For some teachers, and students who are continuing their education, technology may be second nature. But if you’re an adult who is changing careers, or has been at work with the kids, you may have some catching up to do. A good place to start is with Essential Computer Skills.
But let’s say you’re not a total “newbie.” In other words, let's say you’ve got some computer savvy and you’re not totally new to the world of technology. Here are the top ten things you need to think about:
If you don’t have a decent computer, now’s the time to think about getting one. Personally, I’d recommend a laptop that you can take with you to class. You can type your notes directly into the computer, continue work during breaks, take it with you to the library, and then start up again exactly where you left off when you get home from school. Of course you can get by with a home-based desktop system, but then you might want to consider some kind of portable device to help you along.
If you’ve opted to stick with your desktop, you should seriously consider a PDA. What the heck is a PDA, you’re thinking? It stands for Personal Digital Assistant, and current PDAs are capable of tackling a whole pile of jobs. Although not a replacement for a laptop computer, the PDA can travel anywhere, and depending on its capabilities, it can replace your cell phone, get you on the Internet, keep you organized, and let you take class notes. You can probably even listen to music on it.
The most basic communication technology every student should have is a cell phone. It’s a great little tool for storing important phone numbers and sending text messages. Some will allow you to record audio clips during class, or snap pictures of important diagrams, or information displays. If you decide against a PDA, a cell phone is a necessity: most important for calling home to say you’ll be late from school yet again! Just don’t forget to ask what you can pick up on the way home.
If you don’t have decent word processing, spreadsheet or presentation software, you should consider purchasing Microsoft Office. Most software companies provide student prices for their most popular software and Microsoft is no exception. Office is actually a software bundle: The Education edition includes full installations of Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint (presentations). Also check out student editions of other popular software.
If you are not online before starting school, you should seriously consider getting “hooked-up,” preferably with highspeed or DSL Internet. Most campuses and many workplaces allow wireless access, so if you have a laptop, you should be able to get online readily at home, work and school. You’ll also need to get a decent Internet browser like Internet Explorer, Netscape or Firefox to take full advantage.
The Internet is great for students doing research. With the myriad of reputable sites out there, you’ll find all kinds of great sources for project research. But how to keep track of all that info, or find it again when you need it? All web browsers can bookmark sites so that you can find them again later. You can even export your favorites to a portable storage device so you can access them from another machine. Also, check out del.icio.us, an online site dedicated to just this purpose.
R U ready 4 the test? Not if you use chat-room lingo to communicate with your teacher. Treat going back to school as you would a job: when you write an email, make sure another adult will take you seriously. And when composing messages related to class work, use your school email account. Save “hotbabe101@…” for personal correspondence. And don’t rely on your spell-checker exclusively! If it changes “prima dona” to pre-Madonna, you might find your teacher ROFL (rolling on floor, laughing).
There are few things more frustrating than spending hours on an essay and then forgetting what you called it when you next sit down to work. Or maybe your file was saved in a folder that you rarely use. Or maybe you have no idea WHERE it's saved, or even IF it's saved. Sometimes I can't even remember which computer my file is ON: there are 5 possible machines where I might have saved it. My family just rolls their eyes as I race around the house trying to find my missing document.
"Smart Drive," “thumb drive,” "USB flash drive," "USB key," "jump drive"... whatever you call it, it's my favorite little device: a cute mini hard drive that you can carry in your backpack or wear around your neck. Available with a variety of storage capacities, a drive can cost less than $20. Simply plug it into the USB port of any computer and it’ll appear as an external drive on the desktop. Then, just drag and drop files to and from it. Too cool!
If it’s a fairly small file, the simplest way to get data from one place to another is just to send yourself an email attachment. You can also write files to recordable or re-recordable CDs and DVDs (just don’t forget to label them... another of my pet peeves is having to pop numerous unlabelled CDs into my computer just to see what is on them...) There are also Zip drives, portable external drives, etc. etc. It never hurts to know all the options.
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