Technology Tips From Your 24BLUE Team
Here are some technology tips from your 24BLUE Team:
It is very important that you sync. Do it daily! It DOES NOT do it automatically!!!
- Is your computer getting very warm - almost hot? Let it cool down outside your case. Shut down and let it cool. Do not put it in the case or on something soft - like your bed or a sofa or the carpet if it is hot. Is the fan running? (You can tell - it will be loud.) Let it cool down, by placing it on a hard surface like a desk or table. Be sure to let it cool before putting it away. Bring it in to the 24Blue office if this continues.
- Do you know your Nest (Angel) login and password? If not, see Mrs. Dostal.
- Do you know your PowerSchool login and password? If not, see Mrs. Wood
- Some students cannot find documents they have saved. You should put ALL your documents in the documents folder. You can have a folder for each class, but put these folders in the documents folder. It is best practice NOT to have things on the desktop. Pictures go in the Pictures folder, music goes in the Music folder, movies go in the Movies folder, etc. You can find these folders if you open your Macintosh HD and click on your username. You can put the documents folder on your dock for easy access if you'd like. See a 24Blue Team member for help if you need it to organize your documents.
- Be VERY careful about completing forms in Preview. You will not be able to save your form. Students have lost valuable time by doing this. See Mrs. Wood or Mrs. Dostal for alternatives to completing forms in Preview.
- Do you have your computer set to speak to you? Be cautious about what keystrokes you have set to control this function. It is best to use a combination of keys, such as Option and S for speak. Or Option and L for listen. Do not use Command key or a single key, such as Escape.
- Sync your computer with the server!!! If your hard drive crashes you will be without your data if you do not sync. To sync: click on the two little houses in the bar across the top of your computer. Choose Sync Home Now. It takes very little time and is good insurance.
- When you print from Word in Notebook layout: make sure you print the Current Selection Tab ONLY! Otherwise you print several pages with only the date at the top. You do not want to waste your paper quota.
- Are your preferences for Word, Excel and Powerpoint set correctly? Preferences are under the Word pull down menu. The SAVE option should be set for Save Word files as Word 97-2004. This saves your documents with the .doc extension. If you have .docx extensions you have them set wrong. Make the appropriate changes for Excel and Powerpoint as well.
- Your desktop pictures should be set to change every 15 minutes or more (or never). Anything less wastes your battery power.
- Restart at least once per week or whenever you think your computer is running slow.
- Let your battery die about once per month to prolong its life.
If you have tips to share, please get them Mrs. Wood. They will be posted here at the top of the list.
