Terry Dillon has decided to take a break from teaching a regular course in 2018, but hopefully will pop up on occasions as a mentor during Tech Savvy Projects where his skills suit a particular project. 

Tech Savvy Projects is being held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday afternoons of the month.  It has been timetabled from 1.30 to 4.30 pm to enable small groups working on similar projects to be scheduled if needed.

Thank you Terry for all your work in adding to the IT skills of U3A members!

Bev Lee
Tech Savvy Teaching Team

There is no Tech Savvy Plus during July, August & September. Terry will contact participants in September.
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Terry Dillon

After a look at GPSs we had a different look at counting the way spiders or insects might count and several ways a computer counts.

For the final session we will look at the ‘new’ dual memory sticks and take video clips on our phones and camcorders and share them. We will also use the dual memory sticks to back them up.
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Terry Dillon

A guest speaker, Faye Blainey, introduced us to Geocaching, a 'treasure hunt" using your phone or tablet to locate the treasure. Geocaching has a very large following world-wide with many "treasures" located around Benalla. After locating three practice caches near W4 we ventured out in search of the "Real Treasures" located near Lake Benalla. More information on Geocaching can be found at geocaching.com. 

An alternative to Geocaching is a similar "Treasure Hunt" game Munzee which is very popular with many active locations in Benalla. Again, for more information go to munzee.com

All-in-all a fun afternoon. Thanks Faye

​Terry Dillon 

​Thank you, Bev, for standing in for Terry and taking the Tech Savvy Plus program in March.

​We then used the mirror to demonstrate the processing of photos using Snapseed.

​There will be no second session in April as the scheduled time would be Anzac day. On return in May we will have a visiting presenter explaining Geocaching and giving us a practical demonstration.

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​Tech Savvy Plus seems to be finding its feet – with Terry’s curriculum taking the group into new territory.  Even if we’re not sure whether we’ll use all of Terry’s apps, Bev, who is taking some classes for Terry, reassures us that ‘transferable skills’ are involved!  We started by having a good look at Fuel Buddy, which a number of members thought they’d have liked to have known about while they were still active in the workforce.  We then considered WiFi and reviewed Slides; with Frank demonstrating a slide show he completed using Slides.  Although John and Bill weren’t at the last class, both recognized that their understanding and skills in using PowerPoint would be transferable to Slides.   
 
After some shared problem solving, Bev used her smart phone and a Chromecast dongle connected to the large screen television to broadcast Terry’s slide show from Google Drive, YouTube videos and some programs on I-View.  Purchase of a Chromecast at around $60 can effectively make a digital television into a ‘smart TV’. 
 
Next session, again with Bev, will include reviewing Bluetooth and spending time on photo apps for IOS and Android devices, including a new one recommended by Terry called Snap seed. 

The main resource for today's session is Terry's Session 2 slide show which you can find on Drive in your Google Apps menu.  It includes reviews and further information about the fuel buddy app and 'Slides'.  This short promotional video highlights features of Fuel Buddy - including those from the Pro version.  The free version appears quite functional for most purposes. 

Reviewing 'Slides' - Terry was pleased to receive your slide shows, well done.  The Session 2 slide show adds ways in which to make your slide presentations more interactive.  It includes some video presentations.  Think about how you might have added more interactivity to the slide show you sent Terry.

If we get time we will look at using our phones to turn a regular HD television (not a Smart TV) into a Smart TV.  There is a handout for this which will be added as a link.

Just a quick note - if you are a Facebook person you might like to follow our pilot Facebook site 'U3A Benalla and District'.  If not, just have a look at it as a community member for information at You'll find  a facebook logo link at the top of the page.   The address is https://www.facebook.com/u3abenalla/

Bev (Standing in for Terry today).  

This new group had only had one session prior to the newsletter deadline.  More news next month!

Tech Savvy Plus with Terry Dillon meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 1.30 to 3.30 pm in W4.  For further information, contact Terry on 0419343129.
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This term we have explored Google Apps, briefly looking at the potential of each app. The pace has been cracking and has been a challenge.  In the final session for 2016 we will establish which apps should be extended and in 2017 we will dig down into those apps and consolidate.  As well, we will take a hands-on approach to connectivity by connecting Bluetooth and Wifi devices, including Bluetooth watch (and make calls Dick Tracey style), Bluetooth speakers, or other selected devices, set up Tethering and join Wifi networks.   The 2017 course, code named Tech Savvy Plus, will be held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 1.30 to 3.30.
 
A companion course Tech Savvy Beginners will be conducted by Jenny Sawyer on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays 1.30 to 3.30.

Google Apps requires a Google Account which comes with 15Gb cloud storage and includes Chrome (web browser), email, contacts, docs (word processor), sheets (spreadsheet), calendar, photos, sites (create and maintain your own website).

This course is applicable to Windows, iOS and Android users. We will have assistants for all three (iOS, Windows and Android) available to assist during the session. There will be two assistants plus the course leader available to assist participants.

Requirements

Participants will be required to have their own device (Tablet, phone etc) but desktop computers will not be feasible. Participants should be competent in basic use of their device and should already have a gMail account. Notes on creating a gMail account will be sent to participants on enrolment.

Coverage

There will be 10 sessions, each of 90 minutes, on alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays over 10 weeks in between September & December covering:

Combined Google Apps Course -  for members who are comfortable using internet 
W4 1st, 2nd, 4th Tuesday and 3rd Wednesday from 2.30 to 3.30 pm 

1. Wednesday 21st September - Creating a Gmail account, sending and receiving email
2. Tuesday 27th September  - Using Chrome and installing apps extensions
3. Wednesday 5th October - Contacts.  Adding contacts, using groups.
4. Tuesday 11th October - Calendar.  Adding an event, repeating events, views including Agenda, other calendars.  Tasks.  Develop a to-do list.
5. Wednesday 19th October - Drive.  Storing, organising and sharing files.
6. Tuesday 25th October - Photos.  Albums, edit a photo.
7. Wednesday 2nd November  - Docs.  Create and edit a document.
8. Tuesday 8th November - Sheets.  Create and edit a spreadsheet.
9. Wednesday 16th November and 10.  Tuesday 22nd November and if necessary and Wednesday 30  November  - *Sites.  Create your own google website.*Forms.  Add a form eg. 'Contact Us' to your website.*Keep.  Creating notes.  *Panoramio.  Photo Sharing.  

Topics 1 to 8 will be covered on successive sessions.  Topics marked * are optional topics to be covered in sessions 9 and 10.  Sessions 9 and 10 are elective sessions which may include extensions to previous sessions.