Time Saver

This semester, we will watch a lot of videos. Before we get started in Excel, let’s take a few minutes to learn how to use the video player to the best of its capabilities, as well as how to use it in conjunction with Excel.

Open Link in New Tab or Window

Many of you already know how to use these embedded video players, but the following tips will be very useful to you as you work with Excel. If you follow these tips, you may save hours over this semester.

Typically, when we see a video, we would hit the play button or make it full screen. Instead of doing that, complete the following.

  1. Right-click on the Play button in the center.
  2. Choose Open Link in New Tab or Open Link in New Window.
    1. The video will open on a separate page. (See Figure 1.1)
      BUS115_image_1.1.jpg
      Figure 1.1
       

Control Bar

When you push play, you can then hit the same button and push pause. The volume control is the button to the right and can be adjusted up or down. Directly beside it is the minute counter. This tells you how many minutes there are and how many minutes have passed in the video.

On the right-hand side, the arrows represent the full screen mode. If you select full screen, it will take up the whole screen. Push Escape on your keyboard to exit full screen. (See Figure 1.2)

BUS115_image_1.2.jpg
Figure 1.2

 

There is a Closed Caption (CC)  button on the left side of the control bar. If you would like, you can turn closed captioning on to English. When you do that, the text of the video will be shown at the bottom as the video is progressing. You can turn closed captioning off by selecting the CC button and then selecting Off. (See Figure 1.3)

BUS115_image_1.3.jpg
Figure 1.3
 

The gear-shaped button is the quality button, which should remain on auto to adjust to your internet bandwidth. (See Figure 1.4)

BUS115_image_1.4.jpg
Figure 1.4

 

The two arrows represent the full-screen option, and then up in the top left there is an information button that tells you a bit about the video. (See Figure 1.5)

BUS115_image_1.5.jpg
Figure 1.5

       

 

In the top right corner, there is a button for smart-casting if you happen to have another device nearby that you can broadcast this video onto, and the second is a download button in case you need to download the video to view offline later when you’re not connected to the internet. (See Figure 1.6)

BUS115_image_1.6.jpg
Figure 1.6

Following Along: Video Speed

The 1X button is the speed of the video, the default being 1X as shown in Figure 1.7, which is normal speed. If you want to speed up or slow down the video, you can go faster to 1.5X, which will be one and a half times as fast as normal, or you can slow it down to 0.75X. Now, for most videos, you should not go up to 2X speed because the video will be playing so fast that you will not be able to understand what’s being said. But if you want to go up to 1.5X, you can save yourself quite a bit of time by speeding up the videos. As long as you can still understand what’s being said and follow along in your workbook. Since you’re following along in your workbook, in some cases, it may be necessary to slow it down or pause.

BUS115_image_1.7.jpg
Figure 1.7

 

Following Along: Side by Side

These instructions cover how you can work with a video on one side of your screen and an Excel workbook on the other while working on a PC.

  1. While you have the video window open, press the Windows key and the right arrow
    1. That will move that arrow to the right side of the page. 
  2. When you have your Excel file open, push the Windows key and the left arrow.
    1. That will put it on the left side of the screen. 

Note: On a Mac computer, while the tab is open, go to the Window option at the top of the screen and select Tile Window to the Right/Left. This will move the window to the right or left of the screen and give you an option of which other windows to tile to the other side.

This gives you the option to switch between windows. This way, you can watch the video on one half of your screen while you are doing the work on the other half of your screen. If you adjust in the middle, you can also slide over the windows so that they fit just as you may need them to fit. If you had been using the embedded video player, when you go to put that to the side, the embedded video is too small to be useful for you. That’s why it is recommended to use the Open Link in New Tab or Open Link in New Window feature.

Supplemental Resource

This content is provided to you freely by BYU-I Books.

Access it online or download it at https://books.byui.edu/bus_115_business_app/time_saver.