Initiating Blackboard on a Mac  
26jan13


\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section{Introduction}
Initiating your first Elluminate session can be a daunting experience. 
The Elluminate company was acquired by the Oracle subsidiary named
Outlook which replaced the simplicity of installing and using Elluminate
with the relatively less simple installation of their Outlook Collaborate
product. Here is a step through suitable on a Mac. Elsewhere you'll find
on for the PC. 
\section{Error Messages}
When clicking on a url-address for an Elluminate session you may see an error
message such the this one.

A frequent reason for this is an error in the XML script "meeting.jnlp" 
downloaded to your computer. This Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) 
file has made an unwarranted assumption about your computer. 


\section{Trouble Shooting the Errors in the JNLP}
Instead of just clicking on "meeting.jnlp" do this:

Right-click "meeting.jnlp" > (Get Info) > (Open With) > 


and now click on, or enter the words Java Web Start.app(default).
On your computer, it might say it differently, but the point is that
you must open "meeting.jnlp" with the Java Web Start file already on 
your computer. You can declare that you want to open all Java apps in 
this way, and not the way the "meeting.jnlp" wants you to. This way 
you will avoid this hassle in the future. 



Incidentally, the recipe above uses the following shorthand. In 
quotes is the name of something. The > means "next". To keep down
the clutter, something you can click has its name in parentheses.
So the second instruction reads:"click on the thing labeled Get Info".
This might cause a pop-up, a pull-down, or whatever the web 
designer decide it should do. Remember, webpages are rarely designed
by seasoned teachers. 

Follow the directions. Be sure to (Allow) access to your computer and 
select an appropriate "Connection Speed".

\section{The Blackboard Collaborate Tableau}
The goal is to reach this, rather cluttered tableau with many buttons and widgets decorated with more or less plausible symbols. Hovering your cursor 
on them will give you a clue as to what they do. Experimentation and possibly
reading (Help) pages will be useful. 


The prominent features here are the  Participants  panel with the 
 Chat  window at the bottom. Use this to communicate with the class
if your mic or loudspeakers are not working. To the right is what used to
be called the "White Board". It has a palette which takes some effort to 
get used to. This is a very clumsy palette to discuss geometry with, for
reasons you can read about in thie 

essay on palettes.

We'll finish this first lesson with some help getting your headset 
set up, so you can communicate sanely with your moderator and 
classmates.

\subsection{Audio Setup Wizard}
Of particular importance is the (Tools) pulldown menu. Thus

"Blackboard Collaborate"  > (Tools) > (Audio) > (Audio Setup Wizard) > (Button) 

lands you in a place where you can test and adjust your headset. Most 
computers have internal speaker and microphones, which can be used if you
don't have a headset. But if you use a headset you will avoid annoying feedback.
If you do have feedback, you'll have to get used to turning your mic off when
not speaking. 


The Audio Setup Wizard also let's you test your settings to make sure they
are working properly.



\subsection{Application Sharing}
The (Application Sharing) feature permits you to broadcast to all participants 
a particular application, such as your Geometry Explorer, texPad, 
texWins tableau, browser etc. Remember, the moderator has to permit explicitly
permit you to do this, so as not to produce pandmonium. 

\section{More}
Additional advice will be added here later.
\end{document}