Some Mac OS X Lepoard Tips

Tomorrow 56 of our teachers will be getting new MacBooks to replace their nine year old iBooks. I can’t wait to see all of their smiling faces. It will be one of those days where everyone (well maybe not everyone) likes the tech guy. That will bring our total to 105 MacBooks for teachers in our building.

I put together this list to help with a training on how to get the most out of the new machine. I know, I know the fact that a teacher knows how to use ’spotlight’ does directly translate in to good teaching/learning, but this is a start. I believe if teachers are more comfortable using the computer the more likely they will be to bring that technology in to the classroom, and if they can attend a useful, informative training the more likely they will be to come to the next training with positive expectations. So here are a few things I collected from around the internet.

Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
***Pressing “Control + Click” on a Mac acts like a ‘Right Click’ on PCs***
*Cmd or Command is Open Apple, the button next to space bar*

Cmd-C = Copy
Cmd-V = Paste
Cmd-X = Cut
Cmd-A = Select All
Cmd-Space = Open Spotlight- Great at finding any file. Just start typing the file name, or application and it will come right up.
Cmd-O = Open
Cmd-S = Save
Shift-Cmd-S = Save as
Cmd-P = Print
Cmd-I = Get Info- A quick way to see how big a file is, or what type.
Cmd-Delete = Move to Trash
Cmd-E = Eject
Cmd-F = Find- Use this to search a web page for a specific word or phrase. Or search you whole computer this way too.
Cmd-Z = Undo
Cmd-? = Open Mac Help

Screen Capture

Take pics of anything on your screen and add it to a document or email.

Cmd-Shift 3 = Capture the screen to a file
Cmd Ctrl Shift 3 = Capture the screen to the clipboard
Cmd-Shift 4 = Select an area to be captured to a file
Cmd Ctrl Shift 4 = Select an area to be captured to the clipboard
Cmd-Shift 4, then press Space = Capture entire window

Other useful tips and tricks….

F5= Show Desktop- This will allow you to go directly to your desktop without minimizing other windows. (This is F11 on the on the older keyboard) We added this to our specific image

F3 or F6= Expose- This will separate every window you are working on, making it very easy to find that ‘buried’ window. (This is F9 on the older keyboard) We added this to our specific image

Zoom= Hold Ctrl and ‘two finger’ swipe forward. Swipe back to zoom back out. This is useful when doing a presentation with an overhead projector.

Quick Preview- Just highlight any icon and hit the space bar. You will be able to view a ‘preview’ of that icon without having to open the application. A great way see that document it what you are actually looking for, or you can view an entire Powerpoint this way. Really nice feature.

Text Drag- Just highlight text in a webpage, PDF, or document and drag it to the desktop. A small text file will be saved. You can do the same thing with links.

Two finger scrolling- If you are trying to scroll on a document or a webpage just put two fingers on the Track Pad and swipe up or down.

Cmd + Click on a window in the background will allow you to only move that window in the background. This is very useful if you are using spreadsheets, and typing information from another document.

Force Quit Applications- Option+Command+Escape You can kill that application that is causing that dreaded ‘pinwheel of death’ by using this command and using “Force Quit” on the program that is not responding.

In Firefox

Cmd + Click on a link= will open a new tab without taking you to that tab. Really helpful for keeping that one important page upfront while allowing you to research other pages. This trick will save you so much time when doing research on anything.

Cmd + ‘+’ = and you can increase the font of the text you are reading.
Cmd + ‘-’  = will decrease
Cmd + ‘0′ = will go back to the default

Our inventory

I recently competed and inventory of all the computers in our school. The results were really interesting, and very important. The feeling I had was that our computers were aging or fully aged already. When I started to think about a replacement cycle my stomach kind of turned a little bit because there were just so many machines that were so old. Where to start…The first place I started was to gather data. I needed to know exactly how many computers we had and how old/effective they were. I thought this would take some time, but it still took way more time than I thought it would. Here are some of the things we found: (We are a high school of 2000 students and 105 teachers)

We have a total of 481 computers in the building

Of those 481, 425 are used by students and staff

Of those 425 60% are 6 years old or older. The grand bulk of the computers being bought in 2001.

Of those 425 75% are 4 years old or older

These numbers include the previously mentioned new Mac lab bought this year.

Tyler (our computer technician) and I  compiled a spreadsheet containing every computer, with its name, serial number, RAM, CPU, and year purchased. Gathering all of this information in a concrete fashion really helped show where we are at as a school. It is so important to be able to have data to back up what you are trying to get across. Since that spreadsheet was created real action has taken place to improve the hardware situation in our school. (Including the new lab mentioned before and the replacement of 57 staff ibook computers from 2001 with new MacBooks.) And while shiny computers are all well and good, it is critical to remember what they need to be used for–helping students learn. That is where the real work begins.