Getting started

Hi all.

I am in the process of finalizing the materials you will need to complete the practical assignments for the module. Before I begin to post all of these, I want to make sure that everyone is ready and able to use them.

I have provided two templates for you to use to make your notebook entries. One is for PowerPoint users, the other for Keynote users. If you cant use either of these let me know and I will see what Ican do to assist.

From the BlackBoard site download the template of your choice. Open it, then immediately save it to your local drive using a sensible name.

Now navigate to one of the virtual microscopes we will use. You will find it at
NYU Virtual Microscope.

Bookmark the site as you will use it a lot. From the menu on the top choose 'Collections' then choose 'Histology Slide Collection'. Find a slide that interests you and click on it. Familiarise yourself with changing magnification and navigating around the slide. Repeat this for a few more slides until you are comfortable with using the virtual microscope.

Of course none of this is of any use unless you can actually take a picture of what it is you are looking at on the virtual microscope to include in your notebook. How you do this depends on what type of computer or device you are working on. On a MAC OS X 10.X.X the easiest way is to hit CMD and SHIFT and 4 simultaneously. The mouse pointer becomes a cross-hairs. Click and Drag this over the part of the screen you wish to capture. Release the mouse button and a screen shot of the area you specified appears on your desktop.

If you use Windows you can use the snipping tool. How you access this depends on which version of Windows you are using.

Windows XP / Vista: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13880_3-10040133-68.html

Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows7/Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots

Windows 8: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/snipping-tool-capture-screenshots-windows-8-tips

If you are using the PowerPoint template, use can use the screen clipping tool available from the insert image tab on the ribbon.

Regardless of what computer you use, it is a good idea to make one folder in which you will collect all of your histology images (you can organize these in subfolders by topic or slide if you wish). Now using the copy of the notebook you saved earlier you can practice inserting pictures and typing text associated with the picture (what you write is not important for now). It is worth practicing to use the drawing and labelling tools to mark up images.

If you have any problems with any of the above email me