Troubleshooting

While at its core, troubleshooting is so broad that it could be a simple "turn it off and turn it back on," or you would need to call a professional, it's still a critical skill that we teach our seniors. Troubleshooting breaks a problem into simple checks and small tests so we can learn which changes affect the result. We emphasize starting small and building up. If our seniors have a problem, we ask them to break it into parts they understand and look for contradictions with what "should" be happening.

My favorite thing about this method is that it's so step-by-step that it works for everyone and in many situations. The process of troubleshooting isn't supposed to be elegant, but practical. When a problem arises, you don't care how it's solved, instead you just want it solved. We apply this same logic to tech learning which led to our troubleshooting process. While it may not be perfect, it builds confidence through each meaningful step and a way to tell if it succeeded.

Troubleshooting is a skill that I'm always trying to improve, but we should acknowledge the fact that not all problems have simple solutions. Our goal is to give seniors a plan for the unexpected, even if they can't always solve the issue themselves. It's important to have a backup plan for when things go wrong, because they will.