Computing Fundamentals

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Application Software – Word Processing

Module 004 Word Processing

At the end of this module you are expected to:

1. Identify three (3) basic word processing tools that simplify document
editing.
2. Explain what is meant by “selecting” parts of a document
3. Identify five special features commonly found in modern word processing
software.

Application Software
Word processing software is being used in writing a letter, scholarly or business
reports, pamphlets, and any kind of files a person may need. According to research, 90% of
the people use word processing software and 90% have it installed in their computer unit.
With the number of documents that surround us: newspaper, magazines, letters and
advertisements, this fact isn’t a surprise for us anymore.
You read books for school, and individuals create untold numbers of documents for a
myriad of purposes. On desktop around the world, printers spit out tons of documents every
week. Probably, just as many documents are created but never printed.

If you have not had any experience yet with productivity software, a word processor
is an ideal place to start. Modern word processors are easy to use and require no special
skills to masters. A word processor will familiarize you with many common tools. You may
find little or no special use for other types of application, but you may find your word
processor to be an application that is essential for personal use.

According to others the world that we live in today is run by number. An example of
this is that most of the tasks that we do at work are related to numerical data and financial
information mostly if the company is a corporation who manages huge amounts of balance
sheets, and people balance their checkbook registers or try to maintain a household budget.

Whether their task is big or small, people commonly use spreadsheets program to
judge all those numbers. When someone is “crunching the numbers” that person is probably
using a spreadsheet.

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 If you have ever attended a seminar or lecture that included a presentation displayed
on a computer screen or video monitor, then you probably have seen the product of a
modern presentation program. Presentation program enable the user to create their own
presentation that can customized depending on the type of presentation they are having.
In creating any kind of list example are library catalog listing, grocery list, teachers
class record we need data that can be organized. The database is a way to manage these kinds
of data. It stores and organizes a large amount of data.

The word Processing

A word processing or also known as a word processor is an application that enables

users to create a text-based document. With word processors, not only you can create text
documents but also documents with images and the ability to customize and change the
format of the document you are working with.
A word processor can also improve documents by embedding sounds, video clips, and
animation into your document. You also can link different documents together. A link on a
chart from a presentation to a spreadsheet is possible.

The Word Processors Interface

The word processor’s interface display different sets of tools. These are the following:
 Menu bar - Display menu titles

 Toolbars – Display frequently used command button

 Rulers – indents, margins, tabs, etc

 Scroll bar - This can be used scroll through a document

 Status bar - Display information about the details of your document

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Application Software – Word Processing

<Figure 1. This is a sample caption>

Menu
Bar

Toolbar

Ruler

Document Scroll Bar

Area

Status Bar

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Entering and Editing Text

By typing on a keyboard, you are able to create documents. In a new document, the
program places a blinking insertion point (called cursor) in the upper left corner of the
document window. As you type, the insertion point advances across the screen, showing you
where the character will be placed. When you text reaches the right edge of the screen the
cursor automatically moves its insertion point to the next line. This feature is called word
wrap. Note that in a word processing you press Enter to start a new paragraph.

Word processing program lets you change text without retyping the entire page you
retype only the text that needs to be change. Editing the document is also known as Changing
an existing document.
The word processor real beauty is its ability to work with block of text. A group of
characters, words, lines, sentences or paragraphs in your document that you mark for editing
is called a block. When you select text, it changes the color-becoming highlighted. To
deselect selected block of text click the mouse anywhere on the screen or press any arrow
key.

Formatting Text

Most word processing features are used to format the document. The process of
formatting a document includes controlling the appearance of text, the layout of text on the
page, and the use of pictures and other graphic element. Most formatting features fall into
three categories: Character format, Paragraph Format, and Document format.

Character Format

Character formatting includes setting the control attributes of individual text such as:
 Fonts. It is the characteristics of the letters, symbols, and punctuation marks in your
document.

 Type Size. A font is measure in points.

 Type Style. In addition to the font and type size. This may also help change the
appearance of the text. Commonly used style type is bold, italic and underline.

Paragraph Format

In word processing, the word paragraph has a slightly different meaning than it does
traditionally. Word processing software creates a paragraph each time you press the enter
key. A group of sentences is a paragraph , but a two-word heading is define as paragraph, as
well as paragraph formatting includes settings applied only to one or more entire paragraph
such as:
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Application Software – Word Processing

 Line spacing. Also known as the space between two sentences. Lines can be single-
spaced, double-spaced or set for an amount of spacing between the lines that you
select.

 Paragraph spacing. Also known as the space between two or more paragraph.

 Indents. Also known as the space of each line of paragraph before or after the margin

 Tab stops. A tab stop is a position, both on screen and in the document, usually
measured from the left margin of the document.

 Borders and shading. Paragraphs can be formatted with borders or shading. A line
that is drawn on one or more side of paragraph is called border. A pattern or color
that is displayed as a background of the text in a paragraph is called Shading. A partial
shadow around a bordered paragraph, which create the illusion that the paragraph is
“floating” above the page is called Drop Shadow.

Document format
Word processing software also lets you apply special formats, such as columns, to
documents. You also can divide a document into sections and give each section is own unique
format. Standard document format include:
 Margins. Every document has top, bottom, left, and right margins. And all four
margins can be the same of different.

 Page size. Normally, documents are set up to fit 8 ½ by 11 inch paper, a standard
known as letter size paper. The other standard size for word processor document is
legal (8 ½ by 14 inch paper).

 Orientation. Document dimension is also determined by the orientation of the paper.

By default, document are set up with portrait orientation (or tall orientation), where
the document is taller than its wide. You also can switch to landscape orientation ( or
wide orientation ).
 Header and Footers. Long documents generally include header and footer or both.
It is a line of text that run on top and bottom of every page.

 Columns. Newsletters, for example, are often laid out in a two or three column format
to make them easy to read.

 Section. Word processors also allow you to divide a document into sections and apply
a different format to each section.

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Special Features of Word Processing Software

All word processing programs are rich in features, many of which have nothing to do
with text editing or formatting. Such utilities and functions that are almost like adding new
software or your word processor.
Language Tools

A word processor cannot make you a good writer, but it can help. Many word
processor features language tools that can help you find errors in your spelling and
grammar; they also may have tools to help you find just the right word or avoid overusing
certain words. These tools include the following:
 Spell checker. This catch spelling mistakes of your documents.

 Grammar checkers. Work like spell checker, but they inspect your document for
grammatical problems. A grammar checker compare each sentence to a set of
standard grammatical rules, notifies you if it finds a potential problems, and
providing grammatical correct options.

 Thesaurus. This is used to select an alternative word that may be used to replace the
existing word in a document. Suppose you think you are using a word incorrectly, or
you want to find a different word with a similar meaning. You can select a word then
launch the thesaurus. A good thesaurus will display a definition of the selected word
and a list of possible replacement.

To view the language tool and check your spelling click the REVIEW  Choose from the
options 1. Proofing, Check Accessibility, Language, Comments, Tracking, Reviewing, Change,
Compare and Protect.

Tables

Although tables can be used to set up rows and columns of information in a document,
a word processor provides features that you create table in just a few steps. The size of the
table is limited only by the amount of page space that can be devoted to it, and tables can be
formatted in dozens of ways.

To arrange images on a page in an interesting way you can use a table to organize
them.
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Application Software – Word Processing

To insert a table click the TABLE  Choose from the options 1. INSERT A TABLE this is done
by choosing the size of the table 2. DRAW TABLE. If you wanted to draw your own table click
the DRAW TABLE. When this is clicked a pencil icon will be displayed draw anywhere from
the document area to start creating your own table.

Mail Merge

If you’re planning to write a letter with the same content to be sent to several recipients
you can use mail merge. Mail merge allows the users to combine a letter with the same. The mail
merge feature makes it easy to send the same letter to a list of different people with the correct
names and addresses printed on each letter.

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 To create a mail merge click the MAILINGS  Choose from the options 1. CREATE,
START MAIL MERGE , WRITE A MAIL MERGE and PREVIEW RESULTS.

Adding Graphics and Sounds

With a word processor, you can easily add graphic, images-photos, drawings, or clip-
art-to your documents. You set the cursor where you want the graphic to appear, tell the
word processing program that you want to insert a graphic, and then locate the graphic file.
After the graphic file has been imported, you can move, size, crop and add borders on it.
You can embed sounds file in your document in much the same way that you embed
a graphic file. The only difference is that an icon appears in the document.

To add a graphics, sounds and or any media click INSERT  Click MEDIA  Then choose
from the available media (example Adding a Movie from the browser, Movie from the file,
audio from the browser and audio from the file ).

Templates

A blank document with preset margins, fonts, paragraphs formats, headings, rulers,
graphics, header, footers, etc is called templates. You can open a document template, type
your text into it, save it, and print the finished document. When you use a template, you do
not have to manually format complex documents.
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Application Software – Word Processing

To add a template click DESIGN  Click THEMES  Then choose from the available
themes. You may also browse for NEW TEMPLATE Online by clicking BROWSE FOR THEMES
or save the theme created.

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References and Supplementary Materials
Books and Journals
1. Denning, Peter J.; Martell, Craig H. (2015). Great principles of computing MIT Press
QA 76 D3483 2015
2. Oleary, Timothy J. (2015). Computing essentials: making IT work for you. QA 76.5 O42
2011
Oleary, Timothy J.; Oleary, Linda I. (2015). Computing essentials 2014 : making it
work for you WLB McGrawhill QA 76 O54 2014

Online Supplementary Reading Materials

1. A brief history od computer;
http://people.bu.edu/baws/brief%20computer%20history.html; August 2, 2018
2. Computer basics; https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/computerbasics/basic-parts-of-a-
computer/1/ ; August 3, 2018
3. Central Processing Unit;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/hardware/0inputandoutputdevicesr
ev3.shtml ; August 3, 2016

Online Instructional Videos

1. The components of computer and their function;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC_fOWfmtPA; August 3, 2018
2. Computer hardware and software; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UyJMiYqvs4
; August 3, 2018
3. History and generations of computers;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrUvFJWlYCY; August 3, 2018
4. Generations of computers; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTc4kIVUnoA ;
August 3, 2018
5. The central processing unit; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZGugFqdr60 ;
August 2, 2018