3.

5 Basic Troubleshooting

Candidates troubleshoot basic software and hardware problems common in digital learning
environments.

This artifact is the unstructured field experience log from ITEC 7460. This field experience
describes my experience planning, troubleshooting, managing, and reflecting on our first Digital
Learning Day at Elkins Pointe. While preparing for our Digital Learning Day, I met with school
administration, grade level and department chairs, and with a small group of student tech support staff.
Throughout this experience, I worked with various departments and teachers to ensure that they were
properly trained in sharing Digital Learning Day plans. I also worked with our local Vanguard members to
create videos and troubleshooting guides for students. These guides were shared with staff and
students before and during the implementation of our Digital Learning Day.

This artifact demonstrates the ability to troubleshoot basic hardware and software problems. As
this was the first attempt at a Digital Learning Day, it was important that teachers and students felt
comfortable using the platforms and were aware of how to get support if needed. The description of the
experience, the knowledge and dispositions section, indicate what I learned through this experience.
Because I was trying to prepare and manage Microsoft Notebooks for nearly 100 teachers and close to
750 students, I spent most of my time preparing troubleshooting guides and videos to share with staff
and students.

While completing this project, I learned that it is imperative that we stay organized when
managing school wide initiatives. Using Microsoft Office 365 tools (Teams and Notebook) I was
successful in managing the various sections of the Notebooks. I was also able to share troubleshooting
guides and videos with students and staff during our Digital Learning Day experience. If I were to adjust
this artifact and complete it again, I would suggest that teachers create their own Notebooks. Trying to
manage all of the students and staff in a single Notebook caused some lag in the network, as well as a
few mistakes when teachers accidentally made changes to someone else’s section of the Notebook. I
would suggest that teachers create their own Notebook, or better yet, that they use Microsoft Teams
which allows for increased collaboration and also provides the same functionality of the Class Notebook.

This project impacts students learning, staff development, and school improvement. The
purpose of the Digital Learning Day was to provide an opportunity for students to continue their
education even when we are not in school. Specifically, this years’ Digital Learning Day allowed students
and the district to avoid adding extra days on to the end of the school year due to inclement weather.
Not only did this demonstrate to the students and staff that our devices can provide increased learning
opportunities outside of the classroom, it demonstrates to the community that the school is focused on
student development and growth. Staff use of Microsoft Notebook and Teams has increased since our
first iteration of the Digital Learning Day with many teachers using Teams in their daily instruction.
Having prepared the troubleshooting guides and videos has also increased the independence with
technology use around the school. Students and staff are now more comfortable troubleshooting some
of their own minor problems.