Sick Computer Policy

Every so often, a student will ask for a deadline extension because of computer problems. I understand the issue (been there myself), but ordinarily such an extension will be no more than a week. Here’s why:

1. I encourage you to do your early rough drafting with pen and paper, so even if your computer copy is totally gone, you are not back to square one.
2. If you have been using Google Docs, everything you wrote is safely stored in the cloud. All you need to do is fire up another computer, log in, and keep working.
3. Things are a little more complicated if you have been using Apple Pages. This program also saves things to the Apple cloud, but you need to find another Apple computer and figure out how to log into your account. The good news is that if you have been using an Apple computer and also have an Apple phone, you can just open your paper from the phone.
4. The IT department has a public help desk in the library. This should be your first stop if you have a non-cooperative computer. (Some problems that seem so huge are quickly fixed by experts.)

I Cannot Read Your Google Docs file

Students often try to use the “Share” function, but give me something I cannot open because I do not have permission. (When you do it wrong, I need to know YOUR personal password to open the file!) The right way to do it is to download a file to your computer and use that to upload to Blackboard. If you cannot figure out how to do the download, here is a How-To Page for Google Docs.

This problem can ordinarily be solved in a week or less, so the greatest deadline extension I will give for files I don’t have permission to open is one week.

“My Blackboard Upload Won’t Work”

This sometimes happens (about twice a semester for all my courses). Simply send me the file as an email attachment. (Please do not use the “Share” function in Google Docs. It creates extra work for me and if you do it wrong, I still cannot read your paper.)

• Here are instructions for sending an email attachment.
• My email address is callen@ashland.edu
• As with the broken keyboard problem, this can be solved in a week or less, so the greatest deadline extension is normally one week.