Hi Everyone,
I’ve decided to do tech training for students working in my research lab this semester. I mostly have Macs and one Windows pc. Before I create anything, does anyone know of any good and free resources out there?
I mean basics, like using command + spacebar for spotlight search, what you can search for in spotlight search, etc.
Gary Rosenzweig’s Macmost.com is a great Mac site, and I also like the YouTube channel as well - I often learn stuff from it. The site has a beginner’s guide here:
I’m curious, given the number of students with Macs these days, do you find students are having trouble using them?
As far as resources, you may want to check with your institutions IT Department or Library. They may have a subscription to Lynda.com or what was Atomic Learning. Both of those have decent resources – at least last time I checked.
Most students love macs. If they can afford it they will buy one or will save to buy one because they know that macs are known to last a while (plus it’s a status symbol). They have no trouble using them for school work. I would say they have a surface level understanding of their mac. They know how to use it, write a paper, install apps, right click, find apps, and use the browser.
Where they lack, is using shortcuts and fine tuning their setup to help facilitate their work (e.g. fine tuning mousepad options). For some reason, many don’t understand using syncing apps like dropbox or at least don’t practice this (even Google drive or Box which is free for them as students). Even my friend until about a year had held out from signing in with her apple ID to sync apple cloud services with her phone (photos, contacts, notes, etc…).
Last semester I explained to a group of 5 students that pressing command + space allowed them to search for apps and files and they were amazed.