Tips of the Week - Information Technology

Technology Tip of the Week - April 3, 2006

MS Word Shortcuts for Selecting Text

Many functions of Microsoft Word require that you first select the text. In addition to the usual approach of dragging your cursor over the text to select it, did you know there are other quick and easy options? Try out some of these alternatives to select:

A word:

Double-click in the word.

A line of text:

Move the pointer to the left of the line until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then click.

A sentence:

Hold down the CTRL key, and then click anywhere in the sentence.

A paragraph:

Move the pointer to the left of the paragraph until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then double-click OR triple-click anywhere in the paragraph.

Multiple paragraphs:

Move the pointer to the left of the paragraphs until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then click and drag up or down.

A large block of text:

Click at the start of the selection, scroll to the end of the selection, and then hold down SHIFT and click.

An entire document:

Move the pointer to the left of any document text until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then triple-click.

For more help with this feature, please contact one of the faculty mentors - Tony Basilico (abasilico@ccri.edu) or Luis Malaret (lmalaret@ccri.edu) or one of the IT Instructional Support team (Norm Grant, Gene Grande or Linda Beith).

Website of the Week

ePals.com Classroom Exchange

ePALS Classroom Exchange® is internationally recognized as a leading provider of online communication and collaboration technology. Used in classrooms in 191 countries, ePALS's multilingual network has made it possible for more than 6 million students and educators to employ the Internet as the ultimate communication and cross-cultural learning tool. Their database of classroom profiles makes it easy for members to find partners for their projects, discussions and international friendships. In addition to providing the tools and meeting place needed to create a worldwide community of learners, ePALS offers ideas to get the most out of an online community. Whether you want project ideas for your class-to-class partnership, or discussion areas where you can contribute your views on a matter, ePALS strives to make it easy for members to make meaningful connections with each other. There are four available channels - one just for higher education, and lots of projects to explore and/or join. If you've been thinking about ways to connect your students to those in other countries or parts of the US, then check out ePals as a way to get started. You can join for free and then select the Higher Education channel. See their website at: http://www.epals.org/community/

Feel free to post your thoughts or opinions of this site in the Teaching Forum message board.

These tips are provided by the Department of Information Technology instructional support team. If you have any questions on these tips, or wish to offer your own, please feel free to contact Linda Beith at lbeith@ccri.edu. View an archive of past technology tips at http://it.ccri.edu/Training/Tips/tip_week.shtml.