The User’s EasyGuide to
Adapted
from the novelette, Nerdism Made Easy
by Donald McBride
Introduction:
After some delay and many hours of preparation, logistics and awaiting the completion of the necessary fiber connectivity to our school WAN (Wide Area Network), our room 1213 Media Center Dell lab is now a reality. We have 27 student and one teacher workstation ready for your use.
Special Features:
This new computer lab offers a variety of software including:
· Internet connectivity through Netscape 4.x
· Instructional software including SkillsBank4, Quantum, FCAT & SAT Simulations, Geometer’s Sketchpad, Discover & EDL 100
· Applications Software: Microsoft Office 97 with WORD, Excel, PowerPoint & Access
Lab Tips: It helps if…
a) Before students approach the computers, the teacher may check the integrity of each mouse and the lab printer.
b) Students can be instructed on the following before they touch a computer:
v The goal of the lesson, i.e., a specific program, application, word processing project, or research goal and what the end product that the teacher intends for the students to achieve or produce from their time in the computer lab.
v The proper procedure to turn on the Dell PCs as well as the correct power down procedure at the conclusion of the computer lab lesson.
v The login procedure to the school network. Students must log in properly to the school network to access many of the applications on these Dell PCs.
v The basics of printing in the new Dell Computer Lab.
c) Students are assigned to a specific computer before entering the lab.
d) Students log into the school network with the property record tag identification. Please wait until the Virus scan has completed before logging in or the computer will freeze. The Novell access application has been pre-programmed for your convenience with this identification. It would be helpful to assure that students do not change the assigned login userid.
e) There is a teacher workstation with special software and a high-end flatbed scanner attached for desktop publishing. Students should not use this workstation. We will eventually have a large TV monitor connected to this unit for teacher presentations and software demonstrations.
Before leaving the computer lab:
a) Please have students police up their area, discarding scrap papers & such in the trash receptacle.
b) Students should shut down their computer workstation by selecting START on the Menu bar, scrolling up to Shut Down, ensuring that restart is NOT selected, and click on OK. A message may flash on the screen about touching the switch, but it is intended to inform the user that the machine is shutting down correctly and that no switch is to be depressed.
c) Students should then turn the mouse upside-down to display the continued presence of the mouse ball. Mice in schools can mysteriously lose the actuating mouse ball and it is somehow related to student use. What a mystery! <grin>
d) Please have students push their chairs properly under the computer table and exit the lab.