Archives - November/December 2007

Teacher Created Lesson Plan — Which File Format Should I Use?

Objectives:

• To open and create a document in Microsoft Word 2007
• To save the document as a Microsoft Word 97-2003 document
• To understand the differences between the Word 2007 file format and earlier Word version formats

To the Student:

Office 2007 introduces new file formats. For example, Word 2007 saves documents as .docx; PowerPoint saves files as .pptx; Excel saves spreadsheets as .xlsx; and Access saves databases as .accdb. Documents saved in these new file formats cannot be opened in previous versions of Office without downloading and installing a Compatibility Pack.

Another way to share Office 2007 documents is to save them in the Office 97-2003 file format. When you and your classmates are collaborating on a document, you all may have different versions of Office on your computers at home or at the school's media center. If people have different versions of Office, then you will all need to convert files to different formats in order to work on the files from different locations and computers.

Activity 1:
To automatically save Word 2007 files so they can be opened by earlier versions of Office (Office 1998 to Office 2003), follow these steps to change the Word 2007 default file format:

1. Start Word 2007.
2. Key a short paragraph discussing why it is important to save your work in the correct format. (Hint: Think about collaboration between students.)
3. Click the Office Button.
4. Click Word Options.
5. Click Save.
6. In the "Save files in this format" dialog box, click the drop-down arrow.
7. Select Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc).
8. Click OK.
9. To confirm the format change, click Save As in your document and look at the Save as Type box. It should read "Word 97-2003 Document(*.doc)."
10. Save your document as Word 2007 Default Exercise. Ask your teacher how and where to save your document.
11. Close Word.

The same steps can be used to change the default in each Microsoft Office 2007 application. There will be a loss of functionality and fonts, since Office 2007 introduces new features not found in earlier versions. Also note that Access 2007 files will not open at all in previous versions of Access unless they have been saved as an earlier version.

Activity 2:
Before you convert a file, you should know what version of Office was used to create that file. You can determine which format was used to create an existing Office document. There are several ways to determine a file's format:

1. Locate the folder where your work is stored.
2. Find your document: Word 2007 Default Exercise.
3. Hover your mouse over the file, without opening it. The Properties dialog box will appear. The file format is noted after the file name.
4. Right-click on the file, without opening it. The Properties window will appear. The file format is noted as Type of File.

If you have different types of Word files in your folder, you will notice that the icons are different in Office 2007.

Until all your classmates and parents have converted their computers to Office 2007, you might consider saving your documents in the Office 97-2003 format. This will ensure that you can work on your documents on various computers.

To the Teacher:
For an extra assignment, have your students research all the computers they use outside the lab. They should determine which version of Microsoft Office is installed on each computer. Have the students ask their parents or the computers' owners when the computers will have Office 2007 installed. Students can do a research project on the costs and benefits of upgrading computers or replacing them with current technology.

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