Ms Give-And-Take Tutorial 1: Adding ‘Comments’

This is the kickoff inwards what I promise volition acquire a serial of tutorials on exploiting the pedagogy / learning potential of just about of the to a greater extent than mutual desktop applications similar MS Word. Like many people I’m a regular user of this application together with it’s belike the 1 I piece of job most, amongst the exception of my spider web browser.

Despite the amount of fourth dimension I convey spent using it, I’m oftentimes surprised to uncovering just about other useful toolbar or technique that I tin piece of job to brand life easier or my pedagogy to a greater extent than effective.

This kickoff tutorial shows how to piece of job the ‘comments’ characteristic that tin last works life on the ‘Reviewing’ toolbar.

The ‘comments’ characteristic allows yous to add together comments to the text of a document. These comments don’t look inwards the text itself, but tin last seen on covert whenever yous hover the cursor over the business office of the text that the comment refers to.

To detect out how it works, Watch a tutorial (450k Flash movie)

What I similar nearly it

• This tool enables me to start a dialogue amongst my students nearly their piece of job on the actual piece of job itself, without interfering amongst the period of time of the text. I’ve tried using tracking earlier together with works life that it tin shortly acquire a existent mess, thus present I much prefer to piece of job this ‘comments’ feature.
• It doesn’t add together greatly to the file size thus yous tin electronic mail documents dorsum together with forth equally yous review together with re –review them amongst your students.
• It’s an ideal tool for encouraging a ‘Process writing’ approach, equally students don’t convey to re-write their compositions every fourth dimension they demand to alter it.
  

A few ideas for using it amongst students

• You tin piece of job it to add together explanations of hard words
• Students tin add together translations or explanations to words inside the text
• You tin comment on students’ piece of job together with propose improvements, or ameliorate all the same they tin piece of job it to comment on each other’s work.
• You tin add together questions to a text at real precise points. These could last comprehension questions that yous would similar to ask, or could last questions nearly a text they convey produced which encourage them to write to a greater extent than or add together farther item or description
• You could only piece of job it for fault correction or to betoken out weaknesses inwards the text.
• You could construct upwards dialogue amongst students nearly the text, past times adding questions to it or squall for students to add together questions together with and then respond etc.
  

None of the ideas inwards a higher house are just revolutionary together with they could all last done amongst pen together with paper. The payoff though, that I convey found, of using this method on a calculator is that students seem much to a greater extent than willing to choke dorsum together with revise piece of job if it doesn’t involve rewriting text. After all the existent procedure of writing that nosotros desire to prepare together with aid is the human activity of creation, non the physical procedure of forming letters.

If anyone else uses this characteristic inwards other ways, I’d dearest to withdraw heed nearly your ideas.

Best

Nik