The average modern College campus is literally buzzing with technology. Smartphones, computer labs, printers, cameras, tablets, laptops and more create an almost soothing white noise in the bustling hallways. And for any college Student to survive, they must be fairly technically inclined on all platforms. While an IT Department does exist on campus for good reason, many people expect students to simply “figure it out” with little to no help from the Geek Squad.

So what are the must-have tech skills for a ACU Online college student to succeed?

Howto Conduct Online Research

It is imperative that College Students understand how to properly research online. Simply being able to type a subject into the Google search bar isn’t going to cut it when it comes to upper-level courses and work. Students need to master the art of locating credible information within various databases as well as extracting that information properly. A few helpful tips:

• The more specific you are in your search, the more tailored the results will be
• Use quotes to research the exact phrase or subject
• Reliable Sources generally include those with .gov, .org or .edu in the domain

Understanding of Software Suites

Do you know how to type a document in Microsoft Word? That’s great, so can everyone else. College students need to make it a priority to master various programs within these powerful suites. PowerPoint, Excel and Illustrator will help with studying and presentations, Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver are critical to digital design while programs like Google Drive and Dropbox will help college students stay organized.

Take the time to examine the drop-down menus in each of these programs to get the most out of them that you can.

Proper Social Media/Online Communication Etiquette

Proper etiquette online is an essential skill if college students hope to land (and keep) a decent job after graduation. But while in school, it is important that students understand how to address and write emails as well as post social media content that they won’t regret later on. Professors are more willing to work with students that communicate well through emails and future employers won’t hesitate to take a gander at the type of things you post on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Basic Troubleshooting

Rebooting a system can fix a number of issues when it comes to technology, and the IT Department on your college campus does not want to have to tell you this over and over. Besides that, take the time to master a few of these troubleshooting basics:

• Understand how to connect any device to Wi-Fi
• Learn what different parts of a device are called so that you can properly describe a problem or research a solution.
• Know how to set up proper security measures
• Learn how to properly back up various files and the best ways to do so

Strong Typing Ability

Thought those typing classes in elementary school were a waste of time? Think again! There is a large amount of typing involved in college via emails, research papers, social media posts and data-collecting, and having poor typing skills is only going to make this process more difficult.

Learn how to type properly and use keyboard shortcuts – it will save you so much time!