Introducing Procertas: Learn Word, Excel & More

The problem

Librarians speak in your writing classes about how lawyers use Word in practice. We show you how to set up briefs, use styles, set up tables of contents, and create tables of authorities.  We have also created an online guide explaining Word skills.

But we wanted to do more to help you learn these and other skills.  And we wanted to offer you tools that let you learn technology at your own pace.

The solution

Procertas

procertas logo

This year, the Law Library is pleased to offer a new tool, Procertas, to help you learn law office technologies such as Word, Excel, and PDF that are important tech skills to become an efficient lawyer. 

How Procertas works

Procertas offers two kinds of learning tools: tutorials and assessments.  

Tutorials feature videos that walk you through specific skills step by step.  You can watch videos in the recommended order, or watch them at any time through the Procertas resource library.

Examples of Procertas tutorials

 

Assessments ask you to download a document and try out skills yourself.  You then upload the completed document and Procertas will tell you how you did.  You need to do the assessments in the order presented.

Some students like to watch the tutorials first, then try the assessments.  Some like to try the assessments first, and then watch the tutorials for the skills they weren’t clear about.  

When you finish the assessments for specific software, you are awarded a score: Beginner, Intermediate, Qualified, or Expert.  You can take the assessments as many times as you like to raise your score.

Learn more about how it works here.

Do I need a specific version of Office?

No. Procertas’ exercises let you use your own version of Word or Excel.  Word or Mac, older versions or new.

Don’t have Word or Excel, or want the latest version?  ITS can help you access Office 365 and download Office (see here for more information or visit the help desk on the 5th floor).  You can also use Office software in the 9th-floor lab.

Do I need a specific version of Adobe Acrobat?

Procertas also features lessons teaching you how to edit and work with PDFs.  The tutorials use Acrobat Pro, and the assessment will work if you have that software or Nuance Power PDF Advanced.  If you don’t have either, you can obtain a student version of Acrobat Pro here.  The free Acrobat Reader won’t work and the 9th-floor lab does not have Acrobat Pro.

How do I access Procertas?

The Library has arranged for students to receive, via their kentlaw email, the login information to access Procertas. (Like Lexis and Westlaw, it requires its own password.) Once you log in, you can start using the tutorials or the assessments.  Choose where you’d like to start and work on the modules whenever you want. 

List of Procertas modules

To access the login information, search for the Procertas LTA message in your kentlaw inbox. Can’t locate your Procertas email?  Contact Debbie Ginsberg (dginsberg@kentlaw.iit.edu)

Can I get Certified?

Procertas offers a certification credential called COBOT (Certified Operator of Basic Office Technology).  When you earn “Qualified” or “Expert” grades in one group of assessments (e.g. all the Word or, all the Excel assessments), you’ll receive a badge that is good for three years.  
Procertas Excel Badge

About Debbie Ginsberg

Debbie was the Educational Technology Librarian at the Chicago-Kent College of Law until she left for a new job in 2021
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