Other technical issues

Online Life at WSU
David Bowen, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Wayne State University

Last updated: 9/12/02

Wayne State University is rapidly moving many functions online. Often, new features simply start, without a lot of publicity or training, although University orientations now contain much of this information. Here is a guide. Understand that you do not need to go in the order listed here, for example you do not have to use the free University Internet access in order to use your free University email. But whatever you do, your AccessID and password will be the key, so you need to make sure that these are working. And something you should do soon, if you are going to use non-WSU email, is to activate and forward your WSU email to the account you will be using.

One more point before we get down to business: WSU Internet access is full Internet access, not just to the WSU part of the Internet, and WSU email is full email that can be used both inside and outside of WSU; to any email address that has a "@" in it. But also, any Internet access can access the WSU part of the Internet, and any email system with email addresses containing "@" can both send and receive email to/from WSU.

Living online at WSU - the basics
1. The key - AccessID and password
  1. Every WSU student (and staff or faculty member) is assigned these. A 5" x 8" postcard is mailed to your registered home address during your first semester. Lost these? Read on.
  2. Computer-related help for students, staff and faculty:
    1. Telephone - 313-577-4778, 8 AM - 8 PM Mon - Fri
    2. Online - http://support.wayne.edu
  3. To find your AccessID, go to the WSU Online Directory. To do this, go to http://webmail.wayne.edu
    
    Fig 1: Webmail opening screen
    In Figure 1 above, click on the link "Search WSU" (about 3/4 of the way down the figure, on the left-hand side) which will take you to the Online Directory as shown below.
    
    Fig 2: WSU Online Directory opening screen
    Type in your name (first last or last only but this gets a lot of hits) and click on the "Search" button.
    
    Fig 3: Directory search results for the author, showing the AccessID in the second column
    1. (An aside - you can search for anybody at WSU using this directory, and if you click their "view" link you will see office address and telephone number. If you type in the name of a Department on the Department line, you will get the listing for the whole department. If you know someone's WSU telephone but not their name, type in the telephone number on that line, and you will get their name. So this can be a very useful site.)
  4. The "AccessID" column in Figure 3 shows your AccessID.
  5. Now that you have your AccessID; we'll go for your Password. Your initial password for students and new hires is the 9-digit Personal ID (PID) on your One Card and on your tuition statements and grade reports. You should also be able to call the Registration and Scheduling Office at 313-577-3541 and ask for your Personal ID number, although I have not done this myself (they may also not be aware that this is also your initial Password).
    1. Your PID is public within WSU and is therefore insecure. You should change your password away from your PID as soon as possible. (Like your AccessID, your PID stays with you throughout your WSU career.) See the "Change Your Password" link on Figure 2 (Online Directory opening screen) above.
    2. Having trouble with your AccessID and/or Password? Call the Help Desk.
  6. Finally you must activate your AccessID. See the "Activate Your AccessID" link on both Figure 1 and Figure 2.
    1. You will not be able to log in to your WSU email until your activate the account (before you activate, if you try to log in to your WSU email account, you will get some confusing message about not being able to reach the server). You may also have problems using other WSU Internet features described below, before you activate your email, although the Help Desk says that this is usually not a problem.
    2. While you are activating your AccessID, notice that you can forward your WSU email to another account at the same time.
      
      If you plan to use another email account, you should definitely forward your WSU email to this other email account.
      
      Why? People and the University can send email to your WSU account even if you do not use it. When I had my GST 1600 students forward the WSU email, they said that they got information from the University this way, that they did not get in other ways, generally about fast-changing news or situations.
      
      Fig 4: Forwarding your WSU Email to another email account
2. WSU as an Internet Service Provider (WSU part-time faculty can use this also)
  1. Free Internet access - Use that same Access ID and Password to log in.
  2. Find the dialup number that is a local call for you - http://support.wayne.edu/allwsu/dialin/dialsearch.php
  3. You can use the email without the Internet connection or the Internet connection without the email
  4. You already have the software you need for WSU Internet access on your Windows 95 or later computer (probably for your Macintosh also). Or, if you get and install the free WSU Internet Toolkit (D.1.b below), much of the setup is done for you. Also see below for downloading free Internet software from WSU (D.1.a.).
3. Web-based email at WSU
  1. Your UserID or email name is your AccessID. You can also personalize your WSU email by choosing and "email name (see the "E-Mail Name" column in Figure 3 above). An email name and your AccessID are synonyms - you can use either one or mix and match at any time, except for login or ID purposes, when only your AccessID will do. Another way of saying this is that you NOT have two email accounts if you adopt an email name; just one account. You can also set up an email name at http://support.wayne.edu/emailname/index.php. For example, I am either aa2012 or d.r.bowen.
  2. Your email address on this account is AccessID@wayne.edu or EmailName@wayne.edu.
  3. Your Password is the one that goes with your AccessID
  4. You do not need special email software such as Eudora or Exchange to use your WSU email; a simple web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer will do very well. For web-based email, start your browser and go to http://webmail.wayne.edu.
4. Internet software from WSU
  1. If you do want to use a specialized email program or other Internet facilities, WSU provides free Internet software
    1. Download over the Internet from http://support.wayne.edu/toolkit/index.php#software
    2. Get a free copy of the WSU Internet Toolkit CD-ROM at:
      1. OneCard Office
        Student Center Building, Room 50 (lower level)
        5221 Gullen Mall, Main Campus – (313) 577-CARD
      2. Oakland Center Computer Lab
        33737 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills – (313) 577-3604
      3. Pharmacy Learning Resource Center
        Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (ACPHS)
        259 Mack, Room 300, Detroit – (313) 577-1279
      4. Shiffman Medical Library Reference Desk
        4325 Brush Street, Detroit – (313) 577-1094
      5. Wayne County Center
        Henry Ford Complex, 3rd Floor
        7800 W. Outer Drive, Suite 300, Detroit – (313) 577-0613
    3. Please note: The WSU Help Desk will help help you make an Internet connection to WSU, even from your Internet connection at work. They generally do NOT support all Internet software however; just the software on the Internet Toolkit, or downloaded from WSU. If this seems confusing, note that the Internet itself is a pipeline (not the same as WSU Pipeline below) or carrier for information, and you use Internet software to put information in or get information out of that carrier.
Online life at WSU - Intermediate - this is changing rapidly and new features will be rolled out or added
1. Central WSU web site at http://www.wayne.edu
2. ISP (changing to DIS October 1, 2002) web site at http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp (should change to http://dis.culma.wayne.edu later this Fall 2002, although the original URL will also continue to work). Notice the disappearance of "/isp" in the new URL.
3. Pipeline: http://pipeline.wayne.edu - use your web browser to access this portal or online hub, probably with links to all of the items below, plus:
  1. Email your professors
  2. Email your class
  3. Go to you course web site
  4. Set up your class schedule (also download/merge to a PDA)
  5. Register for classes
    (The Help Desk says that you may have trouble using Pipeline if you are behind a firewall at work. Call the Help Desk for help.)
4. WSU online directory for faculty and staff - supply any one piece of information
  http://support.wayne.edu/acctmanagement/ldap_search.php3
  Students are not listed unless they choose to be. Consider doing this - instructors, other students and employers will be able to contact you. Probably name and email only for students.
5. Web-based course schedule and registration started this Fall 2002 including information about online classes. Touch-tone registration is slated to be phased out by next Fall 2003 - only online registration after that
  http://www.classschedule.wayne.edu:5001/course_web/schedule/index.cfm
6. Library services (existing)
  1. Online card catalog (covered in UGE 1000)
  2. Many journals and databases (e.g. Nexis/Lexis) available online using Access ID. These contain the full-text articles for journals of academic interest.
7. Library services (new)
  1. electronic course reserves
  2. Multimedia file creation (multimedia servers are an open issue)
8. More, we are promised, to come.
Online courses. Online courses are probably the biggest change in online life at WSU.
1. What are online courses? Because these are so new, there are disagreements about what the term means. At the very least, it means that at least some course work is done on the Internet, with fewer class meetings. The strongest definition is that all work is over the Internet and there are no class meetings. There are also other sets of terms, such as "web enabled" or web-centric." If you are in doubt, and the differences are important to you, at this point, find out.
2. How do online courses work?
  1. Almost all current Internet courses have the following:
    1. Usually no special software needed aside from web and email access
    2. Use normal textbooks (some readings may be online)
    3. A course web site that is the "hub" for the course
    4. Web pages for handouts such as syllabus, assignments and lectures
    5. An online discussion forum for class discussion
      1. Many people think this means "chat room." A chat room may also be used, but is not a "discussion forum" For a chat room (1) everybody must be online at the same time, so this is usually at scheduled times for a class, and (2) there is usually no record of the discussion available after the discussion is over. For a discussion forum, (1) participants can come in at any time, not necessarily together, (2) when you come in, you can see everything from previous participants and make your own contributions, and the next person sees everything including your contributions, and (3) there is a record available for reference.
      2. The discussion forum can also be based on email. When we tried several types in GST 1600 (Web.Edu: How Internet Courses Work), students preferred the email forum (Internet "ListServ"). There is a ListServ email address; send a message to that address and it is distributed to the class.
      3. Many people assume that online courses are impersonal. If the discussion forum works well, however, most participants will say that these is the most intensely personal intellectual experience that they have had. To get this benefit, you must actively participate instead of "standing back" and observing.
    6. Some online method for turning in work and for getting it back. This may be simple email with attachments, or a special web-based tool on the course web site.
  2. Internet courses can also have:
    1. Online web-based tests, reports and/or forms
    2. "Real" (in-person) tests and/or exams
    3. Student web pages
    4. Online reading
    5. Online workgroups
    6. Online Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET)
    7. Internet multimedia (video and audio)
    8. Required course meetings
    9. Optional course meetings
    10. Online chats, optional or required, for which everyone must sign on at the same time. As far as your schedule is concerned, this is like a required class meeting.
    11. Workgroup software letting everybody work on the same thing onscreen, for example with a word processor
3. Finding online courses.
  1. ISP offers many more online courses than its size would predict. ISP will also most likely be the first academic program at WSU to offer the possibility of getting a Bachelor's degree online.
  2. Online courses are an option, not a requirement.
  3. WSU (and ISP) is at present (Fall 2002) not consistent about making this information available to students. Sorry, but that's the truth. This will doubtless improve in the future.
  4. Most ISP online courses have fliers that are mailed with the ISP schedules every month.
  5. For ISP (although we forgot to update this early enough for Fall 2002) http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/courses/OnlineCourses.htm
  6. There is a University-wide listing at http://www.classschedule.wayne.edu/course_web/schedule/index.cfm, then choose the link "web courses." However, there are currently many online classes that are not listed here (no ISP online classes for Fall 2002 are listed, for example, although four were offered).
4. What do you need to know about an online course
  1. Before classes start
    1. Are there required face-to-face meetings? How many? When?
    2. If you are conscientious, you will also want to know about optional face-to-face meetings.
    3. Often the syllabus is available online before the course starts
    4. Is special software required beyond email and a web browser (usually not, but for example Business Schools often use Lotus Notes)
  2. During the semester
    1. Bookmark the important course sites
    2. How will changes be announced?
    3. If files are to be turned in electronically, is your software (for example Word Processor, Spreadsheet) compatible with the Instructor's? (Problems with files are usually not an email problem today. Also, this is two-way communication, so the Instructor needs to be able to read your homework files, and you need to be able to read the Instructor's graded homework files.
5. Finding out if a course you have registered for is online. Best advice: call or email the Instructor or the Department (here, ISP). Don't know how to do this: use the Online Directory.
6. If a course is online, what do you do to get started?
  1. Find the course web site, which may mean finding the Instructor. Hint: Online Directory.
7. Can the Instructor find you?
  1. Changes in your email address
8. Check email, web site and conference at least weekly
9. What happens if your Internet connection is broken in the middle of a session? Most likely with a modem (not cable or network connection from a lab). A message box will pop up on your screen.
  1. If you are using your web browser at the time, you do nothing with your program - do not send, do not close, do nothing. Redial your modem and continue as if nothing had happened.
  2. On other Internet software, such as specialized email programs, you may have to close down the software, redial, and then restart the software. When you restart the software, you will lose any work such as a message that hasn't been sent yet. One way to save such work is to select it and paste it into Notepad, Word Pad, Word or some other editor, then paste it back after the software is restarted.
  3. If the Help Desk is closed at the time, you can get LIMITED support from the people that run the WSU network, Network Operations, at 313-577-4746. These are the real techies, and if there really is a problem they will be too busy fixing that to spend much time with you.
Other technical issues:
1. Email systems.
  1. All email systems allot a maximum amount of storage for each user. Fill this up and any further incoming email will be "bounced back" to the sender without any further notification to you. Hotmail seems to particularly susceptible to this problem, because of the large amount of junk email sent there. Hotmail accounts often have unreliable email delivery, and I recommend not using hotmail in an online course. In addition to this problem, hotmail apparently treats ListServ messages as "junk," which may cause you to miss them. Remember; you have good free Internet access and email through the University.
  2. Large homework files can be refused by your Instructor's email system. Exactly what "large" means depends upon the email system. Currently (April 2002) WSU email accounts are allowed a maximum storage of 30 Megabytes for ALL email messages. Also bear in mind that it will often take hours to transmit files of this size using a modem connection. Keep track of files size as you work on a file, especially for graphics and animations.
2. File format compatibility.
  1. This can be the most vexing of problems for a few students in an online class. You will usually be exchanging files with the Instructor for homework. You and the Instructor must find a compatible format. This can sometimes go wrong, especially if you use a small-market word processor. Generally, the two "standard" word processors are Microsoft Word and WordPerfect, and either one of these can interchange files with the other, but this may involve hunting around for a shared format. Generally, the person with the latest version will have to "Save As..." an earlier version. Small-volume or discontinued word processors (e.g. Lotus Notes that many people have access to at work) may have insoluble problems. Consider buying either Microsoft Word or WordPerfect if you are taking an online class. Your University or other institution will often have outstanding prices on software like this.
3. Email is one method of transferring files over the Internet, but there are several alternates:
  1. Web upload. This can look a lot like email, but uses a web browser and HTTP instead of email transport protocols; supply a User Name and/or Password, navigate to find the file, and click on a button to transfer the file (this is called "uploading"). This may be the standard method in your online course, and it may be available as an alternate in case you are having email troubles. This method is usually not affected by limits on file size, as email is.
  2. FTP. In a computer-related course, this may often be the standard method. You can examine directories and files, and transfer files either way with FTP. This method also often is not subject to file size limitations.
4. Getting help. Bear in mind that, at the present time, many Instructors may not be aware of all of these problems. Here are some other sources of help:
  1. Other faculty. If you happen to know faculty with computer expertise, these people are often willing to help. However, not every knowledgeable faculty member knows everything, so beware of the "seeming expert." I am pretty good, and I don't mind being called:
    1. d.r.bowen@wayne.edu
    2. 313-577-1498 on campus (generally Mon, Wed Thu during the academic year)
    3. 248-549-8518 at home
    4. 313-390-2155 at Ford Motor Company during the Summer, and Tue and Thu during the academic year
  2. Most Universities with online courses have a computer help desk with a telephone number (at Wayne State University, 313-577-4778). Call these people.
  3. If you are having trouble with a particular system, see if you can contact the system administrator. Web Server administrators, for example, often have a "mail to" link. Or call the Help Desk.
  4. Collect all of the information you can about the problem you are having (what happened, what was the exact error message if any, what was written on the blue bar above the error message, what program (name and version) were you using, and what were you doing at the time) before trying to get help. You will have more credibility, and it will be easier to help you.
5. While this situation is very rare, if these problems are or may be affecting your grade, and your Instructor is not supportive or understanding, you may need help to avoid being penalized for technical problems. (If computers and the Internet are the course topic, however, you may be taught and graded on being able to handle these issues.) Two normal methods of this type of non-technical help are:
  1. Most Universities require academic departments to have a grade appeal process. These processes must be accessible to students; see the literature or ask a counselor.
  2. Most Universities also have an Ombudsman. An Ombudsman is a designated person to assist students with academic problems. The Ombudsman's power is fact-finding, experience in dealing with such problems, and skill in negotiating a compromise. Use the University telephone information system, or University literature, to locate the Ombudsman. Do not expect the Ombudsman to be sympathetic if you are trying to get around a legitimate academic standard.