Tips

LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of this session, the learner will:
 * Be more comfortable with their teacher laptop, the Internet and computer periphery

TIPS AND TRICKS

1 hour

 Connectors Connecting Control Panel
 * Peripherals **

 Where did I save that document? Searching File organization Alias shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts Making text bigger Multi-tasking
 * Basics **

 Folders <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Attachments
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Email **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Connecting to the internet <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Internet navigation (browsers, search tips, advanced search, bookmarking) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Bookmarks in the cloud <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Setting your home page <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Opening new tabs <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Searching for what other teachers are doing!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Internet **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Downloading and downloads <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">I can't see that! (filter issues, plug ins)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Miscellaneous **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">My Favorites **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Hide all windows, revealing only what’s on the computer desktop, with one keystroke: hit the Windows key and “D” simultaneously in Windows, or press F11 on Macs (on recent Mac laptops, Command+F3; Command is the key with the cloverleaf logo). That’s great when you want examine or delete something you’ve just downloaded to the desktop, for example. Press the keystroke again to return to what you were doing.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, press Ctrl and the plus or minus keys (for bigger or smaller fonts); on the Mac, it’s the Command key and plus or minus.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can also enlarge the entire Web page or document by pressing the Control key as you turn the wheel on top of your mouse. On the Mac, this enlarges the entire screen image.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screenful. Add the Shift key to scroll back up.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">When you’re filling in the boxes on a website (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to jump from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to jump through the boxes backwards.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can adjust the size and position of any window on your computer. Drag the top strip to move it; drag the lower-right corner (Mac) or any edge (Windows) to resize it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">When you’re searching for something on the Web using, say, Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, if you put quotes around “electric curtains,” Google won’t waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word “electric” and another set containing the word “curtains.”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can use Google to do math for you. Just type the equation, like 23*7+15/3=, and hit Enter.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can switch from one open program to the next by pressing Alt+Tab (Windows) or Command-Tab (Mac).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Just putting something into the Trash or the Recycle Bin doesn’t actually delete it. You then have to *empty* the Trash or Recycle Bin. (Once a year, I hear about somebody whose hard drive is full, despite having practically no files. It’s because over the years, they’ve put 79 gigabytes’ worth of stuff in the Recycle Bin and never emptied it.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Just type the remainder: “nytimes.com” or “dilbert.com,” for example. (In the Safari browser, you can even leave off the “.com” part.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Come up with an automated backup system for your computer. There’s no misery quite like the sick feeling of having lost chunks of your life because you didn’t have a safety copy.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">On Windows, double-clicking the blue top of a window (the title bar) will maximize the window, or return it to its former size if it’s already maximized (much easier than mousing to the “maximize” button at the upper right).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Task Manager to zap something that’s stuck & grinding its gears, by highlighting it (‘Not responding’) and clicking on End Task
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">You can text questions to Google. Enter a question like “Pizza 97212″ to Google (466453) and Google will text back pizza restaurants in Portland, OR. This also works for sports scores, flight times, and businesses like taxi cabs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Press F5 to refresh/reload a web page
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">In Firefox (and now the new IE6) you can highlight a word or phrase in a webpage, right click on it and have it do a Google search, which will open in a new tab in the current window (if you have the browser set up to open new tabs in the current window).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">use Alt F4 at the end of the day to shut down my computer when I want to get out of the office quick. Hit it once to close open programs, again to bring up the shut down menu.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">The Print Screen button is the best (and Alt-Print Screen for just the active window). When giving screen directions or creating a manual it is best to use a picture


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">Access your files anywhere! **
 * DropBox
 * EverNote