Open Your Eyes to the PDF

We have entered a world of technology. We have computers, we have cell phones, we have the World Wide Web, and we have industry standards, but do we use them?
One of the most important computer standards I feel we have at this current moment is the Portable Document Format (PDF). Entering the University of Waterloo, I felt great when I logged into UW-ACE for the first time and found our first project waiting for me in PDF format. As my term has progressed though, I’ve become aware of some troubling inconsistencies in the information available on UW-ACE. All my chemistry documents are available as Word files, and many marks and data files have been presented in Excel files. This has been rather frustrating as many people find Microsoft Word and Excel documents either won’t open for them or take a much longer time to open than other formats.
I feel we need to address this issue by taking steps to encourage standards that are already present in the broader computing world. I have found whenever I submit a document, it tells me in the drop box the specific file type the document must be in. I feel this also should be enforced on the instructor side as well. A reminder to upload assignments, tutorials, and other course information as a PDF would greatly simplify the end users experience and also bring greater compatibility to the system.
This shouldn’t only be a responsibility of instructors though; I believe it should be a responsibility that should be shared by students alike. We submit many of our assignments for class online in Word documents which can be highly problematic. It does not seem so because the TA or instructor already has the Microsoft Office bundle as their main document editor. However, this changes when you enter the real world – whether you are graduating or going on a work term. Through experience, I have learned that you can make a good impression when you send someone a document in a standard format, like a PDF. Making a good impression to an employer, colleague, or peer can be as simple as sending them a document they can open with no hassles. This leaves people happier and more productive.
I am amazed that through my first 3 months of UW Engineering we have not had instructions on creating PDF documents, nor have we been required to submit a document in the PDF form- a single, simple task which could give a future employer a great first impression. They will receive and see exactly what you sent them. PDF’s can be locked, opened within a browser, digitally and securely signed, the list goes on and on as you get more comfortable with the format. On top of this, the technology is free. Newer versions of Microsoft Word can save as PDF, as well, Apple Pages and TextEdit can easily export PDFs, and the Adobe Reader is a freely downloadable application that all of us should have already on out computers.
I believe it is our duty as students in a leading technological institution to take up industry standards and make our students, our program, and our staff stand out from the rest.