How to save Word 2007 documents in earlier formats, to be acceptable for OU assignment submission, and how to make an assignment template. Links to videos on Screenjelly

1. Saving Word 2010 and 2007 documents so that they can be read by your marker And at the same time making a reusable assignment template By Rob Parsons

2. There are three steps to go through. Each step is illustrated in a video which is linked from this presentation, and which will appear in your browser. First you have to save in a specific format Second it helps to add a header with your name and PI number, the assignment number,and the page number Third, you need to create a new file from the template for each new asignment.

3. Changing the file format To make sure the file is readable, you need to save it in an earlier format. For most OU courses doc and rtf will be acceptable. I will demonstrate doc, but rtf follows the same procedure. Note that Word 2010 and 2007 offer a default save as a “Word document”. It doesn't tell you that this is “docx” format, not “doc” format. You need “doc” format. The link for the video is on the next slide.

4. Making it a template document It makes sense to call the blank document something like “TMA template”, and then to send your assignments in as “TMA01” and so on. But your marker will have a dozen files called “assignment 1”, so it's helpful to do something like add your initials. So saving it as “XX TMA01” will help your marker. I'll demonstrate how to do that later, but first how to save the template is on the next slide.

5. Adding a header It's not a requirement but it's a good habit to get into to add your name and PI number on every page. This is best done by adding a header. If you do it in the template, you never need worry about it again. Unless you change your name. To see how to do this go to the next video .

6. Using the template All you need to do is open the file and save it with a different name To see how to do this go to the final video.