3.8 (p.53) Step-by-step instructions for brainstorming on a computer.

1. Open a new document in MS Word. To open a new document, click on the FILE menu and then click on NEW.

2. A text box will open with the option of opening a blank document or opening a document for the Web. Click on blank document.

3. Another way to open a new document is to click on the power button that looks like a blank piece of paper on the far left of your tool bar.

4. Make a list of any ideas that occur to you about your topic.

5. Type what you know about your topic, what information you want to cover, and what you still need to find out about.

6. Review your list, and move items into logical groupings.

a. Convert important items into headings, and group other items under them. You can bold your headings to make them stand apart.

b. CUT items that do not fit in and PASTE them at the end of the list. To CUT text, highlight the selected text, then click on the power button on your tool bar that looks like a pair of scissors. For example, this student wanted to move a question from the bottom of the list to fit under the heading of funding.

c. To PASTE text, move your cursor to the place you want to insert the text and then click on the power button on your tool bar that looks like a clipboard with a piece of paper next to it.

This student decided that even though funding is an important part of university planning, she didn’t know if she wanted to research it, so she put it at the bottom of the list.

7. Delete items that seem irrelevant. This student deleted her information about the newspaper article and her opinion about service learning since she already knew that she liked the idea of the requirement.

8. Expand ideas by moving your cursor to the appropriate position and inserting new phrases or sentences. In this example, the student wanted to expand on her ideas about general education requirements. The highlighted text in the next illustration shows what she typed in.

9. Save the brainstorming document to your hard drive or disk. To save your document, click on the FILE menu and then click on SAVE.

10. After you’ve clicked on SAVE, you will need to choose which folder you want to save your document in, then name the document. This student saved her document in "My Documents" and called it "Service Learning Brainstorm."

Update the brainstorming document as you come up with new ideas.