Digital Literacy – Troubleshooting

Oh, hi there!

Just waiting to get through to IT support.

"Your call is important to us,

please wait and you will be connected soon…

you are number 199 in the queue"

I've been waiting for twenty minutes already!

"Please wait and you will be connected soon"

I've got a problem with my computer

and I need to get

IT support to fix it.

Trouble is it takes a long time

to get through to them.

"Your call is important to us"

I wish I knew more about computers

so I could troubleshoot my technical problems.

"...you are number 199 in the queue"

Well, that took a long time.

Turns out my computer has a virus

and needs to be cleaned.

So that's what I want

to talk about today:

troubleshooting problems and avoiding

pitfalls when working online.

So what are some of

the digital problems

we can face as distance learners?

One issue that all digital distance learners

need to be aware of is keeping

their work safe.

Imagine working for hours on a project

and then to lose it all!

That's enough to make anyone mad!

So always make sure you save

and back up your work.

Backing up means 'saving your work

in at least two separate locations

so that if you lose one

the other one is safe'.

It's a good idea to back up your work to the cloud.

That's an online place to store files,

so if something happens to your computer,

you can always find

your work again.

Get into the habit of backing up your work:

it could save you a lot of trouble

if you do!

So what other dangers do we face online?

As a distance learner you will be

using the internet a lot

to complete your studies.

And a big threat to all of us online

is infecting our computers

with a virus or other malware.

These are programs specifically

designed to attack your computer

and make it unusable

or hand control of it over to

someone else.

We all need to be careful

to avoid this happening

as there are thousands

of virus programs out there

trying to get onto your computer.

The best way to protect

yourself from digital attack

is to have good security software on your devices.

Make sure you have up-to-date

anti-virus software installed on your machine

and scan your device regularly.

You can also use a firewall.

A firewall will block

other computers trying to take control

of your computer.

And always make sure

you keep your device's operating system updated

- that way you get all the latest security updates

you need to keep them safe.

Those programs will help protect your computer,

but the way you behave is also important.

Never install a program

on your computer unless you are sure

it is safe to do so.

And always be careful

when opening attachments in emails.

Do you know the person who sent it to you?

Have you scanned

the attachment with anti-virus software?

Those are a few tips

to help you avoid making the same mistakes I did!

Usually, your distance

learning provider's digital platform

will be secure,

but you can never be too careful

when working online.

So be careful out there!