A welcome message from Jack Price, Vice Principal.
To get the most out of your course, you need to be able to log into the College system and know where to find some important applications. Below are videos to watch and guides you can download to help get you started.
Logging into the College system and opening apps
As an adult student, you will be given access to the online versions of Microsoft's Office 365 apps. This video shows how to log into the College system, find the applications and get started with Teams, Outlook and Word. Once you've watched this video please continue down this page for more resources dedicated to using TEAMS.
DOWNLOADABLE STEP-BY-STEP VERSION:
PDF version: Logging in and finding your apps
Getting started with Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is used on most courses. It can be used to message your tutor and other students. This video tours the Teams interface and introduces channels, chat and tabs. Please speak with your tutor about how Teams will be used on your specific course.
Teams is used to deliver most online teaching and simply to meet online. Here's how to participate in a live session.
Follow this walkthrough to install Microsoft Teams on to a Windows computer or device.
PDF download version: Downloading MS Teams for Windows
Follow this walkthrough to install Microsoft Teams on to a Mac computer or MacBook (Not an iPhone or iPad).
PDF download version: Downloading MS Teams for Macs
When using the Microsoft Teams desktop app on a Mac computer or MacBook, you will need to give camera, microphone and screen sharing access. This step-by-step guide by Marquette University shows you how to enable sharing capabilities for your device.
FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
Devices
Your Windows desktop PC or laptop must be running Windows 7 or newer. This means Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 or Windows 11. This will allow you to use the current Microsoft apps, including Teams.
Current Microsoft apps and the software needed for most courses will run successfully on a Mac, but the College does not routinely use Apple equipment, so we are unable to offer formal support.
If you are going to use a Mac, it must have the current version of macOS (Monterey) or one of the previous two versions (Big Sur or Catalina). You may experience issues running apps on older versions of macOS
The current Microsoft apps including Teams will run on most Android phones less than two years old. If your phone is over two years old but is still receiving official updates you should be able to run the current apps. Basic / starter phones may not run apps well enough for them to be usable. Hundreds of Android models are released every year so it is not possible for the College to guarantee a specific device will be suitable.
The current Microsoft apps including Teams will run on most Apple phones and iPads up to three years old. If your device is over three years old but is still receiving official updates you should also be able to run the current apps.
Web Browsers
Most apps run in your web browser. All apps for your course will work in Microsoft EDGE unless your tutor specifies otherwise. Edge is installed on all modern Windows desktop and laptop computers or can be downloaded from https://www.microsoft.com/en-u...
Google Chrome will also allow you to run the required apps. You can download it from https://www.google.co.uk/chrom...
Other browsers are available for Windows, and most modern browsers will work, but for the purposes of offering support we suggest using one of those above. Internet Explorer does not support Teams.
Most apps run in your web browser. On all Macs the default browser is Safari, but you will find that Google Chrome or Firefox are more compatible with Office 365 apps.
Most Android tablets and phones come with Google Chrome installed. This browser will run the required apps, however we recommend you download the Office 365 apps from the Google Play store for a better experience.
Most apps run in your web browser. On all iPads and iPhones the default browser is Safari, however we recommend you download the Office 365 apps from the App Store for a better experience.
Chromebooks have Google Chrome installed. This will work with the College apps.
Checks you can make yourself
If you're using a Windows computer, you can find out which version of Windows you are using here: https://support.microsoft.com/...
Note that if your computer is more than around eight years old, it may be running a version of Windows that is no longer updated or supported. You need to be using Windows 7 or newer to use the College apps.
If you're using an Apple computer, you can find out which version of macOS you are using here: https://support.apple.com/en-g...
Current versions of Microsoft apps will work with the current macOS (Big Sur) and the previous two versions. For full compatibility information, using Teams as an example, see here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-...
Top Tips for a better online experience
Use a private browsing tab to avoid conflicts with existing Microsoft accounts.
If you already use a personal or business Microsoft account, it may conflict with your College account. The easiest way to avoid conflicts is to use a private browsing tab in your web browser. This stops the browser 'seeing' you are already logged into another account. Here's how to open a private tab in the main browsers:
EDGE:
https://youtu.be/sa5bahcm-PE?t=48
CHROME:
https://youtu.be/zzZHXA3ZTEI?t=71
SAFARI:
Save some data
If you're using a mobile phone as your main device and have a limited data plan, one way to save data when using Teams is to turn off your camera. You might join a meeting with the camera on to 'say hello' and introduce yourself, before switching it off.
Check other people aren't using all your bandwidth!
If you're sharing your broadband with a family group, you're all sharing the 'bandwidth'. If your partner is watching Netflix and your children are viewing YouTube, your speed will be compromised. Make sure other people are not using the connection before assuming your broadband is 'too slow'.
You can test the approximate speed of your connection here: https://www.speedtest.net/
Help & Support
If you need help and support, please ask. We are here to help you!
WHERE TO GET HELP
Please speak to your tutor first. They need to know if you have an issue and may know the answer to your problem.
If you have a problem with your account, for example, you have forgotten your password, or you are locked out of your account etc., you can contact the IT Help Desk and ask for their help to resolve your issue. You are able to set up account recovery for your account yourself, please see this guide: Account Recovery and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) guide
If you have a problem with your device or access, for example, you have problems with Teams, or you have a problem using your device to access your learning, etc. you can ask your tutor for help, or contact digital.learning@abingdon-witney.ac.uk and ask for their support to resolve your issue.
It is always helpful to give as much information as possible. For example, don’t just say you have a problem with Teams - What IS the problem? What device are you using? Is your device up to date? Are you using the desktop app or the web app? What browser are you using? Etc. Digital Learning will always do their best to help you, but the more information you can give helps us to solve your problem more quickly.
USERNAME AND PASSWORD
For help with your default login details and changing your password, please see this guide: Password guide
CONNECTING TO COLLEGE WIFI ON YOUR OWN DEVICE
Select the SSW network in your wi-fi settings.
The username is the first part of your college email address e.g. j.bloggs
The password is awcradar
You will need to ensure you have completed the Sophos security validation, in order to be able to use the wi-fi once connected to it, please see this guide: Connecting to and using college Wi-Fi guide
This access resets overnight, so you'll need to do this at the start of each day you want to use the College wi-fi.
