The following are the most frequently asked questions that we receive through our Help Line. If you have any additional questions that are not covered here, please give our Help Line a call at 1-877-947-HELP or email us at help@umit.maine.edu.

WebCT:

Q - Where do I go to access the course website?

A - The listing of web-based courses is located at http://webct.umaine.edu/webct/public/show_courses. Simply scroll through the listing until you find your course, and click on the "i" icon to access to course welcome page. From the welcome page, you should be able to login to the course.

Q - I was sent or created a WebCT user name and password, but they don't work. Why is that?

A - User names and passwords in WebCT are case sensitive - meaning that upper and lowercase letters must be typed EXACTLY as the username and password were originally created and sent to you. If you are typing the user name and password exactly as it was sent to you and you are still having problems logging in, please email our help line at help@umit.maine.edu or call 1-877-947-HELP for assistance.

Q - The professor of the course says that he/she has changed the course website, but I can't see the changes that he/she made. What's going on?

A - Most likely the problem here is that your browser is caching files from the web. Caching basically saves the web page to your computer so that you are saved time each time you visit the page. Unfortunately, caching also causes visitors to see the older version and not be able to see any updates for the site. The solution to this problem is to empty the cache, which you will learn to do by scrolling to the Netscape portion of the FAQ. Once the cache is empty, you should be able to view the latest version of the site.

Q - Where do I find assignments on the course website?

A - The location of assignments on the course website varies depending on how the professor has set up the course, but for the most part, assignments can be found either on a static syllabus webpage or in the WebCT calendar tool. In either case, due date and explanations of assignments will usually be clearly marked, and students should have no problems finding their assignments.

Netscape:

Q - I was told I need to clear my browser's cache to see changes made to the course website. How do I do that?

A - In Netscape, clearing the cache is fairly simple. What you will have to do is launch the Netscape browser, go to the Edit menu, and choose preferences. A window will pop up, and you will see a list of choices on the left hand side of that window. Double click on Advanced to expand it, then choose Cache. You will see two types of cache - memory cache and disk cache, and each has a button to clear it. Clear both of them. Finally, click OK and close the browser. When you reopen Netscape, you should now be able to view the changes to the website.

Q - Why are we told to use Netscape instead of Internet Explorer? Can we use Internet Explorer instead if we prefer it?

A - We recommend that students use Netscape rather than Internet Explorer for a couple of reasons. For starters, the company that creates WebCT recommends it being used with Netscape. Second, we have noticed that in older versions of Internet Explorer, there have been intermittent functioning problems with many WebCT courses. Through the most recent version of Internet Explorer tends to work better with WebCT than previous versions, problems are still evident, and the course page will display and function much better in Netscape. Therefore, we do NOT recommend students using Internet Explorer for their web course.

Q - I have an older version of Netscape. Do I need to upgrade to the latest version to view the course website?

A - Though the overall layout may look fine in older versions of Netscape, some of the plugins and players required may not function properly in older versions of Netscape. Since many of our web courses use various plugins and players for their content, we strongly recommend that students use Netscape 4.7 and higher for proper use of the course material on the website.

Q - My computer's too old to use the latest version of Netscape. What should I do?

A - There are a couple of things that you can do. First of all, most of the plugins and players needed to use these courses are supported in versions of Netscape as low as Netscape 3.0, and most older computers can run Netscape 3.0 as well. If your computer can run Netscape 3.0 but can't run the higher versions, then use Netscape 3.0 for your web-based course. If your computer can not handle Netscape 3.0, or if Netscape 3.0 doesn't support a player or plugin that you need for your course, then we suggest visiting one of our centers throughout the state. These centers have more up-to-date computers and should accommodate your needs. If you don't live near a center, then borrowing a friend's computer or visiting a public computer cluster in your area are also viable options.

FirstClass:

Q - How do I get a FirstClass account for my class?

A - If you do not already have a FirstClass account and your class requires you to have one, please send an email to help@umit.maine.edu with the subject line "FirstClass Account Request" In the body of this email, please include your full name, including middle initial, social security number, and means of contacting you (email,work or home phone numbers) once your account is actived. Once your account is active, one of our technical staff will contact you with your FirstClass Username and Password.

Q - Where do I go to download the FirstClass software?

A - You can go to either of two web addresses. Our primary download site is http://dll.umaine.edu/firstclass/. If for any reason this address doesn't work, you may also download the software from
http://www.centrinity.com/downloads/client.html. From either address, choose the appropriate version for your operating system. It is required that you download the latest version of the software.

Q - I've downloaded and installed FirstClass, and everything seems to have worked well. However, when I try to run FirstClass, its asking me to enter server information. What do I do?

A - If FirstClass asks you to give server information in order for it to work, click OK at that prompt. A setup screen will show up. Under the Connect Via pull-down menu, make sure that TCP-IP.FCP is chosen from the list. Then, under the Server field on this window, type in fc.umit.maine.edu and leave everything else on the window blank. Finally, click save. You should now be able to use your FirstClass login information to access your FirstClass account.

Q - How do I send a message to a conference on FirstClass?

A - To send a new message to a conference in FirstClass, there are two possible methods. The first way is to create a new message from your FirstClass Mailbox and place the name of the conference in the To: box. Once you have written the name of the conference in the to: box, hit enter, then go ahead and write your message. When you hit the send button, it will then send to the conference you wrote in the To: box. The other method is to open the conference you wish to send a message to, and create a new message from within that window. When the new message appears, it will automatically have the conference name in the To: box of your message.

QuickTime:

Q - I am trying to view a QuickTime movie for my course, but it keeps breaking up and stopping abruptly. What is causing that?

A - In order to view QuickTime movies for any of our courses, it is required that you have a 56k connection to the Internet. If you do not have a 56k modem, you will not be able to view the movies correctly. However, keep in mind that though you may have a 56k modem, that doesn't necessarily mean that you are connecting at 56k. Often times, the actual connection speed for your Internet connection will be significantly less, causing difficulty in viewing the movies. If you do have a 56k modem or faster, and are having difficulty viewing a QuickTime movie for your class, there are a few possible causes for this. Some causes can be older phone lines that don't support the necessary speeds, your Internet Service Provider having a large number of people connected at the same time, or too many people trying to access our servers at the same time. If you can't view the movie at one time, try connecting to the Internet and viewing the movie at a time when less people are likely to be online, possibly late at night or early in the morning.

Q - I know that I'm running QuickTime on my computer and that I have a fast enough connection to the Internet, but I still can't access any movies for my course. What could be going wrong?

A - It could be possible that you do not have the proper version of QuickTime to view the movies. In order to view QuickTime movies for our courses, you will need to download the latest version of QuickTime (version 4.1) to view the movies. You may download the latest FREE version of QuickTime from the following address:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Q - I try to run a movie for my class by clicking on the link, but rather than opening QuickTime, it opens Windows Media Player or RealPlayer and won't play. How do I remedy this?

A - What has happened in this instance is that either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player "took over" the .mov file types from QuickTime. The way to fix this problem is to reassociate the .mov files to QuickTime by opening the QuickTime control panel (found under the Control Panel in Windows or listed under control panels in the apple menu on Macs), choose File Type Associations from the pull-down menu in the QuickTime control panel, and check make sure that Macintosh file types is checked (you may have to uncheck it and then recheck it so .mov files will be reassociated to QuickTime), and close the QuickTime control panel. Once that is done, restart your computer, try to view the movie again, and it should now open the QuickTime player.

Q - When I try to play a QuickTime movie, I receive a 404 - not found error. What could be causing that, and how do I fix it?

A - There are a couple of possible causes for this problem. The most common cause is that settings in the QuickTime control panel is preventing the movie to stream. To fix this problem, go into the QuickTime control panel, choose Streaming Transport from the pull-down menu, and then choose "Use UDP, RTSP Port ID" from the choices, and choose 554 as the Port ID. Once this is chosen, close the QuickTime control panel, and you should now be able to view the movie without the 404 message. If on the other hand your settings are correct and you still receive the 404 error, then the problem may either be with your Internet connection, or it may be a problem with our servers. In such a case, disconnect from the Internet and try again at a later time.

RealPlayer:

Q - I am trying to listen to a RealAudio lecture, but when I try to open the file, it opens in Windows Media instead of in RealPlayer, and it won't play correctly. Is there a remedy for this?

A - Most likely another player (in this case Windows Media Player) has taken over files that were originally meant for RealPlayer. In order to reassociate those files to RealPlayer, open RealPlayer, click on the view menu, and choose properties. This will open the properties window. In that window, click on the upgrade tab, and at the bottom of the window you will see the settings to reassociate files and to restore settings. Below those two buttons, there should be a check box that states to always play RealNetwork's media with RealPlayer. Make sure that check box is checked and click OK. You should now be able to listen to the RealAudio lecture.

Q - Clicking on the link to the RealPlayer lecture brings up RealPlayer, but it doesn't want to play. I have an older version of the player. What should I do?

A - In order to listen to or view lectures in the real media formats, you must make sure you have the latest version of RealPlayer. Most of the older versions of the player will not play the media files for our courses. You may download the latest version by going to the following web address:

http://www.real.com/

Flash:

Q - There's a link in my course that instructs you to click on for lesson information, but when I click on the link, all I get is a blank window. Why can't I view the lesson information?

A - A few of our web-based courses use the Flash plugin to interact with their sites. If you can not view more than a blank window, then your course may use Flash. First, check the welcome page of your course to see if your course requires Flash. if it does, then you will have to download and install the Flash player to your computer by going to the following link:

http://www.macromedia.com/

Q - I know that I have Flash installed on my computer, but I still can't access the lessons section of the site. My course does require Flash. Why can't I view the lessons?

A - If you still can't view any Flash content with the Flash player installed, then there could be two possibilities -- either you do not have the latest version of the Flash player, or the plugin is not installed in the particular browser that you are using. If it isn't installed on the particular browser you are using, you will have to go to the link above to download and install the latest version of the Flash player. If it is merely that you have an outdated version, you will have to uninstall it and then download the latest version from the Macromedia site. Macromedia has uninstallers and detailed information on uninstalling Flash at this link.

Q - The latest lesson should be up, but I can't access the latest lesson from the Flash interface. Why is that?

A - As mentioned above in respect to WebCT, web browsers tend to cache files - save files to your computer - in order to speed up download times of websites. This is also true with the flash files on webpages. If you can't view the updated lessons, then most likely the flash file was cached, so you are viewing the older version of the file. Simply follow the instructions for clearing the cache in the Netscape section of this FAQ, and you should be able to view the latest version of the flash file.