Conference

For better organization of the learning process the system allows you to use an embedded Conference tool. To start a conference, enter the required course and click the Conference icon () in the top course menu. The following page will be displayed: 

Note that to take part in the conference you will need to comply with the following requirements:

• PC: Pentium III or equivalent, 128 mb RAM;
• OS: Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista, Linux, Mac OS X;
• Internet Connection: ADSL or + Internet connections.

If the server is available for conference, the indicator icon will be green: in this case you can click the Enter button to open the conference window: 

The Conference page consists of six panes:

• [1] Record pane;
• [2] Camera and Voice pane;
• [3] Students List pane;
• [4] Chat pane;
• [5] File List pane;
• [6] WhiteBoard pane.

Find below a detailed description of each pane.

To end the conference, click the icon in the top right corner of the conference window.

The Record pane allows you to record certain parts of the conference (or the whole of it) if necessary. To start recording, click the Start button; to stop recording click Stop. Recorded materials are stored in the conference Archive and can be played back later on.

The Camera and Voice pane displays video from the Teacher’s Webcam and allows you to switch on and off your webcam or microphone if you use them. To switch on (off) the camera, use the icon. To switch on (off) the microphone, use the icon. You can adjust audio and video parameters (for different types of Internet connection). To do that click the icon and adjust the video and mic input quality.

The Students List pane allows you to see what Students take part in your conference. By default all Students are muted (that is Students’ microphones are turned off). If you want to unmute a certain Student, click the icon next to their name.

When a certain user taking part in the conference sends you a request to unmute them, the system will display the following pop-up window in the Students List pane:

Click Accept if you want to unmute this user; click Refuse to reject the request.

You can view the web camera of each student. By default all the cameras are switched off. To view the camera of a certain user click the icon next to their name. To maximize the camera window click the 'Maximize' icon in the top right corner of the user's camera window. Click the same icon again to restore the camera window to its default size.

The Chat pane allows users who take part in the conference to exchange text messages. To send a message, enter the necessary text in the field below and click OK.

The File List pane allows you to work with files that you need to use for your conference.

• Use icons in the upper top corner of the pane to define a mode for displaying image files on the WhiteBoard. Click to set the Single mode: in this mode each previous image is deleted when a new image is displayed. Click to set the Multiple mode: in this mode new images are laid upon previously created images.
• To upload a file to be used during the conference, click the Upload button and specify the location of the file on your computer.
• To delete a file from the list, click the icon next to the file that you want to remove.
• To display image or SWF files for your Students on the WhiteBoard pane, choose the necessary file from the list and click it (image files can also be dragged and dropped onto the WhiteBoard pane).
• To propose your Students to download a certain file, choose it from the list and click it.
• To display a certain Web-address for your Students, click the Web button and enter the necessary URL in the displayed form. Click OK to let your Students see the address.

The WhiteBoard pane is the main working area of the conference window: this is basically the place where image or SWF files are displayed. In addition the WhiteBoard pane has a toolbar with a list of standard tools for drawing.

Certain parts of a conference can be recorded and played back later on. All conference records are stored in the Archive. To open conference archive:

1. Enter the necessary course and click Conference icon () in the top course menu.
2. Click the Archive icon () in the top right corner of the page. The system will display a list of archived records:

Use the icons at the bottom of the list to perform the following operations:

Icon	Name	Step
	Publish	Select check boxes next to the records that you want to make available and click the Publish icon. Published records will become available for Students in the conference archive.
	Unpublish	Select check boxes next to the records that you want to make unavailable and click the Unpublish icon. Unpublished records will become unavailable for Students in the conference archive.
	Delete	Select check boxes next to records that you want to delete and click the Delete icon.
	Edit	Select a check box next to the record that you want to modify and click the Edit icon.

• Use the drop-down list at the top of the records table to define how many records should be displayed per page.
• Click the Playback icon () next to the necessary record to reproduce it.
• Use the Back icon () to navigate away from the archive page.

Each conference record can have is characterized by a session on the server and create date. The Teacher can modify name and description of a record if necessary. To edit a conference record:

1. Enter the necessary course and click Conference icon () in the top course menu.
2. Click the Archive icon () in the top right corner of the page. The system will display a list of archived records.
3. Select a check box next to the record whose properties you want to modify and click the Edit icon () at the bottom of the list. The following form will appear:

1. Enter record name and description.
2. With the help of the Published radio buttons specify if the record should be available to your Students or not.
3. When finished, click Save () to save record properties; click Back () to discard changes and close the form.