Attend Your Classes

Online Classes

You will typically enter your course through your class management system or CMS (Blackboard, UAS Online, etc).

Your first step is to enter your CMS to download and print off a copy of the syllabus from your course web site on the CMS. For Blackboard users, it can often be found at the link labeled Course Information or Course Documents. The syllabus should list all the course delivery methods you will need to know how to use for that class.

If you were successful in setting up your personalized MyUA Portal web site, you can enter your online classes by clicking on the View Course Information link in the My Courses channel box.

Otherwise,you might enter your CMS directly. Follow the instructions for logging in. You may need your UA ID# from the previous step:

• For UAA Blackboard: http://technology.uaa.alaska.edu/blackboard/

• For UASOnline: http://uas.alaska.edu/online/

• For UAF Blackboard: http://classes.uaf.edu/ Click on the login button. Please Note: Your UAF Blackboard username is now your UA Username. You can look it up by following the link on the login page called Look Up my UA ID. For returning students, your Blackboard password will be the same. For new students, your Blackboard password will be you UA ID Number followed by a Capital U character.

You can also look up your UAF Blackboard password at: http://weblookup.uaf.edu and click on the email account lookup form link.

If you need additional help getting into your CMS, contact UA Help

Internet Conferenced Classes (eLive)

Refer to your syllabus to see if you will need to attend Internet conferenced classes (Elluminate Live) and the days and times you will meet on the Internet. If so, you will need:

• A computer (PC or Mac) that is less than 3 years old with a sound card in it and which is connected to the Internet. (DSL/cable modem connections are recommended but dial-up modems should work as well).

• A headset with microphone attached for talking over the Internet. This usually ships with your books for the class, but can also be purchased from online retailers such as http://www.pcconnection.com/.

• The JAVA player downloaded onto your computer at a user level of computer “administrator”. If you are an administrator on the computer you will be using to attend class, you can download the player from: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp by clicking on the Free Download button. You can also check at that site to see if you already have JAVA downloaded onto your computer. If you are NOT an Administrator level user (such as on a school or office network), click on this link for eLive instructions for IT Network Administrators.

• Be sure to check two or three days BEFORE THE FIRST CLASS that your computer is ready to participate in an Elluminate Live (eLive) conference session. The usual access to eLive is through your CMS. In UAF Blackboard, for instance, you can usually find eLive through a direct Elluminate Live link or through the Communications link in the upper left navigation panel of your course Blackboard site. If you cannot get in to your course’s CMS and want to check your computer’s readiness, you can try one of the following links. The first time you connect to an Elluminate Live server, it will download an approximately 5 MB Java Web Start file, so it might take a bit on a slow connection. The next time, however, should be faster as it stashes the Java Web Start file with your temporary Internet files.

• UAF eLive configuration room (leave password blank)
• UAA eLive configuration Room
• UAS eLive - enter through your CMS, UAS Online

For additional help with Elluminate Live, contact UA Help

Audio Conferenced Classes

Refer to your syllabus to see if you will need to attend audio conferences (over the telephone) for your class and the days and times you will meet. Write down the 800 number and PIN number you will use to enter the class conference.

At the present time, the most common audio conference provider is Encounter Collaborative and you can reach their customer support at: 800.290.5900 or email to customercare@encounter.net. Please have your instructor and course information handy.

Video Conferenced Classes

Refer to your syllabus to see if you will need to attend video conferences (over specialized video conference equipment) for your class and the days and times you will meet. It should direct you to your video conference location.

For additional help with video conferences, contact the UA Statewide Video Conference Services (VCS) Office at: 800.910.9601 or email syvcs@alaska.edu or refer to the VCS web site at http://www.alaska.edu/oit/vcs/

What’s Next

Go on to Participate in Your Classes

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