Are you "Switched-On," or are you crying "SOS!" Over the last 50 years, technological developments have improved many aspects of everyday life, including education. Unfortunately, as with every other field that uses computers, technology can also cause quandaries and dilemmas not experienced with pencil and paper. Switched-On Schoolhouse (SOS) was designed to make your job easier, as well as make the learning experience more interesting and effective for your students. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a first-time user, the following tips and tricks may help you be even more successful with SOS.

1. Open Page Setting for Quizzes and Tests

2. Editing Individual Students' Subjects
Did you know it is possible to edit a student's subject even after it is assigned? SOS was designed for the individual needs of each student, even down to the subject. Just right click on the subject you want to edit, and select Edit Subject.' Then, bring down the Edit drop box to see all the setting changes that are found in the school and class setup. Here it affects this subject only. Looking for extra projects? Just open the same subject, level, and unit in the Available Curriculum column, and discover projects not found in the default unit. Simply drag and drop these into the student's unit and it will be automatically added to their work. Refer to your reference guide, or push F1 for all the information you need to edit students' subjects.

3. Use the Next' Button when Answering Messages and Scoring
Here is a quick tip to help streamline your scoring time. When viewing a student's lesson, either to answer a message or to score a question, click the Next' button to see if there are any other questions that need your attention. This saves time by not having to return to the At-a-Glance screen for every question.

4. Utilize the Detail Page
The Detail Page is an excellent tool to quickly see how a student did on a certain lesson. It details the number of attempts needed, how many points were given, whether or not they had to access the answer key, as well as show how long the student spent on each lesson. You can access this information by right clicking on either the unit or lesson title, and selecting View Details.'

Alpha Omega Publications desires to listen to you, the teacher, to improve and make Switched-On Schoolhouse even better. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you ever have a question or suggestion. We will either help you discover how to better utilize SOS, or we will make sure to take your ideas for future releases. This year, may you and your students enjoy and learn like never before with Switched-On Schoolhouse.