Using Microsoft Word as more than just a Word Processor

January 9, 2006

While typically known only as a word processing tool, Microsoft Word has many powerful features that you can take advantage of when teaching or publishing content. Many of its built-in features can also be used to make document producing much simpler, especially when collaborating with others. A few of these features are:

Document Templates: If you find yourself constantly spending valuable time formatting documents so they look the same, you can establish your own personal template to save yourself formatting time on fonts, styles, margins, etc.
Comments: Use Word’s commenting feature if you are collaborating with others on a document, publication, or proposal. Word allows the original author to then accept or reject any changes or comment suggestions. Multiple files can also be merged together into one document, a great benefit for several people working on one project. The commenting feature is also useful for papers submitted electronically by students through myWPI. You can add your comments to the paper and return it back to the student electronically.
Symbol Shortcuts: If you tend to use a lot of symbols in your documents, you can establish keyboard shortcuts so that when typed, text automatically converts to your desired symbol. This is a very valuable feature if equations are a regular addition to your documents and you find that scrolling through the Insert > Symbol menu is time consuming.

For more information and more advanced features that Microsoft Word 2003 offers, visit the Advanced Microsoft Word Features how-to pages in the Teaching with Technology Collaboratory.

Read more about Microsoft’s Campus License Agreement and benefits for members of the WPI community.

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Last modified: Jan 06, 2006, 12:10 EST