Mr. Saunders' Office 2013 Page

Welcome to my Office 2013 Page!

Microsoft Office proficiency desired by top firms

According to a recent study by the International Data Corporation, Microsoft Office now ranks as the third most important job skill to possess in the 21st century, topped only by communication skills and project management. That means being proficient in MS Office is more valuable to employers than problem solving, creativity, and yes, even teamwork. There’s no question—expertise in Office isn’t just important for students to learn, it’s necessary.

Office 365

Students in this class are learning several features of the Office 2013 programs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For the past couple of years, students have been using Office 365 in conjunction with the desktop versions of Office 2013.

Office 365 is a web-based application that allows users to save documents online and edit them with the desktop version of Office or Microsoft's online applications called Office Online. Office Online programs are stripped down versions of Office that allow users to use the basic features of Office. However, when students utilize the desktop versions of the software in this class, they get the full range of tools available and are able to save their work directly to Office 365.

Students can also collaborate on the same document from different computers and see what the others working on the assignment have done with one click of a button. Whether they collaborate with other students or work on their own, once a document is opened from or saved to Office 365, it is connected to the cloud. So, students can save their work directly to a folder on Office 365 from the desktop version of Office they are using and access it on any computer.

In addition to learning the new cloud computing techniques, students also have the opportunity to attempt to get certified in Excel 2013. This certification shows they have mastered the use of Excel 2013. In the past, students were offered a certification in Word. While that certification is important, Excel is an Office program that is used heavily in the oil and gas industry and in various math and science fields. So, the decision was made to switch to Excel as the one certification the school will pay for. Students can still pay to try to get certified in Word 2013.

The class will switch to Office 2019 in the 2019-2020 school year. Click here to get a look at Office 2019.

Either certification gives students an advantage when applying for colleges or entering the workforce. Below is a list of students who have achieved Microsoft Office specialist certification in either Word or Excel 2013, Word 2010, or Word 2007. Congratulations to these students!

Excel 2013 certifications

Word and Excel 2013 certifications

Word 2010 certifications

Word 2007 certifications

This is the fourth year we have been using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2013 in the Office 2013 class. For more information about the software, click on the picture below.