Just starting out here and Iām embarrassed to say I canāt figure out how to do the exercises! Is each line of dots one bar that I strum 4 times to?
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Iām guessing you are at the first couple of lessons.
The goal on those is to strum on the first beat of the bar (guessing you are on lesson 5 of module 1).
the bar (in this lesson) is made up of 4 beats. Justin mentions this is in 4/4 time which means it is 4 quarter notes per bar. The first quarter note is beat 1.
Is this the lesson you are working on? It describes what I am getting at.
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/bars-strumming-on-1-b1-111
Iām not sure what the line of dots you are asking about is. I can guess a couple things, so try to describe a bit and maybe I can help more accurately.
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Iām asking about the song practice on the app. For each line, a chord is given and a curser progresses through a series of dots. Iām not sure when Iām supposed to strum or what the curser and dots are trying to indicate.
I havenāt had the app for a couple of years, so I may say something that doensāt make sense - let me know. 
If I remember, the app has a dot for each beat in the bar, so you may see 4 for a 4/4 time song, but you may see more if the timing is different or if the song is not 4/4. I think I also remember seeing a dot for the 1/8 note timing, but those are smaller than the main beat notes.
So, specifically for your question, you just want to strum on the FIRST beat of each bar, the ā1ā beat. The app displays a bar at a time as a line and the first beat on that line is your ā1ā beat you want to strum on.
If this does not look like what you see, then we can work to get you going with a bit more info. A picture would help, but I will also look to see if I can find a picture.
Maybe this will help
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/fun-play-along-with-a-d-e-bc-117b
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Hi Tamara
I had the same confusion. When I started I was strumming the first beat which gave me lots of time for cord changes. It soon became boring and felt slow so I strummed on all of the beats.
Hi Tamara & Welcome to the Community!!!
What Stephen @drcuzo says above is correct! If youāre new to guitar, be easy on yourself & start slowly!
After the app loads & you select the āSongsā at the lower right, the next screen you see has a ārabbit__________*______turtleā slider on the lower portion. If you wish to slow the song down, slide the little button on the line left to whatever tempo you want. Then, at the upper right of the screen, you see Strum, Chords & Options. Itās not a bad idea to look at the Strum button to see the recommended strum pattern. Then the Chords button will give you info on what chords to expect. Also, explore the Options forā¦ you guessed itā¦ more options!!! 
One thing to realize is that the song versions provided are usually a bit simplified but do give you the structure of the song.
Hereās a quick tipā¦
Let the song play through a couple of times at your chosen tempo while muting the stringsā¦ no chords yetā¦ & strum along to get the āvibe/feelā before trying to actually play it! Also helps to write the chord progression downā¦ I think that gets the progression in my musical memory better!!!
Good luck!!!
Tod
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Hi Tamara,
Theres a strumming indicator on each song, on the page. It represents the pattern for 1 entire bar.
So example: This is one bar.
And this is
One bar from left to right.
The arrows obviously indicate where and which direction the strum is.
It would help to know which lesson your at and which song you want to try and then people can advice more appropriately
R.
Welcome to the forum btw. 
Thank you so much everybody for your help! I think I have enough information to give it another go 
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