Mount Hood

Have an alternative browser (or two) available on your computer

You probably have a standard browser that you use day in and day out to view the Internet.  It’s a good idea, however, to have other browsers available on your computer to help out when technical problems or display issues that arise.  Sometimes a website’s designed functionality or display just doesn’t play well with the technology of a specific browser.

In the context of the library, for example, the EBSCO databases have a persistent problem with the Chrome browser (otherwise Chrome is a highly recommended browser).

Here are the download pages for some of the major browsers:

Google ChromeMozilla FirefoxApple SafariAtomic Web Browser - Full Screen Tabbed Browser w/ Download Manager & DropboxMicrosoft Internet ExplorerOpera

Each browser will assume you want it to be your default browser as you download it; just click that option off and continue with the download.  You may want to set up your installed browsers with the same home page.  Or, you might like to designate the different browsers for different purposes: maybe you’ll populate Firefox with toolbars and extensions that help with school or work, while Chrome is dedicated to online games.  Another handy purpose for having different browsers is logging into an online service with multiple identities at the same time. However you choose to manage your Internet browsing, you’ll have a backup browser to try when something’s not working right.

Turn your Facebook network into a study group

Hoot.me iconHoot.me is an app that allows for study groups and other project collaboration within Facebook. Your collaboration can be private and shared only with specific friends, or it can be open to others at WOU or worldwide also working on your subject. (You don’t have to be Facebook friends to collaborate on Hoot.) Hoot.me’s chat has the special characters necessary for calculus, chemistry, and more.