• Top Ten Most Common Multimedia Classroom Calls
• Top Four Most Common Blackboard Calls
   
• Report Phishing
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• Basic Training for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
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• FTIC

Helpful Information For The Classroom And BlackBoard

At the beginning of each semester the Information Technology Services Help Desk receives many calls about the functioning of the equipment in the classrooms as well as questions about educational tools such as Blackboard.  This newsletter addresses many of the most common questions that are received in an effort to improve the classroom experience on campus.  We always welcome your calls to the Help Desk!  The intent of providing this information is to help you get our class going faster; please continue to call x3005 when you need assistance.

Should you have additional questions that are not addressed here,  please forward them to our newsletter editor (Cathy Zehe czehe@jcu.edu) and we will make sure to include them in a future edition.

Top Ten Most Common Multimedia Classroom Calls
1.

Nothing will turn on.

  • Check that the power plug has not been kicked out or loose.
  • Check for power to the lectern.
    • The master power switch for the lectern is on the front of the lectern behind the double doors.  If it is off, turn it on.
  • The master power switch is on, but the touch panel is still black.
    • Have you touched the touch panel?  It is a resistive touch panel that will time out when not being used to save power.  Touching it wakes it up.
    • You have touched it and it is still black.  Is the unit on?  The stand up touch panels labeled Crestron and ELO have on/off buttons as well as menu buttons. The power button is typically a larger button with the universal symbol for on signified by a circle with a line.
  • If the above does not work, call x3005 for assistance.
2.
 I’ve touched the touch panel and nothing is working.
  • Do you see the menu on the touch panel?
    • NO, touch the middle of the screen.  If the buttons are still not visible, recycle the unit.
    • YES,  press the device button you want to use.  If the system is still not working, recycle the unit.
Recycle Instructions:  Press the SYSTEM OFF button in the upper right portion of the screen.  The system will begin shutting down. After the projector cools down (indicated on the touch panel), turn the system on by pressing the device button you want, i.e. pressing the PC button will turn on the projector, lower the projector screen, and display the PC image on the touch panel.

3.

The sound doesn’t work.

  • You are logged into the PC and you cannot hear sound from the PC.  Is the PC image displaying on the projector screen?
    • No, reselect the PC button.
    • Yes? Is the volume muted on the PC? (Click on the speaker icon in the PC bottom right corner.)
    • Is the volume control on the Touch panel muted (no red bar displaying)? Press the volume up button. (call x3005 for assistance if necessary) 
  • The sound doesn't’t work for the DVD or VCR.  Is the DVD disk being played from the PC or the DVD player?  If from the PC, see above; if from the DVD player use the controls on the Touch panel.
4.

The PC is not displaying on the touch panel.

  • Is the touch panel on?
    • No, see #2 above.
    • Yes? Touch the enter key on the keyboard and/or click the mouse. 
    • Is the PC displaying now?  Yes?  You are all set.  No?  Is the PC itself turned on?  No?  Turn it on.  Yes?  Call x3005.
5.

The document camera is not displaying.

  • Is the touch panel system on? 
    • No, select the Touch Panel option that says doc cam, the screen should come down and the doc cam should warm up and display. 
    • Yes? Is the document camera plugged in?  We have discovered that for some reason the document cameras are being unplugged.  Plug it back in.
  • Doc cam has power but still no display and you have selected the doc cam on the touch panel.  Call x3005.
6.

The DVD display from the DVD player is all fuzzy and has a bad picture.

  • Turn OFF the progressive scan button.
    • On most of the DVD players the progressive scan button lights blue when turned on. (This is on the actual DVD player behind the double doors.)
7.

I can not get the TV to play or it has poor reception. 

  • Some rooms have had the DVD players replaced due to damage.  The new units DO NOT HAVE TV TUNERS. 
    • If you NEED TV for class, contact x3005 to verify that the room has TV available.
  • The TV plays but is snowy. 
    • Call x3005 (Probably will NOT BE AN IMMEDIATE FIX.)
 
Classrooms with multiple PCs:
8.

Some of my students' monitors are dark.  The PC is on and we have turned on the monitor from the front power button. 

  • Most LCD displays have the front power button, but also have a master toggle power button on the side or back.  Turn that on.  The power is still off? 
    • Check to make sure that no one has unplugged the LCD monitor from the wall or the PC or from the monitor itself. 
    • Make sure that all cables are secure.
    • Call x3005.
9.

I can not log into the PC.

  • Did you forget your password? 
    • Yes?  Call x3005 for a reset.
    • No?  Check to see that you are using the correct case for the username and password and that the log in screen is offering the correct domain.
  • The case is correct and the domain is correct? 
    • Note the error message and call x3005.
10.
 There are other anomalies that can happen in the rooms.  If you find yourself in need of assistance, please call x3005. Calling any other number or sending an email will delay the repair of the room.   When you call, please stay on the line as in many cases a technician can assist you remotely.  If you do not stay on the line, a technician will need to be dispatched to your room.  It is MUCH faster for a technician to trouble shoot your problem remotely   as it does not require the delay of a trip across campus.  Please stay on the line! Your class will continue much faster.   Working together, we can provide more efficient service.


Top Four Most Common Blackboard Calls
1.

What should I do if I forget or would like to change my Blackboard password?

Passwords are no longer changed from within Blackboard. To change your Blackboard password, follow the same procedure used to change your JCU Network (CAMPUS) Account:

  • Log into a computer that is connected to the JCU network.
  • Press Ctrl-Alt-Del  keys simultaneously.
  • Select Change Password button.
  • In the Old Password field, enter your current password.
  • In the New Password field, enter your new password.
  • In the Confirm New Password field, reenter your new password.

Your new password will now be required to log you into Blackboard (and the JCU Network). If you have forgotten your password or have any other account-related questions, contact the Help Desk at x3005.
2.

My students occasionally experience problems uploading papers to SafeAssign (Blackboard's plagiarism detection service).

Blackboard will be updating the SafeAssign service on Saturday, September 27. This update will improve the system in a number of ways including:

  • Support for Microsoft Office 2007 (.docx) and OpenOffice (.odt) word processing documents
  • Stability enhancements
  • Bug fixes

In the meantime, here are some possible solutions/workarounds to the problem:

  • Word 2007 documents are not currently supported by SafeASsign. If your students are using Word 2007, simply have them save their documents as the older Word 97-03 format or as rtf. They can also easily set the default in Office 2007 to save as .doc and not .docx.
  • Papers uploaded from a network drive may result in an "invalid file location" error message. Have students upload their papers from the local machine or from a portable storage device.
  • Make sure that students have their browsers set to accept cookies from all domains.
  • If the problem persists, another option may be to have the student email you a copy of their paper (or submit it using the Digital Dropbox tool) so that you can then manually upload it using the SafeAssign's Direct Submit option.
3.

My students get a "Please enter a valid file" error message when trying to upload a paper to one of my Blackboard assignments.

  • This appears to be a problem with Firefox 3 for Windows. Ask the student to try uploading the paper again using Internet Explorer.

 
4.

I am teaching two sections of the same course. In Blackboard, is it possible to combine the students from these two sections into one course? This would make it much easier for me to communicate and share content with my students.

  • Yes. The Faculty Technology Innovation Center (x4930) can take care of this for you. Please note, however, that since these combined courses are created manually (i.e. not generated by Banner), you will have to manually populate them with the students from the different sections.

 

About the FTIC:

The Faculty Technology Innovation Center (FTIC) is a unit within the Information Services Department dedicated to the support and advancement of technology-enhanced teaching, learning, and research at John Carroll University. Equipped with the latest hardware and software resources, the FTIC strives to meet this objective through a combination of faculty research and multimedia development assistance, workshops, and application support.