FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions, and their answers)
Gradebook and quiz/exam questions
Discussion forum questions
I (or others in my classroom) use a Macintosh. What special issues do I need to consider?
How do I contact eCollege Technical Support? Does eCollege have built-in Help?
For technical issues involving the eCollege software platform, you may call eCollege 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via email at helpdesk@laureate.ecollege.com or at 1-800-254-9660. If you are unable to access toll-free numbers, please dial them directly at 303-873-0005.
Both instructors and students also have online assistance available in every eCollege course. Simple click on the ?Help button at the top right of any eCollege screen (you may need to scroll up in a screen to see it). Depending upon your role in a course, you will see either the instructor-oriented Help pages or the student-oriented Help pages when you click the ?Help button.
Please note that the instructor-oriented ?Help pages may be downloaded and printed, if you like. To print the pages click the Getting Started tab in the Help pages' Navigation Tree and then click on Downloadable Help.
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eCollege is acting strangely- how do I clear the cache in my Web browser?
Over time eCollege can sometimes have conflicts with the cache of temporary Internet files stored by your Web browser. Therefore, if something unusual happens while using eCollege, here's how to clear the cache in your browser:
Internet Explorer 5 or 6 for Windows:
- Open Internet Explorer. Click on the "Tools" menu and select "Internet Options". A new window should appear.
- Within the "Temporary Internet Files" section of this new window (on the "General" tab), click on the button that says "Delete Files."
- Check the box next to "Delete all offline content", then click the "OK" button (the operation may take several minutes to complete.)
- Once the Delete Files operation has completed, quit Internet Explorer and restart it again.
Internet Explorer 7 for Windows:
- Open Internet Explorer. From the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options...", then choose the "General" tab.
- Under "Browsing history", click "Delete...".
- Next to "Temporary Internet Files", click "Delete files...".
- Check the box next to "Delete all offline content", then click the "OK" button (the operation may take several minutes to complete.)
- Once the Delete Files operation has completed, quit Internet Explorer and restart it again.
Internet Explorer 8 for Windows:
- Open Internet Explorer. From the "Safety" menu, click "Delete Browsing History..."
(Or, from the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options...", then choose the "General" tab. Under "Browsing history", click "Delete...".)
- Next to "Temporary Internet Files" be sure the box is checked.
- If you have saved eCollege as a favorite, be sure to un-check the "Preserve Favorites website data".
- You will probably want to un-check "Cookies", and can un-check anything else you don't want to delete, too.
- Click the "Delete" button (the operation may take several minutes to complete.)
- Once the Delete Files operation has completed, quit Internet Explorer and restart it again.
Tip: Here is how to adjust your Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8 settings to automatically clear the cache whenever you close Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8:
Go to the "Tools" menu, and click "Internet Options". Click the "Advanced" tab. In the "Settings" box, scroll down to the section labeled "Security," and click to check the box next to the "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed" option. Click "OK" to finish. This option does not delete cookies, but it will clear your cache of other files when you close Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8.
Netscape 7.x for Windows or Macintosh:
- Click on the "Edit" menu (on Mac, click the "Netscape" menu) and choose "Preferences"
- Click the arrow next to "Advanced", then click on "Cache"
- Click the "Clear Cache" button
- Once the Clear Cache operation has completed, quit Netscape and restart it again.
Firefox for Windows:
- Click on the "Tools" menu and choose "Options"
- Click on the "Privacy" category, then next to Cache (or Private Data) click the "Clear" (or "Clear Now") button. Then click OK.
- Quit Firefox and restart it again.
Firefox for Macintosh:
- Click on the "Firefox" menu and choose "Preferences"
- Click on the "Privacy" category, then next to Cache (or Private Data) click the "Clear" (or "Clear Now") button. Then close the window.
- Quit Firefox and restart it again.
Internet Explorer for Macintosh: Note- no longer allowed by eCollege, as of 8/2006
- Click on Internet Explorer's "Explorer" menu and choose "Preferences"
- Once in the Preferences area, under "Web Browser" (you may have to click on the little triangle) click on the word "Advanced"
- Under "Cache" click the "Empty Now" button
- Quit Internet Explorer and restart it again.
Safari for Macintosh:
- Click on the "Safari" menu and choose "Empty cache..."
- Click Empty in the dialogue box.
- Quit Safari and restart it again.
Once your browser is back up and running, try accessing eCollege again and see if it helps. Sometimes restarting your computer after clearing the cache helps as well.
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What
are the minimum user system/software requirements to teach online?
eCollege provides a list of Technical Requirements at http://laureate.ecollege.com/index.learn?action=technical , including all currently supported Web browsers. We also recommend the following:
- Word processor, Microsoft
Word recommended;
50 Mbytes of free hard
disk space;
Monitor capable of
displaying 800 X 600 or higher;
56 Kbps or faster
modem, DSL/Cable or direct connection strongly recommended
- Adobe
Acrobat Reader installed
See the Macintosh
FAQ below for Macintosh system/software requirements.
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Can I use Windows Vista and/or Internet Explorer 7 or 8?
The simple answer for students is "yes".
For faculty members, Vista (which must use Internet Explorer 7 or 8) users can do almost everything in eCollege- the only significant feature that won't work on Vista is eCollege's built-in Visual Editor, which allows instructors to more easily edit content in the author view of the Announcements area, Instructor item and many other areas of eCollege.
Instead, for Vista-using instructors those areas must be edited with HTML code. For instructors this is explained within their Workshop or Orientation classroom, where they will see a link to this tutorial: How Windows Vista/Internet Explorer 7 & 8, Macintosh and other browser users can format text in eCollege.
We eventually plan to upgrade to the .NeXT version of eCollege that has a Visual Editor compatible with Vista, Macs and other browsers, but we do not yet know when that will happen.
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In what time zone is eCollege set?
eCollege is set to Mountain Time (they are based in Colorado), which is an hour earlier than Pacific Time- so posts and submitted assignments from your students on the West Coast will bear a time stamp an hour later than Pacific Time. Please consider allowing students that extra hour for any deadlines.
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How can I access two eCollege classrooms at the same time?
Once you are logged in to eCollege, the key is to right-click (Mac users, hold down the control key and click) on the classroom link on the eCollege Welcome page, then choose the option to open the classroom in a new browser window.
Once you have done that, then you can go back to the eCollege Welcome page's browser window and again right-click and open the other classroom in a new browser window (or you can even open the same classroom again, if you would like to view separate areas of the same classroom).
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Why am I receiving an error message?
Generally an error message is given when there is a configuration error on eCollege. Rather than trying to diagnose it yourself, it is best that you contact your Online Concierge. When you receive an error, here are some things to note:
- What is the URL (address) when the error is displayed?
- Is there an error number (many of them will be in the 400s)?
- Does the page finish loading, or does it seem to hang?
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Why
do I keep getting disconnected?
If you are using AOL as
your Internet service provider (ISP), you may get "timed out" of the system.
When AOL senses you are not actively using its interface, it will think you
meant to disconnect but didn't. Unfortunately, it doesn't recognize activity
in external browsers, so it may disconnect you. Typing in keyword "smile4u" used to disable AOL's automatic disconnect; however, this has been removed
from the AOL system. Right now, the best option is using the internal browser
to visit a site that continually updates, like cnn.com.
If you are not using AOL
and are having problems, first check to see if you are only getting disconnected
from your classes, or whether you are getting disconnected completely from
the Internet. If the former, contact eCollege Technical Support. For the latter,
you should contact technical support for your ISP to troubleshoot.
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I use AOL, and I am having problems with accessing
my course or course materials. What can I do?
AOL has an internal Web browser
that does not have the same capabilities as the recommended browsers, Internet
Explorer, Netscape, Firefox or Safari for Macintosh. Often problems with accessing course materials
can be most easily solved by using either of these separate browsers through
your AOL connection. Simply connect to the Internet using AOL as you normally
would, then hide or minimize the AOL software and launch either Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox or Safari for Mac. Access your classroom and you should then have complete access
to your course for as long as your AOL connection remains active.
If you are frequently disconnected
by AOL, please see our answer to Why do I keep getting
disconnected?
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I clicked on a link to a document and it didn't open for me. Why?
When you click on a link to a document in eCollege, the document usually opens in a new browser window.
However, if you had opened a previous document earlier but had not closed its browser window, when you click on other links to documents they will open in the same window in which the previous document was open.
If that previous window is behind another window, or has been minimized so it is in your task bar or dock, then you won't notice that the document has opened in that window.
To help with this, I recommend closing each document's browser window when you are done with it- that way when you click a different link to a document, it will open in a new browser window you can see.
Or, if you ever click on a document that does not appear to open, first click on the icons in your task bar or dock (usually along the bottom of your computer screen) and see if the document has opened in one of those windows.
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I clicked on a weekly unit or Module button and it didn't expand. What can I do?
We have contacted eCollege about fixing this problem, and have two workarounds for now:
1. If you exit eCollege and then log back in, the weeks usually work fine.
2. You can also click on the "View Checklist" hyperlink in the bottom right hand corner of the course page. This will bring up hyper-links for all of the content items for all weeks.
It also helps for clear the cache of your browser whenever eCollege acts strangely- please see eCollege is acting strangely- how do I clear the cache in my Web browser? for directions for clearing your browser's cache.
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How accurate are eCollege's User Activity statistics?
The Gradebook tool in the eCollege classroom contains a feature that will allow you to view some relative statistics about student activity within an online classroom.
User Activity updates each user's activity on a daily basis (reports are pulled at 11:59 pm Mountain Time for that particular day). For instance, if Student A entered the course on May 15, the amount of time spent in the course on May 15th will not be logged in the User Activity statistics until the following day, May 16, and so on.
These statistics should be used as indication or estimation of relative time spent in a course area, along with evidence of participation in discussion and assessments, to build a picture of student participation. This activity indicator is not an exact representation of the amount of time actually spent in a course area.
For example, students may access a course area only to open it. The statistics available to you through the eCollege User Activity area cannot confirm whether a student actually read documents in a given area. Also, some students prefer to access a specific course area and print out documents to be reviewed away from their computers. If a student logs in, prints an item and logs out of the course, this time will be documented as full minutes rather than in seconds. If a student takes 30 or 45 seconds to log in, print, then log out, eCollege will log this time as one minute of activity.
Another example would be clicking on a content item and leaving the course open to go do something else (such as answering the door) and then coming back. The User Activity feature will still log this time as "activity" even though the student did not read any materials. If a student clicks on any part of the course and then leaves for a lengthy amount of time, the system will automatically kick them out after 45 minutes due to inactivity, but will still record this amount of time in the User Activity feature.
On the other hand, if a student has not attended your course, or seems to be lagging far behind the others, you may want to use User Activity to give you an estimate of the relative time a student has spent online in a given course area or even to compare the relative time with that of other students. Remember this is an estimate only, and should be used to view the relative amount of time a student has spent in one course area vs. another.
The User Activity area presents information expressed in minutes and in hours spent in the course overall, or in specific weekly areas, or on specific dates during the course.
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How do I open attachments?
- The best way to view attachments is to first save them to your hard drive, then open the attachments from there. In Internet Explorer, you can save the file from the link to it by using the right mouse click and choose "Save Target As." In Netscape, Firefox or Safari for Macintosh, when you click on the link you will usually be prompted to open it or save it; choose the latter.
- If you are using Internet Explorer with Microsoft Office and are trying to view a PDF or Office document, the document will be displayed in the browser window if you click the link to it as if it were another HTML document. This is handy if you just want to view the document.
- For opening attachments on a Macintosh, see the Macintosh FAQ below.
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What
types of attachments should be used?
It is important when using
attachments, or assigning students to submit work through attachments, that
you can read what the students are submitting and they can read what you are
posting. Here are some document types you should use. If the attachments you
are planning to use are not on the list, be sure the software your students
will need is listed as a requirement for the class.
Accessibility (in order):
- HTML (Web page format)
- any Web browser can open
- RTF (Rich Text Format)
- needs any word processor
- PDF (Portable Document
Format) - needs free plug-in from Adobe, available at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
- Microsoft Office documents
- needs Microsoft Office 97 or later (98 or later for Macintosh)
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Why
is an attachment "unreadable?"
If you are having trouble
viewing a student's attachment, it is likely because you do not have the appropriate
software to view it. You should make sure the students are turning in work
in the suggested or required formats, e.g. .rtf or Microsoft Word's .doc. Your Online Concierge can also help, so please contact him or her.
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What are Microsoft Office .docx, .pptx, .ppsx and .xlsx files? How do I open or share with others .docx, .pptx, .ppsx and .xlsx files?
In 2007 Microsoft started releasing new versions of Office that save files in brand new Office formats, .docx, .pptx, .ppsx and .xlsx. However, older versions of Office can not open those types of files unless they upgrade (for free) their versions of Office 2000, Office XP or Office 2003. That free upgrade is explained below.
To ensure your Office 2007 or later files can be easily shared with others in your online classroom, for the time being please use the "File" menu, "Save as..." option to save your file as a "Word/Excel/PowerPoint 97-2003 Document". This applies to Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
If you have Office 2007 or later and would like to change the default format in which your version saves, then open your copy of Word, click on the "Office Button", choose "Save As", then "Tools" (Lower Right Corner), and in "Save Options" set the file format to ".doc". This will probably also work with PowerPoint and Excel.
If you receive a .docx, .pptx, .ppsx and .xlsx file and can not open it with your version of Office, you can ask the sender to use the "File" menu, "Save as..." option to save the file as a "Word/Excel/PowerPoint 97-2003 Document" that you can open.
If you have Windows and want to be able to open a .docx, .pptx, .ppsx or .xlsx file, Windows users can upgrade for free their versions of Office 2000, Office XP or Office 2003 so they can open, edit, create and/or save the new file types. That free "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats" upgrade is available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en
Mac users: Starting with Office 2008 for Mac, you can open and save files in the new .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .ppsx formats. If you have older versions of Office for Mac, Microsoft also has available for free the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, a software tool for converting .docx, .pptx and .ppsx files to formats you can open (requires Mac OS 10.4.9 or later).
If you have Apple's iWorks '08 or later, then you can open Word .doc and .docx files with with Pages, Excel .xls and .xlsx files with Numbers, and PowerPoint .ppt, .pps, .pptx and .ppsx files with Keynote. iWorks '06 can open .doc, .xls, .ppt and .pps files.
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I uploaded my syllabus into the MS Doc Syllabus upload tool and it is still converting after an hour. What can I do?
When MS Word files are uploaded using the MS Doc Syllabus upload tool, they go into an application queue that can sometimes be long enough to cause the conversion process to take several hours. Please allow a few more hours to see if the syllabus has been converted for you.
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How does eCollege Chat or ClassLive work?
eCollege includes two real-time communication tools: the Chat area and ClassLive. Both of these can be found by clicking on the Chat tab at the top of the classroom window.
The Chat Tool is a basic, real-time communication tool. The ClassLive tool includes the capabilities of a chat room, but has an additional whiteboard area with graphical tools that allow participants to write, illustrate, walk through problems, and perform several presentation tasks.
To learn more details about Chat and ClassLive, at the top of your eCollege classroom click on the Chat tab. For Chat help, click the ?Help button in the top right corner of the classroom. For help with ClassLive, click on the ClassLive button. On the next page that appears you will see a link to a ClassLive tutorial that will provide you with an overview of its capabilities.
See the Macintosh FAQ below for information about eCollege Chat and ClassLive on a Macintosh.
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How can my students see who their Group partners are?
eCollege does not provide a way for students to see who is in their group until every group member posts to their respective group's discussion. Therefore, after forming groups please be sure to post an announcement that includes the names in each group. This will alert students as to who else is in their group so they won’t have to wonder and wait.
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Gradebook and quiz/exam questions
My students can't see their quiz scores, only an asterisk- how do I make the quiz scores display automatically?
There are two settings that can affect when students can see their quiz scores in the Gradebook. Also, if there are short answer or essay questions, then you will need to manually grade and enter the points for those questions in the "Numeric grade" field in the Gradebook Details for each student.
Back to the two settings:
After a student has taken a quiz or exam, he or she then must go to the Gradebook to click on his or her score to see any feedback on their correct and incorrect answers- but that feedback is only available to students if the quiz's "Gradebook Review Date" has already passed. Thus, if your course includes quizzes or exams you'll need to reset the appropriate "Gradebook Review Date" for each of them. Here's how:
- This eCollege feature utilizes Web browser "pop-ups", so if you have pop-up blocker software or have turned off allowing pop-ups in your browser, you will need to reset it to allow pop-ups from eCollege.
- Click on the name of the content item for the quiz or exam (it should be in its respective weekly or unit area)
- Click on the "Author" tab just above the "Course Home" button
- Click the "Toolbox" button
- On the next screen click on the "Edit Schedule" link. The Scheduler will pop open.
- In the Scheduler window you will see a "Gradebook Review Date" date that is in the future, so you need to change it to one that has passed. Carefully change the "Gradebook Review Date" to any date that has already passed, such as 1/1/2005 (you may click the calendar icon to the right of it to help choose a date- just make sure it is a date that has already passed).
- Click the "Save Changes" button to save the Scheduler change you made. Then, click on the "Course" tab just above the "Course Home" button to verify the "Can be reviewed in Gradebook on" date is safely in the past (be sure to check the year, too).
Be sure to do the above with every quiz in your classroom!
It is important that setting the Gradebook Review Date for all quizzes be done as early as possible in a course, because scores may not display in the Gradebook retroactive to you resetting this option. Students who have already taken an exam before this setting has been changed may not see a numerical score for that exam even after you have checked this box. Instead they (and you) may see a blue asterisk in the Gradebook denoting that they have taken that exam. By clicking on the asterisk, you will be able to view the scoring breakdown for that assessment, then manually enter the points earned in the "Numeric grade" field (above the "Letter Grade" field).
The other setting mentioned above is the quiz' Grading options. Here's how to verify or change those settings:
- First click on the name of the quiz/exam you want to work on, then click on the Author tab.
- Click the Toolbox button.
- Under Grading Options if you want the quiz/exam score to be automatically added to the Gradebook, then you must check all three of these:
* Use Auto-Grading to score questions (except short answer and essay)
* Automatically display objective score of a finished exam to students in the Gradebook
* Display Auto-Grading Quick Summary to students upon submit
Your other grading option is "In the Gradebook, display the following to students:"
* Exam Grade Only
* Exam Grade and Questions without correct answers displayed
* Exam Grade and Questions with correct answers displayed
The only way to display specific and general explanations for a quiz is to also choose the "Exam Grade and Questions with correct answers displayed" option. If the exam doesn't have any explanations to display and/or you do not want students to be able to see the correct answers after they take a quiz, but would like them to be able to see which questions they answered incorrectly, then be sure to check the "Exam Grade and Questions without correct answers displayed" option.
If you choose the "Exam Grade Only" option then you will likely field requests from students asking which questions they answered incorrectly, so we do not recommend choosing that option.
Remember to always click the Save Changes button after making changes!
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How do I allow a student to re-take a quiz?
Occasionally, you may find that you need to either reset a quiz or self-assessment for a student or grant a student additional time to complete a quiz that is administered through the eCollege quiz/exam tool. You do this through the Gradebook
For example, if a student was in the process of taking an exam and his or her Internet connection was lost, the system would "think" that this student had already taken the exam and would, therefore, not let the student re-take the exam.
Depending on the individual situation, you can do one of two things. You can:
Reset the exam. Resetting an exam clears ALL saved information from the individual exam database and allows the user to begin the exam again, as if he or she had never taken it.
Grant additional time. This option simply allows the student to access the exam again for the amount of time you specify. Any information that was previously saved in the exam is still there. That is, the student starts the exam wherever he or she left off.
When a student has lost connectivity to the quiz or exam, you can open the Gradebook in the "View All" perspective and then click on the * item in the quiz column. To reset or grant additional exam time:
- In the Gradebook, click the individual’s score for a given exam (or the *). In the window that opens, you should see the following text to confirm the student's report that he/she was unable to complete the quiz or exam.
"This exam has not been submitted by the student. The student may be in the process of completing the exam or it was unsuccessfully submitted. The current answers can be cleared, if need be, by clicking the 'Clear Answers' button. If the student needs additional time to complete the exam, enter the number of minutes needed and then click 'Grant'.
- You can reset the exam (click Clear Answers) or grant the student additional time (enter any additional minutes you want to grant the student in the Grant XXX additional minutes field and then click Grant Add'l Time).
- From this window, you may also view a student's responses to individual quiz or exam questions, change quiz points earned question by question, or enter comments.
- Make sure you Save your changes!
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How do I award more points to a student's quiz?
Sometimes students will convince you they deserve points for a quiz question they answered incorrectly. Here is how to award a student more points on a quiz:
- In the Gradebook, click on the student's name. On the next screen click on the student's quiz score you want to update.
- A "Gradebook Detail" window will pop up. In that window, change the number of points earned in the "Numeric Grade" field. (Note: changing any number in the "Points Received" fields next to each quiz question will not change the grade)
- Click the "Save and Close" button. The points will be updated in the Gradebook.
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Why are my returned Dropbox items and grades not appearing in the Gradebook to my students?
In the eCollege Gradebook, grades inside brackets [ ] are not shared with the student.
Here is how to fix that:
1. Go into the Gradebook, then click on the student's name.
2. Next, scroll across the students' Gradebook scores and click on any score in brackets.
3. In the Gradebook Details window that pops up, click the "Save and Return to Student" button. That will cause the numeric Grade score to be visible and added into the Gradebook, as well as make any attachments you had returned also visible to the student.
4. Repeat the above steps for your other students.
To prevent the above in the future, when you grade your students work from within the Dropbox, click the "Save and Return to Student" button (instead of the "Save" button) so your grades and feedback are immediately available to your students.
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Discussion forum questions
Can I "quote" a message to which I am responding?
You can quote a message
you are responding to, but eCollege will not do it for you. You will need
to copy the text out of the message to which you are responding (which is
just above your Response box) and paste that text into your Response box. To differentiate
your response from the original message, add a carat > before the text you
are quoting, or quotation marks. Then space down a bit from the end of the
quote before starting your own reply message.
Keep in mind when a
student is reading a reply to a message thread, the original message will
always be displayed above, so it may not be necessary to quote the original.
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How do
I format text in eCollege discussion posts?
Currently, it is not possible to apply text formatting, such as italics or underlining, to any text in discussion posts (though eCollege is working on allowing this in the future). It is also not currently possible to use HTML code to format text in discussion posts- but you can make Web addresses in posts clickable by typing or pasting in their entire address, starting with http://
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How can I quickly find new posts in busy discussion forums?
As students post to forums it can be a challenge to quickly find and read new posts you have not yet read. eCollege's only indicator of whether a message is read or unread is the envelope icon to its left. A closed, yellow envelope is unread and an open, white envelope is read. This isn't much of a visual indicator, so here's a quick tip for finding and opening only new posts:
- Once you have entered the forum, click the sort by: "unread" link just above and to the right of the first post in the forum. This will sort the posts so only those marked as unread will be listed above all others.
- Now, click on each unread post (with a closed envelope icon to its left- but do not click on the envelope icons)- as you click each unread post, the post will seem to have disappeared, but rest assured it has only been opened for you lower on the page.
- After you have clicked all of the unread posts, click on the sort by: "response" link just above the first post in the forum.
- You will now see the usual, thread order view of the Discussion forum, and as you scroll down you will see open for you to read only the posts you had clicked in step 2 above.
- In this manner you can quickly read only those posts that were new since you last read the forum.
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I clicked on the "Expand All" mode in a busy discussion forum, but after clicking on "Respond", nothing happens. Why?
When the number of posts in a Discussion Topic is greater than 99, responding with all posts opened is not allowed by eCollege. Instead, you must use the "Collapse All" mode, then you can manually open as many posts as you want, and you will be able to use the "Respond" feature.
If the number of posts is less than 99, then you will be able to use "Expand All" and respond.
This is a known issue eCollege is still researching to try to fix.
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How can I allow my students to edit their own discussion posts?
To make the discussion responses editable in all of the discussion forums, do this:
- Click on the "Course Admin" tab at the top of the classroom
- Click on the "Preferences" button
- When the next page appears, scroll to the "Threaded Discussions" area and check the box next to "Make Thread Responses Editable".
- Then click on the Save Changes button
If you like, you can also make only individual discussion forum editable for your students- here's how:
- From the Author view, click on the appropriate weekly discussion link.
- In the main window of the discussion area, click on the Tool Box button
- When the next page appears, scroll to the preferences area and check the box next to "Make responses Editable".
- Then click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
However, please include somewhere in the discussion forum's description or directions that students are not allowed to edit their own posts in that forum- otherwise you and your Online Concierge will likely field questions from students about why they can not edit their posts in that forum.
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How do I delete a student's discussion post?
Only faculty members can delete posts in eCollege- the delete feature does not exist for students, so students may contact you and ask you to delete a post for them.
However, please note that deleting a post will also delete any responses to that post. Also, before you delete a post you may want to copy and paste its text into a word-processing document so you will have a record.
To delete a post, go to the post's discussion forum, then click the "Author" tab up next to the "Course" tab (you won’t see the "Author" tab in this classroom because you are enrolled in it as a student).
Next, click on the post you want to delete, and you will see a "Delete" link along its bottom edge. Click that "Delete" link to remove the post.
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I
(or others in my classroom) use a Macintosh. What special issues do I need to
consider?
Below is the
Macintosh FAQ to help both instructors and students with Mac-related
questions.
Macintosh
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions, and their answers)
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What
software do Macintosh users need to teach or take a class?
eCollege provides a list of Technical Requirements at http://laureate.ecollege.com/index.learn?action=technical , including all currently supported Web browsers. As of 8/2006 Internet Explorer for Macintosh is no longer supported by eCollege.
In addition to using Safari 1.2 or higher, Firefox 1.0 or higher (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/), or Netscape
4.0 to 4.7 or Netscape 7 (http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/archive.jsp),
Mac users will need the following:
- System 9.1
or later (OS X (10) recommended), PowerPC processor or later (G3 or higher
strongly recommended)
- Word processor,
Microsoft Word preferred (TextEdit with Mac OS X OK)
- 20 Mbytes
of free hard disk space
- Monitor capable
of displaying 800 X 600 or higher
- 56 Kbps
or faster modem, DSL/cable or direct connection
- It is also
recommended that you have Adobe Acrobat Reader
installed (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)
While Microsoft
Word is preferred because most Windows users have it, it is quite possible
to use Pages (the word processor in Apple's iWorks), ClarisWorks or AppleWorks instead, as long as your version can save
copies of your work in RTF or HTML format. To check this, launch your copy
of Pages, ClarisWorks or AppleWorks, create a word processing document, then click
the File menu and drag down to Save As.
Click and hold under the Save As or File Format button and notice the different
file formats available. If you can see RTF (it may say Rich Text Format) and
HTML (it may say WWW), then you can save documents in formats that others
in your classroom can read. Pages can also open and save Microsoft Word documents.
Clarisworks 3
does not offer HTML, while ClarisWorks 4.0 and later should save in both RTF
and HTML. AppleWorks 5 and later can save in RTF and HTML, and possibly
many other formats depending on your installation.
The AppleWorks
6.0.4 updater adds an RTF translator to AppleWorks 6.0. It's a 4.3 MB download,
and you can click here
to access it.
AppleWorks 6.0
users can also update to an even later version of AppleWorks, version 6.2.4,
by going to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120090
and choosing to download the North American updater. AppleWorks 6.2.4 includes
translators that can open Microsoft Word documents (.doc) and Excel spreadsheets
(.xls), as well as save in Word and Excel formats (but if your instructor
requires Microsoft Office, you still need access to Office). This 6.2.4 updater
is more than three times as large as the 6.0.4 updater above, so if you just
want to add the ability to save as RTF, you may want to use the link above
to the 6.0.4 updater to add only that translator.
The latest information
and support for Pages can be found at http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/; for ClarisWorks and AppleWorks, at http://www.apple.com/appleworks/
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Are there any issues with Macs and eCollege?
Mac users can do almost everything Windows users can do in eCollege. The only significant feature that won't work on a Mac is eCollege's built-in Visual Editor, which allows instructors to more easily edit content in the author view of the Announcements area, Instructor item and many other areas of eCollege.
Instead, for Mac-using instructors those areas must be edited with HTML code. For instructors this is explained within their Workshop or Orientation classroom, where they will see a link to this tutorial: How Windows Vista/Internet Explorer 7 & 8, Macintosh and other browser users can format text in eCollege.
We eventually plan to upgrade to the .NeXT version of eCollege that has a Visual Editor compatible with Macs and other browsers, but we do not yet know when that will happen.
Please see How does eCollege Chat and ClassLive work on a Macintosh? for details about those features.
If you haven't read it already, be sure to read the above eCollege is acting strangely- how do I clear the cache in my Web browser? for an explanation about the need to occasionally clear the cache in your browser when working with eCollege- you'll see steps for clearing the cache on three Mac browsers.
Safari users: Upon entering an eCollege classroom for the first time, the What's New feature may default to displaying all of the days since the start of that Term. Fortunately, once you exit the classroom via the Exit Course button in the bottom left corner of the classroom, the next time you enter the classroom it will default to "Today".
Mac Netscape and Safari users: Announcement titles and other headers on the Announcements page, and discussion posts, will be so tiny as to be difficult to read. You can increase the size of the text in Netscape's "View" menu, "Text Zoom" option. In Safari you can increase the size of text in Safari's "View" menu.
Mac Internet Explorer users: An exported eCollege Gradebook saved via Mac Internet Explorer does not save and display the information as well as when exported via Safari, Firefox or Netscape. So for exporting Gradebooks from eCollege, we recommend Safari, Firefox or Netscape for Mac users.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I am using Safari but the "Author" area will not work for me- why?
Safari 2.x does not currently allow authoring in classrooms, but Safari 3 or later for Macs does. Another option is to use a different browser, and we recommend Firefox, a free download at http://www.firefox.com .
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Can
I use Macintosh OS X?
Macintosh OS
X (10) is particularly well suited for online learning. Like Windows, OS X
uses file extensions to help keep track of which program to use when opening
a file. File extensions are also necessary when sharing files in an online
classroom or with Windows users. To learn more about file extensions please
see the item below, What do Macintosh users need to know about sharing files with Windows users?
OS X usually
comes set to hide the file extensions in the name of all files. However, to
make sure any file you share in an online classroom has the appropriate file
extension, it is recommended that OS X users change this default setting to
always show file extensions. You change this setting by clicking on the "Finder"
menu in the upper left and choosing "Preferences", then place a
check mark in the box next to "Always show file extensions". If
you don't want to always show the file extensions on your Mac, then prior
to sharing any file in an online classroom or via email, hold down the "Control"
key on your keyboard, click on the file you want to share, then choose "Get
Info". Next, click on the "General Information" menu, then
choose "Name and Extension" so you can uncheck the box next to "Hide
Extension".
In the "Get
Info" area of any file you can also use the "Open with application" option to tell your Mac what program to automatically use when opening any
file with that file extension.
OS X also includes
TextEdit, a free word processor that can save and open files in RTF (Rich
Text Format), the recommended format for sharing word processing documents
with Windows and other Macintosh users.
The RTF format
can save most common text formatting, such as bold, underlining, line spacing,
indents, text colors, and tabs. However, RTF does not support bullets or spreadsheet
tables. Also, inserted images and clipart will not display consistently in
others' word processors, and they can substantially inflate the size of a
document, so inserted images are not recommended when using TextEdit or RTF.
Also, please see the font answer below about recommended
fonts.
See How does eCollege Chat and ClassLive work on a Macintosh? below for details about using those features. Except the Visual Editor (as mentioned above), all other features of eCollege classrooms work well with Safari and the OS X versions of Firefox (http://www.firefox.com) and Netscape 7 (http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/archive72x.jsp).
See the answer
below about printing with Netscape 7.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Why
does Netscape 7 on Macintosh OS X only print the first page of a multi-page
document?
eCollege classrooms
are composed of frames, the most obvious ones being the left-side navigation
buttons frame and the main content area frame that takes up most of the window
to the right of the navigation buttons. Netscape 7 on Mac OS X defaults to
only recognizing the left-side navigation frame when it prints. That means
you only receive the navigation buttons and the first page across from them
when you try to print a multi-page document or screen.
However, there
are two easy ways around this so you can print an entire multi-page document
(or discussion forum) in Netscape 7. Here's how:
Option 1:
- Navigate
to the document or discussion forum you want to print.
- Position
the cursor anywhere in the document you want to print, then click and hold
down on the mouse button so a menu becomes visible near the cursor.
- One of the
menu options will be "This frame" with a small arrow. Choose "This
Frame" and in the next menu that automatically becomes visible, choose
from "Show Only This Frame", "Open Frame in New Tab"
or "Open Frame in New Window". Any one of these options will load
the frame with the document you want to print into its own browser or tab
window.
- Now you can
print the entire document, and you'll also save ink by not printing the
left-side navigation buttons.
- When you're
done printing, depending on which frame option you chose in step 3 above,
to return to the regular classroom view you can either click on Netscape's "Back" button, close the new tab window, or close the new browser
window.
Option 2:
- Select File
from the Menu
- Select Print
- Find the
menu for your printer that allows you to see the Print Frames options and
select 'Each frame separately'
[Back
to Mac FAQ Index]
How
do I open attachments on a Macintosh?
The best way
to view attachments is to first save them to your hard drive, then open the
attachments from there. In Netscape, Safari and Firefox when you click on a link to an attachment you will be
prompted to save it. Or, you can click and hold on the link (or hold down the control
key while clicking on the link) until a menu comes up. In that menu choose the option that allows you to save the file, e.g. "Save Link As..." (Firefox), "Download Linked File" (Safari) or "Save Link Target As..." (Netscape).
If you have Adobe's Acrobat Reader installed to view a PDF document in your classroom, you can go to http://www.adobe.com/search/main.html and do a search on the phrase "Mac OS to Display PDF Files" to learn how to configure your browser to open PDF files within your browser.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I
just downloaded a file and my Mac says it cannot find the application to read
it. What can I do?
To ensure that
all members of a class can read each other's work, RTF and HTML are the recommended
formats. Pages and some versions of ClarisWorks or AppleWorks come with translators
for other programs, so you may be able to translate the file if you drag and
drop the document onto your word processor's icon. If this doesn't open the file, you may have to open it from within your word processor. To do this, launch your word processor, then click on the File menu and drag down to Open. Locate the document you want to open in the window (you may have to click on the File Format button and change it to "All Available") and double-click on it.
Depending on
which version of Mac OS 8 or 9 you have on your Mac, you should have a control
panel either called "PC Exchange" or "File Exchange." You can use this to
set your Mac to automatically open RTF and other file formats in whichever
program you have. If you are using OS X, in the "Get Info" area
of any file you can use the "Open with application" option to tell
your Mac what program to automatically use when opening any file with that
file extension.
Apple's iWorks '08 or later can open Word .doc and .docx files with with Pages, Excel .xls and .xlsx files with Numbers, and PowerPoint .ppt, .pps, .pptx and .ppsx files with Keynote. iWorks '06 can open .doc, .xls, .ppt and .pps files.
For inexpensive
software that reads Microsoft Word or Excel files you may also be interested
in icWord at http://www.icword.com
or icExcel at http://www.icexcel.com.
Both have free, 30 day trial versions, too.
However, Mac
users who want to open almost any file format should purchase MacLinkPlus
by DataViz (http://www.dataviz.com).
Windows users may want to buy MacOpener (http://www.dataviz.com)
to open Macintosh files. A few years ago some Macintosh computers came with
MacLinkPlus already installed, so you may already have it. However, to keep
up with the latest file formats, you may want to buy the latest version.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
What
do Macintosh users need to know about sharing files with Windows users?
The biggest pitfall
for Macintosh users when transferring files for other computer platform users
is the use of file extensions. Unlike Macintosh, Windows systems use a three-character
extension to identify file types. When saving a file that you want to be easily
viewed on a Windows computer, you must manually type in the correct file extension.
Otherwise, Windows systems will not know how to open the file correctly and
will ask the user to choose an application to open the file.
For example,
a JPEG image called Picture should be named Picture.jpg so a Windows computer
will know the file is a JPEG image.
To ensure Windows computers will know how to handle your files, save the file
in a file format your recipients can read (RTF, HTML, JPEG, etc.). After you
have typed the name, add a period and the correct file extension.
Here are the Windows extensions for the most common file types:
| .doc and .docx |
Microsoft
Word documents |
| .htm |
HTML
documents |
| .txt |
Text
documents |
| .rtf |
Rich
Text Format documents |
| .gif |
GIF
images |
| .jpg |
JPEG
images
|
| .pdf |
Portable
Document Format (PDF) documents |
| .psd |
Photoshop
images |
| .cwk |
Clarisworks/Appleworks documents |
| .xls and .xlsx |
Microsoft
Excel spreadsheets |
| .ppt and .pptx |
Microsoft
PowerPoint presentations |
| .zip |
Zip
is a common file compression format used by Windows computers (see
below for details) |
| .pict |
The
image format in which Mac OS 8 or 9 screen shots are saved (see below
for details) |
| .ins |
Inspiration
files |
Some Mac versions
of Windows programs, such as Word 2001 and later, offer the option to "append file
extension" automatically to the file's name.
Please keep in
mind that simply adding a file extension to a file's name does not actually
change the type of file. For example, if you have an AppleWorks document called
Essay and you simply change the name to Essay.rtf, you have not actually changed
the file to an RTF document, and Windows users will not be able to see the
document correctly (unless they have AppleWorks). This mistake commonly happens
when saving documents in Rich Text Format. To
save a document in RTF, you must do two things:
- Select Rich
Text Format or RTF from the "Save As" type menu and save a copy
of the document.
- Append .rtf
to the name of the file.
To view and
hear a slideshow that explains how to save Microsoft Word files for sharing
in an online classroom, go to http://www.corchard.net/word/coslideshow.htm.
To see a similar
slideshow for AppleWorks users, go to http://www.corchard.net/aw/cofinal.htm.
If you would
like to learn more about cross-platform tips and tricks, please visit these
sites:
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/crossplatform/
http://www.macwindows.com/
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
How
do I name my documents so Windows users will see the same names?
When naming files
for Windows users to download, it is best to use the 8+3 naming convention.
That is, give your document a name that is one word or term 8 characters or
fewer, then type a period, and then add the three digit file extension. Some
characters are not allowed in file names on Windows computers, so when naming
files do not use spaces or the characters $ % ~ = / \ : * ? " < > | # ) '
Newer Windows
computers can have names much longer than the Mac's limit of 31 characters.
Therefore, Windows users should keep the Mac 31 character limit in mind when
they name files they want to share in their classrooms. Windows file names
that are longer than 31 characters will automatically get cut to 31 by the
Macintosh system.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
eCollege won't allow me to upload a file or claims the file name has illegal characters- what can I do?
One possible cause is "illegal" characters in the file name or folders in which the file is stored. To clarify, when you guide eCollege to upload a file, you are guiding it to a path on your computer. Macs allow characters in file, folder and hard drive names that are considered illegal on Windows computers (and eCollege follows those same limitations).
Illegal or troublesome characters on Windows are:
$ % ~ = / \ : * ? " < > | # ) '
eCollege will claim a file has illegal, odd or special characters in its name even if the illegal character is not in the file's name, but is in a folder or hard drive name instead.
So, you may need to check the names of the folders inside which the file resides (as well as the hard drive) and change any of the above characters in them. Then try to upload the file again.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I'm
saving my files correctly, but others can't open them. What can I do?
First, make
sure you've already read and understood the Macintosh FAQ item above, What
do Macintosh users need to know about sharing files with Windows users?
Sometimes Macintosh
programs will act strangely, crash, or save their files in ways that others
can not open them. The "preferences" file for that program becoming
corrupted most often causes this. You can fix many common problems with Macintosh
programs by recreating the problem program's preferences file.
For OS X: Please see "Preferential Treatment" at http://homepage.mac.com/jonn8/as/html/pt.html and/or the discussion at http://www.macintouch.com/panplist.html
For OS 9 or earlier: The first step
is to quit the program, then inside the "System Folder" open the "Preferences" folder. Most programs will have a preferences file named after the program,
and you can drag this file onto the desktop, then re-open the program and
let it create a new preferences file that will not be corrupted. If the problem
persists, you can return the suspect file to its original location, if desired.
If everything works fine and files you save can now be opened by others in
your online classroom, then drag the old preferences file you moved to your
desktop into the trash and empty the trash.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Can
I use all of my Macintosh fonts?
Any file type
that uses specific fonts (e.g. AppleWorks, Word, RTF, HTML) can cause problems
if viewed on a computer that does not have the same fonts installed-- and
common Mac fonts (Geneva, Palatino) may have no Windows equivalent (and vice-versa).
When possible,
use common cross-platform fonts that are likely to be installed on both Macs
and Windows computers. The following fonts are normally installed by default
on Macintosh and Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP:
- Arial
- Arial Black
- Courier New
- Times New
Roman
- Verdana
Macs and Windows
computers often display the same fonts at different sizes, making a readable
font on a Windows computer look tiny on a Mac, and what looks like a normal
font size on a Mac may look huge on a Windows computer. There is no easy fix
for this, though Web browsers often allow you to view HTML documents with
larger or smaller sizes (look under the View menu), and many word processors
allow you to zoom in or out on a document. Generally, 12 point size is easily
read on both Macs and Windows.
If you want to
guarantee the exact look of your formatting and fonts in a document shared
between Windows and Macintosh computers, use Adobe's PDF format. The Adobe
Acrobat Reader is available for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html,
though you have to pay for the Acrobat PDF writer. Mac OS X has the built-in ability to print any document as a PDF file instead of sending it to a printer- search your Mac's Help on the term "PDF" to learn how to save any document into PDF format.
Mac OS 9 users can also use
the inexpensive shareware program PrintToPDF (http://www.jwwalker.com/pages/pdf.html)
to create PDF documents.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Can
I email documents as attachments to others in my course?
Emailing attachments
between Macintosh and Windows computers can be a tricky business. Because
of differences in the way Macs, Windows, and email programs handle file attachments,
it often takes several attempts before the correct settings are determined
for both the sender and recipient. eCollege has made this much simpler with
the Dropbox feature in every classroom, and the E-mail tool can also send attachments. Therefore, we recommend both
instructors and students use either the Dropbox or eCollege E-Mail tools to
exchange documents, or if privacy is not an issue, attach their documents
in the course discussion forums.
To learn more
about emailing attachments with a Mac, you can visit http://www.macdisk.com/mcmailen.php3
.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
How
can I make sure Windows users can see images I have created on my Mac?
The most common
image formats are GIF and JPEG, and any Web browser can read these formats,
which are compressed to make them easier to download across the Internet.
If you want to share an image that is not yet in these formats, use a program
like Adobe Photoshop (or the much less expensive shareware program GraphicConverter
at http://www.lemkesoft.com/en/graphcon.htm)
to convert the image.
Macintosh OS
8 or 9 screen shots are saved in a Macintosh native image format called PICT,
and most Windows users can't open that format unless they have software that
can open PICT files, such as Adobe Photoshop or LViewPro (http://www.lview.com/).
Therefore, before sharing a screen shot you should convert it to a JPEG or
GIF, as explained in the paragraph above.
By the way, images
created on Macs often will look darker when viewed on Windows machines. It's
a good idea to lighten the degree of brightness (called the "gamma") of an
image created on a Mac so it won't look too dark on a Windows machine. Recent
versions of Photoshop and GraphicConverter offer the ability to reset the
gamma levels of an image for either platform.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I'm
getting an "Insufficient memory to open this program" message- what can I do?
With older Macintosh
operating systems prior to OS X a program may not have enough memory allocated
to open large or complicated files or Web sites. OS X will automatically allocate
memory as needed, but here's how to allocate more memory to a specific program
in OS 9 or earlier:
- Quit the
program, then find its icon on your computer. Be sure to find the actual
program, not an alias (the name of an alias will likely be in italics).
- Carefully
click only once on the icon to select it, then click on the File menu in
the upper left and choose "Get Info", then choose the memory submenu. Be
careful you only clicked once on the icon- if you clicked twice the program
will be open, and you can't change the memory of an open program.
- Increase
the number in the box that says "Preferred size". You may have to uncheck
the box next to "Locked" to change the number.
- Close the
info window, then launch the program. If you still run out of memory, you
can increase the "Preferred size" amount again by repeating these steps.
If this doesn't work, then you'll want to add more physical memory to your
Mac or try turning on or increasing "virtual memory". Virtual
memory is explained in your Mac's Help menu.
[Back
to Mac FAQ Index]
I entered my classroom, but I mostly see a blank screen (and maybe some tabs at the top). What can I do?
This occasionally
happens with Netscape 4. The quickest thing to do
when this happens is close the window with your classroom
and click on the "Go to Courses" button again (instructors may need
to log back into their classrooms). Upgrading to Netscape 7 should prevent this from happening again
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
How
does eCollege Chat and ClassLive work on a Macintosh?
eCollege includes two real-time communication tools: the Chat area and ClassLive. Both of these can be found by clicking on the Chat tab at the top of the classroom window.
The Chat Tool is a basic, real-time communication tool. The ClassLive tool includes the capabilities of a chat room, but has an additional whiteboard area with graphical tools that allow participants to write, illustrate, walk through problems, and perform several presentation tasks.
To learn more details about Chat and ClassLive, at the top of your eCollege classroom click on the Chat tab. For Chat help, click the ?Help button in the top right corner of the classroom. For help with ClassLive, click on the ClassLive button. On the next page that appears you will see a link to a ClassLive tutorial that will provide you with an overview of its capabilities. Also, within the Chat and ClassLive tools themselves are Help menus.
For Macintosh
OS X users:
Both the Chat and ClassLive tools work on Macs with Safari 2.x, Netscape 7.1, and Firefox 1.5 and later on OS 10.4.8 (and probably other Mac OS's and earlier versions of Safari and Firefox).
However, the menus within the Chat software are not available in Firefox, and in Safari and Netscape the menus for Chat are across the top of the computer screen, to the right of the browser's menus.
You can also use eCollege Chat and ClassLive with Netscape 7.0.2 in the Classic environment (explained in your Mac's Help files), though the menus within the Chat software will not be available.
When starting ClassLive you may be prompted to save and/or open a file, as well as trust a certificate. If the downloaded file does not open automatically, you may need to double-click on it after it is downloaded to your computer.
For
Macintosh OS 8 or 9 users:
Chat and ClassLive work in OS 9 (or Classic Mode) and Netscape 7.0.2, though the menus within the Chat software will not be available.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
What is the Zip compression format and how do I use it?
File compression
is used to share large files or package several files together into one file.
The most common file compression format on Windows computers is the Zip format.
Most Macs already have Aladdin's Stuffit Expander (http://www.stuffit.com/expander/),
which opens many types of compressed files, including Zip
When Mac users
compress large files or want to send several files together compressed as
one file, they commonly use the .sit (Stuffit) or .hqx (binhex) formats. Windows
users do not normally have the software to open Sit or .hqx files, however,
so Mac users are better off using the Zip format instead. Mac users can use
the shareware program ZipIt (http://www.maczipit.com/) to create Zip files.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I
saw an instruction that told me to "right click" on something. How do I do
this?
Mac users usually
have a mouse with only one button, so to "right click" requires they hold
down the control key on the keyboard while clicking the mouse. Some capabilities
(like saving a file in a browser window) are displayed when Mac users simply
click and hold down their mouse button for a few seconds and then choose from
the menu options that pop up. However, Mac users should know that simply holding
the left click button on a Windows machine will not prompt any menu options--
Windows users need to right click on their mouse.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I
saw an instruction that told me to use the "control key" on something, but it
didn't work properly on my Mac. Why not?
The control key
as used in Windows is the Apple or command key (they're the same key on a
Mac keyboard, next to the spacebar) on a Mac.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Are
there any differences in how course materials are displayed on a Mac and
Windows?
One of the options
instructors have when making course documents available is to make the documents
display within the browser's window. While this feature usually works on Windows
computers using Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word, RTF and Word .doc files
will not display within a browser window on a Macintosh. On a Mac, Safari, Firefox and Netscape require that the file be downloaded and opened separately
in a word processor, and Mac users may have to drag and drop the file onto
a word processor's icon to open it.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
I received a CD-ROM with videos that will not play on my Mac. What can I do?
An option that may work is to install either Windows Media Player 9 for the Mac or Flip4Mac's Windows Media Components for QuickTime, both available for free at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/flip4mac.mspx
Please note that even with either of the above the CD-ROM may not automatically run or play in the faceplate on your Mac. You may have to double-click the CD icon to open it and navigate through the folders (e.g. "Media" folders), then double-click the video files inside to view them using Windows Media player or QuickTime.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
When I try to login to my Personal Start Page, why do I get a message
that says, "The identity certificate uses an unknown signature algorithm"?
Note: As of 8/2006 Internet Explorer for Macintosh is no longer supported by eCollege.
Using an older
version of Internet Explorer and having the incorrect date and time set in
your Macintosh usually causes this. Either setting the date and time properly
with the "Date and Time" control panel, upgrading to Internet
Explorer 5 for Macintosh, or both should solve this problem.
If you would
like to read a complete explanation of what causes this message, see Article
106211 in Apple's Knowledge Base.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Why
can't others open Inspiration files I've submitted to their Dropboxes?
Note: As of 8/2006 Internet Explorer for Macintosh is no longer supported by eCollege.
Because of the
way eCollege handles Inspiration
files submitted with Internet Explorer, it is possible your Inspiration files
will not open easily on your students' (or faculty member's) Windows computer.
Therefore, please either use Safari, Firefox or Netscape 7.x when you submit an Inspiration document
to the Dropbox, or if you are using Internet Explorer, add a new MIME type
setting for Inspiration. Here's how:
1) In Internet
Explorer click the "Edit" menu (if you are using Mac OS X, click
the "Explorer" menu)
2) Select Preferences
3) On the left hand side, select "File Helpers" (it's in or under
"Receiving Files")
4) Click the "Add" button
5) In the Description field type "Inspiration"
6) In the extension field type ".ins"
7) In the "MIME type" field type "application/x-Inspiration" (don't type the quotation marks)
8) Click the "Browse" button under "File Type"
9) Browse to the Inspiration application on your computer and double-click
it
10) Next to "Encoding" select "Binary Data"
11) Click OK
Now you can submit
your Inspiration file to the Dropbox, though please make sure it has the ".ins" extension at the end of the file name.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
Where
can I get more help on a Macintosh-related question?
If you need help
with any Macintosh issue, please read your Mac's Help files in the Help menu- they are quite extensive and usually helpful. You may also contact Charlie
Orchard, and he will try to respond within 24 hours.
[Back to Mac FAQ Index]
End of FAQ
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