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Joining the Virtual Classroom and Office Hours Chat
Note: To enable closed captioning of the videos, use Window Media Player and from the menu click Play, then Captions & Subtitles, and make sure "Captions" is selected. Also, on the menu click View and make sure that "Full Mode" is selected.
Many professors require chat sessions in their online courses. To access the chat rooms, the Virtual Classroom and Office Hours, click the Communication course content button. When you do, the following page will reveal the communication options, including the option called Collaboration.
Clicking the Collaboration button will take you to a page where you can access the Virtual Classroom and Office Hours chat:
After you click the Join button, wait about a 60 seconds for the chat window to load. If you don't see anything but white panes, exit the CHAT window and then clink the link for the JAVA PLUG-IN. The plug-in will begin downloading (this will take about 2 seconds). Save it to your computer DESKTOP where you can find it easily.
After the file has downloaded, you have to install it if it doesn't automatically install by itself. Go to your DESKTOP, double click the icon for the Java plug-in, and it will install. The restart your computer so that the plug-in will activate.
Return to your online course, click the Communication course content button, click Collaboration, and then click the Join button for the Virtual Classroom. The chat window should appear within a minute or two. It will look like the figure below:
Your professor may keep online "office hours" so that the two of you can chat. To access the Office Hours chat room, click the Join button for Office Hours.
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