Advice on accessing College systems and using the Computer Network
Help:
For any IT Support problems or queries, please speak with your academic coach or a teacher, or visit the IT Support Helpdesk on the first floor of the Blythe Building, in the open area.
Password resets:
On every college PC and laptop, in the left-hand corner, there is a “reset password” or “unlock account” button. This will allow you to gain access to your account should you forget your password.
This will ask for your student number, then will send a code to your Arbor registered mobile number or email address. Please ensure any personal data on Arbor is correct in order to be able to use this feature.
Your password will need to be 8 characters in length, using a combination of uppercase and lowercase characters, and must contain a number or symbol. It will not allow you to enter a password you have used previously at the college.
Office 365
Accessing your college email
All students are provided with a college email address. This is your student number, followed by @solihullsfc.ac.uk. For example, S219999@solihullsfc.ac.uk. Your password is your usual college network password.
To access your email, you should login to outlook.office365.com with those credentials.
To read your email, use the folder structure on the left-hand side and navigate to your inbox. Click on each email to view the message. You have the option to view or reply on the top right-hand side of each email by pressing the small arrow.
On the left-hand side, you can also access your outbox, sent mail and deleted mail.
To create a new email, select new from the top bar and enter an email address or addresses to send to followed by a message and select send once done.
Storing your work:
All files should be saved to your college One Drive account. One Drive has unlimited cloud-based storage space.
This is accessible via the One Drive app, which is installed on all college devices. This maps One Drive within your file explorer.
One Drive can also be accessed via a web browser on any device, by logging in to www.office.com with your college email address and password and using the waffle icon in the top left hand corner to access One Drive.
Using One Drive Web Client:
When you open OneDrive Web Client, this is the screen you will be presented with:
On OneDrive, you have the option to upload, download or create new files.
To save an existing document to OneDrive, click on ‘Upload’, they will save to the currently selected folder.
To create a new document, select ‘New’ and choose which type of file you want to create. You can either edit these within your browser, on the web-based application, or on the grey ribbon towards the top there is an option to ‘Edit in…’ which will open a desktop application.
It is important to keep your files tidy and easy to find. To create a folder structure, you can right click, select ‘New’, then go to ‘Folder’, or use the ‘New’ button on the control ribbon.
To move files, you can either drag them into the necessary folders, or right click on the necessary file and select ‘move to’.
One Drive also allows for document sharing, so you can send a copy of your document to someone or collaborate with other students or your teachers.
To share a document or manage the access, select the document you want and click ‘private’. This will present a list of anyone who can view or edit that document and allows you to stop sharing your document too.
This menu will also allow you to ‘Share’ your documents. It brings up a list of options for sharing:
‘Anyone’ means that anyone with the link to your document can view it.
‘People in your organization’ means that anyone with a solihullsfc email address, that is part of our College can access the document if they receive a link or an email.
‘People with existing access’ means that it will not allow anyone else to view the document, but if you already have some people that you are sharing it with, they will still have access to it.
‘Specific people’ only allows select people that you choose to view the document.
The ‘Allow editing’ tick box decides whether they receive a read only copy or not. If this option is selected, anyone who is sharing this document can contribute to it. If not, they can only view and read the document.
Once you have selected which option you would like to take when sharing, you can then insert an email address to send the link to and add a message.
Alternatively, you can just copy a link to send yourself.
When you click on a document, a ‘version history’ option will appear on the ribbon. This will allow you to see when documents have been modified by yourself or other users so you can track the changes that have been made.
OneDrive Application
The One Drive app is installed on all college PCs. It will appear as a blue cloud down in the bottom right of the taskbar.
This maps your college One Drive account to your file explorer. From here, you can browse all your files on OneDrive and even share.
Each of your files will have an icon next it, indicating its online/offline and share status.
A blue cloud icon indicates that the file is only available online. Online-only files do not take up space on your computer. You see a cloud icon for each online-only file in File Explorer, but the file doesn’t download to your device until you open it. You can’t open online-only files when your device isn’t connected to the Internet.
The green tick icon. When you open an online-only file, it downloads to your device and becomes a locally available file. You can open a locally available file anytime, even without Internet access.
If you need more space, you can change the file back to online only. Just right-click the file and select “Free up space.”
If you see a “people” icon next to your OneDrive files or folders, this indicates the file or folder has been shared with other people.
To share a file, right click on the file or folder and select share.
USB Devices:
Any USB devices at the college must be encrypted using BitLocker. This will password protect the device and will not allow you to view any files without the password. If you choose not to encrypt your USB stick, the files will be read-only.
Working on documents from Moodle:
When opening a document, you wish to work on from Moodle these options will appear.
Avoid clicking ‘Open’ as this won’t save any changes you make to the document.
Click ‘Save as’ to save in a folder of your choice on your One Drive.
Remember to save your work regularly while working and keep backups of your files.
Wi-Fi:
We have two Wi-Fi networks available on site for student use, Eduroam or Guest.
Guest
To connect to guest, choose this SSID and enter your S number and password when prompted. This will allow 2 hours of connection before you need to re-enter your credentials.
Eduroam
All staff and students registered at the College will automatically be granted access to the campus Wi-Fi network using their College email account and password.
Successful authentication will enable secure, encrypted access to the Eduroam wireless network. More than 10,000 Eduroam hotspots are available at universities, research centres, academies, many schools, and other research and education institutions in more than 89 territories around the world.
Connecting to Eduroam:
Before you start we recommend that you download the Eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool.
On laptops
1. Visit the Eduroam configuration assistant tool website.
2. Select ‘Download your Eduroam installer’.
3. Select The Sixth Form College, Solihull as your organisation.
4. Your device and operating system should be automatically detected. If not, use the menu system to select the appropriate options.
5. Select the blue button to download the installer.
6. If the installer does not automatically start, run the installer.
7. When prompted, enter your college username for example: S219999
8. Enter your password.
Your device should now be configured to access the Eduroam network.
On Mobile devices
Select Eduroam wireless network.
Next to CA certificate select don’t validate
Identity on IOS put in your full email address e.g. S219999@solihullsfc.ac.uk and on android just your username.
Enter your college password
Select connect.
Your device should now be configured to access the Eduroam network.
Printing:
You can use your Student ID card to register for printing at any “touch-screen” printer. Present your ID card to the reader attached to the printer. Login with your network username and password to register your card for printing. Scan your ID card across the reader to log out.
Screen Prints:
To produce copies of the active window as evidence of work done on the computer, press Alt+ Print Scrn key (to the right of the F12 key on the keyboard). This copies the active window as a picture ready for pasting into an application, e.g. Word or Paint.
Alternatively, use the Snipping Tool, (under Start – Programs – Accessories) to drag and select any part of the screen display you require. NB – you can also highlight or draw over your image once copied into the snipping tool ready to be pasted into your application.
Installing Office on your Own PC:
You can download the Office from your college Office 365 account for installation on your own PC.
Navigate to https://www.office.com/
Open up 365 and login with your college credentials (email SXXXXX@Solihullsfc.ac.uk + password) and click on Office 365.
From here you can use all office apps online in the web browser, but if you want to download them to your PC, click the “install office” link over on the right.
