Back To School – Technology Checkup

A decade ago, who thought that getting ready for the school year should include a look at your household technology?

The reality is that making sure your home computers are ready for the new academic year are as important as a good stock of pencils, paper and notebooks. This applies not only to college and high school but to middle school and in some cases elementary levels as well.

Here’s where to get started.

• Examine at your operating system.  Whether it’s Mac or Windows, upgrading to the highest version possible will help ensure you remain compatible with schools and the companies used to support their curriculum. Browsers used in research can cause the most difficulties so check their version. Good practice is to keep at least two browsers available such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Foxfire.
• Make sure your system is properly protected with the latest security updates. Your student’s teachers may require the use of educational sites and these can be targets for malicious software.
• Along the same line, be sure your virus protection software is up-to-date along with its database of known threats. Be certain scans are running when expected.
• Review the versions of your 3^rd party productivity software such as Microsoft Office. Back-to-school nights should tell you what software the teachers will use through the year.
• Those meetings will also provide you with contact information. The latest school website information, teacher’s emails and sites where you can watch student grades need to be in your address book. These links are your lifeline to the school.
• Check your Internet connection. Is it sufficient to handle your household traffic? Keep this in mind if your student enrolls in online courses or need to take tests from home.
• Inventory computer supplies. While many assignments will be uploaded or emailed to the teacher, writeable CD’s and DVD’s may still be needed. Flash drives can be easier to use and just as cost effective.   Don’t forget to stock up on printer paper and ink. Buying ahead online can save money over all.

Most importantly, ensure that you have a backup strategy in place. If there is a catastrophic outage, you don’t want to tell your teen their homework has been lost and they’ll have to do it over.