Word Processing
Time
2 hrs
Difficulty
Intermediate
Prerequisites
Type Faster
Departments
Human Technologies
Authors
Ross Parker
Groupings
Individual
Pairs
Pairs
Minimum Year Group
None
Blurb
Whilst we all use word processing software, such as Google Docs, few of us go beyond the basics of typing and formatting. This unit introduces a set of tips and tricks for word processing that make creating powerful documents quicker and easier.
License
This work is shared under the following license: Creative Commons BY-SA-NC
Outline
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Cross-Curricular Links Do not try and force this. What areas of other subjects might this reflect and/discuss language. For IB, links with ToK.
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| Teacher Reflection What was successful? What needs changing? Alternative Assessments and Lesson Ideas? What other Differentiation Ideas/Plans could be used?
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5 mins
Introduction
Getting Started
- Whilst we all use word processing software, such as Google Docs, few of us go beyond the basics of typing and formatting.
- This unit introduces a set of tips and tricks for word processing that make creating powerful documents quicker and easier.
- First let's consider exactly what a word processor is: "A word processor is an electronic device or computer software application, that performs the task of composing, editing, formatting, and printing of documents." - Wikipedia
- Common examples of word processors include:
- Google Docs (which will be the focus of this unit)
- LibreOffice
- Microsoft Office
- Apple Pages
10 mins
Google Docs
Making A Document
- This unit will focus on word processing in Google Docs, but it should be possible to do all of the tasks using any of the other word processors listed above.
- To get started, log into your Google Account, and then use the app selector at the top right to launch Google Drive.
- Alternatively you could launch Google Docs, but Drive provides access to other functionality as well, and so is a good jumping off point.
- Now click the New button and the select Google Docs from the drop down menu that appears:
- Follow all the instructions in this unit within your newly created document, as this will serve as your evidence when you complete the unit.
5 mins
Your Document
Name, Organise, Share
- Give your new document the name Word Processing.
- You may wish, at this point to also:
- Place it in a sensible folder, so you can access it later.
- Share it with your mentor, so they can access it when you submit it as your evidence.
10 mins
Title & Author
Styles
- In your new document type the words Word Processing as a title, then highlight it, and select the style Title from the styles drop down:
- Move your cursor to the end of the title, and press the Enter button on your keyboard, noticing that the style resets itself automatically from Title to Normal Text:
- Now, on the new line, write your name, as author of this work, then highlight it, and use the Italic button to add emphasis:
20 mins
Text Controls
Ad Hoc
- In the section above, we used two different ways to change the appearance of text:
- Styles - these are presets that let us set a range of different text controls in one go.
- Individual Controls - these are buttons that let us set text controls one at a time.
- Both of these approaches have their uses, although styles are powerful yet often unappreciated (see Adding Structure below to learn more).
- Spend some time now locating and experimenting with the following text controls in your document (remember, if you hover your mouse over a control you will see its name appear in a tool tip).
- Font
- Font size
- Bold
- Underline
- Text color (which has two modes: text and highlight)
- Left align
- Center
- Right align
- Justify
- Line spacing
- If you get stuck, take a look at the relevant Google Support materials, or search on Google.
5 mins
Editing Styles
Customising
- If Google's inbuilt styles are not to your liking, you can change them to suit your tastes.
- To do this, apply a style (such as Title) to some text in your document, and then change the controls for that text.
- Now, return to the Styles menu, and click the arrow on the right side of the style in question: a menu will appear, in which you can select to update the style to match:
- This will update all current usages of the style in your text (saving time: part of the power of styles), and change it for future use too.
15 mins
Adding Structure
The Power!
- We have seen above that styles can let us adjust text quickly, even propagating changes to the style to all other uses within the document. But this is only the start!
- The real power of styles is in adding structure to our text.
- To experience this, start by creating 4 short paragraphs of text (if you don't want to type them, use a Lorem Ipsum generator):
- Now, add a title to each paragraph, and apply the style Heading 1 to the title of paragraphs 1, 3 and 4, and Heading 2 to the title of paragraph 2:
- Your document not only has style, but now has structure, which we will utilise below as we automatically create a table of contents for our work.
5 mins
Table Of Contents
Snap!
- Now that our document has structure, the word processor can create a table of contents very quickly.
- Create a new line above the first header, and then go to Insert in the top menu, and hover over Table of contents, before selecting one of the two options that appears:
- Your new table of contents should look something like this:
- You can use the refresh button to automatically regenerate the table of contents, should your file be changed.
15 mins
Headers & Footers
Page Numbers Too!
- Headers and footers are the areas at the top and bottom of a document, which can be used to hold information that we wish to appear on every page, such as an organisation name, or page numbers.
- To create a header go to Insert in the top menu bar, and the select Header:
- Now use the right align and italics controls, and then type in the name of your school:
- Repeat the process to create a footer, and then use the Page Number and Page Count options in the Insert menu to set up your footer like this:
25 mins
Additional Tools
Power Users
- The tools above allow for the creation of a wide range of powerful, structured documents, saving a lot of time.
- The following additional tools are useful in many cases, depending on the type of document being created:
- Page Breaks
- Purpose: jumps to the top of the next page, creating a gap without having to press the Enter key over and over again.
- Have a go: Insert > Page Break
- Images
- Purpose: allows you to add images from your computer or the web, allowing for more stimulating documents.
- Have a go: Insert > Image
- Links
- Purpose: allows users to jump from your document to an anchor in the same document, another document or somewhere on the web.
- Have a go: Insert > Link
- Tables
- Purpose: allows you to present data in an tabular, organised manner.
- Have a go: Table > Insert table
- Charts
- Purpose: allows you to present data in a graphical manner.
- Have a go: Insert > Chart
- Lists
- Purpose: allows you to create numbered and bulleted lists with tidy formatting, including hierarchical lists.
- Have a go: use the icons in the main formatting bar:
- Comments
- Purpose: allows you to note areas of improvement, and tag collaborators in order to involve them (starting typing @ followed by a name, and a list of collaborators will appear).
- Have a go: highlight some text, and then use the Comment button that will appear on the right hand edge of the document:
- Make sure to include at least two of these tools in your document, so you can show you know how to use them.
5 mins
Finishing Up
Evidence
- You should now have a document that contains evidence of all the different tools, tips and tricks shown above.
- Submit this evidence of your learning.
Links
- Lorem Ipsum generator
- Apple Pages
- Google Docs
- Wikipedia
- Google Support materials
- LibreOffice
- Microsoft Office
Images
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Charlotte Shared on 01/12/2017 |
