How to annotate student work in Word for Moodle assignment using a Microsoft Surface Pro

This refers to Moodle 3.11 from August 2022 onwards

N.B. This guide applies to both Word 2016 and Word for Office 365, as displayed on the Microsoft Surface. Differences are indicated in the text below.

    Word 2016               Word 365

1. Using your Surface Pro tap on the Moodle assignment and then press 'View all submissions'. 

2.  Once the student information table has loaded click 'Grade' by the student’s work you wish to mark.

3.  This will open the marking page. The uploaded assignment will appear as a file extension within the "Submission" section. Tap it to extract the file into your Downloads folder.

4. You may find that the student has not identified their self in the file name. If so, it is advisable to navigate to the file and rename it, including the student's name and the assignment title.

Annotating Assignments in Word

You should now open either Word 2016 or Word 365 to annotate the assignment. Experienced users may still be using Word 2016 while newer Surface users may be using Word 365. The functionality for annotating assignments is the same, but some of the buttons may have different names or locations.

To remind you which version you are using, the two versions are easily identifiable by their logo:

    Word 2016               Word 365

If you are using Word 2016, continue to the guide below. For Word 365, scroll down to Annotating with the MS Surface on Word365.

Annotating with the MS Surface on Word 2016

1. Once Word has opened press the Review tab along the top. Then along the right-hand side tap the button 'Start Inking'.

2. You will now be able to see the annotation options along the top of the screen.  Click 'Pens'.

Below is a screen and an explanation of each item.

• Pen button enables the stylus to write in freehand.
• Highlighter button enables you to highlight text in the document.
• Eraser button will allow you to delete any annotations made both freehand and highlighted.
• Select Objects button allows the user to select an annotation or highlight and then move it around or change its dimensions.
• A selection of pen types and highlighter types with different colours to choose from.
• Allows you to select a different colour pen or highlighter.
• Allows you to select the thickness of your pen.
• Turns off the annotation option in Word.

3. Use the tools available use the stylus to annotate the document. 

4. When you have completed marking on the document tap File > Save As and then save the document. 

It is recommended that you add some text at the end of the document name to indicate it is feedback or marked. 

5. Go back to the marking page in Moodle. Scroll down to Feedback files and tap 'Add file' (paper icon to the left) or drag and drop your feedback into the dialog box.

6. Enter a grade within the Grade section (or use other appropriate grading tool such as rubric) and then press 'Save changes' 

Annotating with the MS Surface on Word 365

1. Open the file in Word and select 'Draw' tab from the top menu.

2. You can annotate using a 'Pen', 'Pencil' or 'Highlighter' tool. To edit an existing tool, tap the down arrow next to the tool and use the popup menu to select parameters such as "Thickness", "Colour" and effects. Alternatively, you can tap 'Add pen' to create an entirely new one. Settings will save and all of your custom pens will be available next time you log in. You can use these features to create your own set of custom marking tools.

(Here's an example of a custom marking tool set, ready to go!)

3. You can now use the stylus with your pen tools to annotate the assignment.

4. When you have completed marking on the document tap File > Save As and then save the document. 

It is recommended that you add some text at the end of the document name to indicate it is feedback or marked. 

5. Go back to the marking page in Moodle. Scroll down to Feedback files and tap 'Add file' (paper icon to the left) or drag and drop your feedback into the dialog box.

6. Enter a grade within the Grade section (or use other appropriate grading tool such as rubric) and then press 'Save changes'.