If you encounter any technical problems working the VCE or accessing the services that it provides, or have problems running provided code or your own code, the first thing to remember is don't panic: in many cases, you may be able to fix the problem yourself; in others, a readily available helping hand should be able to resolve your problem.
If your problem is more related to your personal learning, understanding or the assessment of the module, it would be appropriate to contact your tutor for advice.
In general, you may find it useful to address technical issues by working through the problem in the following way:
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Check any error messages, if appropriate. Error messages often contain a clue as to what caused them. If you are using a terminal to issue commands, or writing computer code, a common problem is a command not being recognised because of a typographical error. Computers are very literal in what they do, so a misplaced comma or a single character out of place may be all that needs fixing.
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Check the module forums to see if there are any official announcements relating to the same problem, or whether any other students have posted similar issues. Many forums are moderated and the forum moderators will answer any questions they can, or pass them on to the module team if they can't. Appropriate responses will then be posted to the forum.
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If a technical problem similar to yours has already been reported, but the suggested solution does not work for you, reply to the suggestion. In your reply, explain what you tried and what did or did not happen, including any error messages, if available, either as copied text or as a screenshot. Provide details of your operating system, if relevant. Sometimes you might find that trying to explain the issue identifies the solution. In such a case, if you think the problem may be a common one, you may want to post a message to the forum explaining the error you encountered and how you fixed it.
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If your problem has not already been identified, post a message to the {{jupyter_help_forum}}. Give the message a clear title that identifies the problem. Include in the body of the message a description of what you did and what did or did not happen, including any error messages, if available, either as copied text or as a screenshot. Once again, provide details of your operating system and/or browser, if appropriate. As before, you may find that trying to explain the problem reveals the solution. If you think that sharing the issue — and the solution you discovered — may be of some help to others, please do so via the appropriate forum.
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If you are struggling with identifying what the problem is and would find it useful to talk to someone, get in contact with:
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the OU Computing Helpdesk, for general IT and software installation enquiries
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your tutor, by phone or email or other agreed contact method for issues specifically about taught content and practical activities within the module.
To give yourself the best chance of resolving any issue in a timely fashion, plan ahead. The assignments require you to make use of the VCE, so don't leave it until the last minute to try the VCE for the first time.
More specific guidance for working through issues related to various software problems can be found in .