Web Conferencing
For live, real-time classroom discussions over the Web, we use Wimba's Live Classroom. It is a separate tool from the Blackboard site where your course materials are, and from the Voice Tools voice boards where you record your homework for your instructor or classmates to listen to later. This Web conferencing environment is at http://hebrewcollege.horizonlive.com.
It requires a separate login, which we configure so that you can use the username and password we created for you at the start of the semester. (This is slightly different from Wimba Voice Tools where you record your homework, which asks for your e-mail and password.)
Below, you'll find instructions on
- Setting up your computer before your first meeting.
- What to do before every meeting.
- Logging in and out of meetings.
- Etiquette and tools for participating in class discussions through Horizon.
- How to use your microphone to speak in class.
- What to do if you have trouble hearing a classmate.
- How to get technical help.
- Connecting using your phone line.
- Using text chat.
- How to avoid interrupting active discussions.
Before your first meeting, run the configuration test
First of all, your computer must comply with the technical requirements listed at http://www.hebrewcollege.edu/html/hc_online/techreq.htm. Please check these requirements.
You run specific configuration tests
- During Orientation. The complete configuration test for your computer is called "Is My Computer Ready for Launch?" If you have any questions, please see the recommendations in the Technical Information segment of this Web site, or use the HCO help desk system by clicking the Help! button in your course.
- At the start of every semester. To make sure you have the most recent version of the program, go to the Live Classroom login page (the link is provided in each Hebrew course and in emails announcing other Live Classroom events). Before logging in, or if prompted at any time, find, on the right side of the screen, the link: Click here to run the Setup Wizard before entering for the first time. Click the link and follow the instructions.
- Sometimes there is an upgrade during the semester and you will be prompted to run the wizard again. This is one reason it is always a good idea to log in 5 minutes before class to make sure you are ready by the time the discussion begins.
Here are some important notes on running the wizard:
- Give it a lot of time to load the Audio player before clicking on "Start" or deciding to click "No." Similarly, when testing your microphone, you'll have to wait until the entire recorded message completes before beginning your test of your microphone. If you try to speak before the voice is finished playing back, it will not work and you will think that you failed the wizard.
- You must have administrative privileges on your machine. If you don't, you may not be able to download this component; you'll need your administrator to log in and run the wizard for you. They will only need to do this once and click "Always" to trust the Java applet. They will not need to do this again for you to continue participating every week.
- If you have problems (Windows OS), click on Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings and then uncheck the "Automatically Detect Settings" checkbox. This setting has sometimes caused problems.
- Norton AntiVirus and a firewall are fine to leave on as you use the program. However, if you have Norton Security, please turn it off—the more robust Security features sometimes interfere with the audio program's ability to load.
- Live Classroom, a Wimba product, may need permission to access the Internet: if your firewall queries about anything named "Horizon" or beginning with "hz" when you try to log in or run the wizard, that is a component that needs to access the Internet. For example, your firewall needs to allow the program horizonmedia.exe. (After a merger, Wimba was named Horizon Wimba for several years.)
Immediately before logging in to each discussion
- To avoid delays in communication, close all other programs so nothing else is running. It's especially important to close:
- Programs such as Outlook Express or Outlook that may interrupt the conference (this can affect your sound reception or even crash you out of the meeting).
- Programs that require a lot of processing capacity—for example, Office applications like Word or Excel, graphics programs, or any program that has multiple files open.
- If possible, restart your computer. Close anything that opens as part of startup besides the Web browser you'll use for the meeting; again, it may interfere with your audio processing.
Logging in and out of meetings
- Return to the Live Classroom login screen and click "Participant Login." Hebrew College Online will have created an account for you with the same username and password you use for Blackboard.
- It can take a few minutes for all the elements to load. Once they do, look for the text link to the appropriate class meeting. If you do not see an appropriate room, check with your instructor or the Help Desk (it is possible to contact Live Classroom help directly, 24 x 7). It may not be the scheduled time. (Most likely, the links will appear if you wait another moment. The list of classrooms is often the last screen element to load.)
- When you want to leave, click the Exit link. Just closing the window will not log out all the way off.
Etiquette and tools for participating in class discussions
- Make sure your headset and microphone are connected correctly.
- It is key to allow the instructor to moderate the conversation. Especially since there is often a delay of a few seconds between when someone speaks and the audio reaches others, the instructor may decide to address questions to specific students. Other students need to wait as the student responds and the instructor moves to call on another student. Your instructor will explain how he or she plans to facilitate. Be sure to follow instructions.
- You can indicate that you have a question or would like to speak. Use the class list area of the screen.
- To "raise your hand," click on the hand icon with the question mark on it.
- This will change the hand icon to
and add a number next to your name indicating that your hand is raised so the teacher can recognize you. (The number shows the order in which students have raised their hands so the instructor can respond to each in turn.) - To "yield the floor" to others click, on the hand icon again. It will revert the icon back to its original state.
- The instructor can also ask yes or no questions. To respond, you simply click the Yes or No button, and a check mark for yes or an X mark for no appears in the column by your name. The instructor can see everyone's responses at a glance.
- If you use the raise your hand or yes or no buttons, it is important to click them again to remove them once you have spoken or the instructor has acknowledged your answers, so that your old responses or requests do not interfere with the class conversation as it moves on.
Before you move on, please take one last look at the illustration that shows the area where logged in class members are listed. Note that there is a "header row" in white between the buttons and the class list (circled in red in this picture). This header contains pictures of a check, an X, a hand, a person speaking, and a cartoon bubble. These are just labels; only the buttons are interactive. You will find that when you click the hand button, your name will get a number in the column below the hand picture. (This can sometimes be a source of confusion, since the pictures look like the button icons.)
To speak
- An audio controls bar loads when you enter the meeting. It has a Talk button on it. The button is gray, indicating that your microphone is muted.
- Click and hold the Talk button with your mouse, or else hold down the "Control" key on your keyboard, to unmute your microphone and talk. When you do this, the button turns orange. Release it when you are done, and it will revert to gray.
- Remember that there is a few seconds' delay between when you speak and when others hear you.
If you have trouble hearing a classmate
When any of us talk in Horizon, we cannot hear ourselves as our fellow students are hearing us. When someone is difficult to hear, please let that person know and explain what the problem sounds like, so he or she can make the adjustment that will make them come across audibly and clearly. Below are some common problems and their causes.
- If someone's voice sounds distorted, ask him or her to move the microphone farther away from the mouth. Your microphone should be somewhat close to your mouth so that you are audible; if it*'s too close, though, your voice will begin distorting and sound very crackly.
- If you hear gaps or skips in another student's statements, the problem may be on your end or theirs, or both. Check your own setup and also ask the other student to:
- Make sure all other programs are turned off so nothing else is taking up computer memory or Internet connection bandwidth. Check for programs that start automatically at start-up and turn them off.
- Check the Internet connection. Especially if on a network, such as at work, firewalls or networking configuration may be slowing the connection.
- Speak more slowly and take pauses between every couple of sentences, so as not to overload the computer's ability to process the sound.
- If there's an echo, ask the other student to make sure to use a headset and turn off any speakers. If the student is on a headset, its volume may be too high—the microphone may be picking up sound from the headphones.
Getting technical help
If you are having trouble setting up or logging into a meeting:
- Make sure that you have no other programs running and that your computer, or any other computer using your Internet connection, is not connecting to the Internet for any other reasons. Web conferencing requires a great deal of computer memory and connection bandwidth, and if you are allowing other operations to continue at the same time it will impact not only your experience but your classmates' experience. Please be sure to follow the instructions above about what to do immediately before logging in. Also, make sure that you have given the program at least several minutes to fully load.
- As a temporary measure, you may use the phone alternative, described below.
- For Live Classroom, if you have any problems, you should contact the HorizonWimba company's help desk immediately.
-
Via Web resource center at www.horizonwimba.com/technicalsupport.
Including their Technical Knowledge Base, contact with them via Live Chat, and Submit a Ticket tool for getting help directly from the company. - Via email: technicalsupport at horizonwimba.com
- Via toll-free phone:
866-350-4978
They are available 24/7 and will be able to troubleshoot with you until you find the problem.
-
Via Web resource center at www.horizonwimba.com/technicalsupport.
Connecting using your phone line
If your audio is not working properly, you may access the session using a phone number and PIN after logging into the conference Web site and the correct room.
- Click on the phone image to the right of your talk button (circled in red in the illustration below). This will show you a phone number and PIN to join the current conversation.
- Leave your computer logged in, but use the phone to join if you can't get your audio to work through your computer sound system. The PIN changes every time and is created when you log in, so you need to log into the meeting to get the PIN to join by phone.
Text chat
To the bottom left of the Live Classroom window is a text chat function, including a menu for choosing recipients, a blank line for typing messages, and a window above where message text appears after being sent.
We do not use this in the Hebrew classes, but it can be useful if you are having a technical problem, for example, you are talking and no one seems to hear you. However, it is best to contact the Hebrew College Online Help Desk immediately if you are having a problem.
Rooms may be in use
Please remember that Horizon is a live meeting environment. Once you have login instructions, you may log into the "lobby" to test your computer and make sure you can see the correct link for your class. However, to avoid interrupting discussions that may be going on, please do not click into any "rooms" unless you have a meeting scheduled.
