While not necessarily a remote learning issue, teachers sometimes need help with the technology side of things when it comes to teaching. Computers are becoming an everyday part of the classroom as of late, and that comes with a slew of different problems. In most public schools where computers are relevant to the classroom, students may use Chromebooks.
Chromebooks are unique because they are primarily utilized for web-searching and minor app usage. In today’s blog post, we thought it would be helpful for teachers, students, and just about anyone who uses Chromebooks to get some quick fixes for some mild, common issues that may arise when using these devices.
FROZEN SCREENS
The first common issue that we decided to discuss was a common phenomenon of ‘screen locking’ or ‘screen freezing’. We’ve all been there: working on a classroom assignment or project when suddenly the screen locks in place and you can’t move anything on your screen. Tabs lock in place, you can’t interact with anything on the monitor, and all you have access to is the physical buttons on the Chromebook.
While it can be initially confusing, there is a quick fix for this common problem:
Step 1: Press the Power & Refresh button (the one that looks like a circular arrow)
Step 2: Wait for your Chromebook to reboot.
Step 3: Log in to your Chromebook
Optional Step 4: When reopening Google Chrome, you may select the option to Restore Tabs. This is a very helpful option if your device froze during a lesson or if you had specific tabs open for important reasons.
CHROMEVOX
Another problem similar to Screen freezing is Chromevox, but Chromevox is a built-in screen reader that can open when students, say, press a specific series of keys on their keyboards (accidentally) and cause it to open.
This tool can be very useful for those who need to navigate their chromebooks with verbal instruction from the device. The confusion here is that a lot of people don’t really know how to discontinue this option once it is activated.
To identify if Chromevox is active or not, you will most likely hear a voice speaking on your device and your screen may look something like this:
As you can see in the picture, there is an orange box around the search bar on the Google Homepage. This means that whatever is typed in that box will be read aloud by the computer.
Here is the magic solution:
Press Ctrl+Alt+Z
That’s it! Easy peasy!
AUDIO ISSUES
Sometimes there can be some problems when using programs like Zoom, Google Meets, etc. and it can be troublesome getting audio to work. It may be that the audio isn’t playing at all on the programs, or it could be that the computer is not picking up your sound from the Chromebook’s microphone. That being said, here are a series of troubleshoots you can try to work on your Chromebook’s audio.
If you are in a Google Meet or Zoom Meeting and are having microphone or speaker issues, you may need to enable your microphone or speakers for the particular source you are using. You can do this by checking your audio settings on your Chromebook.
First Troubleshooting Tip – Check that your Microphone is enabled
Step 1: Click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of your Chrome window.
Step 2: Select Settings.
Step 3: In the search bar at the top of the screen, type Site Settings and press Enter.
Step 4: Once you are in the Site Settings, scroll down and select Microphone.
Step 5: When you are in the Microphone settings, you can see which sites are allowed and which sites are blocked. Make sure the site you are trying to use is allowed.
Second Troubleshooting Tip – Check Audio Input & Output settings
Step 1: Click the bottom right corner of your screen where the time is displayed.
Step 2: A black box will pop up. Locate the Audio icon near the bottom of the black box. Make sure the audio level is set to a high level.
Step 3: If it is set to an acceptable level and you still can’t hear anything, Click the bullet arrow to the right of the Audio slider. This will take you to the Input and Output options.
Step 4: Make sure those levels are acceptable. (Quick Tip! If your Chromebook is connected to an external monitor, make sure the audio is selected to go through your Chromebook, and not the monitor. This will help you hear things as well.)
If neither of these tips solves your audio issue, you can test the audio on your computer by opening the camera app on your device and recording a short video. If there is no audio in the video playback, you may have a hardware issue with your microphone and it may need to be looked at by a Technician.
SCREENSHOTS
Finally, if this blog does not help with a particular issue that you might have with your Chromebook, you can utilize the screenshot function when trying to ask a tech assistant on additional aid. Attaching a screenshot of the problem to an email you send can greatly affect the effectiveness of any tech assistants that will work on fixing your issue.
There are two ways to take a screenshot on a Chromebook:
Take a general screenshot of the entire screen.
Step 1: Press Ctrl + screenshot key
Take a screenshot of a specific area of your screen.
Step 1: Press Ctrl + Shift + screenshot key
Are you having other challenges with your Chromebook? Reach out to us! We may be able to assist!