How to Session for VSPN CE

VIN Tech Support:

email support@vin.com
1-800-846-0028 (US) or 530-756-4881 (outside US) ext. 127 (Wally)
Debbie's AIM = DBVSPN
Nanette's AIM = NanetteVSPN
Chris U's AIM = ChrisVSPN
Charlotte's AIM = CharVSPN
Darci's AIM = DarciVSPN

*AIM is AOL's instant messenger service, it's free and the information is in the course area message boards *Course Communications folder.

Good Evening everyone! Thanks for coming to the How To session! Welcome to VIN's Unity Conference Room Area. During this session we will be showing you how to use the course area and this classroom to help you get the most out of this class.

You may also review this script and print it out by going to the course area message boards: Select the *Course Communications folder Click FIND ALL The hotlinks are listed in the "About this Folder" thread or you may select the thread titled "Course Emails & Resources" and find the link to this script titled "How to Session Transcript."

At this time, I would like for you to "maximize" your screen. I am going to send the slideshow we will be using this evening.

Slide 1: Welcome! You are viewing VSPN's Presenter for displaying slide shows and graphics during Unity sessions.

Slide 2: Private Chat If at any time you seem to be having problems in this session, you can "Talk in Private" (private chat) with a course assistant. Click on one of our names in bold/black letters at the top of the class list on the right side of the classroom and select 'talk in private.'
Do NOT click on any names in blue. A blue name indicates an instructor and s/he/they are unavailable to private chat during class.

Slide 3: Private Chat Minimized If you see the words PRIVATE CHAT blinking on the top bar of your classroom window, you have someone sending you a private message.
If the PRIVATE CHAT window (small private message window) is not showing on your screen, click once on the words PRIVATE CHAT on the top bar to bring that window forward.

Slide 4: Profile Another feature of the Class List is the PROFILE selection. Click on your name in the column on the right to see a drop down list; then click PROFILE. From this profile you can check the information we have on file for you. If it needs correcting, please email Lori@vspn.org with any updates! Please also make sure to let Lori know which VSPN CE course you are enrolled in so she can make sure we have the updated information for the course.
NOTE: Do not update your information via MyVSPN once the course area has opened (MyVSPN tab is on the top left side of the main page of VSPN). We will not be notified that you have updated using MyVSPN. This can affect your course emails and certificates not being sent to the correct address. Please DO use MyVSPN when you aren't taking a CE course to update any of your information on file. Thanks!!

Slide 5: Do NOT Click on This Be aware that during any interactive session a blue URL hyperlink will appear in the classroom for each slide prompt. Please do NOT click on the blue URL hyperlink in the classroom during the session. Some key features of instructor-classroom interaction (e.g., a pointer) will not be available to you. Once we post the transcript of the session in the course area library you may click on the hyperlink to view the slides in a new browser window.
Should the instructor also have audio portions during the real time session we will let you know in the course announcements for that session. Just turn on your speakers or turn up your volume control if advised to do so.

Following are some illustrations and instructions on maximizing your screen in case you had difficulties doing this.

Slide 6: Screen Minimized At the top of your VIN Unity Blue window you should see three small square buttons in either the left or right corners.

Slide 7: Screen Maximized PC Users: your three buttons are in the upper right corner. To MINIMIZE the Window, click on the first button with the "_". The third button has an "X" on the red button. To LOG OUT of (leave) your session, you will click on the "X" when you want to leave the classroom.

To RESIZE: Look at the middle button in the top right corner. It should have a single square or two overlapping squares on it. To MAXIMIZE Click on the middle button to take it to an overlapping square (if it is a single square, click on it once to change it to the overlapping squares). Your window will be maximized when the middle button has the overlapping squares in it.

Slide 8: Mac Screen MAC users: your buttons are in color at the upper left corner. The red button has an X when you scroll over it and will close the window. The yellow button has a - when you scroll over it and will minimize the window (send it down to the tool bar). The green button has a + and will fill the window to the size of your screen. and you will not have the option to minimize. The next 2 slides will demonstrate this.

Slide 9: Drag Green Button This slide shows dragging the green button to maximize.

Slide 10: Unity Maximized on Mac This slide demonstrates how a Mac user screen will look maximized.

MAC users: Please use the green button with the + to maximize your window now. Now you can make the classroom whatever size you like. You can resize any of the features within Unity except the Presenter.

A few more comments about our conferencing system: The VIN Unity Conferencing System uses Macromedia Flash Player to run. If you get a pop up to update that flash player when you access VSPN chats or VSPN CE classes, it's ok to update. To check to see if you have the most updated version you can also go to: http://www.macromedia.com/downloads/

If your computer sees a lot of Internet traffic (emails, web-surfing, etc.) it is imperative that you get used to dumping/deleting your temporary internet files, offline content, and cookies prior to coming to each real time session. Instructions on how to do this are in the Participant Resources Center. http://www.vin.com/CE/Public/Vspn/ParticipantVspn.htm

Slide 11: Help Button In this classroom you will find the ?HELP file button at the top right corner of your Unity screen.

Slide 12: Unity Help Select HELP GUIDE from the drop down to review the several tabbed sections which briefly cover several areas of the Unity system; This guide should answer most of your questions about Unity. You can access the ?HELP topics any time you are in the Conference Room Area!

If you find that your conferencing room screen freezes at any time: Slide 13: F-5 Key For PCs: click F5 on your computer keypad to refresh your screen.

Slide 14: Apple- R For Mac's: do a force quit to leave the classroom and then reenter or use Apple-R.

Take a look at the VIN Unity Conference Room Area now: I would like to point out the parts of the room that you are seeing.

Slide 15: Unity Conference Room The entire VIN Conferencing Room window is the large blue area. Think of it like a big blue placemat on your computer screen. You have one or more white boxes sitting inside of that blue area.
Most of the Windows you will be using such as the classroom, polls, Presenter, and private messages will be placed INSIDE the VIN Unity Conference Room Area Window.

Slide 16: Resize Windows in Unity Windows or boxes within the Unity blue area Window (the conference room, private message screens, polls, and so on) can be resized by using the triangle of dots in the lower right corner of each box.
Windows within the Conference Room Area can also be moved around by left clicking and holding down the mouse button on the title bar, then dragging and dropping it where you want it (dropping = letting up on the mouse button).

Slide 17: Conference Room in Navigation Bar For PC users: Look for the words "CONFERENCE ROOM" at the top of the Unity Window on the line to the far left of the ?HELP button. Just below that will be your classroom window with the words "Conference Room VSPN".

Slide 18: Conference Room on Mac For Mac users: You will see CONFERENCE ROOM written in black and below that, within an orange banner, you should see the name of the conference room (i.e. Conference Room VSPNCE).

Slide 19: Presenter Minimized The title bar line, where you see the words CONFERENCE ROOM, will also list the titles for any other Windows you might have open during your session such as Presenter, private message, or a poll. The red arrow on this slide shows Presenter is minimized to the title bar. Click on the word "Presenter" to bring Presenter forward to view it. You can do the same with any window that is minimized to the title bar.

POLLING

Slide 20: Poll If a POLL question is sent, the word "POLL" will appear and you will see a pop up Poll Box with the question and answer selections in it.

Slide 21: Select Answer on Poll Select your answer to the poll and send it as illustrated on this slide.

Slide 22: Poll Window Results Once you send your poll answer the words "POLL RESULTS" and a bar graph showing the class answers will appear on your screen. This box will remain until the majority of the class has answered. Timing will vary based on the question and ability of the class to answer it. The words "POLL RESULTS" will also be on the title bar line.

Slide 23: Poll Results in Classroom As soon as the moderator sends the tallied poll results into the classroom, the "POLL RESULTS" box will disappear from your screen and you'll be able to view those results as they feed into the classroom screen.

The CLASSROOM:

Slide 24: Classroom The Classroom Window is the main, mostly white item on your blue Unity placemat and has four sections.

The black arrow points to the title bar where you see the name of the classroom (i.e. VSPNCE) If your Classroom title bar isn't orange (as shown here), then the classroom isn't active (in focus).
The red arrow points to the Classroom text area where you are reading this text.
The orange arrow points to the list of users currently in the room on the right side of the window. The instructor is listed in bold BLUE. The moderators and course assistants or VSPN staff are in bold BLACK.
The green arrow points to the Text Box at the bottom of the window with a "SEND" button on the far right of the Text Box.

Slide 25: Window Not Active (in focus) Making a window active (in focus): Click the title bar of the window to change the title bar to orange, and click anywhere outside that window to change the title bar to blue. The example shown here is the Classroom window.

Slide 26: Scroll Bar- Active Window Once activated, your window will have the orange title bar and then you can use the scroll bar on the right side of the classroom window to review the text that has scrolled off the top of your display window. To return to the currently scrolling text, drag the scroll bar down to the bottom of the column.
An active title bar (orange) is needed to type in a response, select a poll response, type in a private chat, or use any other window in Unity.

CLASSROOM PROTOCOLS:
Please note the icon located at the bottom left corner of your classroom window. This will let you know if the classroom is in moderation or not so you will know what protocol to use.
Slide 27: Class Mode The !/? symbol indicates moderation is OFF, Type a ! or ? in the pale yellow text box at the bottom of the classroom and click SEND. ! is for a comment and ? is for a question. These symbols indicate you are raising your hand. Type in your question/comment and WAIT for the instructor to give you the go ahead (GA) before pressing SEND. You can read more about "Netiquette" in the ?HELP GUIDE above.

Slide 28: Moderated Mode If the "M" symbol is displayed moderation is ON. During the majority of the class time, the classroom will be "moderated." This is a way to limit interruptions while the instructor is lecturing. You may at anytime type your full comment or question in the text box and click SEND; no ! or ? is needed, just type in your comment/question. All entries go directly to the "QUESTION SCREENER - QS." During Moderation, your name and your question will not show in the classroom, but the instructors and moderators will be able to review them in the QS.

Slide 29: Moderation Message When you send your comment/question to Question Screener you will receive the following message (in green): "The room has been moderated; your comment has been received by the room moderators and will be logged for credit and/or inclusion in the ongoing dialogue at an appropriate point in the discussion."
In Question Screener, the moderators and/or instructor(s) will select and respond to questions and send them into the conference room. If your question or comment is not selected, you will still get credit for valid, professional questions/comments that are submitted even if they are not used. In many sessions, the instructor can receive anywhere from 150-300 questions per session. Please keep this in mind if your question is not answered.

PRESENTER:
We will now cover some specifics on the Presenter. This feature is used to view the slide shows some instructors use to augment their real time sessions. Each slide will be sent to the Presenter by the instructor or moderator at the time it is to be discussed.

Slide 30: Captions On/Captions Off Slides with Captions: Please note the buttons at the bottom of the Presenter window. Clicking "CAPTIONS ON" will show the slide captions within the Presenter.

Clicking "CAPTIONS OFF" will turn the slide captions off.

Slide 31: Caption in Classroom If there are captions, they will automatically feed into the classroom window and become a part of the transcript. If a caption is long on the slide, you may use the scroll bar on the right of the screen to read the text. Not all slides will have captions.

Slide 32: Resize Presenter You can resize the Presenter window the same way you resize any other Unity window. Move your cursor to the dots in the lower right hand corner, when the arrow changes to a double headed arrow, click and drag the window to the size you prefer.

Slide 33: Presenter Menu You may view a larger version of the slide by doing one of the following.

Click anywhere on the slide and it will open a larger view in a new window.
Click on the menu button within Presenter and click on Open New Window.

Other features of Presenter: These features are best used when viewing slides after class. Print the slideshow from the menu list. Currently this feature will only print all slides. If you wish to print one slide at a time, you will need to access the Menu from the Presenter link in the library.

Zoom in and Adjust Image instructions can be found in the FAQ's.
Copy URL copies the link to the clipboard on your computer. Add to MyStuff puts the link to the slide in your MyVSPN. Please see FAQ's for more information on MyStuff.

Slide 34: Advance Slide Arrows The instructor will send the appropriate slide into the classroom for you to view during the lecture.

You can advance the slides and view others by clicking the arrows below the picture to view within your presenter. This does not disturb the rest of the class. If you happen to navigate to a different slide during class click Return to view the class slide currently being shown.

Slide 35: Menu On You may also use the Menu On feature to go to another slide. The orange dot indicates which slide the instructor is currently on. A green check indicates the slide has been sent into the classroom by the instructor. A "T" next to a slide indicates a caption (or text).

The instructor can position one or more of three arrows (white, green, and black) to illustrate points or locate features on the slides. These arrows are not available on an enlarged slide in a separate browser window or on a presenter launched from clicking on the blue URL in the classroom window.

If you enter the session after it has started or re-enter the room after leaving it, the Presenter will be automatically available and the current "Class Slide" will be displayed.

Slide 36: iSpring Powerpoint Should the instructor want to show slides with motion in them you will notice a few extra buttons on the Presenter Window. There will be an indication of how many steps are in each slide. The moderator or instructor will also advance the steps during the class. You can advance the steps on YOUR Presenter by using the Continue or Restart buttons at anytime; however, you may miss important information if it's during the lecture. We will also let you know if you need your speakers on to hear audio. We will also let you know if you need your speakers on to hear audio.

Review these now by clicking on the step buttons to advance through the 4 steps of slide 36

Slide 37: Video The instructor can also show videos within Presenter. Here is a sample of a video within Presenter. This video has sound, so please make sure your speakers are on. Please click on the arrow to start playing the video. Some videos may take longer to play, depending on your internet connection speed. We have found that most dial up connections work well with the videos. Contact the course assistants if you have any issues.

Slide 38: Participant Resources For all VSPN CE courses: Please check the Participant Resources Center for any questions you may have such as participation requirements, clearing temporary files and pop-up blockers. Here is the link for that area: http://www.vin.com/CE/Public/Vspn/ParticipantVspn.htm

ALWAYS - Be sure to come to the course area home page first; the screen should say "Welcome YOUR NAME to THIS CLASS" Use the course area message boards for reading and posting discussions for this class; the course area library to find course materials such as the handouts, HW quizzes, final exam, course end evaluation, etc.; and the classroom (where we are now) to attend the weekly sessions.

Slide 39: Current Classes: Login Here This slide shows how to find the link to enter your course area from the VSPN CE page.

Slide 40: CE Main Course Page This slide shows an example of the top of a course area page.

MESSAGE BOARDS: These are a required component for this class - don't forget them! If your questions require a detailed answer, you want to expand on a topic, or the instructors aren't able to answer your question during the RT session, please post it in the appropriate course message board folder.

READING means that you open each message board discussion thread/topic and READ it as if it were a textbook or handout. The reading requirement is to read 50% of all posted discussion threads by the end of the course. It is best if you plan to check for any new postings (FIND NEW) every day or two.

Slide 41: Message Boards The first time you go to the message boards, click FIND ALL (red arrow) and read ALL of the messages posted in every folder.

Every time thereafter, click FIND NEW (green arrow) to find the new posts, open and read each one. Please refer to the FAQs on message boards if you need more help at http://www.vspn.org/FAQ

For POSTING to the message boards: To reply to a discussion thread you want to post additional comments in PLEASE use the REPLY button at the end of a discussion.
Slide 42: "Reply To" Button "Use this button to reply to a discussion that has already been started."

NOTE: there are other ways to get 'post' credits (answer a poll or ask questions in the real time sessions or take a HW quiz) Slide 43: Post New

Slide 44: Posting a Message To start a new discussion thread topic that has not already been started PLEASE use the POST NEW button at the top right of a discussion or below the navigation panel on the main message boards page. When posting a NEW topic make sure you select the correct Message Board Folder AND create a new subject heading. Please title your discussion thread subject using words to identify (in 2 or 3 words) what your discussion question or comment is about.

A GOOD example of a new discussion post is:

Message board folder selected: Questions about Homework or the Final
Your new discussion title: Wk 1 HW #6
Then the body of your discussion (message you enter) would ask your question or state your comment about question # 6 from the Week 1 homework.

A BAD example of a new discussion post is:

Message board folder selected: Questions about Homework or the Final
Your new discussion title: I don't understand what this means.

Remember, if you need help PLEASE ASK US email vspnce@vspn.org or CALL 800-846-0028 (US) or 530-756-4881 (outside the US) and ask for Nanette, Charlotte, Chris or Wally. If you do not contact us we assume you are doing fine!

PLEASE review the participation requirements for this class. These are in the Course Confirmation email we sent you, a link to a generic example is found in the *Course Communications folder, and this information will be repeated in the announcements at the beginning of the first real time session.

Slide 45: Library Link Please make sure you have checked out the course area library and the course area message boards. The course area library is where you will find all of your course handouts, homework, homework keys, final, slideshow link and the course evaluation.

If you haven't already done so... please visit the course message boards and introduce yourself.
To Introduce Yourself: Go to the main page of the course area Click on the message board link at the top

Select the *Introduce Yourself folder Click FIND ALL.
Check to see if someone from your state/province, etc has already posted.
If your state/province is listed, reply to that post and add your introduction.
If your state/province is not listed, post a new message using the posting instructions above. (i.e. subject title is "Alaska" if you are from Alaska).

I encourage you to explore the course area as well as regular VSPN. VSPN is set up similarly to VSPN CE and includes a library of resources. Weekly chats and rounds (free) can be found at http://www.vspn.org/Rounds The VSPN message boards are a great way to continue interacting with the VSPN community worldwide after this class is over!

Just remember.... When you are doing things for this class to get credit: you MUST be in this course area FIRST to access the course main page, classroom, message boards, and library specific to this course.

Slide 46: Thank you for choosing VSPN CE!