Additional Mac OS Skills

OS Help Desk
Additional Mac OS Skills

UNIT OVERVIEW


	Summary of lessons

Through the use of Mac OS troubleshooting and support exercises, students can obtain essential skills in small groups or independently. Various troubleshooting scenarios provide the impetus for teams to apply simple problem-solving skills through self-directed practice. To be signed off in each area, students must be able to (1) define potential problems someone might have in this area and (2) explain a solution for each.

Additional Mac OS skills include:

Boot Process and Startup Sequence
Command-Line Interface
Mac OS 9 Troubleshooting

Each lesson contains the following:

Student Guides: These feature background information on a specific topic.
Student Exercises: These apply knowledge gained through the Student Guides and previous experience with the Mac operating system.
Skills Assessment Quiz: Each quiz evaluates the student's comprehension of content as it applies to simple troubleshooting issues.

Lessons also include additional resources, such as presentation slides and Student Worksheets.


	Unit objectives

At the completion of the unit, students will be able to: Understand how the Macintosh operating system works Learn to identify and modify OS X components Identify software issues using various diagnostic tools and troubleshooting techniques Apply fixes to simple troubleshooting issues


	Time required

8 to 9 hours


	Implementing the lessons

Students work at their own pace to achieve skills. Teacher facilitates.
1	Identify known competencies. Assess prior knowledge by using the essentials skills checklist with each student. Ask simple questions or have student demonstrate skills. Students can also take the lesson assessment quiz as a pre-test.
2	Pair students (or place them in small groups) with others needing to obtain same skills.
3	Set up practice scenarios and equipment.
4	Demonstrate hardware used within the topic and how the software works.
5	Have students read and discuss the Student Guides and practice exercises.
6	Work with student pairs/groups to answer questions and probe for understanding.
7	Administer the assessment quiz when students feel they are ready. You might choose to concentrate on a "topic of the day" where you hold a class discussion of a skill set before students begin individual group work. The Student Guide can be a springboard for discussion or ask student groups to each become experts on a topic to share. Students can use the AppleCare Knowledge Base (http://kbase.info.apple.com) for more detailed explanations of topics and answers to some of the questions posed in the exercises.

All students work on the same topic at the same time. Teacher directs.
1	Discuss the lesson topic using the Student Guide and any accompanying slides. Note: You might decide to have students read the Student Guide as homework and create a worksheet that asks students to identify key points within the text. You might also choose to ask student groups to each become experts on a topic to share.
2	Demonstrate hardware used within the topic and how the software works.
3	Introduce the practice exercises.
4	Break students into pairs or small groups for hands-on practice of exercises.
5	Administer the assessment quiz at the completion of all exercises within the lesson.

Unit Overview

Standards

LESSON 1 OVERVIEW

Boot Process

LESSON 2 OVERVIEW

Command-Line Interface

LESSON 3 OVERVIEW

Troubleshooting Mac OS 9