The projector won't connect, the course site looks different from what you practiced, and you're suddenly wishing you'd tested everything yesterday. Technical problems are ordinary. They just feel much bigger when a class is waiting.
A short check before teaching begins can uncover the problems you can fix early. You don't need to learn every system on campus. Start with the tools your first week actually depends on.
Check your account access
Open your institutional email, calendar, course site, and the systems named in your onboarding instructions. Confirm that the right courses appear and that you can use the functions your role requires. If something is missing, report the specific problem rather than only saying your account doesn't work.
Test the room you'll teach in
Bring the device you plan to use and open the actual presentation or activity. Check the display connection, audio, and any media you'll rely on. A video that plays on your office computer may behave differently in a classroom. Ask about available adapters and the support route for that room.
Learn the ordinary office tools
Try the printer, phone, and other equipment you expect to use. Find out whether printing needs a code, which materials can be copied, and how supplies are requested. These small details rarely appear in a teaching plan, but they can consume a surprising amount of preparation time.
Set up approved access away from the office
If you need remote access to university files or software, ask IT which method is approved and available for your role. Follow the institution's process rather than improvising a file-sharing workaround. Keep private student and personnel information in the appropriate systems.
Know how to ask for help
Save the support contact and learn whether requests go through a ticket, phone line, or another route. Note the building, room, device, and error message when reporting a problem. Useful details help someone identify the issue without a long chain of follow-up questions.
Prepare a modest backup
Choose one activity you can run if the screen or network fails. Students could analyze a short prompt, compare explanations, or work through an example you can describe. The backup should still serve the lesson's goal.
Test a small teaching sequence from start to finish
Opening a course site is a good beginning, but try the actual sequence you expect to use. Open the day's materials, start the media, locate the activity instructions, and check how you will move between them. Use an approved student-preview feature where available to see whether the material is visible as intended. Your instructor view may show items students can't yet access.
Keep the backup somewhere appropriate that you can actually reach if the network fails. A plan saved only inside the unavailable system won't help much. A short prompt you can explain aloud or write on the board may be enough.
If a problem remains unresolved, tell support what you've already tried and what happened. You don't need to diagnose the equipment yourself. Clear observations are useful: the display connected, the slides appeared, but the video's audio did not play through the room speakers. That gives the next person a much better starting point.
Put a twenty-minute technology check on your calendar before the first class. End by writing down any unresolved issues and who is handling them. You'll arrive with fewer unknowns, even if the equipment still has a surprise in store.
Adapted from the office and technology guidance in The New Faculty Handbook by Zafer Unal, p. 2.
