User's Manual       

Main Menu. The Main Toolbar has several fast-access buttons for the most common options. Some of the buttons on the main toolbar might be disabled. It depends on your user status.

The Audio Panel has a “speak” button with a volume control slider. First you have to be given permission by the moderator. If you have a microphone access, click on the speak button and all the attendees will be able to hear you. If the Speak button is disabled it means that you do not have permission to use the microphone but just listen. Once you have been given 'speaking privileges', if you just wish to say something intermittently, hold down on the ctrl button as you speak and release it when you are finished talking. (If this doesn't work, then this feature hasn't been enabled. You need to go to the 'Audio' settings, and select that particular option in the 'Push to Talk' drop-down menu. Go to 'Echo Effect' to see how to do this.)

The Participants’ List holds all the attendees in the current session. The ones with dark font are the Moderators. They have full control over the virtual room and the users.

The Text Chat window holds the session instant messages. Just below it are the Navigation Bars. You can switch between 'Text Chat' and 'Session Notes and Questions'.

The White Board covers the greatest part of the window. All the slideshows, the drawings and images are displayed on it. It can be turned into a web browser as well as into a remote desktop viewer. The moderators control all these features.

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Moderators and Participants

The attendees in the virtual classroom sessions are divided into two groups:

They are called Moderators and Participants.

Both the moderators and the participants are users who attend the virtual sessions. The difference between then is in the permission they have over some operations.

The moderators (tutors):

- have full control over the classroom. 

- can promote an attendee to a moderator as well as demote the attendee back to a participant.

- can remove participants from the session.

- control the whiteboards; the microphones, the video cameras, run slide shows, guide participants to a web tour and initiate application sharing.

- can customize the room look for their own viewing. They can resize the different areas, switch to full-screen mode and change colors.

In other words – the moderators have full control over the classroom and the participants in it.

The participants (students):

- are users with fewer privileges.

- can view the white boards and the content being delivered by the moderators.

- can listen to the audio and watch the video streams.

- should ask for permission before he/she can access a room microphone.

- can freely use the text chat and when in a small group can take part in the session by raising hands.

- can customize the room look for their own viewing. They can resize the different areas, switch to full-screen mode and change colors.

(When attending a private virtual classroom (like the one set up for 'One-on-One Tutoring') each participant has a permanent private folder to store personal documents like homework, projects and notes. These private folders are accessible by the room moderators for review.)

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Using the Audio

Each virtual room is pre-set with a certain number of microphones, which can be used simultaneously. Our classrooms are set to accommodate a maximum of 5 talkers at one time.

All tutors are moderators and have microphone access as soon as they enter the room.

You need to have permission from the moderator to use the microphone. Once permission has been given, you can turn the Speaker On or Off  by clicking on the audio panel 'Speak' button:

Your speaker icon will then look like this:    This means that your microphone is turned on and ready to use.

Volume is adjusted by moving the slider in the 'Audio Control' panel.

 You can also toggle the microphone on and off by using F3. To talk intermittently, you have the option to hold down on the 'CTRL' button on your keyboard. The microphone will work with this key pressed down and stop when you release the key.

Moderators control the microphones and can give or deprive a microphone to anyone.

The participants initially have a listen-only access in the session. Each participant needs permission (or needs microphone access) to be able to speak.

To test your system to see if the audio is working properly you may follow the link below:

As well, if you are having trouble with the audio, you may try to configure your audio by using the settings in the drop-down 'Sub-menu' in the Main Menu Toolbar under Audio.

Things to try if audio isn't working:

1) Make sure your headset is connected properly with the right jack plugged into the right port on your computer. (Check the little pictures on the jacks.)

2) Try exiting the classroom and reconnecting.

3) If the above doesn't work, try rebooting your computer.

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White Boards

There are multiple unlimited white boards for public viewing. When given permission, users can display images, copy-and-paste screen shots, type, draw, and write on the whiteboards. You can toggle between the different whiteboards by clicking on the scroll down arrow.

There is a 'Drawing Toolbox' on the left side of the whiteboard. The features of this toolbox are described in more detail by clicking on the topic Drawing Tools.

Writing Permissions

The participants have view-only access over the white boards. You can only watch them and switch between boards. The moderator can give the student permission to mark on the white boards enabling you to draw, write, and use any of the 'Drawing Tools' on the white boards.

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Drawing Tools

Once you have been given permission, you can use the drawing tools.

Below is a list of the drawing tools along with instructions on how to use them:

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Session Recording

This section describes the session recording sessions.

eLecta Live virtual sessions can be recorded and later played back. The moderator controls the recording process. Only moderators are allowed to initiate a session recording.

When the moderator starts your recorder eLecta creates a robot-user. This user joins the virtual session and starts to record the activities. This user is not a human. This is a computer program, which resides on the server. This virtual user will not respond to any activity in the session. Though it appears as a regular user in the attendees list it is a “silent” robot, which will never “say a word”.

As soon as you stop the recording this virtual user will leave the session and a file with the recording will be available on the server.

When the session is over you will be given permission to view the recorded session.

Your recording will be published by First Class e-Learning Inc. The published recordings for the users/students are accessible from their personal menu group – Recorded
Sessions. NOTE: Only those users (students) given permission are able to view the recorded sessions.

To View a Recorded Session - Students go the 'Event Center' by logging on through the 'Member Logon' area. Look under 'Personal Menu'. Click on 'Recorded Sessions'. This will display the sessions that the student has been given permission to view. Select the session and click 'Play'.   (Helpful Tips to keep in mind when viewing 'Recorded Sessions')

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Online Polls - Answering

This section applies to session attendees. It explains how to take part in online polling. When the session leader launches an online poll the following sample window appears.

This window contains the poll question as well as the possible answers. The attendee is expected to select one single answer and send the poll response. The poll window will stay only for a limited amount of time. After that it will close.

When the attendee is ready to send the answer, he/she presses the Send button. If the attendee does not want to give an answer press the Cancel button.

The Time To Close label measures the time (in seconds) the attendee has to give an answer.

As soon as the participants start to give their votes the poll results window shows up. The Session leader can see the results and can show them to you if he/she chooses to do so.

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The Echo Effect

The echo effect happens when a participant is using speakers and a microphone instead of a headset. When using the audio feature in the virtual classroom, there is a few seconds delay before the voice is heard on the receiving end of the conversation. Thus if a participant has his/her speakers on, you will hear the voices of others coming back to you a few seconds after they speak. To stop this from happening, the participant with the speakers and microphone should do the following:

Go to Audio on the toolbar on top of the window, Click on 'Audio Settings', select 'Local Audio Settings'. Next go to the 'Push to Talk' button. select one of the options from the drop-down menu eg. ctrl

Next select "Reconnect Audio" to save and re-connect to use the new audio settings.

This means that the participant has to hold down on the control button on the keyboard to talk. After he/she finishes talking, the microphone is turned off. Thus others will not hear what is being transmitted over his/her speakers a few seconds after they talk. This will prevent you from hearing an echo back when they speak.

NOTE :  The person holding down on the ctrl button, should wait a period of 4-5 seconds after speaking, before releasing the ctrl button. This is to prevent his/her voice from being cut off before he/she has finished speaking so that the entire message is heard by the other participants.

 

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Uploading Files to Personal Folder

To upload a file to your 'Personal Folder', so that it may be viewed by your tutor, go to the 'Event Center'. Look under your 'Personal Menu' and select 'Personal Files'.  Click the button that says 'Upload a file'.  This will bring forth a popup window, where you click on 'select file'.  This allows you to browse your computer to where you have stored the file you wish to upload by using the 'Look In' feature. Select the file by highlighting it. Then click 'Open'. Press 'OK" when prompted to do so. This will upload the file to your "Personal Files' folder.  OR  You can type the full name of the file in the search window eg. mypaper.doc (if mypaper is the name of your file) and then press 'Open'.

NOTE: The .doc extension is added if the file is a Word Document.

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Opening/Downloading Files in Personal Folder

To 'Open' a file in your "Personal Folder', go to the 'Event Center' by logging on in the Member Logon area. Look under 'Personal Menu' and select 'Personal Files'.  You will see a list of files. To open a file, simply double-click it. To download it to your computer, highlight the file and right-click with your mouse. Choose 'Save target as' and browse to where you wish to store the file on your computer. Pay attention to where you store it on your computer so that you can find it later.

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If Disconnected From Session

Sometimes you may get disconnected from the session because your Internet connection may drop for a few seconds. You will know this if you can no longer hear your tutor speaking OR a message is displayed in the 'Public Messages' area of the classroom telling you that you are disconnected.  You can 'Reconnect' in two ways: Click on 'File' in the top left hand corner of the classroom and select 'Reconnect' from the drop-down menu. OR  Look in the bottom right hand corner of the classroom and click on 'Re-Connect'. You also have the option of exiting the classroom and coming back in.

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Using Screen Capture Tool in Classroom

Sometimes a student may wish to bring a worksheet (eg. pre-written questions in math or in another subject) into the online classroom to share with the tutor OR the student may wish to share what is on his/her desktop .  One way to accomplish this is for the tutor to give permission to the student to use the 'Drawing Toolbar'. This gives the student access to the 'Screen Capture' tool.

The screen capture option allows you to copy a window, a screen area, or your entire desktop and to paste the captured image on the white board.

As soon as you select the first option, the process starts, and a picture of your entire desktop will be shown on the white board. If you choose the third capture option a snapshot will be taken of the top window that you have open behind the online classroom.  Next you will see a picture of that window placed on the white board. You can then draw and mark on these images.

If you choose the third option, 'Capture Screen Area', this will bring you to the window which you have open behind the classroom.  First. be sure to de-select the option to 'Place the captured image as a slide on a new whiteboard'. Your cursor will look like a cross-hairs symbol. Hold down on the left side of the mouse, and drag over the area that you want to take a picture of. Then just release and you will be brought back to the white board where you can click to paste the picture onto the white board.

Once placed on the whiteboard, you can select the image and moved it. You can also enlarge it by grabbing a corner with your cursor and pulling on it.

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