Author: Russ Shouldice

Locking a Workstation vs Logging Off

When you need to leave your desk, there are two options for securing your workstation.  1) Locking it, and 2) Logging Off.

Locking the computer simply locks access leaving your user session running and keeping files open.  A Log Off will completely disconnect your user session from the computer and server and close any open files.  There are advantages to both approaches.

Locking

You can lock your PC when you aren’t using it but don’t want to sign out.  This will keep you user’s session running and will leave any files open.

To lock your PC press the Win+L key combination.

Locking the workstation results in the next log in being super-fast.

Log Off

Logging Off your computer will completely disconnect your user’s session from the server and close any open files.

To Log Off press Start->Log Off.

When you want to use your computer again, logging in will force any changes pushed out by your network administration to propagate and execute.  This includes things like user and file permissions as well as network drive mappings.

Logging Off regularly may uncover other issues like slow logins or improper server configuration. This is a good thing!  If we see these kinds of symptoms it is usually indicative of a more systemic issue that should be resolved.

In Windows 8 and Windows 10 the Log Off function is now called Sign Out.

So, please feel free to leave your computers on, but please Log Off regularly.

Upgrade to Windows 10

So, you noticed the little Windows 10 Upgrade icon in the bottom right corner of your screen, eh?  Folks have been asking if we should upgrade.  My answer, in short-yes!

For two reasons.  First, the upgrade will keep our workstations running the latest, most secure, feature rich operating system.  Second, it’s free until July 29th, 2016.

I’ve been running Windows 10 on my workstation for 6 months with excellent results and I would suggest we all take advantage of the upgrade offer before time runs out.

Download the Files

The first step is to download the needed files.  Double-click on the Windows 10 icon, or open up Windows Update from the Control Panel (Start -> Control Panel).

Windows 10 Icon
Windows 10 Icon

From there click on the link that reads start your free upgrade now.

Windows 10 Pic 01

Once the download is complete, agree to the upgrade by clicking the Accept button.

Windows 10 Pic 02Windows 10 Pic 03

After Preparing for the upgrade is complete, you will be presented with the final window in the upgrade process.  When you click the Start the upgrade now button, it will being the actual installation and upgrading process and you will not be able to use your computer until it is complete.

Windows 10 Pic 04

Kick off the Installation

Now go for lunch.

Once you click on the last button, the computer will reboot a number of times on it’s own as it works through installing the upgrade.  It will complete the upgrade automatically and will take one to two hours.

Excellent Posts

There is a great post about How to Get the Windows 10 Update with helpful pictures at the Verge.

Techradar also did a nice post about Twenty Smart New and Improved Features in Windows 10.  My favourite new features are the revamped Start Menu and the ability to have Multiple Desktops.

Student Guide to Moodle

Introduction

Online and Multi-Modal learning allows the seminary to engage learners who live at a distance from Heritage.  A benefit to students is these modes of service delivery enable you to engage the material in ways that accommodate the demands of your lives.

At present, Moodle is the learning management system in use by Heritage College and Seminary.

Computer Requirements

  • Moodle is compatible with all current major browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Specific browser support can be found in the release notes.  It is always recommended to allow your browser of choice to update itself to the latest.  This will allow you to take advantage of current technologies.
  • You will also likely need a PDF reader if you do not already have one.  The two most popular are Adobe Reader and FoxIt Reader.

Contact Us for Support

If you have questions, or if you experience any difficulties, please contact the Registrar’s Office: 1-800-465-1961, ext. 228 tbeach@heritage-theo.edu

Courses

You will spend most of your time in Moodle within your courses.  Courses contain the following components.

  • Outline: This is the weekly schedule of classes.
  • Modules: These are the weekly, or biweekly, instructional units. Typically, each teaching module will consist of the following elements:
    1. recorded lectures
    2. class notes
    3. an online discussion forum (see below).
      Other elements that may be included in a module include: links to external websites, digital files with supplemental material, and on-line quizzes.
  • Assignments: Assignments can be submitted on the course page in Moodle or via email.
  • Marked assignments: Marked assignments may be emailed directly back to the students. Assignments to be returned to student mailboxes or requiring postage may be left with the Receptionist at Heritage College and Seminary to be mailed back to the student(s).
  • Quizzes: Moodle allows for secure online testing and anonymous surveying through the use of a Quiz/Survey Tool.
  • Exams: Professors may elect to have students in online or Multi-modal courses complete and exam. If it is not feasible for a student to write an exam on-campus, then the student must obtain a signed proctor agreement for each test or exam that is proctored.

Downloading Files to Your Computer

In some cases, you may wish to download media files for offline access.  An example of this is if you would like to listen to a lecture in the car on a smartphone.

  • Right-click the link you wish to download.
  • In the context menu choose ‘Save Target As…‘ or ‘Save Link As…‘.  The wording may be different for each browser.
  • Choose a location to download the file.

Online Discussions

Online discussion forums is one of the best ways to interact with your professor and other students.  You can discuss lectures, pose questions, seek clarification, and interact with each other.  The forum is in a very real sense your electronic classroom.

Best Practices in Online Learning

There is a course created in Moodle called Best Practices in Online Learning that hosts an example course outline and communicates best practices for engaging in the course material, with your instructor, and with other students.  Please have a look at this example course for further reading.

Your Profile

When you access Moodle for the first time, your user profile will essentially be empty.  It is recommended that you update your profile, adding a bit of personally so that it is more relational when people engage you in Moodle.

  • To update your profile, find your name in the upper right corner of the screen.  In the drop-down menu choose Profile.
  • Under the User Details section look for the link that reads ‘Edit profile‘.  This will allow you to update your profile picture and other information.
Originally written by Kelvin F. Mutter, D. Th.  Modified by Russ Shouldice

Training the Remote to the Receiver

Sometimes, the classroom presentation remote controls stop working.  This is usually the result of a broken communication between the remote and the receiver.

To train a new remote, or re-train an existing remote, into the receiver:

  1. Press and release the program button on the receiver (the LED lights solid).
  2. Press the advance button (the largest button) on the remote three times. On the third press, the LED will
    turn off, indicating the remote has been successfully trained.
  3. Done.

Please be advised that it is also easy to delete all remotes from the receiver.

  1. Press and hold the program button. The LED will light for 3 seconds then go out.
  2. Release the program button.

This information was taken directly from the Power Presenter manual.

Hyper-V Server Getting Started

Open port 3389 for all firewall profiles.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Remote Desktop"  protocol=tcp dir=in localport=3389 action=allow

To set the management network connection to private.

$profile = Get-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet 4"

$profile.NetworkCategory

Set-NetConnectionProfile -InputObject $profile -NetworkCategory private

To get remote Disk Management working:

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Remote Volume Management" new enable=yes

To get remote Computer Management working:

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Remote Event Log Management" new enable=yes

List of the different inbound firewall rules related to remote management.

Remote Administration
Remote Assistance
Remote Desktop
Remote Event Log Management
Remote Event Monitor
Remote Scheduled Tasks Management
Remote Service Management
Remote Volume Management

Allowing direct download of files in Moodle

Moodle 3.0 has been a welcome upgrade from our previous version and includes many security, bug fixes, and interface enhancements.  It also now smartly decides how file content should accessed by students based on the file-type and context the file is published in.

For example, after adding a document (such as a Word document, or PowerPoint file) to a course, Moodle automatically allows users to download the file.  When adding a video file, Moodle automatically brings up the embedded video player when the item is clicked on.

The behaviour for audio file is similar to video, in that the file is played in an embedded player within the browser.  This is great in most cases.  However, we have in the past, allowed users to download audio files so the files can be played offline such as in the car on a smartphone.

We can still allow users to accomplish this, but the setting will need be changed manually for audio files.  Here is how.

Allow downloading of audio files

  1. In the course page when adding an activity or resource, choose File from the Resources section of the Add an activity or resource menu.  Or, find the item, click the Edit drop-down and choose Edit settings.add-file-or-resourceedit-file
  2. In the Update: File screen look for the Appearance section.
  3. In the Appearance section, change the Display setting to either Open or Force download.  Details for each setting are below.edit-audio-file
  4. Click Save and Return to Course or Save and Display.
  5. The file can now be downloaded and saved offline.

Display settings explained

This setting, together with the file type and whether the browser allows embedding, determines how the file is displayed. Options may include:

  • Automatic – The best display option for the file type is selected automatically.  This is the default setting for content of type file.
  • Embed – The file is displayed within the page below the navigation bar together with the file description and any blocks.
  • Force download – The user is prompted to download the file.
  • Open – Only the file is displayed in the browser window.  This will allow users the best of both worlds.  To download the file, users will need to right-click on the link and select Save Link As… save-link-as
  • In pop-up – The file is displayed in a new browser window without menus or an address bar

Wowza GoCoder Setup for HeritageLive

Heritage Live uses the Wowza Streaming Engine on the back end to facilitate ingestion of external video and audio sources, transcoding of those sources, and publication to an external site.  To setup GoCoder as an ingestion source for the Wowza Streaming Engine hosted by Heritage College and Seminary, please use the following instructions and settings.

The Wowza GoCoder is supported on iOS and Android mobile devices.

  • Download the Wowza GoCoder app from the app store on your device (i.e. the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store).
  • Once the app is installed, launch it and it will show you a brief legend for each of the apps buttons.
  • Open the Server Info section.  The settings are as follows:
Host -> Server: streams.heritage-theo.edu
Host -> Port: 1935
Application -> Application: HeritageLive
Application -> Stream Name: can be anything that will identify your device in the system.  Use only letters with no spaces.
Login -> Use the Publisher Name and Password sent to you by the Heritage IT department.
  • In the Video Options section of the application you can change what is being sent with your stream, such as video & audio, video only, or audio only.  You can also change video encoding settings such as the size.  For primary video we will be starting with a 720p stream and re-encoding that using the streaming engine on the server.  For secondary source such as a secondary classroom, using a lower resolution such as 640×360 would be appropriate.  The key is to use a sufficient bit rate.  The bit rate setting can be found on the main screen in the lower left corner.
  • Once you’ve got all your setting made, try it.  Punch the big red button in the lower right corner.  If the app is successful in publishing the stream to the server the message will change from Connecting to Connected!

You’re done.  Congratulations!

We first used the Wowza Streaming Engine with an Introduction to the Bible course taught by Gord Oeste in the fall of 2015.