My students' very first technology lessons are focused on developing their technology explorer skills. A technology explorer is someone who teaches themselves through exploration instead of always depending on a more knowledgeable person to tell them what to do. You can read more about my tech explorer lessons in this post.
Teachers who practice technology explorer skills can ease some of the frustration that comes along with working in this ever-changing environment and develop a better relationship with the tech they use. Level up your tech skills with today's list!
1. Browse the settings
Playing in the settings is often the first thing I do when I get a new device or learn a new app. The settings give you control over your experience, which will make sure things are working just the way you like them to. You may be surprised how a small change like reversing the scroll direction on your touchpad can make a huge difference in how comfortable you feel. Plus, looking through your settings may just uncover a bunch of hidden features you never realized you had.
2. Look through menus and tools
In many programs with toolbars if you hover over the tool a tool tip pops up to tell you what the tool is or does. This helpful description aids in locating tools you need. Similarly, you can browse through menus to find what you are looking for and may be surprised to find tools and functions you did not realize you had. Do not be afraid to click and try things out too. There is almost always an undo button that lets you revert your changes. If you can't find an undo button try the keyboard shortcut.
3. Use the official help center
Many of us take to the Internet when learning a new tech tool. We Google our questions and often find ourselves on random blogs and YouTube videos. While blogs and YouTube can certainly be helpful in a lot of cases, you usually save time by going directly to the official help center for the app. Help centers will provide you with the most up-to-date articles written by a team of employees and experts that work for the company that developed the app.
4. Find official training sessions and videos
Educational technology companies are very aware of the need for training right now and the amazing strides teachers are currently taking to develop their tech skills. I am seeing more and more official training sessions offered by the tech tool companies themselves that include free, live sessions through video conferencing apps. If live sessions are not for you, you may find that there is already a whole library of training resources available to you directly from the company. Again, going to the source first before finding unofficial videos will typically help you work more efficiently when finding training for yourself.
Being a Tech Explorer When Solving Problems
Being a technology explorer can also help you when problems arise. Use the rest of today's list when your technology acts up.
5. Update the application
If you are working in an application that requires updates and things are malfunctioning, see if you need to perform an update before taking any other steps to problem-solve the issue. Many of the tech tools we use are web-based meaning there is nothing to install on your device. Instead, you access them through the Internet. In these cases it would not be the tool itself that needs the update, but the Internet browser you access it on. For example, if you use Seesaw on a laptop and open the website in the Google Chrome browser then you would want to make sure Google Chrome is up-to-date.
6. Close the app and open it
If no updates are needed the next step I would take is to close the app and open it again. If you are working in a web-based app try quitting your Internet browser instead of just closing the tab you are working in.
7. Update the device's operating system
In some cases the device you are working on may need to complete an update in order to get things working again. This step is particularly helpful to Mac, iOS, and Chromebook users.
8. Turn the device on and off
If no updates are available for your operating system try shutting your device down and turning it back on.
9. Check the official help center and forums
If updating and restarting does not help, head to the official help center provided by the company. They will provide help to the most common problems and may provide notifications about glitches they are aware of and currently working to fix. There are often official user forums as well where you can search and post about the problems you are experiencing to get help from experts and other users. When someone comes to me for help this is what I do if I cannot poke around to find the problem quickly.
Posting your problems to Facebook groups has become a common step teachers take when seeking help, but I would only rely on this option after exhausting all others. These groups get inundated with posts and people get cranky when the same questions keep popping up to clog their newsfeed. And while you will for sure find people who are genuinely trying to be helpful in these groups, they may not use the same devices and apps you use or could provide incorrect or outdated information. This could potentially cause more confusion then help. If you need to post to these groups think critically about the advice you are being given.
Just for Teachers
My final item on the list today is one that takes only a few extra moments of your time and could save you from headaches and potential teaching disasters.
10. Try the assignment as a student
Catch problems before they occur for your students by trying out the activities and assignments yourself. I do this with lessons I've found online as well as materials I've created myself. If at all possible you should try out your lessons on the same devices your students will be using. This will give you a better understanding of their user experience and will help you give quality directions to your students.
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