Technology Medley

Wireless issues can be very frustrating because teachers often don’t know what to look for or how to troubleshoot. Here’s a quick checklist of things to look for when problems arise, and there is a handout with more information that you can download from the Box widget in the sidebar.

1. Check the Power

   Are both of the black electrical cords are plugged in?
   Are both power switches on the back turned on?

2. Check the Network Connection

   Is the Ethernet cable (the one that looks like a phone jack) plugged in?
   Is it plugged into a “hot” port?

3. Check the Wireless Access Point on top of the cart

   Is the wireless access point getting power?

4. Make sure that the wireless is enabled on the computer

   Has the wireless been accidentally disabled?

5. Check for low, very low, or no connectivity

   Are some computers not picking up a wireless signal even though you have a working access point in your room?

6. Check for a cart in a nearby room that is not connected

   Is there a cart nearby that is getting power but the network cable is not connected?

Don’t ever hesitate to ask for help from your technician or ITRT! Hopefully, though, this checklist will help you out when help is not immediately available. Remember the handout in the Box in the sidebar too if you don’t already have a copy.

There are lots of keyboard shortcuts that may speed up your productivity, and here is a list of some of the most useful ones. Most of these work in any program, but they all work in Word and PowerPoint. You might want to print out a copy and keep it by your computer as a cheat sheet!

Control Z - undo (Office programs will let you go backwards numerous levels, but some kids’ programs will only undo the last action.)

Control Y - redo (This will undo the “undo”)

Control A - Select All

Control S - Save

Control X - Cut

Control C - Copy

Control V - Paste

Control P - Print

Control drag to duplicate in Word (control D in Powerpoint)

Control + Shift + > to increase size of selected text

Control + Shift + < to decrease size of selected text

Control + E to center text

Control + R to right-align text

Control + L to left-align text

Control N – create new document

Control O – open

Control W – close document but not exit program

Control F – find specific word(s) in the text

Control B – Bold

Control I – Italics

Control U – Underline

Shift F3 – Change case (toggles from lower to upper to title case)

Control End – Go to End of Document

Control Home – Go to Beginning of Document

I hope this saves you some time!