Computer Lab

Handbook

By Heidi Estrin, August 2013

Turn on (or wake up) the computers by pressing the

Power button on the right edge of the monitor.

Turn on the Computers

(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.)

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.

Turn on the Mouse and Keyboard

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.

Open the “windowshade”

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

Log onto the correct profile

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.

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 preschool-

friendly websites.

To get to a more

“normal-looking”

Windows 7 style

desktop, click or

touch Desktop.

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.

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 says “Oops”

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