Office basics course: Microsoft Word and PowerPoint*

In this online workshop, “,” you’ll learn the most important features and uses of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint so you can use them effectively and efficiently in your studies and career.

This course is offered exclusively to students in Department 02 (Humanities and Cultural Studies). However, students from other departments may also participate if space is available. A certificate of participation will be issued upon successful completion. It is also possible to earn a credit for additional key competencies if, in addition to participating, you successfully complete an assignment. IMPORTANT: If you have already participated in a previous PowerPoint and Word workshop as part of the practical program, you may participate again, but you will not receive any additional credit for supplementary key competencies.

Contents:

“Word” Section:

• Introduction to the program structure and user interface
• Basics of formatting, style sheets
• Outline, sections, views
• Tables of contents, lists of figures, and lists of tables
• Headers and footers, custom page numbering for individual sections
• Footnotes
• Inserting Graphics
• Side Note on Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights, and AI
• Mail merges

→ By the end, you will have developed the basic structure or format template for, say, a term paper or even a longer thesis in Word.

“PowerPoint” Section

• Audience-oriented presentations, creating a “storyboard”
• Slide layout, font size, colors/color families, the effect of colors, grids, visual language, text & impact, “dos and don’ts”
• Using pre-designed templates, creating and using slide masters
• Using SmartArt
• Animations

No prior knowledge of either program is required.

The exercises will primarily be conducted in the current versions of Word and PowerPoint from the Office 365 suite (or Word/PowerPoint for Mac). OpenOffice, lightweight versions, or online versions of the software cannot be used in this course. If you use the programs with a different language setting, we recommend that you install the German language pack before the course.

Information about Office 365 (including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint) is available on the ITS website:https://www.uni-kassel.de/its/it-dienste-software/microsoft-365-buerosoftware.html.

Apply for the Microsoft Campus License (free for students): https://www.uni-kassel.de/its/it-dienste-software/microsoft-365-buerosoftware/beantragung-der-microsoft-campuslizenz.html

Please allow some time for installation and for the ITS to activate the software.

Note: If you reinstall the program, please keep in mind that updates may be installed the next time you restart your computer.

We also recommend using a computer mouse and a second monitor (this will allow you to follow along with the tutorials simultaneously).

The course is conducted using the “Panopto” program, which is licensed by the University of Kassel. Participating students do not need to download this software; instead, they will receive a link to a video playlist via Moodle. The videos contain individual learning modules that can be viewed in a web browser. The videos include practice exercises that you are expected to complete during the course. For reference, there are videos showing sample solutions to the practice exercises.

The videos will be made available to all registered students and can be worked on over several days as needed. If you have any questions, the instructor will be available to assist you on three scheduled dates via support chats and Zoom.

Registration for the Moodle course is mandatory, as this is how the video playlist, additional information, and announcements are sent to participants, and how the submission of coursework (for credit) is organized.

You will receive access to Moodle well in advance of the course start date.

Duration:
The videos will be available from October 17, 2026 (10:00 a.m.) until November 8, 2026 (6:00 p.m.).

The instructor will answer your questions in the support chats and via Zoom on the following days at the times listed:

October 20, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

October 24, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (main session)

October 28, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Submission deadlines:

For the basic certificate of participation:

• Completed participation documents must be submitted by November 8 (6:00 p.m.).

For the 1-credit key competency:

• Completed files for the certificate of participation must be submitted by November 8 (6:00 p.m.)
• The proof of achievement (in addition to the participation documents) must be submitted by December 6 (6:00 p.m.).

Instructor:
Dipl. Biol. Nicole Burghardt

Registration via Campus Events