607 838

    ​Wendy Sturgess 
    0403 226 649 

    Barry O'Connor
    ​0407 266 688

    Meeting Times

    4th Thursday 1 to 4 pm
    Family Research Course Information 2022

    ​List of Topics - 2022

    List of Topics - 2021

    Finding the Alphabetical List of Names on Ancestry.com (Barry O'Connor)

    Links

    Benalla Family Research Group 
    Trove
    'More on Trove'
    Everyone Loves Trove (Podcast)
    'Lee Devitt Family History Blog' Bev Lee
    DNA Detectives and the End of Family Secrets

    Apps and Resources

    Draft notes on lists and downloads from Trove
    HEREDIS 

    ancestry.com.au

    myheritage.com

    ​Scotland's People 

    momento.com

    photobooksexpress.com,au 

    Photobooks express  help guide

    findpenguins.com

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
COVIDSafe Plan
U3A Benalla & District Flier 2022
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2022
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2022
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2022
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria