When thinking of the uses of Microsoft Word, the first thing that pops into my mind are the endless papers I have written throughout my years of schooling. While documents may be the most common use of Microsoft Word, there are multiple ways in which this program can be used for education.
So let's begin with the benefits of Word documents. First off, Word allows the option of spell check, something that can be extremely useful for beginner spellers. Spell check helps the writer to edit and double check their work, as well as their grammar. A thesaurus can also be used within Word to help enhance the level of writing and promote a more diverse vocabulary. Being a long time Microsoft Word user, I felt as though I already knew a lot about the program. However, after further researching the capabilities of the program I have found that the ways in which Microsoft Word can be used is seemingly endless. There are various options on how to personalize your writing whether it be by changing the font, size, shape, or even color; all ensuring the uniqueness and originality of your document.
Besides using Microsoft Word for documents, it is easy to use for a variety of other tasks as well especially for education. We now have easy access to templates that can help with classroom assignments such as brochures, calendars, cards, flyer's,etc. We are also given the ability to help make a document interactive by inserting hyperlinks. Hyperlinks can be used in multiple ways: whether it be allowing the reader to click and connect to a webpage, or even using a hyperlink in a content Jeopardy! game connecting you to the correct answer.
Microsoft Word should be used in every classroom by both the teacher and the student. It allows an engaging way to learn and a hand's on involvement in the lesson. Microsoft Word opens doors for unique learning needs and fun, interactive learning. I am excited to put my new found knowledge into practice!
Hey Janelle.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your use of the word 'benefits' when describing the multifaceted Microsoft WORD program. The program has been extremely beneficial to me in my graduate program and I am sure, now that I know more about it's many additional uses, that it will continue to be beneficial in my future teaching career.
I also love the 'spell check' and the 'thesaurus' features of WORD, that you mentioned. I agree that it assists in personalizing ones documents with more diversity in vocabulary and increases the professional level of one's written work. It also saves an incredible amount of time by not having to search for words in the 'book form' of both of these features.
In class, I was re-introduced to the access (in WORD) to numerous and various types of pre-made templates that one can utilize 'as is' or even customize to better suite their needs. As you mentioned in your blog post, there are many templates for brochures, and flyers, calendars and cards, etc. There are even business card templates! I must admit, I forgot about this aspect of WORD and have not utilized it as I could have. I hope to change that in the future.
I also love the 'hyperlink' feature of WORD. That truly is one of my favorite finds. It is very useful and can truly spruce up ones work.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Marilyn : )
I too understand the amount of papers that come to mind when Microstate Word is mentioned. However, Word does offer an array of options that do not come to mind at first. For those papers you mentioned, I use spell check religiously. Although, it cannot read my mind it offers help with quick typos like changing “qiet” to “quiet.” The thesaurus is also a good friend of mine because many times I use the same words over and over again. That process can become boring or even annoying in writing. To combat, this I can interchange word to make the passage flow better.
ReplyDeleteI love the ability to personalize ideas. For an artroom, getting students (especially in the gang stage) to open up about their personality is hard. By using word, students can create personalized name tag for the first class. They can use different aspects of word to help in the process. Choosing fonts/type can tell you about the student’s personal aesthetic. Also the use of importing photograph or images from the internet can allow them to show aspects of themselves to me as the teacher and their fellow classmates. The personalization can even start new friendships by allowing students to see who else has similar likes as they have.