Solving the Mystery of Attachments
Tech Tip – Creating Screen Shots in Mac and Windows
What can you do when an email or discussion board attachment won’t open? How can you be sure that the attachments you send can be read by your recipient(s)? Why is it important to name your files correctly before sending them? Why should you be careful about opening attachments?
Most problems with sending and receiving attachments can be narrowed down to one or more of the following:
- The filename does not have a two or three-character extension on the end, so its file type often can’t be read or recognized on another computer. This often occurs when sending files from a Mac to a Windows-based computer.
- The recipient does not have the same software or same version of the software installed on their computer.
- The filename contains spaces or special characters, such as: / \ > < ? *
- The recipient tried to open the attachment by clicking on it within the email message, instead of saving it to the hard drive first.
- The recipient double-clicked on the attachment, but it didn’t open. However, it might have opened had the recipient instead tried opening the program in which the file was created, and then gone to File – Open to open the attachment within the program.
Creating Attachments in UW-Stout Desire2Learn Discussion Boards
An animated tutorial which shows how to add an attachment to a UW-Stout discussion board message.
Email Attachment Tips
The University of Arizona tech staff offers some cautions about opening email attachments, and provides numerous attachment problem-solving tips for Mac and Windows users.
Common File Extensions
An extensive resource list of common file types, arranged by file format. This one is good to keep by your computer!
Tech Tip – Creating Screen Shots in Mac and Windows
There may be times when you want to take a picture of the computer screen to insert in printed handouts or a web page. This can easily be done in Windows and Mac. In Mac OSX you can even take screen shots of only a portion of the screen, if desired. Below are the steps for creating a screen capture:
Windows
- When you have the desired content visible on the screen, press the Print Screen (or Prt Sc) button on your keyboard. A picture will be taken of the entire screen. This screen image file is now on the Clipboard and can be pasted into an image editing program such as Picture It! or Photoshop Elements.
- To edit the image, open your image editing software and edit - paste the graphic into it. You can then use the program’s cropping tool to cut away parts of the image that you don’t want. You may also want to use the Resize command to make the image smaller.
- Save the image as a GIF or JPEG file, especially if you are going to use it on a Web page. The image may now be inserted into a MS Word document, a MS PowerPoint presentation or any other program which accepts GIF and JPEG image files.
Macintosh (OS X)
- When you have the desired content visible on the screen, press Shift+Command+4 on the keyboard. Your cursor will change to a crosshair.
- Click in the upper left corner of your screen capture area and hold the cursor, dragging it down and to the right until you have outlined the desired part of the screen. When you release the mouse button you'll hear a click resembling the sound of a camera shutter.
- Next look on your hard drive for a file called Picture 1 (or Picture 2, etc.). You can now open the file in an image editing program and resize or crop it as needed.
- Save the image as a GIF or JPEG file if you plan to use it on a Web page. The image may now be inserted into a MS Word document for creating a handout, a PowerPoint presentation, or a Web page.
Courses Starting in October 2006
Registration closes five days before the course start date to allow time for assigning user names and passwords.
OCTOBER 2:
EDUC 744 958F Teaching Art for Non-Art Teachers
EDUC 744 920F Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6-Traits
EDUC 744 928F Digital Photography Basics and Graphic Design for the Classroom
EDUC 744 924F Inclusion-Strategies for Special Needs/ESL Learners
EDUC 744 957F Differentiation in the Classroom
EDUC 744 949F NEW - Instructional Role of Assessment and Data Analysis
EDUC 744 925F Bullying in Schools: What Educators Can Do
EDUC 744 911F Effective Classroom Management
October 3
RDGED 701 Developmental Reading K-12
October 4
EDUC 744 917F Inspiration and Kidspiration: Strategies to Build Study Skills and Comprehension
October 9
EDUC 744 947F E-learning for Educators
EDUC 744 937F Learning Applications for the iPod® and Handheld Computers
October 16
EDUC 744 946F Professional Development Plan Design and Implementation
EDUC 744 930F Web Design for Educators (Beginning)
EDUC 744 942F- Intermediate Web Design: Making Your Website a Learning Center
What Our Students Are Saying...
About the Effective Classroom Management online course:
"I felt that the activities actually helped me organize my classroom better and run a "tighter" ship without sacrificing a friendly and open classroom climate. I thought the building of the personal portfolio was terrific. When I look at my portfolio, I don't see any areas that are missing--I cannot only get through each day, but I have the guidelines for the whole year!
~7th Grade Math Teacher Okinawa, Japan
"It helped to open my eyes that I need to make sure my teaching style is varied to accommodate a variety of learning styles. The portfolio forced me to really think about my classroom environment, and the activities give new and veteran teachers a working document on how to keep their classrooms running smoothly. Great perspectives from my worldwide colleagues. I absolutely loved this. "
~ 7th Grade Language Arts Teacher, Belgium
"I don't think I could have made it through the next trimester at the middle school without the ideas this class got me to think about. I love that such simple things can make the class run so much better. Whether you've been teaching for 25 years or have yet to set foot in a classroom, you will get something out of this class that will make you a better teacher. I have recommended this course to many of my friends. I thought it was great."
~ Middle School Art Teacher Charles City, Iowa
Call University of Wisconsin-Stout Online Professional Development (715) 642-0209 if you have questions or email vanderveldej@uwstout.edu
UW-Stout is an "international-student- friendly" program.
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