Computer Lab Handbook
By Heidi Estrin, August 2013
Turn on the Computers Turn on (or wake up) the computers by pressing the Power button on the right edge of the monitor.
(HINT: If the computers have been in “sleep mode” for only a short time, they may wake up if you touch the space bar on the keyboard, or tickle the screen. If they’ve been sleeping a long time, the power button is the only way to wake them up.)
Turn on the Mouse and Keyboard If necessary, turn on the power for the keyboard and mouse by moving the switches from Off to On. The switches are on the bottom of each device.
Open the “windowshade” When the computer warms up, it will go to a screen that looks like this. Pull this “windowshade” upwards with your finger OR tap on the space bar.
Log onto the correct profile After the windowshade goes up, you’ll see one or more people icons. Click or touch Preschool, SLJ, TAG13, Teacher, or Other User. Type in the password.
For Preschool the password is preschool For SLJ the password is cbislj For TAG13 the password is cbitag For Teacher the password is teacher For Other User, type in any profile name and its password
If you don’t see the profile you need, there should be an arrow that you can click on to see more choices.
Switch profiles Once you are logged in, you can switch profiles from the Start Screen. You will see the current profile at the top right of the screen. Click or touch it to open the drop down menu. You can choose “Switch account� from the drop down menu to get back to the opening screen. Then you can log into a different profile.
The Start Screen You’ll see the Windows 8 start screen, like the picture below.
To get to a more “normal-looking” Windows 7 style desktop, click or touch Desktop.
You may open any app from the Start Screen. There are teacher tool apps, and there are kids’ game apps.
The rainbow one is Kidoz, a kid-safe browser where you will find preschoolfriendly websites.
Opening and Closing Apps You open an app by clicking or touching its icon on the Start Screen.
Once you are in the app, how do you close it?
Put your mouse at the very top of the screen. The cursor changes to a hand. Click and drag downward. The app will shrink and be pulled downward, to disappear off the bottom of the screen. Now it’s closed.
Turning Kidoz On and Off Double click or tap on the Kidoz rainbow icon to start Kidoz.
If it loads weird or it’s very slow, exit and try again.
To exit Kidoz, press the Alt and F4 buttons at the same time. (HINT: It seems to work best if you first press Alt, keep your finger pressed down, and then with another finger press F4.)
Finding Games in Kidoz On the Kidoz opening screen you will find lots of games. These are selected by the makers of Kidoz. For more games (selected by Miss Heidi), touch or click the Suitcase labeled “My Sites.” To get back to the Kidoz-selected games, touch or click the Globe labeled “Websites.” Touch or click any game to open it. Have fun!
Remember to use Alt+F4 to exit Kidoz when you are done.
Turning On the Giant Screen You need the remote control to turn on the giant screen. The remote is kept in the upper right hand drawer of the teacher’s desk.
Hold the remote close to the giant screen and press the red button. It may take a minute before the screen turns on. It may not work the first time; you may need to press the red button more than once.
Turn OFF the giant screen in the same exact way—hold the remote near the screen and press the red button.
Using the Giant Screen The teacher computer has two monitors: the normal one and a giant one.
To display Internet on the giant screen, click and drag your browser from the small monitor to the big one. HINT: grab onto the top edge of the browser window.
The yellow instructions on the Teacher profile desktop explain how to display programs on the giant monitor. In most cases, you DO NOT need to do this! Only follow the yellow instructions if you need to display apps or software on the giant screen.
Shutting Down the Computers Windows 8 has a complicated process for shutting down, but we have put a Shut Down icon on the desktop for you. It looks like the picture below. Click or touch it to turn off the computer.
Troubleshooting: Volume You can control the volume of the computer by using special buttons on the keyboard. On the STUDENT keyboards, look for the red buttons with the Mute, Softer, and Louder icons on them.
The TEACHER keyboard is slightly different: you have to hold down the red Function button while pushing the red Mute, Softer, or Louder buttons. It’s labeled Fn and it’s on the lower left.
FYI: The other red buttons control playback of a CD or DVD.
Troubleshooting: Kidoz looks blank If the game pictures are blank—THAT’S OKAY! They will still work. Click or tap any game to open it. The name under each box tells you which game it is.
Troubleshooting: Kidoz says “Oops” Sometimes Kidoz says “Oops! There’s been a problem.”
1) Try clicking the blue “Close” button. The problem may just go away and Kidoz will work normally. 2) If that doesn’t work, close and restart Kidoz. Close by pressing Alt + F4 on the keyboard. Open by clicking or tapping the Kidoz icon on the desktop (the rainbow).
Troubleshooting: Kidoz controls turn blue Sometimes the control panels on Kidoz turn blue and stop working. The game you are playing still works, but you can’t get back to the menu to pick a different game.
If this happens, close and restart Kidoz. Close by pressing Alt + F4 on the keyboard. Open by clicking or tapping the Kidoz icon on the desktop (the rainbow).
Troubleshooting: Weird messages appear Sometimes a box with a strange message will pop onto your screen. Your goal is to make the box disappear.
Try clicking the X to close the message box. Try clicking NO if that’s a choice it gives you. If you see no way to close the message or refuse whatever it’s offering, try Alt + F4 to close it.
If you just can’t get rid of it, you can probably safely ignore it and just open your games or apps anyway.
Troubleshooting: K9 Error K9 Web Protection is our filtering program, that keeps inappropriate content off our computers.
Sometimes an error message randomly appears on the screen.
Close it by pressing Alt + F4 on the keyboard.
Troubleshooting: K9 Blocking K9 Web Protection is our filtering program, that keeps inappropriate content off our computers. Sometimes it blocks something it shouldn’t. To unblock a website, click on Allow This Site. You can use the dropdown menu to tell it how long you need access. The password is naughty.
Tips These are Windows 8 touchscreen computers. You can use your finger AND the mouse and keyboard.
If a computer “misbehaves,” try turning your program off and on again or even turning the whole computer off and on again.
Please make sure students wash hands before using the computers. If that is not possible, please use baby wipes to clean their hands before using computers. There are baby wipes in the cabinet above the teacher’s desk. If the touchscreens get very dirty, turn off the computers and wipe the monitors gently with a damp rag or paper towel. Dry with a microfiber cloth.
GET HELP: Heidi - Heidi@cbiboca.org Jill (NCECE) - ext. 219 Cheryl (SLJ) - ext. 203