Online Tech Tips - free online tech help and tips

Online Tech Tips is a great resource for anyone who uses computers. The site has great information on tricks, tips, updates, and fixes for your computer.

There are tips for Windows, Mac, smartphones, and much more.

The site is well designed and easy to use and the tips are written in a way that most computer users can understand. It has a huge variety of information and resources that are very useful.

The site offers RSS feeds and email subscriptions so that you can keep up with any new tips.

Some recent articles that are very useful include: OTT Explains – Is It Better to Log Into Websites using Facebook, Google or Twitter Accounts? and OTT Guide to Understanding Google Chrome Advanced Features.

This site is great for anyone who uses technology.

Woopid - free technology tutorial videos

Woopid is a site that has free video tutorials on a variety of tech topics. There are thousands of video tutorials for PCs, Macs, apps and software, hardware, internet, and Ubuntu. and include basic troubleshooting. The videos are searchable and the main page lists the most popular and new videos.

You can sign up for a free account to track your videos and create a favorites list, or you can just view videos. The videos are great quality and explain the topics well. There are also suggested videos that are more basic than the one you are watching (going back) or more advanced (going forward). They also have bundles, which are collections of videos that are grouped together by topic.

This is a great resource for students and educators for their own use, as well as to provide free tech training for them in school.


Related:

How to Support others with Tech Help

Online Tech Tips - great tech help and tips on everything 

Tech-Ease Tech Support Site

Teach Parents Tech - create tech support care packages

180 Technology Tips site

10 Tech Skills Every Student (and educator) Should Have

10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

Earlier this month, I wrote "10 Important Skills Students Need for the Future." After reading a few articles about specific tech skills, I thought I write what I think are the 10 Important Tech Skills Students Need.

1. Internet Search - students need to know how to do a proper internet search, using search terms and modifiers. This skill is needed for school, work and life in general.
Tips on Better Searches (from Google)
Infographic on Better Searches
Common Craft Video on Web Search Strategies


2. Office Suite Skills - students need to now how to create, edit, and modify documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Businesses still use MS Office for the most part, but iWorks, OpenOffice / LibreOffice, and Google Docs are all getting more popular. They all work similarly so the learning curve when switching isn't that big.
Alternatives to MS Office
Free Alternatives to Paid Software


3. Self learning of tech and where to go for help - knowing how to search a help menu on software or hardware, where to go to find user forums for help, and where to find the manual for technology is a huge skill that many do not know about.

Free Tech Tips and Help
TechEase - technology tips
Online Tech Tips - hardware, software, and more
Tech Support help



4. Typing - yes, typing. I can get much more work done since I know how to type, than people who don't. It's a skill that is necessary for any kind of writing.
Learn to Type


5. Social Media - how to properly use social media for school and work, how to protect yourself on it, the issues of cyberbullying, connecting with others in your profession (PLN).
Twitter, Google+, Facebook comparison
Twitter, Facebook, RSS, Email, Google+ - tips on use
Facebook and Google+ security and privacy
Common Craft Video on Social Media
Create a Personal Learning Network


6. Netiquette - Internet/Email/Social Media etiquette - proper way to use the internet, write professional emails, use social media in relation to your job (not complaining about the boss).
Netiquette - Wikipedia


7. Security and Safety - antivirus, spam, phishing, too much personal information sharing, stalkers, and more are all issues they need to know about.
Internet Safety Resources
Google Family Safety Center
Google Good to Know online safety and internet data
Common Craft Video on Secure Passwords


8. Hardware basics and troubleshooting - knowing what different parts of technology are called, how to make minor fixes, and how to do basic troubleshooting for WiFi, networks, OS won't load, etc.
Free Tech Tips and Help
TechEase - technology tips
Online Tech Tips - hardware, software, and more
Tech Support help


9. Backup data - with all of the data that students create for school and work, it is important to back it up and have access to it at any time.
Backup your Data - tools and resources
Google Takeout - export your Google data


10. Finding apps and software - how to find, evaluate, and use apps for school and business. Also, how to find quality, free alternatives to paid software, apps and services.
Quixey - Search engine for apps
Free Alternatives to Paid Software
Google Apps Resources
Free Apps
On device apps/software vs. web apps
SmartPhone Experts - apps, reviews, tech tips, and more for all smartphones



What do you think are the top tech skills students need to know?


UPDATED:

As "MisterS" pointed out in the comments, I'm missing an important one:

11. Copyright and Citing Sources - students need to understand copyright laws and rules, how to cite a resource, and how to integrate someone else's work into their's properly.
Taking the Mystery out of Copyright
Citation Help

Guest Post - USB 3.0 is Here

USB 3.0 is here

Introduction

I think it is safe to say that my dad knows literally nothing about computers (sorry dad) but even he has heard about and knows what USB is, in fact I believe it is quite rare to find someone who has not heard of USB (Universal Serial Bus) as it has quickly become the most commonly used peripheral bus used on computers and laptops today. Just about anything that connects to your computer or laptop connects via a USB port whether it is a digital camera, a wireless internet dongle or even Digital photo frame. The success of USB continues to grow as yet another USB port is introduced in the form of USB 3.0 but before we look at the benefits that it will bring, let’s take a brief trip down memory lane and find out how USB came about  

How did USB come about?

IBM started off the craze of implementing removal media into their computers by creating the keyboard which was not attached to the computer but was to be connected to it via a port called the AT Keyboard port. The success of this type of design led to many rival ports being created by different manufacturers to achieve the same thing and by the mid 1990 you had a number of ports which were predominantly not compatible with each other (the external SCSI and RS-232 being an exception to this).

Although USB was created much earlier, its success really began to escalate during 1996 when it was marketed as the single Peripheral which would be used universally throughout all the manufacturers. Many manufacturers supported it as Apple completely dropped the old ADB ports in order to introduce USB on all their computers during 1998 and by the year 200, it became rare to find a computer which did not have a USB port. One of the key benefits with USB was that it was able to power small devices requiring up to half an amp at 5 Volts which has introduced a whole host of unusual devices to be powered by USB such as USB Record players, USB podcast studios and even USB rechargeable batteries!

USB 2.0 further optimised the success of its predecessor by providing the same features and benefits but with a much faster transfer rate. The year 2006 gave way to USB technology which claimed to be 40 times faster than USB 1 but which was also backwards compatible. This was a key feature in ensuring the success of USB since it was selling itself as a port which was easing the port compatibility issues that many users were complaining about during the 90s.

Enter USB 3.0

The new USB 3.0 boasts a massive transfer rate increase of a maximum of a huge 5 Gbps! This makes it around 10 times faster than the old USB 2.0 which still had a respectable transfer rate speed of up to 480Mps. Keep your old gear as USB 3.0 follows in the way of its predecessors by being backward compatible. This means that products with a USB 2.0 slot will still be compatible with the new USB 3.0 but will transfer at the slower 480Mpbs rather than at the actual speed which USB 3.0 is capable of.  

A new feature of USB 3.0 is that it only transmits data to the port that needs the data which means that USB ports that are not currently being used can go into an energy saving state thus helping to reduce power consumption.

Many new devices already include USB 3.0 hardware such as a number of new Motherboards and if you want to get hold of a device with the new USB 3.0 hardware, look out for the SuperSpeed certified logo although this logo will not be present on all USB 3.0 devices.

Written by guest blogger Rashed Khan

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have - with resources and help

Digital Learning Environments is a site sponsored by HP and Intel that offers resources and ideas for teachers on how to use technology in education. There are some great ideas and lesson resources for all teachers on the site.



This page on it has 20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have. The list is very extensive, including skills like Google Tools, Wiki's, Blogging, Social Networking and more. 


What's nice is that each skill listed has links to resources related to that skill and how-to sites. 


This is a great place for all educators to use as a place to find resources and tips on how to use them. 

Tech Ease - great tech support site for educators

Tech Ease is a site by the University of South Florida that provides tech support resources for educators. The site is broken down by Mac, Windows, and accessibility uses. Under each, there are subtopics such as using computers in the classroom, images, file sharing, chat, videos, email, hardware, the internet, and much more. There are ideas on using technology for accessibility with disabled students also.

The site is easy to navigate and has a huge amount of information available for educators. This is site you should definitely share with your colleagues.

Teach Parents Tech - on demand tech support videos from Google

Send your parents a TECH SUPPORT care package is a site brought to you by Google that allows you to easily select and send video's to your parents (or anyone else) on tech issues.

You enter the person, then select from 5 categories the different topics you want to help them with. Click on a few funny selections for your message (such as "I'm shocked you are using your computer") and then submit. 

You enter your email address and the recipient's and off it goes. They get an email with a link to the video(s) on the topics you selected. 

This is also a great service to use with friends, colleagues, and students. Of course, they need to know how to use email first.