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FarView

This semester, CS403 is being offered under the FarView model for distance learning. This means that students enrolled in the course have the option of attending lectures in person or remotely (using a computer with an Internet connection). Furthermore, students have the option to decide how to attend on a class-by-class basis — attending in person one day and attending remotely the next as best suits their schedule.

Students who intend to attend classes remotely are encouraged to attend in “real-time,” actually logging in and participating as the class happens. This will allow you to fully participate via the headphones (or speakers) and microphone attached to your computer.

When possible, class sessions will be recorded and archived for later review. However, at this point no guarantees can be made about how reliably that will occur. The priority will be placed upon getting the live broadcast of the class to work well for all real-time attendees.

Please note that students will be required to come to campus at least twice during the semester — once for the midterm exam and again for the final exam. Please see the Schedule page for specific dates. If you feel that you have exceptional circumstances that would prevent you from being able to make it to campus for these two exams, it may be possible to make alternative arrangements. However, to determine if alternatives are available, you must notify the instructor by e-mail of your situation no later than the fifth class meeting.

Although it is not required, it is recommended that students also attend the first class of the semester in person if possible.

This page is meant to provide you with convenient links to useful information and resources related to attending classes remotely.

Getting LearnLinc set up

Here is a brief summary of the steps you need to take first before you will be able to participate online:

  1. Note that as of this writing Mac OS 10.6—Snow Leopard—does not seem to be compatible with our iLinc server. It will allow you to join a class session, but it fails to play the audio reliably. However, if you happen to be running an older version of the Mac OS, you should be able to get things working. Please note, however, that use of the Macintosh with our iLinc server is not officially supported by either the vendor or our campus IT department.
  2. Things are generally better under Windows (including Windows running on a Mac), but not all browsers are compatible with our iLinc server. Here is a list of what I currently know about the compatibility of Windows browsers:
    1. 32-bit versions of Internet Explorer (up through version 8) are compatible, but 64-bit versions and IE 9 are problematic.
    2. Firefox versions prior to 4 are compatible, but Firefox 4 is not.
    3. Safari 5 for Windows appears to be compatible.
    4. Chrome 11 appears to be incompatible, hanging up at the same place that Firefox 4 and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer do.
  3. For the record, it appears that Linux is not supported at all, since when joining a session under Linux the server delivers a Windows executable form of session.exe.
  4. For the most trouble-free operation, I recommend using a 32-bit version of Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows.
  5. Using your Web browser, access the UNH virtual campus at http://ilinc.unh.edu/ and use your CIT ID and password (the same credentials you use to access Blackboard) to log in.
  6. After logging into your account, use the Catalog tab to access the catalog of available courses. Locate this course in the list under the current semester, click the check box beside it, and then click the Register button (at the bottom) to register for the course. Note that this is simply registering you with the LearnLinc system and is completely independent of your official registration with the registrar!

Note that the previous steps should only need to be done once. When you have done them, you should not need to repeat them and should be able to participate in the course throughout the rest of the semester.

Participating in a lecture

Once you are registered within the LearnLinc system as a participant in this course (see above), you can use the following steps to participate in lectures from any computer on the Internet that has a compatible Web browser and speakers (or headphones). A microphone is useful (in case you wish to speak to the class) but not essential.

  1. A few minutes before a lecture is to begin, go to the UNH virtual campus at http://ilinc.unh.edu/ and log in to your account.
  2. To begin participating in the class session, click the Join link next to the course listing.
  3. If this is your first time joining a session, you should next see a small window with Joining a Session at the top and a Close button at the bottom. This should be quickly overlaid with your browser’s notification that it is about to download a file named session.exe.
  4. Save this file to your desktop (or another local location) and when it is done downloading, open it by double-clicking its icon (or instructing your browser to open it if given the option). Since it’s an executable file, you may need to clear some security notices before it will run. When it is allowed to run, this executable automatically downloads the materials it needs in order to allow you to participate.
  5. Again, if this is your first time joining a session, the next thing you should see is the first screen of the Audio Wizard. This is a utility to help you configure your computer’s audio system for optimum performance. Follow the prompts to complete the Audio Wizard. It may take awhile the first time, but once you get used to it, it will go more quickly. The only tricky part is determining whether you should choose Headset or Speakers at the beginning of the process. In general, if you have a microphone available, choose Headset. If you do not have a microphone, choose Speakers (regardless of whether you’re using an actual headset or not.) Please note that you may need to adjust some settings within your control panels in order to get your speakers, headphones, microphone and/or headset to all be properly recognized. Since these settings will vary widely based upon your hardware and software, I cannot provide specific guidance. However, once you have things set up and working, it will likely continue to work for you throughout the semester. For this reason, you may wish to practice joining a session and run through the Audio Wizard well before the first scheduled class meeting.
  6. When you have completed the Audio Wizard (or if this is not your first time joining a session), you should next see the iLinc screen take over your desktop. At this point, you are partipating in the session, and for the most part you can just sit back and enjoy. Over time, you can play around a bit with the controls along the left and learn more about them. However, the two most important controls for getting started are the hand button (in the upper left), which you click to raise your virtual hand when you have a question or comment and wish to speak to the class, and the Text Chat window (near the lower left) in which you can type messages when you have a question or comment and wish to type it to the class. Note that you must be recognized by the instructor before your microphone will become active. So please raise your hand and wait before speaking. You may type text messages at any time.
  7. For more information, use the Help link in the the upper right corner of the UNH virtual campus at http://ilinc.unh.edu/. This resource offers user guides, tutorials and various downloads.

If you have trouble

UNH has a service contract with the LearnLinc company that entitles you to toll-free assistance (800-799-4510) from 8:30AM to 8:30PM (ET) Monday through Friday. When you call, be sure to let them know that you are a student of UNH and that we are using version 10.2.5 of the LearnLinc software.

You may also find it useful to visit the iLinc support website at http://www.ilinc.com/support.

For problems with your login credentials, you will need to call the UNH IT HelpDesk at 862-4242 (8:00am - 5:00pm M-F).