ODeL Support

Start by Determining the scope of the problem. 

This takes practice, but it will do no good to complain to your instructor if the problem is with your home computer or your Internet Service Provider.

Here are some ways to tell:

1. If you can't get your computer to work at all or if your computer frequently freezes, but not at times that seem to have anything to do with each other, the problem is probably with your own hardware or Local Area Network. Whoever maintains that network or computer will have to find a solution. Your instructor or other technical contacts might be able to help.
   
   
2. If your computer works, but you can't get online, are frequently bumped offline, or have access problems at a particular time of day, the problem is probably with your Internet Service Provider. Call the provider's technical help service. If they are non-responsive and your friends have better experiences, strongly consider switching providers.
   
   
3. If you can get online, can visit other Internet sites, but can't get to the course site (or can't get the course site to display correctly), the problem could be many things, but may be a problem with the server that the course is on. Consult the instructor or the technical support staff at the college. They can help you determine if the server is down, if it can't be accessed from certain places, if you forgot a password, or if the problem lies elsewhere.
   
   
4. Try these steps before asking for help:

• Save any work if applicable and possible. 
• Write down what programs were open and what you were doing when the error occurred. 
• Write down the exact text of any error messages. 
• Reload (also called "refresh") the web page. 
• Restart the web browser. This may require that you reconnect with your Internet Service Provider. 
• Restart (also called "reboot") the computer. 
• Make a short list of the things you've tried and the specifications of your computer. 
• Call (or email if you can) for help. 
• Inform the instructor of problems or mistakes in the course site such as broken links. He or she can't fix the problems if no one lets him or her know the problems are there. 
• Let your instructor know if technical difficulties will prevent you from completing work. He or she might be able to help you find a place to work, solve your problem, or extend a deadline. 
• Don't be afraid to ask for technical help from a variety of sources, but be nice to the people who help.Their job is hard and you'll need them again. Don't blame them for the problems. 
• Finally, accept that problems are going to occur. Computers are complex and complex things break in interesting ways. If you keep a level head and learn from the experience, you'll survive and be better prepared the next time problems occur.
• Write down the solutions to problems you encounter. They'll probably come up again and you may not remember how you fixed them.