January 19, 2011

Good morning everyone,

During last week's faculty meetings, adjunct instructor Cathy Kennedy mentioned she uses PhraseExpress on a regular basis to streamline her student communications and grading processes.  I wanted to take this opportunity to expand on Cathy's great tips by sharing this resource with you directly.

What is PhraseExpress?  PhraseExpress is a resource that "eliminates repetitive typing and manages frequently used text snippets in customizable categories" (download.cnet.com/PhraseExpress).  And some of its key features as articulated on its website are:

• Organize frequently used text snippets.
• Expand abbreviations as you type.
• Launch programs with text shortcuts.
• Auto-complete repetitive phrases.
• Quick access to the Windows Clipboard History.
• Correct spelling mistakes in any application.

And some additional benefits are:

• Multiple clipboard phrase capabilities.
• Free download and usability.
• Works with any application, meaning it works in Blackboard and in Excel depending on the grading approach you use.

To see just how beneficial this resource can be, I encourage you to click here to see a visual timed demonstration.  I think you'll agree that this tool can be a big time saver for you!  Any time we can streamline our processes, it is a win-win for ourselves and our students as we can then spend more time on enhancing the learning environment for our students.  

And to view a full video tutorial on what the many features are, please click here. 

Check out this resource and let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist