Training By The Twos: Two Sites, Two Tools, Two Tidbits Susan Schneider Training By The Twos: Two Sites, Two Tools, Two Tidbits Welcome

About Me -Started my own technical journey 7 years ago at this local SQL Saturday Jax -Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft Technology Associate: Database Fundamental -BI Analyst/Report Developer at Community Hospice and Palliative Care Blog at: www.SQLInsight.net/susanschneiderblog “How to Become Technical at Any Age” -Certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt -Weekend Sailor and Wanna-Be ‘Power BI Guru’

What you will learn from today’s session -What two training sites to provide you excellent online technical training for free or very little money. -What two reporting applications you should learn now to best leverage you for the job market. -What two tidbits will help you stay employed. Take Quick Survey to gauge the class on their technical level.

Two Training Sites: EdX and Coursera Not All Computer Courses Architecture, Biology, and nutrition, to how politicians debate. University of California at Berkeley entitled ‘The Science of Happiness’ Introduction to Programming with Java, by Universidad de Carlos de Madrid, begins its self-paced course on September 26th and is part of a Professional Certificate

EdX www.edx.org -Non-profit Online Course provider (MOOC- massive open online course) -Started 2012 by MIT and Harvard -Currently 10 + million students worldwide -Taking more than 1300 + courses online -Available 24/7 -No Application Required -Request an Account (free to join) -Most courses are free (small cost if you want cert) -EdX Code Repository: https://open.edx.org/ EdX is different from other online course providers like Coursera and Udacity; because it is non-profit and runs on Open edX Open-source software Universities and Major Businesses [Harvard, MIT, Microsoft, Smithsonian, International universities] MOOC-Massive Open Online Course) Course [Event] Open (Accesible) Participatory Distributed( learning from pockets all over internet) Encourages Life Long Networked Learning Repository code repository available: https://open.edx.org/

-Each course description provides: More about EdX Courses: -Each course description provides: -View of Course Syllabus/ Professors -List Prerequisites (if any) -If course is part of a program: -List order for taking the course -Date when course begins -Suggested length in weeks to complete course -Suggested number of hours required to complete the course materials 1Four Major Groups Individual Courses Professioinal Program Certificates- Build Critical Professional Skilles Micromasters- Graduate level courses than can be transfer to a University XSeries- Develop Deep Knowledge in a particular area XSeries

-Individual Courses: 402 individual computer courses alone More about EdX Courses: -Individual Courses: 402 individual computer courses alone -Microsoft Professional Program Certificates: Series of courses designed by industry leaders/universities to build and enhance critical professional skills. -Micromasters Programs: Series of graduate level courses from top universities recognized by employers for the ‘real job’ relevance. -XSeries Programs: Series of courses to develop deep knowledge in a particular subject.

Professional Program https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate 1. Microsoft Profession Program: Data Science Computer Science Essentials for Software Development Essentials of Cybersecurity 2. MicroMasters Programs: Data Science Business Analytics Cloud Computing 3. Xseries: SQL Server Database Administration (how to install, configure, secure, protect and maintain SQL) Microsoft SQL Database Development Microsoft SharePoint 2016 Fundamentals of Computer Science

Example Microsoft Professional Program Certificate in Big Data .

MicroMasters https://www.edx.org/micromasters

XSeries https://www.edx.org/xseries

Susan’s Recommended EdX ‘Get Started’ Courses Our World Runs on T-SQL Learn It Now Learn It Well Period!

More Training Sites: Coursera and Microsoft Virtual Academy https://www.coursera.org/ -For Profit (Venture Capital funding) -Founded in 2012 Stanford professors -Currently over 24 million users -More than 2000 countries -Financial aid is available -Very similar to EdX except pricing Con: You have to go at the pace of the professors as they release videos and assignments. Con: Course subjects might be too difficult for those new to the tech field. https://mva.microsoft.com/ -Free online school with courses covering Microsoft-related topics and specific Microsoft products -Mix of on-demand and live events -Each course contains a video and PDF download of video transcript -Three Main Learning Tracks: Developer, IT Pros, Data Pros -Everything is free, including the Certificates of Completion -New Program called ‘Learning Paths’

Coursera Examples

MVA Developer Course Examples

MVA IT Pro Course Examples

MVA Data Pro Course Examples (recommend starting here)

Two Tools: Power BI Desktop Mobile Report Publisher (SSRS 2016)

Why Learn Reporting Tools Why Learn Reporting Tools? -Quickest way to enter the technical field without knowing several programming languages. -In companies using the Microsoft stack, knowing T-SQL (Transact-SQL) and having reporting skills will get you in the door. -Data is only good if you have a way to share it, analyze it, and present it in a consumable form.

Reporting Tools Overview Power BI Desktop (2017) -Cloud-based Business analytics -Desktop based interface -Made its debut July, 2015 -Provides interactive reports, visualizations, dashboards -Models deployed to Cloud -Mobile app available -Free account/ lots of tutorials **https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/guided-learning/ Mobile Report Publisher (2016) -Part of the new SQL Server 2016 -Creates Reporting Services mobile reports, optimized for mobile devices. -New features/visualizations **https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads **https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/reporting-services/mobile-reports/create-mobile-reports-with-sql-server-mobile-report-publisher

Wise Owl and Pragmatic Works http://www.wiseowl.co.uk/videos/ssrs-2016/ssrs-2016-videos.htm http://pragmaticworks.com/

Demo Time Demo Power BI Solution, SSRS 2016 Report, and Mobile Report Publisher

Two Tidbits: Knowledge Documents Positive Attitude

Tidbit One: Knowledge Documents Knowledge Document According to Susan: -KISS: Keep It Simple Susan-Use a Word Document to copy and paste things you need to remember Create a ‘Knowledge Doc ‘ folder Prefix each new document with ‘Knowledge- <name> Have separate documents for each similar item Eg: Knowledge-TSQL Knowledge-SSRS Knowledge-SSIS Knowledge-DAX Knowledge-Computer Locations! (This one was a life saver) See notes for this section

Tidbit Two: Positive Attitude -Sudeshna Banerjee, Six Sigma Practitioner, in her article Characteristic #1: A ‘Can Do’ Attitude  ’… an effective change agent needs to believe in what he does. They are self starters, motivated, have initiative and have a positive personality.’ -2014 CareerBuilder study, the top 10 traits employers seek in candidates: ‘Positive’ ranked third on the list, after ‘Hardworking’ and ‘Dependable’ -The Balance, July, 2017 ‘Employee Values are a Good Indicator of Success’ Employers seek employees who take the initiative and have the motivation to get the job done in a reasonable period of time. A positive attitude gets the work done and motivates others to do the same without dwelling on the challenges that inevitably come up in any job. It is the enthusiastic employee who creates an environment of good will and who provides a positive role model for others. A positive attitude is something that is most valued by supervisors and co-workers and that also makes the job more pleasant and fun to go to each day. A Positive Attitude will Get and Keep You Employed!

Thought: Job or Career Do You Have a Job or a Career? By Mark Ford, founder, The Palm Beach Research Group June 22, 2017 What's the difference? A career is a life's vocation… You work a job to make money. You work a career to build something you value. With a job, you are always thinking about the time you won't be working. With a career, you are always thinking about it even when you aren't working. The reason for this is a matter of focus. A job looks inward: "I do this to make money for myself." A career looks outward: "I am building something that others can appreciate or use." The litmus test for determining whether you have a job or a career is this question: If you could afford to, would you do it for free?

Recap of today’s session -Two and a Half Sites: EdX and Coursera Microsoft Virtual Academy -Two Tools: Power BI Desktop Mobile Report Publisher (SSRS 2016) -Two Tidbits: Knowledge Documents Positive Attitude and Team Player Last Thought: Do you want a job or a career

Questions and Answers

Thank You For Attending! Download the slide deck from the SQL Saturday website or visit my blog http://sqlinsight.net/susanschneiderblog/