January 24/97

Carol Cram

Textbooks
on Success

Re has played an important role
in the life of Carol Cram.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia,
Carol decided to pursue her bachelor
of arts from England’s University of
Reading. She did her teacher training
in Durham and moved back to B.C.,
where she taught high school before
moving to Toronto to receive her
masters in drama.

In 1985, Carol and her husband,
West Coast artist Gregg Simpson,
moved back to the West Coast and
had their daughter, Julia.

“About 10 years ago, I applied to
Capilano College for a position in
either the English, Theatre or Office
Administration (now called Applied
Business Technology) departments,”
Carol explains. “It was Office
Administration that called and things
have taken off from there.”

She started writing down her
teaching methods and to date, Carol
has published 12 textbooks on various
computer software applications and
business communications.
Approximately six more textbooks
written under her name are slated for
publication in 1997.

“About five years ago, I had to
teach a Draw Perfect course at
Capilano College,” Carol says. “I had
no materials, so I developed a system

called the project approach to teaching
software. I took this technique to
Houghton Mifflin, a publisher in
Boston, and subsequently wrote six
textbooks for them.

“Last year, Houghton Mifflin got out
of computer book publishing because
they couldn’t keep up with Course
Technology, a publishing company
located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It
is a division of International Thomson
Publishing company (ITP).”

Since June 1996, Carol has written
books on MS Office, MS Word, MS
Excel and the World Wide Web for
Course Technology. They are all part of
the Illustrated Project Series.

“Course Technology gave me my
own series because I have a project
approach to teaching,” Carol says. “By
spring of this year, there will be nine
books in the Illustrated Project Series.”

Carol, who teaches part-time at
Capilano College, plans to use her own
books this term.

“T love writing the texts,” says the
North Shore resident. “The teaching
supports the writing and what I write
helps me teach.

“The textbooks are being adopted by
educational institutions worldwide,”
she adds, “and will be used by
instructors who teach a variety of
courses in software applications. My
newest text is really cool. It’s called
Illustrated Projects on the World Wide
Web and I’m hoping it will really take
off. It’s a cross curriculum publication
that shows students how to do projects
on the Web.”

That fickle finger of fate has not
only been kind to Carol. She has been
sharing her good fortune with Capilano
College, which is listed as an affiliate
underneath her name on the front of all
her texts. Because of her publications,
Capilano College is being recognized
around the world, and even better, it is
being associated with real success.

Tips for
Avoiding
E-mail Angst

* put a one-hour delay on your e-mail in
case you need to cool down or rethink it
* treat e-mail as you would any other
publication—don’t say anything you
wouldn’t say in print

« avoid humor, sarcasm and satire,
especially when broadcasting e-mail to
multiple readers

* abandon e-mail if you become
embroiled in a dispute; it’s not an
effective way to argue

* remember that e-mail is a record that
can be saved forever and can also be
forwarded to anyone and everyone
without your knowledge

¢ doublecheck the address to save
yourself from a potentially embarrassing
situation

¢ when you receive e-mail, don’t over-
read it; recognize that each time you read
it, it can cut a little deeper and that is
probably not what the sender intended

¢ try starting your message with the
person’s name and include your own at
the end

« think before you send; don’t respond in
anger

Photo Contest

The Social Planning Department of the
District of North Vancouver is holding
a photo contest to increase public
awareness of the increased importance
of seniors in our community. Photos
can be any format: color or black and
white prints (not larger than 11 X 14),
or slides . They should be labelled on
the back with the photographer’s name, ~
address and phone number. Deadline
for submissions is February 17, 1997.
To obtain an entry form or further
information, contact Mark Bostwick at
990-2378.

@nformer