The 10 Commandments of Word Processing

This has to be one of the most commonly used ICT skills, even be the most tech reluctant, but unfortunately as most of us are self taught, there are quite a few aspects that have been poorly learned, are poorly practised, and are now inevitably poorly taught...

The good news is that once you know what you don't know, it's easy to fix, the chances are, no matter how long you've been word processing, you will find a few surprises in this list:

1. Thou shalt use spell check (but don't rely on spellcheck—homophones much?). 
2. Thou shalt use the built in thesaurus (and use 'Command+F' to check for repetition!).
3. Thou shalt not ignore the grammar/proof reading tool—if it's got a squiggly line under it, check it!
4. Thous shalt not centre text by tapping the spacebar, use the centre align icon on the formatting bar. 
5. Verily the same is true for tabbing, use the tab key to indent, not the spacebar (also useful for adding a new row to the bottom of a table).
6. Thou shalt not do things manually that can be done automatically; like adding page numbers, numbered lists, or creating a table of contents.
7. Thou shalt use the 'paste unformatted' or 'paste as text' option to avoid reformatting all the text you paste in. Every. Time.
8. Thou shalt use the styles menu to structure your document with headings etc (and you can't use some automatic features without this).
9. Thou shalt insert a page break if you want a new page (don't just repeatedly hammer the return key).
10. Thou shalt not hammer keyboard keys— NEVER press a space bar more than once, or a return key more than twice. 

All of the above are true regardless of the tool you use for word processing, from MS Word, to Pages, to Google Docs. The last of these is arguably the most practical in our context, so here's some specific pointers:

Google Doc formatting like a boss... 

Use the templates to get a head start, these also function is great 'mentor texts' for students to see how formatting using Styles looks and works. Instead of creating a Doc within Google Drive, click on the Google Grid and select Docs—Voilah!



Inside any Google Doc, the Styles menu allows you to format your document with a couple of clicks,  you can even customise this menu so the Styles use the fonts and formatting you prefer, these will be available in any Google Doc you create or edit.



Once you've formatted your document using Styles, you can add a Table of Contents with a couple of clicks, just go to Insert > Table of Contents. All the formatting, and page numbering all done for you, you can even choose a more screen friendly version that makes all the headers hyperlinked.

Can you show me?

Google have an online guide that will step you through all of the above, and this article has a similar guide to the skills I've outlined above, but specifically tailored to Microsoft Office, and with lots of nice pictures! The key takeaway is that these skills are conventions that apply regardless of the platform, device or application you use, from MS Word, to Pages to Google Docs, they all utilise and provide these features.

Last but not least, here are some video tutorials I made a few years ago, this is in the older version of Pages, but as is often the case with tech, not much has really changed, these fundamentals of word processing are pretty much unchanged in over two decades!

Growing up in a Distracted World - parent workshop slides

Following on from a popular parent workshop earlier this week we are sharing the slides and associated resources for you to explore at your own pace.

The use of digital technologies at UWCSEA is foregrounded in our research on learning, but against this backdrop we see the widespread use of smartphones and devices in nearly all parts of society as being part of growing up as a teenager. The following slides provide some background context and research and then highlight the importance of self-regulation and executive functioning skills for teenagers grappling with digital technologies for the first time.

Slides towards the end of the presentation highlight a range of digital tools which may support students in tracking usage and potentially blocking distractions. The most important ones are listed separately below.

• Focus App for self control - this is available to all students but they need to use the school code to enrol for the paid version of the app. We introduce this app via all Middle School Life Skills classes. 
• Rescue Time for reflection - this piece of software that tracks time spent both on applications and websites on students laptop. Each week students can an email which breaks down use and points to their 'productivity'
• Moment App for tracking smartphone use - a clever, simple and free app which tracks how many times you pick up your phone and time spent on your phone and individual apps. 
• Guide to Qustodio for Parental Controls - this is seen as a last resort or where you might like to filter and track usage of the laptop. Can also be used for smart phones.

Please also see the following links for posts we have written in the past on related topics

• Why Learning and Multitasking Don’t Mix - Andrew McCarthy
• Dealing with Digital Distractions in the classroom - staff workshop and resources
• Dealing with Distraction - Sean McHugh

The digital photocopier - Google Doc copy and assignments in Teamie

This blog post outlines a powerful tool for both sharing copies of Google Docs with students but also collecting them so you can easily provide feedback and track progress. This is a time saver for both students and teachers and avoids the need to students to copy links and submit files.

Within the Online Learning Platform (Teamie) you can make an assignment which will automatically create a copy of a template Google Doc for each student to work on. The assignment will hold the Google Docs in one place so you can scan through students ahead of your final deadlines.

Creating the assignment

Firstly navigate to materials and then press the + button to add an assignment. You will need to give a brief description of the assignment and then use the Google Drive picker as shown below to add a Google Document.

You can add Google Docs, Google Slides or Google Sheets as files to be copied for students.

What do students see?

Once they navigate to the assignment they can select 'take now' There is then a small lag whilst the document is copied and then permissions shared. Once copied students can either work on the file in Teamie or via their Google Drive. 

Once the deadline is reached the students will need to submit for your to allocate marks or use a rubrics. Student can also submit one of more documents using the regular option to link to upload a file. 

Navigating and tracking progress

Once students have clicked to begin the assignment you can view the drafts from the assignment submissions page as outlines below. You can sort by status and then click as shown to see overviews of individual students work and leave comments.