Simple But Effective Troubleshooting Tips for Teachers

Our technology team has been making great efforts this year to improve our customer service as well as to speed the response time on help desk tickets. I'm sure many of you have noticed a difference!

Technology can be awesome but can also be frustrating when you run into glitches. As with people, there is no "cookie cutter" solution to solving problems. Two seemingly identical devices can be sitting side by side, yet the technical issues you may experience with them will be completely different. No matter what the problem may be, the troubleshooting steps you take will always be a process of trial and error.

Below you will find three helpful troubleshooting tips you can do before submitting a technology help desk ticket. Even with the efforts of our technology team, many times you will be able to solve your own technology issue quicker than it would take for one of our team to get to your classroom.

Error messages mean something.

When you get an error message on your device, don't just click out of it. If the message doesn't make sense to you, chances are it will make sense to someone on the tech team. If at all possible, write down the error message, take a screenshot, or take a picture of it with your cell phone for the tech team's reference if they do come to your classroom.

Restart the computer.

9 times out of 10, the quickest way to make your computer behave is to simply reboot it.

***If you cannot access YouTube on a school computer, many times
the fix is to simply restart your machine and re-log onto Windows***

Check the cables.

If a specific part of your machine, such as your monitor or keyboard, are not working, one of your cables may be loose or not connected at all. Checking that your cables are "seated" properly in your machine and the outlet is a quick fix that doesn't take a technician's assistance.

These are just a few things you can look at before asking for help. After you have run through these three steps and your problem is not resolved, please put in a help desk ticket.

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