WebEx support

If you can manage the time, it may be beneficial to set up an informal “hello” type session sometime this week to simply connect with your students. This will give them, and yourself, the opportunity to connect to your room to check their connection and audio settings. It would also be a good time to check out the chat feature. They don’t have to stay long. You can also practice with the features of WebEx (sharing your screen, muting participants, etc.) without the pressure of a “formal” session.

There is also a test WebEx site that anyone can log into at any time in an effort to lessen the anxiety about using WebEx from their device.  First time login will ask the participant to run the WebEx app. Having this setup prior to a formal class session will save time and connection hassles when trying to join at the specified time.  Anyone, including yourself, can go to this website and join a practice meeting to ensure you have the app installed, your speakers and microphone are working, and to become familiar with the environment and its tools.

Once you start a session you will be able to record it and save it to the WebEx cloud or your computer.

Log in and start a meeting.

Click the Record button at the bottom on the screen.

Choose to save it “In the cloud” or as a file “to your computer.”

• If you choose In the cloud, you will see an information bubble in the upper right corner of your screen (image). It will tell you that you will receive a link to the recording when it is ready. Depending on the length of the recording this can take a few minutes, up to a few hours. Try to keep the recordings as short as possible.
• If you choose to save to your computer, you will be prompted to save the file to a location on your computer. For ease of access to the file after the recording you can save to the desktop.

4. To see a list of your recordings and access the URLs that can be posted to Blackboard for your students to access, return to the WebEx dashboard and choose Recordings from the menu on the left.

To announce a session to the students  

1.  Log in to your WebEx. Instructions can be found on the Georgian CTL homepage.

2. Copy your personal room address from the WebEx dashboard.

3. Enter your Blackboard course shell.

4. Create a new announcement (this will be emailed to your students as well).

5. In the Bb text editor, add your welcome message and specify the date and time of your session.

6. Paste your personal room address (the one you copied in step two above).

7. Take the extra step of turning that address into a link (makes it a lot easier for the students).

a. In the Bb text editor, highlight the text for the URL.

b. Right click the highlighted text and choose copy.

c. Click the link icon in the text editor.

d. Right click and choose paste into the link textbox.

e. Click the Insert button.

8. In the announcement, tell the students that you will be opening the room 30 minutes before the session start time to allow them to check their connection and audio settings (microphone and speaker). Audio is the trickiest part in any web conferencing.

9. Advise the students to use headsets or earphones.

10. Click on Send a copy of this announcement immediately so that students get a copy of the announcement in their email as soon as you click the Submit button.

11. Submit the announcement.

1. Don’t use it to replace your class. Many students will not have access to reliable internet, computers, etc. You can lecture here but will need supplemental information for those students.
2. Consider multiple virtual office hours where students can ask questions.
3. Record your sessions for those who aren’t able to participate.
4. Consider turning on your camera.
5. Practise! you can send your personal room link to anyone (CTL will practise with you!).
6. You might also try hosting a session with your colleagues before doing a session with your students. Maybe create a group of three or four where each of you can take turns practising hosting.
7. Use a headset or earphones if you can. This will make a huge difference.
8. If you can, do your session in a quiet room. Check your background; your camera will show pictures behind you, books on your shelves, etc. Make sure you are satisfied with whatever is being shared by the camera. Similarly, if you will get sharing content on your computer screen, make sure your desktop won’t show anything (e.g. files, pictures, etc.) that is private.
9. Make sure your microphone is muted when you need it to be muted.