The LMS system is being overwhelmed, which is one reason why so many are having trouble logging in. Note that this is a cloud-based product, and hundreds of thousands of students internationally have now been moved to online learning. Thus it’s not exactly surprising that the system is struggling a bit.
For now:
1) Please email your teacher at the beginning of each class that you ARE trying, and describe what is happening.
2) Keep trying every 5 minutes [not every 5 seconds!]
3) If something changes, please let tech know.
4) Keep an eye on tech.mountdesales.net for updates. We’ll be posting updates, news, and tips there as we go through this process.
LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION – over 90% of the time you should be shooting in Landscape orientation [a.k.a. SIDEWAYS]. The ONLY time Portrait Orientation is preferred is if 99% of your audience will be looking at the video on their phone, AND they don’t know how or are too lazy to turn their phone sideways.
GOOD AUDIO IS IMPORTANT. After all, without it you just created a silent movie. Talk louder than you think, and be aware of all the noise that it around you [try closing your eyes and listening to the sounds around.]
PLAN what is going to happen – it will save time. What shots do you want? What sounds? Where? Who is going to be in it?
Here’s a good process to follow when creating a video
Shoot your footage.
Get too much video – it’s easier to delete extra material than to stretch out material because you don’t have enough.
Put the clips in rough order.
Add titles.
Record your voiceover, if you are going to add one.
After recording bump the volume up as much as you can – avoid a lot of red in the waveform, though a bit is usually OK. Your ears will tell you.
Watch it 5 times – look for problem spots and fix them.
Export the movie and send it on its way. Google Drive is a good place to stash video.
Click the titlebar of the window you want to stay open. Then hold the mouse button down and move the mouse left and right quickly. After a couple of quick shakes the OTHER windows will all minimize.
Open the “secret” start menu
Press Windows key + X…. or you can RIGHT-click the WIndows icon [aka the Start menu].
One of the easiest methods is to hit Windows key + Print SCreen [it might be labelled PrntScrn}. This will take a shot of the whole screen and save it in your Pictures –> SCreenshots folder.
But what if you only want a PART of the screen? Hit the Windows key + shift + S. This opens up the Snip & Sketch tool, which allows you to click and drag a rectangle to select part of the screen. Once you release the mouse buttn, your screenshot is stored in the clipboard.
Open items on your taskbar with Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’ve pinned programs at the bottom of the screen, in the Taskbar, you can open them up by hitting the windows key plus a number key. Windows + 2 will open the second item on the taskbar, for instance.
Figure out how much space apps are taking up
Your storage is limited, no matter how big is is. TO see how much of that space an app takes up, navigate to Settings –> System –> Storage. Click on the drive you’d like the search, [most likely is “This PC”], then click Apps & Games to see if any apps are being space hogs.
Get rid of Ads on your Start Menu
This is not a problem at school, but elsewhere you may see what Microsoft calls “Suggestions” pop up to the right of the Start menu. These are ads for WIndows Store apps you can buy. To get rid of them, go to Settings –> Personalization –> Start. Turn “Show Suggestions occasionally in Start” OFF!
Shut down background apps
These are apps running the background, doing things like staying updated, sending notifications, etc. They can be handy, but they can also drain your laptop battery and slow your machine down a bit. To keep them from, running in the background,call up Settings –> Privacy –> Background Apps.
You can turn them ALL off, or just a select few.
Use Background Scrolling
Now you can scroll windows that AREN”T the one you are working on. This is handy if you have a word processor document open AND a web browser window open. You can type away, and then move your mouse over and scroll the page without losing teh window focus of the word process – so it’s a faster way to keep typing.
It should be on by default, but if it isn’t, go to Settings –> Devices –> Mouse. Turn Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them to ON.
Show File Extensions in File Explorer.
This is turned off by default, but it is really handy to be able to see what file extension a file has, especially when troubleshooting. TO see them, in FIle Eplorer
In the Search Bar at the bottom of the screen, type in File Explorer Options, and hit return.
In the window that pops up, select View Tab
UNCHECK the box for Hide extensions for known file types. Click the Apply button, and then OK.
Use Focus Assist to keep from getting distracted
Turning FOcus Assist on means fewer notifications and distractions, which can really help you focus and get your work done. Set it up by going to Settings –> System –> Focus Assist. Choose from OFF ( no notifications, none nada, zero,. zilch], Priority [you pick from a list of apps and what you want to see from them}, Alarms Only [hides all notifications except for alarms].
