Classrooms & Lab Tips

• There are steps to set up Vision you may have to follow whenever you use a room for the first time. After that (unless we re-image a classroom), you should be good.
• After logging in, go to the system tray and click the UP arrow (or triangle) near the bottom right corner of the screen.
• A few icons will appear above it. Right-click the Vision icon, a pale blue icon with a white eye etched on it. (Do NOT click on the larger icon that is on the upper left of your desktop as that will not do anything.)
  • NOTE: If you do not see the Blue Eye icon, go to START > ALL PROGRAMS > NET OP > VISION TEACHER. Once you click on Vision Teacher, the icon should be available in the bottom right corner.
• Choose OPTIONS from the pop-up menu, and then click "Show Shortcut Bar."
• Then right click on the Vision icon again and choose OPEN. (If it was already checked, then you can choose OPEN instead of OPTIONS.)
• A bar will appear on the right side of the screen. Click the top icon (My Classrooms) and select your room #. It will connect to that room.
• Then click on that same icon, My Classrooms, and the control console will open. You can minimize it or change views.
• Most of the features are still the same as before,

Notes

• We cannot provide software training for the various features, but we can help you start it up and connect to the classroom.
• We no longer support DEMO mode. It might work, but if it doesn't, we can't fix it. We have not been able to reach a consistent solution with the developers. The WEB LOCK feature has also been inconsistent.
• At the end of class, please click on My Classrooms and then disconnect the classroom. Some functions may lock up the student computers if the teacher logs off without disconnecting first.
  You can find out more about Vision by visiting their website for documentation and training videos (or watch them on Youtube)

• Make sure the volume icon in the bottom right corner of the computer isn't muted.
• Make sure the right input is selected. When you first log in, you'll be prompted to select Microphone, but if it got skipped, you can do it manually.
  • Right-click on the volume icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Click on "Recording Devices" in the pop-up box, and select the “Microphone (Soundmax integrated)” option, usually the second option in the list.
  • For web-based recording software (like Wimba), you may also need to change a setting in the web application to tell it to use the front audio mic (instead of the back). Under the Options icon, for input, choose “Microphone (Soundmax integrated)” which is usually the second option in the list.
  • Audacity - there is a Microphone drop down list in the middle of the window. Choose “Microphone (Soundmax integrated)” which is usually the second option in the list.

• If the quality of sound recordings are bad, right-click the volume icon in system tray.
• Click on "Recording Devices" in the pop-up box.
• Click the "Recordings" tab and double-click the microphone icon.
  • Levels Tab: You may want to adjust the microphone recording level. If it's turned up really high, try setting it around 7-10.
  • Advanced Tab: here you can change the recording quality to a different setting if you prefer.
  • Microphone boost: this will either be under the "levels" tab or the "custom" tab, depending on which model of computer you're using. Try checking/unchecking the box to see if that helps.
• Software, like Audacity, may have its own input level for the mic. Try adjusting that.
• OTHER: If you unplug the headset with recording software open and then plug it back in, the application may crash. The computer may no longer recognize that the headset is connected, which is a limitation of Windows. Try logging off and logging back on. Also, closing the application before removing the headsets may help avoid the problem

• Go to: Start > Control Panel> Region & Language.
  • In the new window, under the "Formats" tab, choose the desired input language from the drop-down list.
  • Click APPLY.
• Then, if you want to change the keyboard:
  • Click: Keyboards & Languages > Change Keyboards > Add.
  • Scroll down the list until you find the right language and click + to expand the list.
  • Click the + next to "keyboards" to expand that list, too, and then check the boxes for whichever keyboards you want.
  • Then click the following to make the changes: OK, Apply, OK, OK.
• If you chose the wrong input locale/language or keyboard layout, go back and click the REMOVE button. Then start over
• SPELL CHECK: To use spell check in a foreign language (it will only work for English, French & Spanish in our rooms), you MUST follow the all of the steps above first. Be aware that though the spell check does work, it does not do a very good job of catching mistakes in at least French and Spanish.