Basic Guide to Technology Skills

• do research for schoolwork
• produce schoolwork and presentations that have a professional touch.
• research colleges, scholarships, summer programs
• communicate with colleges and scholarships without costly long-distance bills or use of cell phone minutes
• apply to colleges online

• Family & Friends.
  • Don’t overlook family and friends as a resource. Talk to relatives, friends, and classmates, and ask if you can use their computer and internet.
  • If you feel awkward about asking for help from others, think about what you can provide in exchange. Whether you are able to help them with their homework, or with chores around the house and yard, it may make you feel better if you offer something in return.
• School resources.
  • Many school libraries are often open shortly before classes begin in the mornings, during the lunch hour, and for some time after classes end in the afternoon.
  • If libraries are crowded, you may also wish to look into the possibility of using a computer at your school computer lab.
  • If one of your classrooms has a computer, you may wish to talk with the teacher to arrange a time that might be possible for you to use the classroom computer.
• Local public library
  • The local library can be a great resource if you do not have time before, during, or after school to use a computer.
  • Closing times for local libraries vary, and they may require you to pre-register for computer use.
• Cafés, coffee shops, document and shipping businesses like Kinko’s
  • Useful, with flexible hours for availability, but most require payment for usage of their computers and/or internet access.
  • You may wish to do word-processing elsewhere on a home computer, and use the internet café as the last step in submitting an online application for a summer program or college admission.

• Word-processing:
  • Word processors are essential for writing essays, etc.
  • There are many additional functions in word processors such as Microsoft Word that are underutilized – including the ability to create charts, diagrams, data tables, flyers with graphics, and more.
• Web navigation:
  • Get comfortable with surfing the web for information. For example, knowing how to run a search effectively, with the right search terms, can get you the information you need and save you time. Knowing how to highlight specific information on each page can help you quickly find the specific information you need.
  • Learn how to efficiently extract information from web pages. Information you want may be buried under several layers of web pages, placed on the site in a difficult to find location. For example, you may be navigating a college web page, and looking for contact information. This information may be on the home page, or at the bottom or top of every page on the site. Or, it may be located in one or more of several other pages, such as the staff, about us, or contact information portions of the website. Or it may be located on a specific department’s web site. It takes practice to become skilled at quickly searching for information.
• Email: organize email.
  • While your email address can be a form of self-expression, it is also advantageous to create and maintain a professional email address that you will use throughout high school. When you are applying to college or scholarships, admissions officers – real human beings – will review your applications, and will also notice your email address. Checking this email address regularly, and maintaining this email address over four years, will help ensure that you are able to receive important messages about opportunities available to you.
  • As you receive important email from colleges and scholarships, you’ll want to make sure messages don’t get lost. Stay organized with your email account by learning how to manage your messages.
  • Organize your email in the web-based email interface, in which you log in to your email account and access your messages from the web directly. Examples of webmail include Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, or other email providers. You may wish to create folders for messages organized by college or opportunity.
  • Organize email using an email client. Email clients download your mail from the web, and store it on your home computer. Email clients also offer more options for creating, organizing, and saving your messages. Some email clients can be downloaded and installed for free, such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Eudora.