LAB TWO-B

Labwork

Introduction

We're going to introduce a greater measure of interaction in this lab. Writing has become more collaborative because of the ability of networked computers to share documents and ideas without regard to location and distance. However, effective on-line collaboration requires that you are familiar with some fundamental computer and writing methods. Today you’ll get a chance to work on a method that for most of you will be completely new – annotating a document.

Annotating is a feature of a word processing program that lets you add suggestions and feedback to a document in a form that is readily visible to the original author. Your feedback will help the author make a more persuasive case for what they are proposing. When you are making suggestions for a paper, you will be thinking of both the quality of the points being made (the content) and the effectiveness of the delivery (the style and the grammar).

2. Start your email in a third browser

• use the same email address for all your classwork

3. If you haven't already saved cutting-words_writerlastname_yourlastname to the shared folder, you can do so now

1. Write your last name on the whiteboard and put a check beside a name that hasn’t been selected

2. Get a classmate's paper
    
   1. In the shared folder, click on the review written by the student whose name you have selected and choose Save (not Open)

• you will be working on the original paper, not one that already has comments (i.e. look for the file with only one lastname)

2. IMPORTANT: save the document in your personal folder or on the desktop with your own name added at the end of the filename (review_writerlastname_yourlastname)

• This is a standard method of showing who has added material in collaborative writing. The most recent person is always at the end. Please take care to use the correct filenames – if you don’t, they will show up in the wrong place in the directory listing, and could get lost.

3. Prepare Track Changes for adding feedback

1. In Word, click the Review or Tools tab at the top, then click on the words "Track Changes", then "Highlight Changes", then have all the boxes checked, especially "Track changes while editing", and then click Options

• Depending on your version of Word, you may see a tab that says "Review" and a drop-down list that says "Show Markup".  Click Preferences to begin the next step.

2. Set the Options (or Preferences)

• for Insertions, confirm the choice is "Underline" and change the color to Blue
• for Deletions, confirm the choice is "Strikethrough" and change the color to Red
• for Changed lines, change the choice to (none)
• for Track Formatting, select no
• for Track Moves, select no
• for Use Balloons, change the choice to Never
• click on OK

3. Click on the Word menu, then Preferences, then Edit.  Look for "When selecting, automatically select entire word."  If there is a checkmark there, remove it and click OK.
    
   • In some versions of Word, you'd click on the Office button at the upper left, then on Word Options, then Advanced.
      
4. To turn Track Changes on or off at any time, click on the icon with the words "Track Changes"

5. You can switch back and forth between two views of the document (you'll see a box at the upper left that lists the current view) -- try "Final Showing Markup", and "Original"
    
6. Please don’t use the "New comment" feature (it’s not compatible with some versions of Word)

4. Open a sample document with feedback
    
   1. Open sample-feedback in the shared folder and scan it for ideas to use for your own feedback
       
5. Make suggested changes directly in the student document you have chosen
    
   1. Make insertions and deletions that you think improve the writing.  Comment within the text on what you think is written well and give specific re-wordings that might work better. Can the language be more efficient and direct? Try cutting words without damaging the meaning. IMPORTANT: you are not attempting to say that your suggestions are Right versus Wrong … you are offering an opinion in the clearest possible way, and the author is free to consider the change or ignore it.

• in every case, don’t point out an error or weakness without suggesting a solution (that makes your comments constructive and improves your own writing abilities)

• briefly explain why you are suggesting the change.  Add comments by typing directly in the text and surrounding them with [[ and ]] to make the comments easily visible. Please don’t use the "New comment" feature (it’s not compatible with some versions of Word)

III. Your Textbook Resources, continued

If you've already completed this and you've saved resources_yourlastname in the shared folder, skip ahead to the next project.  Make sure you have completed at least one exercise in the Exercise Central portion of the website.  The complete steps are copied below for those who are continuing from the previous lab.

1.  Open the Word document saved in your personal folder previously as resources_yourlastname (or start it now if you haven't already)

2.  Go to the Everyday Writer textbook website at

Everyday Writer, 4th edition

3.  Explore your resources, not only the Premium Resources that are part of the eBook, but also the Free/Open Resources (this is found outside of the eBook, via the Home tab -- click on <expand all> to see the contents).  Choose any topic that interests you.

• if you have not successfully signed up for the eBook, you can still do this exercise by exploring the Free/Open Resources.  Best to try in the Free/Open Resources are The Top Twenty, or Exercises / Exercise Central.
  • let me know in the lab what the sign-up problem is

4.  Explore the links.  If exercises are associated with the topic, visit and complete at least one multiple-choice exercise.  Are your results a surprise?

5.  In your Word document, identify where you visited and record your impressions about what you saw (positive and negative). Try to think of an improvement that could be added to the site (if your suggestion is a good one, I’ll forward it to Lunsford).

6.  In The Free/Open Resources, open the selections and choose one of the Tutorials.  Read over the content and select a multiple-choice exercise to complete (the Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial is worthwhile).  Add comments about it in your Word document.

7.  Visit one more topic or chapter, exploring it and adding it to your Word document.  Use Exercise Central at least once.  Complete your chosen exercise (don't just look at it).

8.  If you finish during the lab, save and close your document and add it to the shared folder. You should have recorded your impressions about at least three topics.  This document will count for participation.

9.  If you haven't finished by the end, make sure you email your in-progress document to yourself or have it saved on a flashdrive.  It is due (in the shared folder) by the start of the next class.

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