Top Ten Tech Tips for Faculty

T
op 10 Tech Tips for Faculty



1.

Shut down
completely
and restart
computer
to clear memory.
Check for software

updates

weekly

by going to Apple, Software Update. Install updates when prompted to
do so
.
(
Safari
update
is included in Mac O/S.
Microsoft update is separate.)

Clear the
PRAM using the keys P, R, Option, Command on a restart to clear programmable
memory that could contain misfiled information. Hold the four keys down for 3 “bongs”
on the restart.

Tip 1


2.

Make

folder
s

in Doc
ument
s with
alias or
shortcut on Desktop. Save document
s

into
folder
s or to Desktop
.
Clear files off desktop by filing into folder

aliase
s

on Desktop
. A
messy desktop = a slow comp
uter to boot up.

Tip 2


3.

Backup
your Documents

folder

to
your
Max
\
Home

backup

folder

weekly
.

Do not backup
movies, music, or photos.

Tip 3


4.

Add and delete a printer to fix printer issues.

Tip 4


5.

Troubleshoot network connections by turning
wireless
airport
connection
off and on.
Learn to enter bluesocket login if needed to log
in to EHS network security. Check your
Date &

Time in System Preferences. If date and time are not current, the network will
not let you login.
Learn to choose another network at home.

Tip 5


6.

En
tourage issues
:

Close and restart Entourage if you are “not connected.” Reboot
computer as next troubleshooting step. Delete and re
-
add your Entourage account if
nothing else works. Includes steps to c
reate a distribution list for your class
, group, or
co
mmittee
.

Tip 6


7.

Size and underst
and graphics for web and print with Preview

and iPhoto
.

Learn how to
reduce size on graphics larger than 5 MB so you can send them by email

Tip 7


8.

Connect to Epson

Wireless projectors.
T
ry connecting using EasyMP
Network software
.

T
his method
lets

students give presentations if you have an Epson wireless projector
,
too
.

Tip 8


9.

Customize your
faculty
portal calendar. Export to Google calendar or iCal.

Tip 9


10.

Export a movie and audio file to files, and not
to iTunes for iMovie and GarageB
and.

(This topic was n
ot covered in IT
–

how to steps coming
.)

Tip #1
-

Shutdown Computer
and Install
Updates

WHY
?
:



Completely shutting down your laptop on a period basis (daily, weekly, at least
sometimes…) is a good thing to do for many reasons:


a.

It forces you to save open documents and programs. You may not realize how
many you had open.


b.

It
free
s up memory allocatio
n to all those
files and programs.


c.

It is a good time to install updates, because many require a restart anyway.


HOW:





Go to
Apple,
Restart

OR



Apple
,

Shutdown

OR



Press

the silver power button

in top right of keyboard
.


Installing updates FIXES things.
Always take time to install updates on a weekly basis. If you
can’t do it on one day, be sure you install them that week.


a.

Go to
Apple, Software Update
. Computer will start checking for updates.


b.

Look in
System Preferences, Software Update

and set
your computer to check for updates weekly as shown
below.

















Tip #
2

–

Make Folders in Documents



Folders can save your life!
Stay organized by making a fol
der for each school year. Inside it
make a folder for each subject. Make other folders for projects insi
de subjects. Trust me, you
will be happier if you can find your
class files on the day you need to use them
.



HOW:



Open
Finder



Go to
File, New Folder



Create folders for
each
Class
you teach
, each
Group

you sponsor, etc
.



Open
the Class

folder
.



Create folders for each
chapter or project
. The setup we show students is

shown below.





WHY
?
:




Easier to backup. Easy to d
rag
Class

folder
s

to
your
server folder to backup.



Keeps your desktop clean and clear.



Clean desktop = faster computer startup.



Ca
n make aliases or shortcuts on desktop for frequently used folders, if desired.

Tip #
3

–

Backup Files

to Server Weekly


“Life happens. Hard drives crash. Back up files anytime you have done more work than you
want to do again. Think about it.”


There
are three easy ways to backup here at EHS:


1.

to your personal
backup server folder on Max
.

2.

to an external hard drive using Time Machine.

3.

to an internet “dropbox” or “cloud workspace.”



METHOD 1
–

Backup to Home folder on
Faculty Server
Max


You have a folder on the EHS server Max that no one else can access.
The share name
for it

matches your login name

with a $ at the end
. A shortcut to this folder is on your
dock. Mine is labeled
mharvey$
. Find yours now.





To backup
,

d
rag your
Important

class

folder
s

to your
login name
folder on the
dock. It’s that easy!




No music, movies or photos allowed.



If you are asked to replace,
click

OK.

This saves space.



If you are backing up your
entire
Documents folder, s
kip Microsoft User Data
folder. It has
bad file names

and won’t delete

easily later
.

Copy the folders
above and below Microsoft User Data folder separately to your backup drive.



You may create an Important files folder in your Documents and put all
important folders int
o it. Then you can backup

that folder. That will simplify
your backup process.



You have 3
-
5GB of backup space.



Periodically check your backup folder to see what is in it. Keep it current and
delete older backups that you do not need.

Folder Missing on Dock?

Open Finder

Go, Connect

to Server

Enter cifs://Max/mharvey$

Your home directory on the server will open and you can drag it to your dock.



METHOD 2:
-

Backup to Time Machine


Our Mac computers include the application Time Machine, which allows you to back up
your entire laptop to an external hard drive. It’s really easy to use, and has a fun “time
machine” visual interface with a timeline that displays all your past backups vis
ually.
You can scroll through
the backups or the timeline
until you find the file, folder or
application you are missing, then restore it to your laptop.




External hard drives are available at our bookstore, computer stores like Microcenter, or
online f
rom Amazon.com, Buy.com, or your favorite online resource. 300 to 500GB will
be adequate to backup our laptops

with Time Machine
, but 1TB (terabyte) hard drives
are available for $99
-
$130

and worth getting. You can backup all your personal photos,
movies a
nd music this way and have peace of mind

that they are backed up also
.










METHOD 3
–

Backup to
Dropbox





Dropbox is an application that gives your 2GB of free storage on the internet
. It allows
you to share files with others, but you can also use all 2GB to backup your computer
and keep it private. Go to
www.dropbox.com

and get started by downloading the
application, and dragging it into your app
lications folder, as the easy instructions
indicate onscreen. Open the application and a dropbox folder is added to your hard
drive, plus a small dropbox icon is added to your top command line.


To backup, drag any files or folders (such as Documents, and

Photos) to the Dropbox
folder or icon. The program begins copying your files into your internet “dropbox folder”
(in background processing
–

you can keep working) and it will let you know by a status
change when it is complete.



Backup

Summary
:


If you a
vail yourself of 2 or 3 of the above backup methods, you will be prepared for any
disaster that the Houston area can throw your way. So get going, backup and sleep
peacefully in future! Feel free to stop by Mary Harvey’s office in the library for help if y
ou
need it. Tutorials are all day, every day!






Tip #
4

–

Add a Printer


WHY
?
:


Knowing how to troubleshoot printers by deleting one that isn’t working and adding it back is
very useful and easy.

If you can’t print, first see if you can get on the
Internet
. If not, fix that
first. Next
,

try deleting and re
-
adding a printer.
Below we will troubleshoot the LRC2000 color
printer in the library because it is not printing large images correctly. We will

delete it and add it
back in with a new printer driver.

Only use this printer for color printouts. Use other printers for
black and white prints.



HOW:



Go to
System Preferences



Choose
Print & Fax



Find
LRC2000

as shown below.



Choose
-

to delete
LRC2000

printer.



Choose
+

to add a printer.







Select
Windows



Select
ehshouston.org



Find
stu
-
print
-
srvr



Select
LRC2000
















Type
HP Color
in Print Using box as shown below.



Find HP Color Laserjet 5500 v.3010.107 as shown.



Click
OK.



Click
Add
.



You are ready to print to
the
LRC2000
!





Faculty only printers are found on servers Slim, Malcolm or Andy. There is a

Tip #
5

–

Troubleshoot Network
Connections



STEP ONE
: Open SAFARI and see if
Internet

is working.

Safari will step your though an
Internet

troubleshooting guide (better than Firefox or Chrome.)


STEP TWO
: Turn airport off and back on. Choose
TSUNAMI

when
on campus.


STEP THREE:
Shutdown and restart computer.


NOTE:

If you have to enter login Bluesocket information every day to access
In
ternet

at EHS, go
see Help Desk. This is not normal and we can fix it.







Tip #
6

–

Send an
A
ttachment by
E
mail


On Campus
:



Open
Microsoft Entourage

email program.



Go to the
Mail

function by clicking the
Envelope icon.




Click
New

to create a new mail message.



EHS uses first initial and last name @ehshouston.org for faculty, staff and students.
Duplicate users have their middle initial added, so
check names when adding emails
.

Faculty and staff are listed with first name first. Stu
dents
are listed

last name first.



ALWAYS enter a Subject to avoid your email being sent to a junk folder.



Click the
paperclip

to add an
attach
ment.



Navigate to your file and
Choose

to add the file, as shown below.



Notice that this email has a subject, describes the attachment and is signed. The
attached assignment also will be recognizable to the teacher receiving it. Do not use
special characters in filenames. Do not just accept Word’s suggestion of the fi
rst line
of your paper as
a filename either. Take control

and name the file yourself!
Tip #
6

–

Send an
A
ttachment by
E
mail


Off Campus:



Go to
Quicklinks

from
the EHS web site at
http://www.ehshouston.org/
.




Choose
the last option
–

EHS
Webmail

or clic
k
EHS webmail

for the direct link
.




Your EHS email will
open showing your Inbox and any folders you have created.




With
Message

in the dropdown box, c
lick

New

to
create an email.




Fill in To, Subject
and body of email.




Click the
paperclip

icon

to attach a file.




Browse

to find the file on your desktop and click
Attach

to add it to the email.




Click
Send

to send your email with the file attached.




Notes:

o

It may take a few seconds
for the file
to attach

if it is large.

o

5MB is the size limit on file attachments in our email system.

o

To share a file larger than 5MB with a teacher or friend,



Save it on a flashdrive, CD or DVD.



Save it to the shared file area of the student network server in
Malcolm
\
Sshare
\
Dept
\
Teacher Name if you are on campus.



Save it to
Google Docs
,
or a
Dropbox

(
or iCloud

if all your devices
support it)
, and share it with your friend.
Tip #
6

–

Make an

E
mail

Distribution
List


HOW:



On campus o
pen

Microsoft Entourage.



Click the
Rolodex

card icon for Contacts.



Find the second time your name shows up in the left navigation and click it
, as
shown below
.




Go to
File, New, Group
.

(If Group is
grey;

you are not in the correct place!)



The screen below
opens.



Enter a Group Name for your Distribution List.



Click the green Add button to add people to your list.



Just type part of their name, and the
Rolodex

will suggest names.




Tip #
7

–

Resize Photos


Digital cameras are
becom
ing more and more powerful and creating larger and larger files.
This is great but can cause trouble if you want to share files by email, embed them in
projects, or
send photos

to

the
Internet
. In all those cases you need to know how to
compress the photos

wi
thout losing clarity.
You can size photos from iPhoto or using
Preview.
Here are
links to videos showing both

methods

and some useful guidelines.

For the Internet 100kb and below is a good size

for your photos
. For embedding in
documents and
PowerPoint
s
, keep file sizes less than 1 MB. It will keep your
final

file size
lower, make it faster to save, open and upload

the file. When using either tool, always give
your smaller edited file a new filename. You may want the larger original file for printing
pu
rposes.


Watch the vi
deos,
and then

if time permits, try resizing a photo from your Photos folder
using both methods.

Preview video

–

2 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uLtQOACD4w


iPhoto v
ideo

–

2:45 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ni9TR60GGQ&feature=related
Tip #
8

–

Connect Wirelessly to Epson
Projectors


WHY?
–

Interactive Classroom Presentations




Allows students and
teachers to display computer to the class without cables.



Switching laptop connection takes only 5
-
6
seconds
–

faster than using

VGA cable.



Users can make projector connections from anywhere in the room to allow more
flexible teaching and presenting.


HOW
–

Turn on Projector, Open S/W




Power on projector using remote.



Press LAN button on remote to switch projector to wireless mode.



Start Easy MP Software



Click Automatic Search in opening screen.



Select

checkbox
: Always use Advanced Connect (needed first
time only)



Check
the
box by your room # to select your projector.



Click Connect.



Your screen will be projected wirelessly.



Troubleshooting Tips:

o

WAITing is best first approach
–

the
projector needs time to synchronize.

o

Use Connection Command Bar
to play,

pause
, or disconnect
.

o


Connect with VGA cable to avoid sound
and video sychronization issues with
movies and video clips.


INSTALL
–

Install or Update Easy MP
software on your laptop




Available at
Epson
-

Brightlink Projector
.
*



Latest version is 2.77
.



Download and install EasyMP Networ
k
Projection software.


TIPS
–




Always
Disconnect

using toolbar, as shown
above, before leaving class, closing computer
or shutting projector off.
This

e
nsures next
user doesn’t have issues.




*
http://www.epson.com

Tip #
9

–

Customize Portal Calendar


1.

Login to the
EHS Student portal

at
http://www.ehshouston.org
.



2.

Click on the
Calendar tab
.


3.

You will see three calendars on your student portal calendar
page.




MyClass Calendar

shows your assignments, tests and class events from all
your classes and groups.



MyCustom Calendar

will let
YOU

pick calendars to display with the
Options

icon.



My
Athletics Calendar

shows all athletic events to start,
but you can choose

to add or remove calendars
.


4.

Choose the
Calendar Options

icon

to choose which calendars
you want to include on
MyCustom Calendar
.
Do the same for

My
Athletics Calendar
.



5.

In the pop
-
up window, choose
d
eselect all

to start

and

che
ck to include calendars
.
Next click the red bar to Update View.

Optionally choose
the tiny calendar icon to change your calendar to a monthly grid
view.









6.

Try the other icons in order below to: set an Alert, change ba
ck to list view,
add/remove more calendars, search for an item, export your calendar, and get help.






The c
alendar tab in your portal will keep your changes for future logins, but you can return
and add or delete calendars at any time.


Optional
-

How t
o
Export

Your
EHS
Portal Calendar


An optional step is to export any of your portal, class or group calendars to iCal or a Google
calendar where you can add personal information and even family calendar information.






1.

Choose the
Grid icon

to display the whole calendar month if you are not continuing
from prior page.


2.

Choose the Export Calendar icon from the grid
view.


3.

Choose
iCal Feed
.


4.

More choices will open. Pick one of the
first two:


a.

Get Standard iCal URL

--

choose
if you use iC
al. See below diagram
for an iCal calendar combining five
portal calendars and Entourage.


b.

Get Google
iCal
URL


--

choose

for
import to Google calendars.


c.

Your calendar feed URL will
appear on the second line. Copy it.


d.

Open your
iCal
application.



e.

Go to
Calendar, Subscribe.



f.

Paste in your copied URL and click
Subscribe.


g.

Choose how often to
auto
-
refresh, a color
and change the
calendar name as
desired.

Click
OK.


h.

Your portal calendar
will be added to
your iCal and will
synchronize even
when you are of
f
campus.