The Teaching Machine, desktop for user Faculty:



Distance Education Live Support 1

On-site setup for class 1

Teaching computer 2

Class machine setup 9

Turn on the projector. 11

Monitor live class 11

Troubleshooting and backup plans 13

Phone support 13

After last class 14

Upload the resequenced files 16

Equipment takedown and storage 17

Distance Education Live Support

This is one document in the IT&E Distance Education Support series. (

See other documents (t.b.d.):

• Slides Preparation and Conversion,

• Software Installation and Maintenance (to include setup of demo teaching software), and

• Network Education Ware Distance Education Server Administration (others must write…).

Get and turn on the IT&E Distance Education Support cell phone.

On-site setup for class

This is the podium and equipment arranged for a live class session:

[pic]

The Teaching PC, Classroom/projector PC, and projector can be set up concurrently.

The Teaching PC has a tablet display with pen, keyboard and mouse that are kept in the bottom right side of the podium. Set the display and pen on the podium top, right side and the keyboard and mouse on the fold-down shelf. The Class PC has a display on the left under the hinged podium-top. If the display remains dark, check the projector VGA video switch in the podium right.

Reboot both PCs before the 4:30 class. If necessary, log on the Teaching computer as administrator to get the shutdown options.

Teaching computer

After reboot, log on as Faculty with the appropriate password. The desktop for user Faculty looks like this:

[pic]

Log on to the Distance Education website as PROF, enter the appropriate password, select the course for the current session and click Log in:

[pic]

Download the already-prepared whiteboard slides by selecting in the right-hand column Uploads/Downloads, Download Slides, whiteboard

[pic]

Choose the whiteboard slides file (usually the highest numbered file), when in doubt, go back a step and check Course Records, View Course Status for the current session.

[pic]

Save the file to C:\Program Files\New\Slides\ [Course ###] (verify this).

Then go back in the web browser and choose Live Class Connection: Teach with Recorder

[pic]

The NEW clients start up and fill the screen:

[pic]

Near the bottom left, in the NEW Floor Control panel, click the pink Request Floor button:

[pic]

The PROF indicator turns red and the pink Request Floor button turns into a blue Release Floor button.

Just above the Floor Control on the left of the screen, in the NEW RC box, press the Play/Record button.

[pic]

Then in the Whiteboard, at the bottom right (and just to the right of the Play button), click Import Slide.

Navigate to C:\Program Files\NEW\Slides\ [Course ###] and open the downloaded .zip file (course ###-#-##.zip).

[pic]

The .zip file will unzip into a subdirectory of the same name (without the zip extension).

Navigate into the directory (this should be automatic), select the first slide, and open it.

[pic]

Once the slide has opened and appeared on the Whiteboard, Press the Pause button in the

NEW RC (record control). Subsequent slides in the directory are loaded with Import Next. Use Go To Page, Prev Page, or Next Page to navigate already-loaded slides. Use Import Slide to load a fresh copy of a slide or a slide from another directory (this updates the pointer for Import Next).

[pic]

Replace the microphone battery. (It may be necessary to set up the Class PC before doing the sound test.) In the NEW Speak Freely box, (if it is sending, click Stop, then) click Sound Test.

(Note: the tablet display causes a hum in the mic transmitter’s signal if they are too close together.)

[pic]

Adjust the audio mixer controls in the left side of the podium: turn the leftmost knob up to the pointer sticker for the sound test. (Turn it back down to zero when done.)

[include photo of standard knob settings ?]

Speak softly or blow onto the mic and listen for the playback. Troubleshoot as required. When the test is successful, click Send.

[pic] [pic]

Proceed with setup of the class machine, and deliver the mic to the instructor upon arrival.

Class machine setup

After reboot, log on the Class machine as Faculty (or st1126fac) with the appropriate password. Open up Internet Explorer and log on to the Distance Education website as CLASS for the current session:

[pic]

On the control menu page, select Live Class connection, Teach with monitor projector and video (the longest one).

[pic]

Set the PC camera on the podium and aim it to where the teacher will be. Set it far back to encompass more space in the field of view. (Some teachers may spend most of the time not at the podium, so the camera should include central stage area for them.)

The NEW clients will open and the whiteboard should display the slide broadcast from the teaching machine.

[pic]

Bring the Whiteboard to the front and move the mouse down to the bottom right out of the way.

[pic]

Turn on the projector.

Press the ON and Laptop (PC) buttons.

[pic]

Make sure the projector illuminates the screen. (Check the projector VGA video switch in podium right if necessary.) Return to the lab and monitor the live class.

Monitor live class

Back at the lab, open the web browser and log on to the Distance Education server, e.g. , as support (with appropriate password) and for the live class (NET sections are the highest numbered sections).

[pic]

To monitor live, select Live Class Connection, Student connect with video

(Optional: open a second Internet Explorer window to the controls page, and select Communication, Chat room.)

[pic]

The objective is to produce a good broadcast and recording. As long as the equipment and network are working and the teacher is working (talking), the session will be audible. Things to listen and watch for are: the sound stops or is badly distorted (disconnection, mic problems or battery, or mid-class break), the PROF or CLASS indicators turn gray (disconnection), or other problems.

If a problem occurs, send to all a message and go over the the classroom to troubleshoot.

Troubleshooting and backup plans

A backup laptop is usually kept in the metal cabinet. The key on the cell phone opens it. In case of failure of the Teaching Machine, connect the laptop to the wires inside the podium left upper section and switch the video switch in the podium middle right section. Set up the laptop and choose (Teach with recorder and monitor projector…)

Phone support

Support requests from students seem to be mainly for software installation or configuration help, or for an account or password change. For the latter, instruct the student to log on to the Distance Education Server, e.g. disted1.ite.gmu.edu, and log on without the password, providing username, class, and clicking [Request NEW password] instead of [Log on>>].

Other technical issues require familiarity with the software, networking or the operating system. Refer to the FAQs page on netlab.gmu.edu under Distance Education or NEW. As you work with the software, you will develop an understanding that will help with some of the issues. If you cannot help, take notes and send a detailed description by e-mail to disted@netlab.gmu.edu with a CC to the student.

If Netlab staff is available, you might transfer the call to them for a more immediate solution.

After last class

Turn off the projector.

Stop the recorder and close NEW by clicking on the ‘×’ on the record control. (If there is anyone on-line, you can Send to All a message that the session has ended. Close down NEW by clicking ‘×’ on the master client at the top left of the screen.

On the desktop, find the RESEQ-GUI.bat shortcut (top center here) and start it.

[pic]

The Resequencer dialog box appears. Change the Message/Segment setting to zero. Click Browse to navigate to each of the files. (There may be multiple input files.)

Here is a sample, but you will have to make changes for new files as described following.

[pic]

Input files are named according to the start time of the recorder and the date-timestamp on the file corresponds to the finish time for that segment. Choose input files, in order, according to start time for the duration of the class. (Exclude any recordings that you know are not part of that particular class, as for short few-minute recordings that might occur during a failed setup when you have to restart. You can tell by file name, timestamp and size.) The input files are in C:\Program Files\NEW\Recordings (or Recordings-IN). Filter the files by entering a partial filename, according to date, like this example for October 6:

[pic]

Change over to details to see the sizes and timestamps.

Load in each piece until all of the recordings during that class session are loaded in order (excluding bad fragments).

Browse for the cover slide that corresponds to the class recordings to be resequenced.

For the output file, you may filter the C:\Program Files\NEW\Recordings using the first part of the course name (unless it is the first class session to be reseqenced). Open the old file to accept the name—temporarily, and in the Resequencer, adjust the name for the

new session, e.g. load CS123-4-05.nwr and rename it in the resequencer to [full path\] CS123-4-06.nwr.

Repeat for other pieces of recordings

[pic]

Check the Resequencer window (Change the Message/Segment setting to zero), and then

click Run Resequence.

There will be a black Java cmd window appear giving details. It will say the resequencing is complete and then give a few more message lines indicating the filenames written and other details.

Repeat the resequencing for the other classes to be done.

Upload the resequenced files

Log on as support (or support2) to the Distance Education server, disted1.ite.gmu.edu, choosing the course for the recording to be uploaded. Under Uploads/Downloads, Submit Recordings, choose original.

[pic]

On the next screen, Browse to the file(s) that have been resequenced and load a file.

Choose the session with the dropdown menu. (If it is for an unscheduled class, save it to the session for the most recent (past) calendar date before the class was held and include that information in the comment. Save scheduled sessions to the corresponding date.) Comment as appropriate if any. Then click Upload File. The server checks that the recording is named for the class (chosen at logon to the website) and that it has the correct extension. If you are uploading a file that has the same name as a file already stored on the server, it will prompt for confirmation of overwrite—this should be done only in cases for correction, it should never happen for a new recording.

[pic]

After the upload is complete, go back to the menu page and Check Status.

(If you have uploaded it to wrong date, or had other problems, send a message to the administrators, disted@netlab.gmu.edu indicating the details of the error.)

Repeat the web logon and upload the remaining recordings to be done.

Equipment takedown and storage

Turn off the projector if it is still on.

Log off but don’t shut down the Class machine. Turn off the monitor, put the camera into the podium left. Put the keyboard into the podium (in front of the monitor on its front edge so none of the keys are pressed). Put the mouse in too.

Log off but don’t shut down the Teaching machine. Turn off the tablet display, put the microphone into the zipper bag and into the podium near the video switch. Put the display into the bottom right with the adjustable ‘foot’ on the bottom and the bottom of the screen up with the cables coming out the front. Put the mouse, keyboard and tablet pen into the cabinet too.

Close the tops of the podium and the left door. Move all the cables so the hang down over the bottom shelf. Latch the left door at the bottom. (If the door is not latched, it is possible to open the podium even though it is padlocked.) Close the right door and lock the podium shut, setting the lock combination to all zeros. Turn off the lights and check the door(s) upon departure to make sure everything is secure.

Check the back door to make sure it is locked. (If either door is not locked and you can’t lock it, call the GMU police non-emergency number to report that the room is unlocked.)

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download