This page provides details and instructions for using a variety of course related technologies and campus computing resources

1. Printing
2. Wimba
3. Roksworld
4. MyGateway and Campus E-Mail
5. Student Technology Guide (for information on accessing your campus email account, and for other information concerning the technology resources available to students at UM-St. Louis)
6. Minimum Technology Requirements (especially, but not just for online students) and a variety of useful technology tutorials.
7. Campus Computing Labs
   • Lab Locations: http://www.umsl.edu/technology/instructionalcomputing/locations.html
   • Lab Hours: http://www.umsl.edu/technology/instructionalcomputing/labhours.html

Printing: Please avoid printing this document and other course materials. All documents available online are meant to be used online are accessible from any internet location--save paper, save a tree.

Wimba: Wimba Live Classroom is an online, synchronous learning tool we will be using this semester. Wimba allows students to "attend" a live class via the Internet, and it also allows me to archive class sessions so that students can access and review the recordings. There is a short tutorial on using Wimba on the main Wimba page in the class MyGateway site and additional help at http://www.wimba.com/services/support/. You can contact Wimba Technical Support by phone (toll-free): 866.350.4978 or email: technicalsupport@wimba.com. And, see the Wimba Participant's Guide or click on the help ("?") icon once you have started up the Wimba program. For further assistance with Wimba, MyGateway and other online tools, see these tutorials (they "walk you through" using Wimba).

You'll find a link to Wimba on the navigation menu of our course MyGateway site. To attend a live course session, you will need a computer with Internet access, as well as speakers and a microphone (a headset works best). Be sure to run the "Set Up Wizard" to insure your computer is properly configured for the Wimba Live Classroom interface. To review archived class sessions, you'll just need speakers. Any student is invited to participate via the live class sessions (face-to-face or via WImba), and all students are expected to review recorded archives if they cannot attend a live class session.

Be sure to run the "set-up" wizard the first time you try to access the live class room or an archive to insure your computer is properly configured.

All class sessions will be broadcast live via Wimba. Login a bit early and insure your speakers and microphone are working properly.

Click on the "Wimba" link on the course navigation menu (left-hand column on main MyGateway class page) Click on the "Live Classroom" link. Click on the "Enter Room" button (you'll also see links for the "Setup Wizard" ). When you leave the archive, be sure to click the "Exit" link (located just above and to the right of the "people listing" and Prof. Keel's photo in the lower right-hand corner of the "Live Classroom" window).

To review archived class session, you'll just need speakers (headphones work best):

Click on the "Wimba" link on the course navigation menu (left-hand column on main MyGateway class page) Click on the "Live Classroom" link. (first item on the page) Scroll down the page--you'll find a list of archive class sessions under the heading: "Here is the list of the recorded archives for this room:"

Please Note:

1. You can download mp3 and mp4 files of the Wimba archives for playback on Ipods and home computers.
2. I CANNOT track these downloads or playbacks and therefore CANNOT assign attendance points for using these file formats (Soc. 1010 students--see the class syllabus for more details on attendance and participation expectations). HOWEVER, if you cannot access the online archives or cannot attend the live class, reviewing the MP3 or MP4 recordings will provide you with access to course content, AND you can earn additional engagement point by making additional contributions to the weekly class discussion forum (beyond what is expected for the course). See, the Online and In-Class Participation--Sign of Life (SOL) section in the course syllabus (accessible from the listing here) and contact Prof. Keel for details. Click on the blue arrow to the right of the archive name to "Enter" the archived recording. When you leave the archive, be sure to click the "Exit" link (located just above and to the right of the "people listing" and Prof. Keel's photo in the lower right-hand corner of the "Live Classroom" window).
3. Playbacks of archived sessions must be played back prior to the following class session or at least within seven days, if you don't want to be considered absent. For a class that meets at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, you need to have the archived reviewed by 9:30 AM on the following Tuesday. You also need to complete a full, 75 minute review.
4. Wimba tracks the length of your playback. Partial playbacks will receive partial credit. When you leave the archive, be sure to click the "Exit" link (located just above and to the right of the "people listing" and Prof. Keel's photo in the lower right-hand corner of the "Live Classroom" window). If your playbacks indicate excessively long (over 2 hours) connection times, you will not recieve attendance credit and we will contact you to discuss how you are using this important utility. Class attendance scores will be updated on a regular basis. If you note a discrepancy between your Wimba activity and your attendance score, you can contact Prof. Keel or the class TAs to discuss the problem.
5. If you have to pause a playback, note that the timer keeps on running--extended pauses will show too long a playback and you may not receive credit. If it happens once or twice, just let the TAs know. If it happens more frequently, you are going to need to find a way to focus on the archives and complete a normal review. You can stop (always stop then click "Exit") and restart archives to complete a playback. You can use the “Appshare markers" to navigate around in an archive, however you may get the audio and web page sharing out of synch—it usually clears up after a while—but pausing and restarting can sometimes help.  You can also open another browser window, navigate to the page we are discussing, and follow along on your own.
6. Any student is invited to participate via the live interface (all class sessions will use Wimba). All students are encouraged to use the recorded sessions in their studies for the course.  Students who fail to attend a live class session (for whatever reason) must use the archive feature of Wimba to receive credit for attendance.

There are so many variables that effect Wimba’s performance when playing back the archives and participating in the live class.  Internet clutter, your connection speed, the performance of your computer, etc.  Make sure you run the “Wizard” to insure your computer is up-to-date.  It’s also important to insure you aren’t running other programs and have a good, stable internet connection (use a wired connection if possible--wireless can be iffy).