Welcome to the Beginner Track!
Watch all tutorials seamlessly on our YouTube playlist by clicking the left button.
Or, scroll down and watch the videos individually.
1. Why Spreadsheets?
What is a spreadsheet and how will spreadsheet skills benefit me? Discover all the possibilities you can do with a spreadsheet – from building a goal tracker to creating a tournament schedule to developing games.
2. Access & Save Spreadsheets
To access spreadsheets, you will need a Google account. Anyone with a Gmail account automatically has a Google account. If you do not have an account, we’ll walk with you through it! If you already know how to access Google spreadsheet, feel free to skip ahead!
3. Layout Tour of Google spreadsheet
Let’s take a tour of a Google spreadsheet. You will learn how to do the following: (1) change a spreadsheet’s name; (2) view the menu bar, formatting bar, and formula bar; (3) add sheets; (4) modify the size of rows and columns; and (5) add columns and rows.
4. Fundamentals of Formatting
Here we’ll discover some basics of formatting, which include how to merge, align, change font sizes, bold, underline, and strike-through text. You’ll also discover how to modify text background color.
5. Essential Function Concepts
In this introductory video to functions, you will discover what a function is, why they are important, and the different categories of functions. You will also learn the basic structure and elements of a function.
6. Decision Making Framework: Spreadsheet here!
Using spreadsheets, you can make a thoughtful, logical decision (which comes in handy before making a purchase!) The functions you will learn include the SUM and the SUMPRODUCT functions, which will be used to create a decision-making framework.
7. Operator Functions
In this introductory video to operator functions, learn the multiple ways to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers in a spreadsheet.
8. Goal Tracker: Spreadsheet here!
What is a goal tracker? This is a spreadsheet application you can create to keep track of your goals and resolutions. Learn how to build this tool!
9. SUMIF & Absolute vs. Relative Reference
Discover the role of the SUMIF function in the Goal Tracker application. In the second half of the video, you will understand the importance of an absolute and relative reference when copying and pasting formulas If you wish to keep the referenced data range in your formula static, you’ll need an absolute reference. Discover more here!
10. Absolute Value, Sign, & Round
In this video, we introduce basic math functions. The first section explains how a spreadsheet can calculate a number’s absolute value and also indicate to you what the number’s sign is (positive, negative, or zero). In the latter half of the video, you’ll discover three rounding-related functions: ROUND, ROUNDUP, and ROUNDDOWN.
11. MIN & MAX / SMALL & LARGE
Discover how the MIN and MAX functions will return to you the lowest and highest values, respectively, within your referenced data set. How does the MIN and MAX functions differ from the SMALL and LARGE functions? Check out the video to find out!
12. COUNT & COUNTA
Discover how a spreadsheet can count the number of values in a dataset. Understanding the difference between the COUNT and the COUNTA functions will come in handy especially when there are text values in your dataset.
13. Pie Graph
How do you create a pie graph in a spreadsheet? This video will show you how!
14. Bar & Stacked Bar Graphs: Spreadsheet here!
Ever heard of a stacked bar graph? Here you’ll discover what the difference is between a standard bar graph and a stacked bar graph and learn how to create both.
15. Where does all my money go? Spreadsheet here!
This tool gets at the very heart of money management. Discover how to create a spending tracker. To build this application, you’ll need to understand various functions, including the SUMIF, SUM, and MAX, and know how to build a pie chart – all of which you’ve already learned. Another important element to master is Data Validation, which is found in our Intermediate I track.
Congrats! You’ve ready for the next track: Intermediate I Track.