HIT191 > Word processing: Getting started
Getting started

In this topic you will learn the basic skills you need to get started with Word. The next topics will teach you more features of Word so that you will learn how to use the program effectively to produce quality documents.

Develop your Skills - Word Environment

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Skills
Basics
This section tells you how to open a document, enter and edit some text, print out the document and save the document.

The good news is that these basic skills are generic to just about all Windows programs. So having learnt them in Word it is easy to transfer the same skills to other programs such as Excel or PowerPoint.

Stable 2007 textbook
Stable 2003 textbook

SET TEXT
Chapter 1-4
pp. 1-20 (2007)
or
pp. 1-22 (2003)

In your textbook, complete the pages and exercises in the first four chapters. Remember the text for the exercises with the icon Get it from the web can be downloaded from the website.


TASK: Complete the Develop Your Skills 1-4, pp. 17-20.
Note that if you are feeling confident with this material you may not need to do all the skills exercises.

Stable 2007 textbook
Stable 2003 textbook

SET TEXT
Chapter 13
pp. 165 - 170
or
pp. 163-170


Working with files
Chapter 13 deals with managing your documents. Much of this was covered in the Basics module and you should be able to work through this chapter pretty quickly. We have included this chapter as the techniques taught are

  • generic across many Windows programs, and
  • very important to know if you are not going to loose your work or become frustrated with using PCs.

TASK: Complete the Develop Your Skills 33, pp.170.


Tips & Tricks icon Tips & Tricks

Keyboard Movement Keys (p. 8)

Using the keyboard effectively is important if you wish to become a proficient user of Windows applications. Many of the tips you will see on this page will work in other Windows programs besides Word. Begin to use the keyboard movement commands as much as you can.

To help, download the handout provided, display this card on your work station for easy look up.

Inserting and overwriting (p.9)

Make sure you know the difference between inserting and overwriting text. If you don't know the difference strange things can occur when you type...

Keyboard commands
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is a common problem among people who use the computer primarily in their daily work - especially if they use the mouse for all commands. As you begin to learn the different functions and processes in Word - begin to learn the keyboard shortcuts that are listed in the dropdown menus.
For example, to save a document you can:
    • click the Save icon with the mouse
    • go to the file menu and select Save using the mouse, or
    • use a keyboard command "Ctrl + S"

Using the latter keyboard command with your left hand is good ergonomic work practice to enable the mouse to take a little rest - thus resting those muscles in your right hand which can become overworked if you use the mouse for all controls.

Backups
Disk and computer failures happen - the longer you use a computer the more likely it is to happen to you. Anecdotally, everyone in the IT School has had a disk failure, so make sure:
    • you back up your work, and
    • if it is important enough, keep back ups in a different site. Read our link to see what can happen if you don't.

Don't get lazy about it - it does and will happen!


Putting it to work: Audience and purpose

Now that you have mastered the basics of the Microsoft Word application, another dimension to creating documents is the communication side. No matter what document we create, there is always two things you need to consider:

  1. who is the audience for the document?
  2. what is the purpose of the communication - ie. what are you trying to achieve with your document?

http://webserve.govst.edu/users/ghrank/Advertising/Companion%20to%20Composition/target_audience.htm
Site 1

http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/processes/audmod/
Site 2
Understanding audience and purpose

  1. Visit any of the three sites opposite to develop your understanding about why consideration of audience and purpose is so important in your writing.
    • The first site has a good overview of the idea of purpose on the right hand side of the page.
    • The last site is a very comprehensive listing of information on writing that you may wish to bookmark. It would provide useful advice about writing in almost every situation you encounter.

Discussion board
Discussion board
  1. In the discussion board, write one thing you have learned in your reading that you hadn't considered in the past.
    Remember: you can respond to other posts as well! Consider your audience and purpose of your communication in this process and don't add comments that say "I agree" or "same here" this doesn't really help develop the group ideas futher.

Understanding the audience and purpose
Activity
  1. Try it out.
    Complete the following activity about audience and purpose.


What have I learned?

After completing these activities, you should be able to...
  • create a basic word document
  • understand the importance of defining your audience before creating a document.

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