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Lesson 1

Preparing for Class

This “lesson” is simply advance preparations for our first class meeting.  We will meet synchronously in a Blackboard Collaborate – an online web conference where we can share audio, video, and more in real time. If convenient, you can join in person as well from Wist Hall.

Advanced Organizer

Keep in mind –

  • We use Blackboard Collaborate (BBC) for web conferencing. Test your computer with BBC several days prior to our first class meeting.
  • There is one reading due ON our first class day.

Look for answers to these questions –

  1. What does the term “free” in “free software” refer to?
  2. What differentiates “free software” from “open-source software”, if anything?

Activities

roster1. Update our Class Roster
Add your name and contact information to the class roster.  If you prefer not to share your contact information with the class, you may omit it.  Please include a photo that would allow me to pick you out of a lineup – no sunglasses, facepaint, cartoons or Halloween costumes.  The image should be cropped to 160×120 pixels.  An easy image cropping tool is available at cropp.me – or use your favorite image editor.

timeline-list-grid-list-icon-512x512-pixel-02. List Your  Top Software

Make a list of the 5 software titles that you use most often.  We’ll use your list in our discussion at the first class meeting.

download-13. Get a Hypothes.is account

  1. Register at https://hypothes.is/
  2. Sign up for an account and install the hypothes.is browser extension or bookmark.
  3. Join our LTEC 647C Fall 2017 group.

index4. Blackboard Collaborate (BBC): Test & Troubleshoot

Collaborate  is a web conference utility, for which I recommend using the Chrome Browser. Please prepare your computer and headset well in advance of our first class meeting.  Enter the “virtual office” 15 minutes early to test your audio (microphone and speakers) for each session. While Collaborate clients for iOS and Android are available, they have reduced functionality.  You are encouraged to join our web conferences from a computer running Linux, Windows, or OSX instead. Dr. McKimmy’s voffice:  bit.ly/McKimmyvOffice. You can enter this voffice at any time to test your audio, but Dr. McKimmy will only be present for appointments and class sessions.

  1. Plug in your headset with microphone.
  2. Use a wired Internet connection. Wireless can cause you to lose connection or create audio lag. If the audio begins sounding like chipmunks talking, your connection has lagged and the system is speeding up your feed to get you in synch again.
  3. When you click the voffice link, Collaborate will ask for your name.  Use your first name and last initial. This is how you will appear in the participant list.
  4. To troubleshoot microphone and webcam issues: Click the lower-right purple tab, click the gear icon, and click Audio and Video settings.

Let me repeat that: Use wired internet, avoid iOS/Android devices, test your microphone!

paulmProfessor’s Perspective: Synchronous Sessions

I am aware and chagrined at the irony of teaching a course about Free and Open-source Software using proprietary web conferencing tools. If you’re interested in a FOSS alternative, check out Big Blue Button. You can test drive Big Blue Button by signing up for a free account in Moodlecloud.com and adding that tool to your site.

My reasons for using BBC are:

  1. Collaborate is a sunk cost for the College – there is zero incremental cost for using it.
  2. At the time we invested in Collaborate, Big Blue Button was just getting started.
  3. LTEC students will be using BBC in any future online courses from our department.
  4. Big Blue Button is not as mature as a BBC. I anticipate fewer technical problems for students, and consequently a better experience using BBC.

Reading

Due prior to our first class meeting

  1. Open-Source for absolute beginners

Once you have this page open:

  1. Launch hypothes.is using your Chrome extension (icon in the location bar) or Firefox bookmarklet (link in your bookmarks toolbar).
  2. Open the hypothes.is pane from the righthand side of your browser
  3. Switch from “Public” default to our class’s private group.

You will see that I have made a few annotations, and posed a question for you. Feel free to practice adding annotations.  You can highlight, add notes, or pose questions on the content. You can delete your annotations any time, so go ahead and experiment.

OK, I think you’re ready for class!

Blackboard Collaborate Web Conference

Please join the web conference 15 minutes early to re-test your microphone and headset.

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