Assistive Technology Network E-Note
October 2004

Welcome to the Assistive Technology Electronic Newsletter designed to provide educators with tips and tricks when integrating technology in the classroom.

Contents:


Auto Replace Text with a Graphic in MS Word

With MS Word, you can type a word and have a graphic automatically replace the word. This can be a great tool for early literacy. For example, if the student types his name correct, you can make his photograph pop up. You can also set up a page for the child to practice spelling words. Chose ten words on the spelling list and place them in the autocorrect tool. As the student types it correctly, the word will be replaced with a graphic. This is an excellent activity to motivate emerging spellers. Here are the directions…

  1. Open up MS Word.
  2. Insert the picture that you want to pop up by going to Insert, Picture, From File. Find the picture of your choice and click Insert.
  3. Click on the picture to make it active. It will have small boxes along the border of the picture.
  4. Go to Tools, and select AutoCorrect. A dialog box will open and the cursor will be flashing in the box below “replace”. In the box, type the word that corresponds with the picture. Click OK.

This tool can be used a myriad of ways.