Having trouble with your LMS, your email, your favorite web site? Read below for the answers as I see them from around the web and some tips and links to help!
(from the web @mtabini)...
A Fuzzy Standard
Web pages are programmed primarily
using three different languages: HTML, used to define the structure of
documents; CSS, which determines the way they look; and JavaScript,
which is used to drive interactive features (like CLP (Collaborate)).
Of these, the first two are “managed” by a non-profit
organization called the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, that is responsible
for defining the standards that—in theory—browser manufacturers and developers
must follow in order for their products to be compatible with each other.
In practice, however, Web standards tend to trail de facto
innovations introduced by the individual browsers, usually in response to the
business needs of their makers.
The Problem
Inevitably, however, small issues have a way of falling
through the cracks here and there:
• Printing
might work flawlessly in Chrome, but not in Safari, and maybe only on a
specific version of OS X
• Some
sites still insist on only working well with Internet Explorer, despite the
popularity of devices—like the iPhone and the iPad—that only allow their users
to browse the Web with WebKit-based browsers
What is one to do in these cases?
The Solution
Use a different browser! Always have a backup browser!
• While
small cosmetic problems are fairly commonplace, websites that refuse to work at
all with a modern browser like Safari or Chrome are relatively rare
• When
you come across them, however, simply switching to Mozilla's Firefox browser as
a backup can solve the problem
• See the bottom of this page for current links to browsers you need!
(my two cents)...
The Teaching Solution
I have rarely had everything go
perfectly right in my classrooms. When I
first started teaching, I didn't even have a classroom, I had a cart! I learned early on to have a teaching backup, a “go to” activity (e.g., “Ok class, while
I try to change the projector bulb, write down two things you learned this week
in class and share with a partner.”)
Online you have more to go wrong,
but more backup as well:
• Email
• Websites
• The
Helpdesk is there to help!
• If
worse comes to worst in a failed CLP (Collaborate) session, you can postpone
the class or record a session later and share
