Computer Care and Foolproof
Hardware
1) Buying a new home computer? First asked yourself how are you going to use the computer. Then by features according to what you need.
2) Keep these minimum standards in mind before you buy a home PC:
56 K. v 90 modem
Intel's Pentium II,III, or Celeron, or Apple's PowerPC processors, all with at least 400 MHz
32 MB RAM
8 GB or larger hard drive
3) Make it a habit to regularly delete unneeded files that take-up space on and slowdown in your hard drive.
4) Speed up your computer. In your computers fonts folder, keep only the fonts you regularly use. Windows users will find it in the Windows folder. Create a new folder named old fonts and move your seldom-used fonts into it.
5) If your Mac warns you don't have enough memory to do a function save your worked and restart. Increase your virtual RAM setting using the memory control panel. Or buy more RAM.
6) Save Ink by printing one copy of the document. Print in draft quality.
7) For as little as $200 you can get a TV scan converter that projects computer images onto a TV screen for wider viewing by students. Examples at www.electroweb.com/product/HARDORD/TView microXGA.HTM
8) Ask for Educator Discounts before you buy. Compaq provides info. on educator discounts @ WWW.Compaq.com/Education/K12. Apple also offers discounts for Education. Del offers educator discounts up to half off standard retail at WWW.Del.com. Micron makes discounts available to schools. Call 800/742-4334. IBM also discounts personal and school computers. Call 800/427-7235.
9) To troubleshoot computer problems from home, try Yahoo computers reference and help desk: HTTP://computers.yahoo.com/computers/reference_help_desk/.
Repair Procedure
10) Repair forms will be in the library, the teachers work room, and room 702.
11) The students will be using the school web site to log all repairs.
12) Repairs will also be listed for the school site district repairman who is scheduled to be her once each week.
13) Your repair request will be taken care of in the order it was received. This will depend on availability of parts & capabilities of repair personnel.
14) Wed. and Fri. 0 period MCS class will be working on repairs.
Scandisk
15) Start, Programs, Accessories, system tools, Scandisk
16) This will help prevent lost data, and/or lost storage space.
17) POWERPOINT
Defrag
18) Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Defrag
19) This will organize your hard drive so it will run faster and have fewer errors.
20) POWERPOINT
FoolProof
21) Students will delete files accidentally or on purpose so protect your computer.
22) Students will use your computer to play games on. (and you would not even know they are doing it.)
23) They can read your e-mail over the network.
24) You install the software and put in your own password.
25) You can reinstall if there are problems.
26) If you have more than one computer setup a computer the way you want it and make a setup disk from that computer.
27) Backup your files.
28) Backup your files.
29) Backup your files.
30) Backup your files.
31) Backup your files.
32) Example setups can be seen in Rm. 702, Rm. 706, & Rm. 708.
33) There is a site license.
Software
34) Do not hit delete to remove software. Use the uninstall feature to make sure hidden files disappear.
35) Label and store all original software disks. You never know when you'll need to reinstall a program.
36) Don't rush through software installation follow the step-by-step directions on-screen.
37) Floppy disks are not designed to last forever. Trash old disks and use disk cases to guard against dust and other damage.
38) www.driverguide.com is a great site for finding drivers for printers or any other pieces of hardware.
Files
39) Create a copy of your browser is bookmarks/favorites. In Netscape from the bookmarks menu, then save as from the file menu. In Microsoft's Internet Explorer, from the favorites menu select organize favorites.
40) Organized as you work. Save bookmarks and were files in specific folders for easy access.
41) Ensure compatibility of Microsoft Word files between home and school by always saving in the lowest version of word you use. From the file menu select save and specify version from the Save As type pull down menu, or save as rich text file (RTF).
42) Need to determine the latest version of the document you been transferring between home and school? You can identify the most current version by viewing a files creation information. Highlight the file by clicking on it once. Right mouse click and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
Help!
43) Print a software programs onscreen help section and follow along as you work.
44) University web sites often feature excellent tutorials on popular software applications. Try HTTP://www.uwsp.edu/acad/psych/compute.htm for word, in Netscape, and more. Software developers also offer tutorials. Check www..Microsoft.com/Education/k12 for an example.
45) Visit search sites like yahoo or Alta Vista to locate tons of useful software help and tutorials sites. In your search append the keyword help or tutorial after the name of the software you're trying to learn.
Students
46) Let students learn new software programs and teach their peers.
47) Organized younger students into a the mouse patrol. Have students come in early each morning, turn on class computers.
48) Keep a spiral ring of index cards on top of computer monitors. List student names on cards indicating when it's their turn to use the computer.
49) Share names of students who file a your acceptable use policy with colleagues so they know who shouldn't be using the computer.
50) Integrate technology into projects and coursework to lessen distractions and focus students attention.
51) Pair novice users with experienced students-but let the nonuser do the driving.
52) Place vocabulary words and homework assignments on screen savers as a reminder for students.
Cyberspace
53) Save the first E-mail reply you receive from mailing list you have joined. It often contains instructions on how to unsubscribe.
54) Remember e-mail is not private. Don't use the school computer to send any mail you wouldn't want your mother or your principle to read.
55) Use a search sites advanced or power search menu to help eliminate long list of irrelevant leads.
56) Turn Microsoft PowerPoint and Word files into web pages. From the file menu, select save as HTML.
57) For a collection of helpful computer tips from a computer mag, check WWW.PCworld.com and WWW.win95mag.com.
58) Have students copy and paste URLs-web addresses-from bookmarks into a Word document and links will become active. Annotate the links to remember the general subject.
59) Make your class WebSite useful to parents. List homework assignments, class projects, and the times when you welcome phone calls.
60) Use your browsers find feature to jump to keywords within a web page. From the edit menu, select find.
61) Add frequently used web sites to your browsers toolbar. Explorer users: Select Favorites then add page to toolbar favorites. Netscape users: Select the bookmarks from the bookmarks menu and drag-and-drop desired bookmarks into the personal toolbar folder.
Effective Searches
62) Search engines give you what you ask for. Learn house search sites work by reading their help section.
63) Kid friendly search sites include WWW.Yahooligans.com and www.ask.com (ask Jeeves).
64) Use the translate feature on Alta Vista's search site anytime you want to translate web page from English to another language or vice versa.
65) Limit your search to a specific domain or country likely to contain what you're looking for. Refer to search sites help menus for the appropriate syntax.
66) In typing a URL into your browser's address line you can usually omit the HTTP:// at the front. Just type and address that follows. Also remember: sentences end with periods, not URLs. Be sure to omit the period that follows a URL. Listed at the end of the sentence.
67) Problems printing from your browser? Copy from a web page onto a word processing document and print that document.
68) Save mail from Education mailing lists in public folders on the schools network so all your colleagues can access the information.
69) Invite your schools technology coordinator in to discuss your needs in expectations. Don't grab the coordinator on the way to the lab. Make a win-win situation for everyone by explaining your needs in advance.
Educational WebSites
Visual science
70) Dennis Kunkel and his Microscopy www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/kunkel
71) The digital first nine months WWW.pregnancycalendar.com/first9months still one or favorite sites for its gallery of stunning microscopic photographs, or micrograms, but everything from red blood cells to common slow bacteria.
72) Sig.biostr.washington.edu/projects/da
73) www.hurricanehunters.com
Science learning
74) www.amnh.org
75) www.exploratorium.edu
76) kids.earth.nasa.gov
77) www.hhmi.org/coolscience
78) www.kineticcity.com
Inventions and Labs
79) www.invent.org
80) home.doe.gov/people/labsmap.htm
81) www.uspto.gov
82) www.patents.ibm.com
83) www.research.microsoft.com
News & Answers
84) whyfiles.news.wisc.edu
85) www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova
86) www.marsnews.com
87) www.madsci.org
88) www.sciencedaily.com
The Universe
89) seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html
90) www.spaceflight.nasa.gov
91) space.jpl.nasa.gov
92) www.StarTrails.com
93) observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/ootw/current
Earth & Environment
94) www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov
95) www.glacier.rice.edu
96) www.nationalgeographic.com
97) volcano.und.nodak.edu
98) terraserver.microsoft.com
Heath & Medicine
99) www.intelihealth.com
100) www.mayohealth.org
101) www.vh.org/Providers/Textbooks/BrainAnatomy/BrainAnatomy.html
102) www.drkoop.com
103) www.transweb.org
High Technology
104) www.cnet.com
105) www.howstuffworks.com
106) www.mp3.com
107) www.etown.com
108) www.won.net
Moving Science
109) www.innerauto.com/innerauto/htm/auto.html
110) www.historicwings.com
111) weber.u.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans
112) cars.com
Eclectic Science
113) library.advanced.org/17049/gather
114) www.learner.org/exhibis/parkphysics