Microsoft Office Tip of the Week: Recent Document List

Applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Many Microsoft Office programs display the last few files opened in that program. The list of recently documents can be customized to adjust the number of files or specific files that it displays.

Change the number of files that appear in the list of recent documents

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click (Excel, PowerPoint, or Word) Options.


2. Click Advanced.


3. Under Display, in the Show this number of Recent Documents list, click the number of files that you want to display.

To keep documents on the Recent Documents List:

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button .


2. Click Pin this document to the Recent Documents list .

Note: When a document is pinned to the Recent Documents list, the pin button looks like a push pin viewed from the top: .

To undo this feature, push the again, and it will appear as .

Tip #66: Blackboard 9 Edit Mode

Tip: In Blackboard 9, you can make changes to content from within the course view by turning Edit Mode: ON. When viewing a course with Edit Mode: OFF, you will have the same view as student, viewing only available menu items and content areas.

Edit Mode On:
Toggle Edit Mode to On by clicking the Edit Mode Button on the upper right-hand side of the screen. When in edit mode:

• the button will read Edit Mode: ON
• the background of the course will display grey diagonal lines

Edit Mode Off:
To toggle Edit Mode to Off, you click the same Edit Mode Button on the upper right-hand side of the screen. When edit mode is off:

• the button will read Edit Mode: OFF
• the background of the course will be clear of grey diagonal lines

Web 2.0 Tool of the Week: Digg

(http://www.digg.com)
Digg is a social bookmarking site place for people to discover and share web content. Digg is organized into categories based on topics. All content is submitted by Digg users. Once something is submitted, other people see it and “Digg” (rate) the sites they feel are most relevant. If your submission receives enough Diggs, it is promoted to the front page for visitors to see.

Account Information:

• Digg accounts are free
• Accounts can be connected to other social networking sites
  

Why use Digg?:

• Discover popular news
• Submit your favorite web content
• Check the homepage for popular stories
• Use Digg to promote sites you find relevant and important
• Subscribe to RSS feeds of particular topics, popular/upcoming sections, individual users
• Search with terms of your choice
• Build a network of friends or find them on Digg and add them to your friends list
• Share popular articles with friends
• Share your opinions by commenting on stories, images, and videos
  

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Tip #65: Blackboard 9 Classes

Tip: You can learn about Blackboard 9 and receive a sandbox course by attending a Blackboard 9 training session.

You can access Blackboard 9 at http://twupilot.blackboard.com

You can register for classes or request a small group session for your department at http://www.twu.edu/professional-development


What’s New in Blackboard 9

Blackboard 9 has a revised user interface and many exciting new features. This facilitated, hands-on workshop will introduce participants to key changes and new features of Blackboard 9.

Thursday, March 4 – 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. SH 307
Tuesday, March 9 – 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. SH 308
Wednesday, March 10 – 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. SH 307
Tuesday, March 30 – 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. SH 307
Friday, April 2 – 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. SH 307
Monday, April 5 – 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. SH 307
Thursday, April 8 – 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. SH 307

What’s New in BB9 Webinars

Join us for a What’s New session online from the location of your choice. Upon registering for the webinar, you will receive a link to access the session.

Friday, March 5 – 10:00 a.m.
Friday, March 12 – 11:00 a.m.
Friday, April 9 – 12:00 p.m.
Friday, April 30 – 1:00 p.m.

The Blackboard 9 Grade Center

This hands-on, facilitated workshop will introduce participants to the new Grade Center.

Wednesday, April 7 – 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. SH 307
Tuesday, April 13 – 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. SH 307
Thursday, April 15 – 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. SH 307
Wednesday, April 28 – 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. SH 307
Thursday, April 29 – 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. SH 307

Enhancing Communication

This hands-on, facilitated workshop will focus on how to use select Blackboard 9 communication tools effectively to increase student engagement within a course.

Wednesday, April 14 – 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. SH 307
Monday, April 26 – 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. SH 307

Creating Assessments & Assignments

This hands-on, facilitated workshop will emphasize the features and functions of Blackboard 9’s assessments and assignments tools.

Monday, April 12 – 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. SH 307
Monday, April 27 – 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. SH 307

Tip #64: Grade Discussion Board Forums or Threads

Tip: You can grade Discussion Board forums or threads.

Here’s how to enable grading:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Discussion Board
   


2. Choose the specific Discussion Board containing the Forum you would like to grade
   


3. Click the Modify button for the Forum you would like to grade
   


4. Under Forum Settings, select Grade Forum or Grade Threads
   
   1. Grade Forum will allow you to assign grades for students’ posts to that forum
   2. Grade Threads will allow you to assign grades for students’ replies to each thread in a forum

Here’s how to grade:

1. Click the Grade icon next to the forum or thread you would like to grade
   


2. Click the Grade button next to a student’s name
   
   1. The student’s posts to the forum or thread will display
   2. You can filter, sort, and print the student’s posts
      


3. Type a grade in the Grade box and click the Submit button

Discussion grading and the gradebook:

It is important to note that when you enable grading for a forum or thread, columns for those forums or threads are automatically generated in the gradebook.

• When you enable grading by forum, a column for that forum is created in the gradebook
• When you enable grading by thread, a column for each thread in a forum is created in the gradebook

Keep this in mind when choosing whether to grade by forum or thread. Gradebook management can become cumbersome if you choose to grade a large number of threads.

Voicemail Tip of the Week-Phone Forwarding

TWU has a new voicemail system for all permanent faculty and staff. The new system integrates voicemail with e-mail, delivering all messages to both telephone and e-mail. To request an account on the new system, e-mail voicemail@twu.edu and include your name, campus, and telephone extension.

Since the transition phase to the new system has occurred, the old system will be taken offline Friday, February 26th 2010 at 10 am. Please be sure to clear any messages from your mailbox on the old system. Due to technical differences in the old and new system, messages will not transfer. When you have set up your box on the new system, clear out your box on the old system and send request to voicemail@twu.edu to have it deleted.

Each person must set phone forwarding to voicemail. If the phone is not forwarded to voicemail, the phone will just ring.

Always start by clearing the phone of both types of forwarding. Do both of these steps:

To clear all call forward Pick up the receiver. Press # 1. Hang up B.

To clear partial forward Pick up the receiver. Press # 2. Hang up B.

^B When using a display multi line phone, FWD CNCL will appear.

Then, choose the type of forwarding desired and forward the phone to voicemail. There are two types of phone forwarding available: partial and all. If partial forwarding is set, voicemail answers after several rings or immediately if busy. If all call forwarding is set, all calls to that extension are immediately forwarded to voicemail. Choose one of these steps:

To set all partial forward Pick up the receiver. Press * 2 4646. Hang up A.

To set all forward Pick up the receiver. Press * 1 4646. Hang up A.

^A When using a display multi line phone, FWD SET will appear.

When calling campus extensions using a display multi line phone, the phone system will display the type of forwarding set.

• FDB indicates that voicemail has answered the call due to busy status.
• FDN indicates that voicemail has answered the call due to no answer.
• FDA indicates that voicemail has answered because all calls are forwarded.

Voicemail is available for all permanent faculty and staff. To setup an account, e-mail voicemail@twu.edu from your TWU e-mail account and include name, campus and telephone extension.

Tip #63: Partial Credit Test Questions

Tip: When creating a test, you can set some questions to allow for partial credit by following a two-step process that includes first enabling the option on a test level, and then setting the option on a question level.

Question types:
While all manually-graded questions can be assigned partial credit, only the following automatically-graded questions allow it:

• Calculated Formula
• Fill in Multiple Blanks
• Jumbled Sentence
• Matching
• Multiple Answer
• Multiple Choice
• Opinion Scale/Likert
• Ordering
• Quiz Bowl

Here’s how to do it:

Part 1 — Enable the option on the test level:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Test Manager.
   
2. Click on the Modify button to the right of the test containing the questions you plan to make partial credit. This will take you to the Test Canvas page.
   
3. Click on the Creation Settings link.
   
4. Scroll down to the Scoring subsection, and check the box correlating to “Specify partial credit options for answers”.
   
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Submit and then OK.

Part 2 — Set the option on the question level:

1. Click on the Modify button to the right of the question you plan to make partial credit.
   
2. Scroll down to the Options subsection, and check the box correlating to “Allow Partial Credit”.
   
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click either Submit or Next until you are able to click Submit.

Please note:

• Partial credit scoring for automatically graded questions must be set up before students have taken the test.
  


• If you choose to disable partial credit scoring, you must first disable the option on the question level before doing so on the test level.

Web 2.0 Tool of the Week: Evernote

(http://www.Evernote.com)
Evernote is an organization tool which stores notes, documents, websites and images. The information can be accessed from any computer or smart phone. Accounts are free.

Features of Evernote:

• Notes created may include text notes, web pages, photos, or screenshots.
• Organizes data, and uses tags to make searching easier.
• Search by keywords, titles, and tags.
• Search printed and handwritten text in images.
• Compatible on most platforms

Using Evernote Professionally:

• Bookmarking: save links and images from the web. Items can be tagged for quick search.
• Random Picture Archive: take photos on your phone and save them to Evernote.
• Collate ALL your emails: emails can be centralized by forwarding to your Evernote email address.
• PDF Store: drag & drop or email pdf’s into Evernote for quick access or searching.
• Instant Message Store: ever need a record of a previous instant message conversation – copy & paste it into Evernote.
• Paper notes: take a photograph or scan them.
• Tablet PC Notes: if you’re on a tablet pc, Evernote can store and search handwritten notes.
• Business Cards: take a photo of business cards and search anytime.
• Never lose that whiteboard again: take pics of your whiteboard, add it to Evernote and it’s there forever. All the text is searchable.
• Remember: the things you were supposed to remember. Create to-do lists, jot down random thoughts, leave a voice memo, and more.
• Twitter notes: create notes right from Twitter and save tweets that you like.

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