Welcome to the Course Reader. Course Reader is a client side application that downloads course contents (messages) from newsgroup servers. Course Reader assists instructors to distribute course content in the discussion forum format, and enables students to browse, read and compose messages. Instructors and students can participate in course discussions both online and offline.
Course Reader is a client side application that communicates with a newsgroup server (NNTP). The newsgroup server serves as the course content distribution server. Course Reader sends messages to the newsgroup server and at the same time downloads messages from the newsgroup server.
Before instructors and students start using the Course Reader for online course discussion, the administrator must first set up a newsgroup server and provides newsgroup server information to the end users.
The administrator can choose any commercial or proprietary newsgroup server. For example, Internet Information Services for Microsoft Windows ships a newsgroup server. DNews is another newsgroup server that can be purchased and installed on Unix or Windows.
After the administrator set up the newsgroup server, the administrator needs to create one newsgroup for each course. Newsgroup servers normally come with administration tools that enable the administrator to create/delete/modify newsgroups and maintain the server health. For example, DNews can be set up so the administrator can administrate the server remotely via an Internet Browser.
Instructors email or phone the administrator to request a course to be set up. The instructor needs to provide the administrator the following information:
The administrator, after receiving such information, needs to do the following;
Note: there is no difference between the student account and the instructor account. All accounts must be able to read and send messages to the newsgroup.
For more information on how to set up newsgroup and user accounts and how to grant user access to the newsgroups, please refer to the user manual of the newsgroup server that you install.
After the administrator sets up a newsgroup server, creates a newsgroup and the user accounts to access the newsgroup, instructors and students need the course subscription information before they can start the online course using the Course Reader.
The administrator needs to inform the end users of the following:
The administrator sends the information to end users via email or phone.
The user installs the Course Reader by running the set up program cr_setup.exe that is shipped on the Course Reader CD or downloaded with the Course Reader package. The user then follows the instruction given by the set up program.
For system requirement, please refer to the README file.
To uninstall the Course Reader on Windows platform, the user does the following
Step 1: select Start menu, Control Panel and Add/Remove Programs
Step 2: select Course Reader to click "Remove" to uninstall the software
Step 3: the data files (course messages) are not removed.
After the user installs Course Reader successfully and receives subscription information from the administrator, the user is ready to use Course Reader for online course discussions.
The very first step is to subscribe to the course. Course Reader needs to have network access for this step.
Step 1: Establish the network connection on the machine. For example, the user should dial-up to his/her Internet server provider if working at home.Step 2: Open Course Reader. For example, on Microsoft Windows, select "Start", then "Program Files", then "Course Reader" and then click on the "Course Reader" icon.
Step 3: Once Course Reader is successfully opened, select "Course" then "Subscribe Courses" on the top menu bar.
Step 4: One the Subscribing to Courses dialog, fill out all the fields:
- Newsgroup Server Name
- The newsgroup server name given by your administrator
- Newsgroup Server Port
- You can skip this one if the newsgroup server operates on the default port 119
Check the box if you are required to logon.
- Logon ID
- your user account on the newsgroup server, provided by your administrator
- Logon Password
- your password
Step 5: Click "Next" on the dialog, the user sees a list of course newsgroups he/she can subscribe to.
To select a course, click on the course name.
To select multiple courses, hold on Ctrl or Alt key and click on the course names.
Then click "Subscribe". The courses will be added to the "Active" tab in the left course navigation pane.
After the user successfully subscribes to the course, the instructor may wish to create seminars. Seminar is a subdivision of a course. By default, a "Main" seminar is already created for a course. It is up to the instructor to decide on the number of seminars to create and names of seminars.
To create a new seminar using Course Reader:
Step 1: select the course name in the left navigation pane.
Step 2: on the top menu bar, select "Course" menu and then "Create Seminar" submenu
Step 3: on the "Create New Seminar" dialog, enter the new seminar name and then click "OK"
or select a seminar name from the recommended list, and then click "OK"
Once the instructors have seminars, instructors and students can then submit messages into each seminar and carry out online discussions.
To submit course messages using Course Reader:
Step 1: on the top menu bar, select "Course" menu and then "New Message" submenu
Step 2: the composer window appears in the lower right pane. To open a full composing window, click on "Undock" button. The window becomes an independent floating window.
Step 3: in the composer window, type in the subject, type in content in the body. One can cut, copy and paste text when editing.
Step 4: Click on "Send" button to send the message. Alternatively, one can select "Course" menu and then "Send Message" submenu on the top menu bar.
To reply to a message, select the message and then select "Course" menu and then "Reply Message" submenu.
The user computer needs to be connected to the network in order for Course Reader to download messages from the subscribed courses from the specified course server.
If the user computer is offline, the user can only view messages that were downloaded during the previous network connection.
To view course messages using Course Reader:
Step 1: on the left navigation pane, select the course name and then the seminar name. The messages show up in the right message list view pane.
Step 2: click on a message subject to view the message details.
Step 3: double click on the message headers (subject, sent on, from) to sort the messages
When the user computer is connected to the network, Course Reader automatically synchronizes with the specified course servers. The user can always view most recent messages sent by himself/herself and others.
When the user computer is not connected to the network, Course Reader continues to function as it is. The user can still view course messages, create new course messages, and create seminars. The sent messages are stored in the Outbox (accessible from the Outbox tab). When the user computer is connected to the network again, Course Reader automatically detects the connection, synchronizes with the server immediately and sends all the messages stored in the Oubox.
When the user computer goes back online, the user can also manually trigger the synchronization between Course Reader and the course server. To do so, the user can select "Tools" menu and then "Send and Receive" submenu.
If the end-user has limited network connection, for example, the user is in the airport and is about to get on a flight, the user may wish to synchronize the contents of a few courses rather than all the subscribed courses. In Course Reader, the user can control the number of courses to synchronize.
To specify which course NOT to synchronize in Course Reader:
When a course is inactive, Course Reader will not synchronize the course content
with the server. The steps are to set a course to be "inactive".
Step 1: select the course that one wants to set it as inactive
Step 2: on the top menu bar, select "Course" menu, then "Manage Courses" submenu, and then "Deactivate Course" submenu
Step 3: the course disappears from the "Active Courses" tab in the left navigation pane.
Step 4: the inactive course can be accessed from the "Inactive Course" tab in the left navigation pane.
To specify which course to synchronize in Course Reader:
Step 1: select the inactive course in the "Inactive Course" tab in the left navigation pane.
Step 2: on the top menu bar, select "Course" menu, then "Manage Courses" submenu, and the "Activate Course" submenu.
Step 3: the course disappears from the "Inactive Courses" tab in the left navigation pane.
Step 4: the active course can be accessed from the "Active Course" tab in the left navigation pane.
Course Reader automatically synchronizes contents for all courses in the "Active Course" tab.
An end user may have a computer at home that is not connected to the network, however, the user wishes to review course messages and compose replies at home. Before leaving home, the user can export courses into a file on a diskette on his/her work computer, and import the file into the computer at home so the user can work on the course offline. Course Reader must be installed on both home and work computers.
To export a course into a file using Course Reader:
Step 1: select the course the one wants to export in the left navigation pane.
Step 2: on the top menu bar, select "Course", then "Manage Courses" submenu, and then "Export Course"
Step 3: in the export/import dialog, browse to a file directory where one wants to save the course file in, and specify the file name. For example: a:\forhome\biology_101_course_file.
Step 4: click "OK" to export the course into a file on the A drive.
When the user gets home, the user can import the course file on the diskette into the Course Reader.
To import a course file into Course Reader:
Step 1: on the top menu bar, select "Course", then "Manage Courses" submenu, and then "Import Course"
Step 2: in the dialog, browse to the directory where the course file is saved, and select the file. For example, browse and select a:\forhome\biology_101_course_file.
Step 3: click "OK" to import the course file into Course Reader
Step 4: the course name is displayed in the left navigation pane just a regular course.
Once the user has reviewed all the messages and composed new messages, the user can then export the course along with all the modifications back into the diskette, and import the course file back into the work computer. Course Reader on the work computer can pick up the changes and synchronize the content with the course servers.
The instructor is interested in the course participation statistics. A user's participation statistics is updated periodically when the Course Reader is connected to the network. The statistics is a snap shot of the immediate past.
To view user participation statistics in Course Reader:
Step 1: click on the course name in the left navigation pane
Step 2: view the statistic information displayed in the right pane
Student ID: the user name (normally an email alias) who participates in this course
# of messages received: the total number of messages (from all seminars) received. All users should have the same total number.
# of messages read: the total number of messages (from all seminars) that have been marked read by the user.
% of messages read: the % of messages that have been read by the user
Time of last message sent/received: the last time the information was updated.
For more information on how to use the Course Reader, please refer to the Course Reader Help document by selecting "Help" from the top menu bar in Course Reader.