TechInfo

eLearning (WebCT)Accessing the SUNY Cortland eLearning EnvironmentMany courses at SUNY Cortland use the eLearning Environment, previously called WebCT. With an upgrade in spring 2007 the campus has moved to Blackboard/WebCT 6.0 and with this a new name, SUNY Cortland eLearning. So please, as this transition takes place consider WebCT, Blackboard/WebCT 6 and SUNY eLearning all equal terms.eLearning website: http://www.cortland.edu/elearning/eLearning Log In: http://webct6.cortland.edu/webct/

Accessing the SUNY Cortland eLearning Environment

The attached document will help you log in the first time and make sure your personal computer station is ready to have full usage of tools inside of the Blackboard/WebCT program. In addition this document contains IMPORTANT information on initial MY Settings tools that must be completed correctly to enable you to have access to your online room if you forget you password at any time.

Download the PDF here: WebCT 6.0 Login

Registration –An online form will be available at the Cortland iTunesU website http://www.cortland.edu/itunesu , where instructors can request course space in iTunesU.  Instructors will need to provide their course name, course number, and CRN from Banner.  After this information has been submitted to the iTunesU administration, training must be scheduled before the course space will be created.Until the online form is made available, iTunesU course requests should be made directly to the Technology Trainer (Tera Doty-Blance – dotyblancet@cortland.edu , 753-4056)Training –Instructors will be required to participate in two workshops, one on course management and one on podcast production, before the creation of their course space in iTunesU.  The first workshop, on managing the course space will provide information on logging into the system, how and what sections of the course interface to edit, managing the student drop box, student versus instructor interfaces, proper file naming schemes and file management.  The second workshop will cover podcast production on either the mac or pc platform, using Garageband, iMovie and/or Camtasia Studio.  This production workshop will provide instruction in use of the software as well as additional hardware and file storage considerations.  Student podcast production considerations and support will also be discussed.Support –Instructors can request in class presentations on Garageband, iMovie or Camtasia Studio by the Technology Trainer (Tera Doty-Blance) or the Multimedia Production specialist (Dawn VanHall).  Such requests and scheduling will be made through the Coordinator of Instruction Librarian (Daniel Harms – 753-4042)Instructors are requested to provide information on student podcast assignments, such as scope of project, required elements, due date, etc, to the Coordinator of Instruction.  This is for the purpose of coordinating support and equipment availability.Equipment –Multimedia production and recording equipment is available at the circulation desk in the Memorial Library.  External Hard drives, Digital Video Cameras, Digital Still Cameras, TuneTalk Microphones and iPods are available for loan and use outside the library. USB Microphones are available for in house use only.  The two multimedia rooms in the library are available for 3 hour periods and each contain a production level Mac and PC and software.

Scanning Pictures in the Learning Commons:

1. Log into a computer with a scanner attached.
2. Double click the “HP Solution Center” icon.
3. Open the scanner and place your picture on the glass plate face-down.
4. Once the program opens, click on “Scan Picture” in the column of buttons on the left.
5. The computer normally saves your file to the Scans folder on the desktop. If you wish to save it on the U: drive or a flash drive, click on the “Save to File Save Options…” Select the drive and folder where you wish to save it from the list, and click “OK”.
6. Click “Scan.”
7. Wait for the scanner to warm up.
8. A rectangle with dotted lines will appear on the page. Use the mouse to move it until it covers only the area you wish to scan.
9. Click on “Accept.”
10. After the scan is complete, you will be asked whether you want to scan more pictures. Select “Yes” or “No.”
11. Close HP Solution Center.
12. Open My Computers, and check to make sure that your file is in the place you sent it. Files are saved under a name starting with “scan”, such as scan0001.jpg.

You’re done!

Some Mac users have been experiencing problems when they create media content (podcasts, vodcasts and videos) and attempt to work with those files while they are stored in their Network storage space. The files will typically become corrupt and will either be partially or totally unplayable, causing the creator to have to scrap them and start all over. The problem is probably a result of insufficient transfer rate (or volume) from the network storage. Some media applications, like Final Cut Pro for example, suggest that you never work with media files from network storage. You may have successfully worked on a file in your Network space, but as that file grows in complexity, chances are, you are going to eventually have a problem.There is a simple work around to avoid any problems. If you are working in a public Mac lab, when you first create your file, save it to the Storage container. Continue working on the file on that local partition. (The Storage container is a local drive or drive partition and will be able to safely handle the transfer rate of the software.) You may safely overwrite the file any time you make a modification to it. At the end of your session, quit the application, then drag a copy of your media file(s) to your network storage. If you are leaving the lab for the day, be a good Public Lab Citizen and delete your project files from the Storage drive. (It will only take a few minutes or seconds to copy it back when you return and you’re freeing up valuable space for others to use.) The next time you log in, your file will be safely stored on your network drive. Copy the file back to the Storage container of the workstation you are logged into and open the local copy to make your modifications. When you are finished, copy your saved local copy from the Storage container back to your Network space, overwriting your original if you wish. If you follow this workflow, you will not have difficulty with corrupted files.

Some WebCT users (PC users) have reported problems related to an update of Java. All of the campus public Mac labs are updated to Java 2 Standard Edition, Release 5. Our WebCT administrator expects that there may be a new release offered in the near future and recommends that Mac users who utilize WebCT should delay updating Java until WebCT has corrected the issues with the new release. That patch is expected shortly. We will thoroughly test any new Java releases for the Mac to verify any potential issues and report our results here. In the meantime, the currently available release of Java for the Mac is compatible with WebCT.

Users of the MultiMedia Computer Labs in the Library have been experiencing an error message when they attempt to select, Export Podcast to Disk… from the Share menu. In most instances, the error message does not occur on the first attempt to export. But, it will occur with any subsequent attempt to export or overwrite the podcast. This error is repeatable and appears to be unrelated to the location that the user is attempting to export to. We have not discovered any knowledge base documentation relating to this issue and have opened a posting in response.There are a couple of ways to work around this problem. Perhaps the easiest is to select the command, Send Podcast to iTunes, under the Share menu. This will create the same .m4a file that the export function would create and places it in your Music folder. The path to the file is User Home Directory/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/. An easier way to locate the file is to do a Spotlight search. Click on the blue magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of the menu bar. In the search field, type the name of your podcast file. It will appear in a list that you can open. After locating the file, you should be able to drag it to any location you choose.Remember, when you log out of the computer, your home directory will be deleted along with any files you’ve stored there. So, it’s important to either burn a disk copy of your file, or put a copy on the Storage drive.We will track any updates on this problem and report them here after we’ve verified their accuracy. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this issue.Macintosh Technical Support Staff