Having Technical Problems at University

It’s Adam’s first day at university. His lecturer gave the class instructions on how to access

and navigate the student portal. Later that day, he is having problems and contacts the IT

student support team for assistance…

IT Technician: Hello, IT student support. How can I help?

Adam: Hi, my name’s Adam Baker. I’m a first-year pharmacy student. We were given

instructions today on how to access the student portal, but it doesn’t seem to be working on

my laptop… what should I do?

IT Technician: OK, let’s see… Are you in student halls? Are you connected to the university

wi-fi?

Adam: Yes, I’m in halls. I’m connected to the wi-fi and I’m on the university webpage, but I

can’t find the student portal…

IT Technician: You might be using the wrong URL. Can you please make sure you are

Adam: OK, I’m on there now but my login details won’t work... What should I do?

IT Technician: Click the ‘forgot password’ link at the bottom of the screen. Enter your

student ID. Click ‘reset password’. Enter a new password which has a minimum of 8

characters with one upper case letter, a number, and a special character too. Let me know

when you’ve done this…

Adam: OK, done! It worked! Now, I’m in… but where can I find my lecture notes?

IT Technician: Click on the Blackboard app. On the left-hand side, you will see all your

modules. You can click on any module and you’ll be able to access the lecture notes, module

handbook, presentations, journal articles and assignment instructions. Your course director

will fill you in on everything you need to know!

Adam: Fantastic! Thank you very much for your help…

Having Technical Problems at University

PHRASAL VERBS

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example sentence	Categories
To run up against	To experience something difficult and unexpected.	The politicians ran up against strong opposition from the people.	Problem
To wrestle with	To try very hard to deal with a problem or a difficult situation.	I wrestled with the decision for a few months before deciding to quit.	Problem
To think through	To carefully consider the possible results of doing something.	I need some time think this through before making a decision.	Problem
To knuckle down	To start working or studying harder.	He’s going to have to knuckle down if he wants to pass the course.	Problem
To talk over	To discuss a problem or situation with someone.	We talked over the issues in the meeting before making a decision.	Problem