Week 1

9. WORD “COMMENT” FEATURE

Bioblurb: I am a newcomer to the field of CALL. I am primarily a classroom teacher who is interested in ways to enhance student learning through the use of technology. My specific focus at the moment is the use of the comment feature in WORD for teacher and peer review of student papers, as well as audio comments. That's about all I can handle (and I can't even find the time to explore that thoroughly!). Previously I was enrolled in Teaching Online with Christine Bauer-Ramazzani.

Dennis

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Hi Denis and All,

First, welcome to Webheads! I have used the Word comment feature, as you say, to review students' work and for peer edition in collaborative group work (I have a set of symbols which I write in the "comment" and then they self correct their work), and I have also used it for the students to "notice" the new vocabulary and structures they encounter in readings and when writing assignments. I ask the students to highlight the new vocabulary or structures they have had to look up in the dictionary or ask someone, and then in the comment they write the meaning of the word, or an explanation of why the
structure is used in that context, and the source they used to find that out.
It has been very effective, and I have found that in that way, students retain the new lexical items and use them in other assignments. Students like using that feature, they say. The only problem I find is that if you print the work the comments are not there. Is there a way to have the comments printed? How do you use that feature?
Nice to have you aboard,
Daf

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Dear Dafne,

I use "foot note" tool instead. In this way, when they are only they can see the comment below and when they pass the mouse over the word o sentence (previously marked with an assigned colour, depending on the kind of error). Appart from that, all the commets appear when printed. ** Once they correct the mistakes, comments desappear one by one. So try to print it before any correction!!!
Best regards,
María

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Dear Daf,

To print out the comments you must go to File and Print. Then click on Print what (bottom left) and finally choose Comments. I've just tried it and it works, however, I think they must be printed separately. You can't do the document itself and the comments at the same time. As soon as you choose Comments, the remaining options are deactivated.
HTH. Hugs, Teresa

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Thanks Tere and Maria for your ideas, never thought of them! I will try both :-)

Regarding the use of color-coding for different kinds of mistakes, I do not like to do that because some students might be color-blind or sometimes the colors change in different navigators, that's why I prefer to use a letter-coding system.
Thanks again,
Hugs,
Daf

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I've been using the Word 'comments' feature since 6.0 (when it was called 'annotations'). How the comments  print depends entirely on the version of MS Word.  I'll try to be specific but you'll have to forgive me if the lingo is a little off -- I'm doing this from (faded) memory.
1) Comments are not readable by users of Word 5.0 or below.
2) Comments in 6.0 can be read and printed by choosing the "Preferences:Print" tab and select "Print Hidden text" and "Print comments". The "Hidden text" will appear within the context of the document (e.g., DF4 = Dafne Chavez's initials and comment number 4 - if you have put the initials in under "preferences/user"). Unfortunately on this version the comments print on a separate piece of paper. Like a scavenger hunt, you must match the comment to the annotation within the document. It is, however, still possible to view the comments at the bottom of the screen and/or hover the mouse over the change to read the comment.
3) The same rules apply for versions 97/98.
4) Version Word 2000 allows you to choose a less offensive color than red (the usual default) and the new lingo is "Track Changes". You can select View:Toolbar:Review/Comments and icons appear above to ease the process. To Print the comments, you must still go through the motions (Preferences/Print, etc.) and the comments still print on a separate piece of paper.
5) Starting with Windows Millennium Edition, the comments print as "thought bubbles", like the type you see in a comic strip. The "bubbles" stem from the area being commented upon, making for a truly efficient use of this feature. You must still go to "Preferences:Print" to set the print options.
6) This feature (thought bubbles) also appears in Windows XP. I have Word X for Mac OS X, but haven't yet printed a commented text -- I'm hoping it's the same as XP. In any case each time it is necessary to alter the Print options under "Preferences" (located under "Word" on version X).
"Comments/Track Changes" is a truly interactive feature: offers flexibility in commenting (no more need to write in cramped margin space), ask questions of the student for further reflection, and can also be used for peer-correction. Difficulties arrise when several versions of Word are in use -- for those of you still on v. 6.0, you know what I mean. Best to use this feature when the university supplies computers where Ss can access the comments. Hopefully, with the inception of XP, more and more people will take advantage of this feature.
All the best,
Arlyn

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Thanks a lot, Arlyn.

Daf

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