Miscellaneous Tips

Best Student Practices | Document Errata | View Portfolio | View in Word 2007
Word 2007 Trial Version | Student Passwords | Instructor Passwords | Add and View Annotations | Class Pages
Notify Students of New Annotations | Sort List of Students | Placement Tests | Custom Timed Writings
Print in GDP | Create Campus/LAN Class From Existing Web Class | Word 2007's View Feature
AutoText/Building Blocks/AutoCorrect | Book 3 | Compare Documents | Outlook Address Book

 
Click here to go to the Gregg College Keyboarding & Document Processing Information Center. Under Information Center, click the Updates and Corrections link for information on Live Updates and corrections. Also, be sure to click here to go to the password-protected Instructor Edition page. Under Instructor Resources, click Updates and Corrections to see important details for Live Updates.

Best student practices for installing GDP under Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Note: It is best to call the software hotline at 800-331-5094 before attempting these steps:

Document errata.

View Portfolio

View in Word 2007

To reduce your wait time to view a document at the IMWS and SWS after clicking View In Word, do this:

Word 2007 Trial Version

Student Passwords (effective 1/3/07)

The first time you add a new student at the IMWS (Instructor Management Web Site) using his/her e-mail address, an automatic e-mail is sent notifying the student that he/she has been registered in your class and includes a password the student will use to log on at the SWS (Student Web Site). Password behavior varies from this point on depending on whether you have added a default class password at the IMWS and whether the student is uploading work from a Home installation of GDP or from a Campus/LAN installation of GDP.

Issue: Students not receiving e-mail with the password: Click here to go to the Troubleshoot page. Click the link "E-mail sent by GDP is being blocked."

Clicking Forgot Password? should send a student his existing password. If that e-mail is blocked, click here for the steps to view a student's password. After you view the password, e-mail the password to the student outside of GDP. Click here for the steps to set a student password from the network installation of GDP.

Although the Campus/LAN password and the SWS password do not have to match in order for the student to upload work to the IMWS, the password the students uses to log in to GDP overrides any password set by you or set by the student at the SWS when the student uploads work. Therefore, keeping passwords identical, simple, and easy to remember is a good idea. After students log in the Campus/LAN using a password, you are the only one who can change it via Instructor Management. Click here for the steps to set a student password from the network installation of GDP.

If you want to control passwords for an entire class and do NOT want GDP to send out a random unique password when you add a new student, do this: create a new class and then click Manage Course Password. In the Manage Default Class Passwords pane, click the list arrow in the Class box and click the desired class; click in the New password box, type your universal class password, and type it again in the Retype New Password box. Subsequent to this, each time you add a student, an automatic e-mail will be sent to any newly added student with the non-case sensitive universal class password. This same password will be sent to each newly added student.

Issue: Student Web Site password does not "hold": Click here to go to the Troubleshoot page. Click the link Student Web Site password doesn't "stick."

If you want GDP to send out a random unique password when you add a new student rather than assigning a generic class password, then do nothing. When you add a student, an automatic e-mail will be sent to your student with a non-case sensitive random password.

If you want to view and/or change a student's current password, click Manage Course Password at the IMWS. In the Manage Student Passwords pane, click the list arrow in the Student box and click the desired student name. The password in use will be displayed in the Current password box. To change the student's password, type a new password in the New password box and again in the Retype New Password box. An automatic e-mail will be sent to the student with the new password. Because students can change their password any time at the SWS, you now have the capability to view and control individual student passwords from the IMWS.

Note—student names: A student's name will not appear in the Student box until either the student has uploaded work or until you select a Gradebook, Show List of Students, check the box next to the desired student, click Manage Student, Edit Student, and type names in the First Name and Last Name boxes. If you see a comma in the Student box instead of a name, the student has either never uploaded work and/or you have not assigned a name in the Edit Student window. When a student uploads work, whatever name the student has used to log on at home or on the Campus/LAN installation of GDP will override and change any settings in the First Name and Last Name boxes in the Edit Student Information window.

Network Installation of GDP: If a student has used a password to log on to a class on a network installation of GDP and uploaded work to the IMWS, the password used to log on to the network will automatically change and replace any other password set previously at the SWS including the one generated by the IMWS when the student is first added. So tell the student to do this at the SWS after the first upload from a network installation:

1. At the SWS, type your e-mail address in the Your E-mail Address box.

2. In the Your Password box on the initial log on screen, type the same password used to log onto the Campus/LAN installation, and click Log On. Passwords are NOT case sensitive.

3. Click Initial Log On? for detailed steps or Change Password? to change a password or Forgot Password? to receive a password reminder e-mail.

If a student has never set a password at the SWS, if a password is not required to log on to the network, or if a student has never uploaded, tell the student to do this at the SWS:

1. Check your e-mail to see your password.

2. At the SWS, type your e-mail address in the Your E-mail Address box and the e-mailed password in the Your Password box; click Log On.

3. Click Initial Log On? for detailed steps or Change Password? to change a password or Forgot Password? to receive a password reminder e-mail.

Home Installation of GDP: If a student has never set a password at the SWS, tell the student to do this at the SWS:

1. Check your e-mail to see your password.

2. At the SWS, click Change Password? to change the password or Forgot Password? to have another e-mail sent immediately with a reminder of the current password. Check your e-mail.

3. In the Change Password, dialog box, type the temporary password in the Your current password box and type the desired new password in the Your new password box and again in the Retype new password box; click Save. Passwords are NOT case sensitive.

Add and View Annotations

Word 2003

Note: Functionality is different in Instructor Management depending on whether you are using Word 2003 or Word 2007. The information below applies to Word 2003.

If you're using Word 2003 and if you wish to have certain toolbars open, such as the Standard or Formatting toolbars to help you in grading, do this: Open Word elsewhere or have it open before you click View in Word, with the desired toolbars open and these same toolbars will open in Word in your browsers to help you in grading a document. For example, by clicking inside the title of the table in the screen shot at the left, you can look at the Font Size box on the Formatting toolbar to verify that the student has used 12-pt. font rather than 14 pt. font. You might not otherwise be able to know this other than right-clicking in the toolbar area and then clicking desired toolbar to display it.

Class Pages

Notify Students Using the SWS of New Annotations

Do you want to quickly generate a list of names of students who have annotations ready at the SWS? The most efficient way to do this is to add annotations once a day when you have a large number of students with new work. When you have finished annotating students' new work, you will notice that those names in the List of Students window are displayed with a pink hyperlink rather than a blue one. These "pink" student names should be the ones you just finished annotating. Check these name and click the E-mail Students button, to notify them all at once that annotations are ready. You might want to use this message:

Subject: Annotations Ready

New annotations are ready for you to view at the Student Web Site (SWS). Go to the SWS at http://gdpstudent.mhhe.com and log on. Click the Student Portfolio tab. In the Portfolio Filter window, click Only include exercises with annotations, to filter your work and display only annotated jobs. If you prefer to view all work, click Include all exercises. Note that your annotated exercises are marked with an "A" highlighted in yellow under the Date column of the Student Portfolio. Click the desired exercises and click View Detailed Report. Read any comments in the General Comments box, and look for any annotation symbols below in the lines you typed. Rest your mouse over these symbols or click them to read any annotations. Be sure to scroll down the page in case any are hidden.

Sort List of Students

Placement Tests

Custom Timed Writings

Do you want to use GDP's Custom Timed Writings? You can either create your own custom timed writings, or you and your students can download some from the McGraw-Hill College Keyboarding Web site. When a student completes a Custom Timed Writing, the timing is saved and scored in GDP and appears in the Student Portfolio.

Printing in GDP

Click here to see a presentation on printing options in GDP. Click here for the pdf version.

Create a Campus/LAN Class From an Existing Web Class

Do you want to create a Campus/LAN class that is a duplicate of your existing Web class? Here's how:
 

1. Create a Campus/LAN class in which the students are allowed to self-register. You might wish to name the class using the same name as the Web class, although the names do not have to match.
    

2. Log on to Instructor Management on the Campus/LAN and add your students one by one, using the identical name and e-mail address used at the Instructor Management Web site.
    

3. After you have logged on as a particular student, import that student’s work (File, Import Student Data, browse to the desired export file, Import) and log off.
    

4. Log on again, add the second student, and repeat the process for each remaining student.

Note: If you don’t have students’ export files, do this:
 

1. Select the desired class at the IMWS, and click Manage Course Password.
    

2. In the Manage Student Passwords dialog box at the left, select the student’s name to reveal his password.
    

3. Go to the Student Web Site, log on one student at a time, and use the Download Grades tab to create an export file.
    

4. Log on as the desired student in the desired Campus/LAN class, then import the files (File, Import Student Data, browse to the desired export file, Import).

Use Word 2007's View Feature to Speed Up Assessing Document Formatting

Use Word's AutoText/Building Blocks and AutoCorrect Features to Create Messages in Outlook

Word 2007, Building Blocks

Creating and Inserting Building Blocks (formerly known as AutoText Entries) in Word 2007 and Outlook 2007. Office 2007 renamed and changed the functionality of AutoText, AutoCorrect, and their interface with Outlook 2007. "Auto Text" is now referred to as "Building Blocks" and is incorporated as a gallery into the expanded capabilities provided by the new Quick Parts feature. If you use Outlook 2007 for sending and receiving e-mail messages, you can no longer use the Building Block feature seamlessly in Microsoft Outlook 2007 even though Outlook defaults to Word as the e-mail editor. Even though you might have Building Block entries stored in Word 2007, you will have to recreate them in Outlook 2007. Here's how:

First, create a separate Word document that holds all your messages, followed by the AutoText entry name in red to help you remember each entry’s name. Store all the entries in one file for easy reference.

To create the Building Block entry in Word 2007, select the desired message from the Word file you saved previously, and press ALT + F3. The Create New Building Block dialog box will appear with a suggested name for your entry. Replace the suggestion in the Name box with a short, easy-to-remember abbreviation (for example, L25 for routine comments regarding Lesson 25); then click OK. Or from the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts, and then click Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery. When you close Word 2007, click Yes when you are prompted to save changes to Building Blocks.dotx.

To insert the Building Block entry in Word 2007, type the name for the entry in your document (for example, type L25); then press F3 or press Enter. The full entry will appear. Or to insert a Quick Part, from the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts; then click the desired entry from the list of entries that will drop down when you click Quick Parts. You will see the name of each entry just above each entry in the drop-down list.

Outlook 2007, Building Blocks

To create the Building Block entry in Outlook 2007, select and copy the desired message from the Word file you saved previously, move to Outlook, create a new message, click in the message body area, and paste. Select the pasted text, and press ALT + F3. The Create New Building Block dialog box will appear with a suggested name for your entry. Replace the suggestion in the Name box with a short, easy-to-remember abbreviation (for example, L25 for routine comments regarding Lesson 25); then click OK.

To insert the Building Block entry in Outlook 2007, type the name for the entry in your message area (for example, type L57); then press F3 or press Enter. The full entry will appear. Or from the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts; then click the desired entry from the list of entries that will drop down when you click Quick Parts. You will see the name of each entry just above each entry in the drop-down list.

Word 2007, AutoCorrect

Using AutoCorrect to Replace Abbreviations in Word 2007. You can also use AutoCorrect to quickly replace abbreviations and insert entries limited to 255 characters—to create longer entries, create an AutoText entry instead. Press Alt + T + A. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, click the AutoCorrect tab. In the Replace box, type an abbreviation for the text that will be inserted in place of the abbreviation— for example, type ar. In the With box, type or paste the full entry for the abbreviation— for example, type Annotations Ready. I have annotated your work at the SWS. Go to the SWS at http://gdpstudent.mhhe.com and check the Date column in your Portfolio for the letter “A” next to any new work. Click Add. Do not use any hard returns in your entry and keep in mind that formatting is not included. When you use your AutoCorrect entry, it will take on the formatting of the surrounding text. When you are finished adding all entries, click OK twice

Outlook 2007, AutoCorrect

Using AutoCorrect to Replace Abbreviations in Outlook 2007. If you created your AutoCorrect entries in Word 2007, they should transfer seamlessly into Outlook. Close Word 2007 and Outlook 2007, and you should be able to use your entries. To create an AutoCorrect entry In Outlook, from the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Mail Format tab, and then click Editor Options. Click Proofing in the left pane. In the right pane under AutoCorrect options, click the AutoCorrect Options button. Follow the same steps from this point on as you used in Word 2007 to create the entry.

Word 2003 and Outlook 2003, AutoText

Creating and Inserting AutoText Entries for Word 2003 and Outlook 2003. If you use Outlook 2003 for sending and receiving e-mail messages, you can use the AutoText entry feature in Microsoft Word 2003 because Outlook defaults to Word as the e-mail editor. Microsoft Word comes with a number of built-in AutoText entries, such as salutations and closings for letters, and you can create your own AutoText entries to automatically insert frequently used announcements or comments that can include formatting.

First, create a separate Word document that holds all your messages, followed by the AutoText entry name in red to help you remember each entry’s name. Store all the entries in one file for easy reference.

To create the AutoText entry, select the desired message from the Word file you saved previously, and press ALT + F3. The Create AutoText dialog box will appear with a suggested name for your AutoText entry. Replace the suggestion with a short, easy-to-remember abbreviation (for example, L25 for routine comments regarding Lesson 25) then click OK.

To insert the AutoText entry, type the name for the AutoText entry in your e-mail body (for example, type L25); then press F3 or press Enter. The full entry will appear.

Word 2003 and Outlook 2003, AutoCorrect

Book 3, Lessons 121-180

Comparing Documents Side by Side. GDP software is not available for Lessons 121-180. However, this Word tip might help you score your students' documents more easily than manually proofreading them. You can compare a solutions file for a given job with the document the student typed for that job side by side. Comparing documents side by side allows you to determine the differences between two documents. You can scroll through both documents at the same time to identify any differences. Click the thumbnail at the right for more detail.
 

Outlook Address Book