ICTICT214 Operate application software packages

Office software work is sedentary work, and the unit starts, deliberately, with the body rather than the screen. In the Northern Territory the legal frame is the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 (NT), administered by NT WorkSafe. Employers must provide a safe workplace so far as is reasonably practicable; workers must take reasonable care of their own health and safety, not put others at risk, and follow reasonable instructions. Setting up your own workstation properly is part of that worker duty, not a nicety.

Ergonomics is the practice of fitting the work to the person: arranging equipment and tasks around how bodies actually work. An adjustable office chair is the classic example, since it can be set to support the spine, thighs and feet of whoever sits in it.

A workstation check, top to bottom

Work through a workstation in this order, correcting as you go:

• The room. Is there enough light for the task? Is there glare on the screen from windows or overhead lights? Are walkways and exit routes clear?
• Hazards on and around the desk. Remove anything that does not belong at a computer workstation, especially liquids and heat or power appliances (a kettle, a sandwich press, a soldering iron). Tidy loose tools and stationery into containers. Route, cover or cable-tie any cords that cross walkways or could snag.
• The chair. It should have a stable five-point base with working castors, and adjustable seat height, backrest height and backrest angle. Replace a fixed chair with an adjustable one.
• Chair height. Set it so your forearms rest roughly level with the desk surface when your shoulders are relaxed. Your thighs should be level or sloping slightly down, with no pressure behind the knees, and your feet flat on the floor. If your feet do not reach the floor once the chair is at the right height for the desk, use a footrest and note it.
• Backrest. Adjust so it supports the curve of your lower back (lumbar support).
• Keyboard and mouse. Place the keyboard directly in front of you, square to your body, close enough that your elbows stay near your sides. Keep the mouse beside the keyboard at the same height so you do not stretch. Wrists should stay straight (neutral), not bent up or down.
• Monitor. Directly in front of you, about an arm's length away, with the top of the screen at or slightly below eye level. Tilt it to cut glare, and clean the screen.
• Frequently used items within easy reach, so you are not twisting or stretching repeatedly.

Finish by asking the person who uses the station what else would help them: a footrest, a document holder, a sit-stand desk, a second monitor at the right height, or a headset for someone who takes many calls.

Risks of long sitting, and how to reduce them

Risk	What reduces it
Musculoskeletal aches and pains (neck, back, shoulders)	Correct chair and screen height; stretch neck and back regularly
Repetitive strain injury in hands and wrists	Neutral wrists when typing; short breaks to rest the hands; keyboard shortcuts to reduce mouse use
Eye strain	Look away from the screen regularly (a common rule is every 20 minutes, at something about 6 metres away, for 20 seconds); match screen brightness to the room; remove glare
Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, deep vein thrombosis	Stand and move at least every hour; move ankles and legs while seated; regular exercise outside work
Poor mental health and isolation	Take real breaks away from the desk; talk to colleagues through the day

Working from home carries the same duties. Safe Work Australia and NT WorkSafe both publish home-workstation guidance, and most organisations ask staff to complete a home workstation self-assessment.

Before opening any program, work out what the document is for, who will read it, and how it will be delivered. Then pick the tool that suits that job.

Application type	Typical products	Suited to
Word processor	Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer	Letters, reports, policies, forms, anything mainly text
Spreadsheet	Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc	Budgets, inventories and registers, calculations, charts, lists of records
Presentation	Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, Keynote	Talks, visual displays, signage and menu boards, short video exports
Email and calendar	Outlook, Gmail	Communication, scheduling
Other	OneNote, Visio, Publisher (being retired by Microsoft), Canva	Notes, diagrams, simple publications

Microsoft 365 is the most common suite in Australian workplaces, and CDU uses it. It is sold as a subscription and includes the desktop apps, web versions and OneDrive cloud storage. Google Workspace is the main alternative, especially in schools and small businesses. LibreOffice is the leading free, open-source suite and opens and saves Microsoft formats; the older Apache OpenOffice is rarely updated and has a poor record of fixing security problems, so LibreOffice is the free option to recommend.

Clarifying the brief before you start

Most real office tasks arrive incomplete. A manager forwards a file and says "can you turn this into a letter"; the file is missing the address, the logo and the deadline. The professional response is a short clarification email before you start, not a guess.

A good clarification email:

• has a subject line that says what it is about ("Kalashnikov Racing letter: details needed");
• opens with a professional greeting;
• says briefly what you received and that you have reviewed it;
• asks specific questions about everything missing: the audience and purpose, the recipient's full details, which logo or image files to use, the style guide requirements (fonts, colours, headings, layout), the file format wanted, and the exact deadline;
• closes politely with a proper email signature (name, role, organisation, contact details).

The same questions apply to spreadsheets (what columns, what totals, who will use it, should it stay editable) and to presentations (what display, what size and orientation, static or looping, which file format).

A style guide is an organisation's rulebook for how its documents look and sound: fonts and sizes, colours, heading styles, logo placement and sizing, headers and footers, where addresses sit on a letter, date and number formats, and tone. Organisations use one so that everything they produce looks consistent and professional and reinforces their brand, whoever in the organisation produced it. In Australia the Australian Government Style Manual (stylemanual.gov.au) is a widely used public reference for writing conventions.

A template turns the style guide into a starting file. In Word a template is saved as .dotx (or .dotm if it contains macros); opening it creates a new document based on it, so the template itself is never overwritten. Excel templates are .xltx and PowerPoint templates .potx. When a style guide lists a font, colour or size, apply it through styles in the template rather than by formatting text by hand.

Styles

Styles are the most important Word skill and the most commonly skipped. A style is a named set of formatting (font, size, colour, spacing) that you apply to a paragraph or text. Use the built-in Heading 1, Heading 2 and Normal styles and modify them to match the style guide (Home, Styles, right-click a style, Modify). Styled documents can be restyled in one step, generate an automatic table of contents, give screen-reader users a navigable structure, and export to PDF with bookmarks and accessibility tags.

Business letters

An Australian business letter normally uses a fully blocked layout (everything aligned to the left margin) with open punctuation (no commas after the salutation or closing). The usual parts, top to bottom:

• letterhead with logo, per the style guide;
• date, written in full, such as 22 September 2026;
• the recipient's name, title, organisation and postal address;
• salutation (Dear Mr Kalashnikov);
• an optional subject line;
• an opening paragraph stating the purpose;
• body paragraphs;
• a closing paragraph with the action or next step;
• complimentary close (Yours sincerely when addressed by name) and signature block with name, role and contact details.

Business reports

Most business reports share a recognisable structure: title page, executive summary, table of contents, introduction (purpose and scope), method or background, findings, analysis or discussion, conclusions, recommendations, references, and appendices. Headings built with styles make the table of contents automatic (References, Table of Contents).

Links, cross-references and bookmarks

Word has several ways to connect one place to another, and the unit expects you to know the differences:

Feature	What it is	Why you would use it
Hyperlink	A clickable link to a web page, another file, an email address or a place in the same document (Insert, Link, or Ctrl + K)	Citing an online source; linking to a policy on the intranet
Bookmark	A named, invisible marker at a location in the document (Insert, Bookmark)	Giving a hyperlink or cross-reference a target to jump to
Cross-reference	A field that refers to another part of the same document, such as a heading, figure or table, and updates if that item moves (Insert, Cross-reference, or References, Cross-reference)	"See Figure 3 on page 7" that stays correct after editing
Linked object	Content from another file shown in the document but still stored in the source file (Insert, Object, Create from File, tick Link to file)	A chart that must update when the spreadsheet changes
Embedded object	A copy of content from another file stored inside the document (Insert, Object, Create from File, Link to file unticked)	A snapshot that must travel with the document and not change

The difference between linking and embedding is a common source of confusion. A linked object stays small and current but breaks if the source file is moved or not shared; an embedded object travels with the document but makes it larger and does not update.

Accessibility

Before sending any document, run Review, Check Accessibility. It flags missing alternative text on images, poor colour contrast, tables without header rows and headings used out of order. Accessible documents are a legal expectation for many public organisations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and they are simply better documents for everyone.

Structure and data

A worksheet is a grid of columns (letters) and rows (numbers); each intersection is a cell with an address such as B4. A workbook contains one or more worksheets. Each cell holds a value (text, number, date, true or false) or a formula, which always begins with =. The formula bar shows what is really in a cell, which may differ from what is displayed.

Convert a block of data into an Excel table (select it, Insert, Table, or Ctrl + T). Tables add filter buttons, banded rows, structured references such as =SUM(Asset[Cost]), automatic extension when you add rows, and a built-in Total Row (Table Design, Total Row) that can count or sum each column.

Formulas, functions and the order of operations

Excel evaluates formulas in a fixed order, the same principle as BODMAS (or BIDMAS) from school maths: brackets first, then indices (powers), then division and multiplication from left to right, then addition and subtraction from left to right. So =2+3*4 gives 14, while =(2+3)*4 gives 20. When in doubt, add brackets; they cost nothing and make the intention clear.

One trap: Excel applies a leading minus sign before powers, so =-3^2 returns 9, where written maths would give -9. Write =-(3^2) if you mean the latter.

Common functions to know: SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, COUNT (numbers only), COUNTA (any non-empty cell), COUNTIF, SUMIF, IF, ROUND, TODAY, EDATE, DATEDIF and XLOOKUP (the modern replacement for VLOOKUP).

Cell references can be relative (A1, which shifts when copied), absolute ($A$1, which does not) or mixed ($A1). Press F4 while editing a reference to cycle through them. Named ranges (Formulas, Define Name) make formulas readable: =Cost*GST rather than =B2*$F$1.

Using the help system

The unit expects you to read help files and use the terminology in them. F1 opens Help in all Microsoft Office apps. The search box at the top of the window (Alt + Q) finds commands by name. When you insert a function (Formulas, Insert Function, or the fx button), Excel shows each argument with a short description, and "Help on this function" opens the full article.

Take PMT as a worked example of reading a help entry. PMT calculates the regular repayment on a loan with constant payments and a constant interest rate. Its syntax is PMT(rate, nper, pv, [fv], [type]). The three required arguments are rate (the interest rate per period), nper (the total number of payments) and pv (the present value, the amount borrowed). The square brackets mark optional arguments: fv (a balance to leave at the end, default 0) and type (payment at the end or start of each period). The key is matching periods: for monthly repayments on a 6% annual rate over three years, =PMT(6%/12, 36, -30000) returns about $912.66 a month. Entering the loan as a negative number follows Excel's cash-flow convention (money you receive is negative in this function's terms), which makes the result positive.

Importing a CSV file

A CSV (comma-separated values) file is plain text holding a table: each line is a row, and commas separate the fields in that row. Almost every system can export CSV, which makes it the usual way to move data between a database, an online system and a spreadsheet.

There are two ways to bring one into Excel:

• Open it directly (File, Open). Quick, but Excel guesses each column's type, and it guesses badly in ways that matter: serial numbers lose their leading zeros, long numbers turn into scientific notation, and dates may be read in US month-first order.
• Import it (Data, Get Data, From File, From Text/CSV). This opens Power Query, where you choose the delimiter and the file encoding, preview the data, and choose Transform Data to set each column's type yourself (for example Text for serial numbers and asset IDs) before loading it. This is the method to use for anything you care about.

The legacy Text Import Wizard is still available if enabled in Excel's options, but Power Query is the current method.

Conditional formatting

Conditional formatting changes a cell's appearance when a condition is met. The built-in rules (Home, Conditional Formatting) handle simple cases such as values above a threshold. To highlight a whole row, you need a formula rule:

• Select the data rows (not the header), for example A2:H40.
• Home, Conditional Formatting, New Rule, Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
• Enter a formula written for the first row, with the column locked and the row free. To highlight any asset purchased more than three years ago, where purchase dates are in column D: =$D2<EDATE(TODAY(),-36).
• Choose a fill colour and confirm.

Because the formula uses TODAY(), the highlighting updates itself as assets age.

Page setup and printing to PDF

Spreadsheets need deliberate page setup before they print or become PDFs: Page Layout, set orientation, Fit to 1 page wide, repeat header rows on every page (Print Titles), set a print area, and insert page breaks (Page Layout, Breaks) so that separate tables start on separate pages. Check the result in File, Print preview before exporting.

PowerPoint is used for far more than talks: signage, digital menu boards, looping displays in reception areas, short videos and handouts.

Design first

Start with the audience and the display. For a screen, find out its size, resolution, aspect ratio and orientation. A 16:9 screen mounted in portrait is 9:16 for design purposes, so set Design, Slide Size, Custom Slide Size, Portrait before you build anything; changing it later scrambles layouts.

Build the look once in the Slide Master (View, Slide Master): background, fonts, logo placement and the colour palette. A colour scheme drawn from a client's logo is easy to make: pick the logo's colours with PowerPoint's eyedropper or a tool such as Adobe Color, then set them as a custom theme colour set (Design, Variants, Colours, Customise Colours). Check that text and background colours have enough contrast to be readable; the WCAG accessibility guideline is a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text.

Less is more. David JP Phillips's widely viewed talk "How to avoid death by PowerPoint" makes the case well: one message per slide, few words, strong contrast to direct the eye, and never make an audience read and listen at the same time.

Movement, links and output

Transitions animate the change between slides; animations move objects within a slide. Use them to draw attention, sparingly. Slide Show, Set Up Slide Show, "Loop continuously until Esc" makes a presentation run as a kiosk.

To link to an external document, select text, an image or a shape, choose Insert, Link, and browse to the file or web address. In Slide Show the linked object opens the file. Linking keeps the presentation small and lets the external document be updated separately, but the link breaks if the file moves, so linked files must be shared along with the presentation.

Export options matter because many displays and viewers cannot run PowerPoint:

• Video: File, Export, Create a Video, choose the quality (up to Ultra HD 4K), set seconds per slide or use recorded timings, and save as MP4. Many commercial signage screens play an MP4 on a loop from a USB stick.
• PDF: File, Export, Create PDF/XPS. A PDF shows the slides exactly as designed on any device, including one that cannot run PowerPoint, but it loses animation and video.

PDF (Portable Document Format), now an ISO standard (ISO 32000), is the default way to share finished documents in business. Its useful features:

• The layout, fonts and images look the same on any device and in any viewer.
• Free viewers exist for every platform, including web browsers.
• It can be password-protected, encrypted, restricted from printing or copying, and digitally signed.
• It is not casually editable, which reduces accidental or deliberate changes to official documents.
• It supports accessibility tags for screen readers, when exported properly.
• It supports forms, links, comments and annotations.
• PDF/A (ISO 19005) is an archival profile designed for long-term preservation.
• It compresses well for sharing and storage.

Two ways to create a PDF from Office, and why the difference matters:

• Save as PDF: File, Save a Copy (or Save As), choose PDF as the file type, then Save. Or File, Export, Create PDF/XPS. The Options button lets you include bookmarks from headings, document properties, accessibility tags and PDF/A compliance.
• Print to PDF: File, Print (Ctrl + P), choose the Microsoft Print to PDF printer, then Print. This produces a picture of the pages: hyperlinks stop working and accessibility tags are lost.

Use Save as PDF for anything official, linked or accessible, and keep Print to PDF for quick snapshots, or when a task specifically asks for it.

File naming is part of the job. Follow the organisation's naming convention exactly, because documents are found later by their names. A consistent pattern, such as unit or project code, document type, version or date, and author or ID, beats descriptive but inconsistent names like "final final v2".

Every document passes through input and output devices, and choosing the right ones is part of producing it.

• Input devices put information into a computer: keyboard (text), mouse or trackpad (controlling the interface), scanner (paper documents and images), camera and webcam (images and video), microphone (voice and dictation), drawing tablet and stylus (drawn content), touchscreen (direct interaction).
• Output devices present information from it: monitor and projector (display), printer (paper output), speakers and headphones (sound), and large-format displays for signage.
• Some, such as touchscreens, are both.

Microsoft 365 now includes Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and Google Workspace includes Gemini. These assistants can draft a letter from notes, summarise a long document, suggest Excel formulas, build a first-draft presentation, and propose a colour palette. For a new office worker they are genuinely useful, particularly for the parts of this unit that involve reading help files and learning functions: asking an assistant "what does PMT need?" is now a normal way to learn.

The discipline this unit teaches matters more, not less, with AI in the mix. An assistant does not know your organisation's style guide unless you give it, does not know whether a figure in a spreadsheet is correct, and will confidently write a plausible formula that references the wrong column. Everything it produces has to be checked against the brief, the style guide and the source data, by you. Many organisations, CDU included, also set rules about which AI tools may be used with which information and require use of AI to be disclosed; sensitive or client information should only go into tools the organisation has approved.

The unit's teaching content is drawn from the CDU material held in the unit folder: the ICTICT214 Assessor Guide v3 (ICT team rewrite, 11 December 2025), the ICTICT214 Student Unit Guide v3.0, the three ICTICT214 session plans (27 January 2026), the unit and assessment requirement documents for ICTICT214 Release 1, the Meatpie Designs style guide and supporting files, the NT WorkSafe working from home guide, the NT WorkSafe code of practice on managing the work environment and facilities, and Safe Work Australia's guide to setting up a workstation (all held in the unit folder, dates as shown on those documents). The unit is current at training.gov.au (no page date shown). Current-practice material reflects Microsoft 365 product documentation for Word, Excel and PowerPoint features (Power Query CSV import, conditional formatting, PDF export options, video export, Copilot), the Apache OpenOffice project status as reported on Wikipedia (read 20 September 2026; latest release 4.1.16, November 2025, with the Apache security team rating the project's risk status "red" in March 2026), the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for contrast, and the ISO standards for PDF (ISO 32000) and PDF/A (ISO 19005).