August | 2011 | Thomas' Work Space

Moodle Metacourses, part IV: The support workflow: Transcoding audio learning materials

2011/08/31 plagwitz 1 comment

The MS-WMA-Voice codec features very acceptable audio quality for spoken language learning materials in a highly compressed format. It allowed me to reduce our existing audio files collection size by about 50%.

Expression Encoder 3 crashed a few times during encoding this queue of 3.500 audio files. In addition, it took a long time to reload the .XEJ project files of such a size. It is, however, easy enough to inspect the XEJ in an XML editor:

And even easier to delete the finished media files form the queue using a text editor:

I am wondering whether this queuing could be streamlined (recovery automated, and the need for human interaction be reduced) using the PowerShell Module for Automating Expression-Encoder, but so far the process is good enough.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-manager, e-infrastructure, learning-materials Tags: audio, codecs, metacourses, ms-expression-encoder, windows-media-audio

Sanako Study-1200 slow spanning 2 screens with different resolutions

2011/08/31 plagwitz 1 comment

UPDATE2: 2013-09: apparently new video driver crashes with autoscan window, this time even on primary screen alone?
UPDATE: 2011-01:Problem seems to have disappeared (windows update?)
Symptom: This is on a Dell Optiplex 760 (B6CCLK1) which has no problems with Sanako’s screen sharing application, as long as you do not attempt to span the windows across two screens with different resolution which makes even the mouse jerky. Not sure, but do not remember having this problem across two screens with the same resolution. Actually, the Sanako subwindow (remote ctronl specifically) slows down the computer even if it is only on th secondary screen.
Solution: Relatively easily fixed, if you can afford upgrading not only the screen, but also the LCD projector that hangs on one of the screens…
Workaround: Do not span sub-windows of Sanako Study-1200 across screens. This problem can become so bad that the Sanako sub window becomes completely unresponsive and cannot be moved or closed (neither with the close button in the upper right nor with ALT-F4). Try CTRL-ALT-ESC then and kill the process. You could also try and upgrade the video card driver which may be the true culprit. However, on the Sanako sub windows seem to display the problem (screensharing with remote control, chat also). E.g. Internet Explorer windows do not have the same problem when spanned across screens.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-teachers, e-languages, Glitches&Errors Tags: dual-screen, FAQs, sanako-study-1200

Room and Equipment handling using MS-Exchange Resource Mailboxes: To train in Outlook Desktop or in OWA ?

2011/08/30 plagwitz 2 comments

While Outlook desktop is a more powerful calendaring tool than OWA (cf. viewing calendars in overlay mode), we decided to first focus on getting everybody to be functional with meeting requests in OWA, since

faculty will want to use this system from their home computers where the outlook desktop configuration, if it exists at all , is probably even more lacking. Students could, but are not likely to have outlook desktop either
both faculty and students (both for rooms and for equipment) will walk up to the LRC reception desk needing help, and then only OWA is available
it is actually part of both equipment check-out and check-in procedure (if not for rooms, then for equipment) that I am designing that faculty and students open up from OWA (on the web browser that the lab assistant is not using: internet explorer, Firefox, Safari should gives us always 2 options on either operating system) that the meeting that they have made (or if not made, make one on the fly), and that the lab assistant enters a code (generated on the PC at the reception desk) into their appointment and sends the update for them to see them through;
we can also serve as backup on our office computers for the reception desk (unstaffed or understaffed), if clients use OWA

Essentially, it is not a PC Environment anymore (although it could be if our Remote Desktop infrastructure were much stronger).

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-manager, training Tags: calendaring, ms-exchange, ms-outlook, resource-mailboxes, resource-scheduling

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Calendaring: What happens after the meeting request? Automated or manual responses and reminders

2011/08/30 plagwitz 3 comments

If you have been invited to a meeting, e.g. a co-taught class in the LRC, you will see in your inbox an email-like meeting request with pre-set answer options:

Wait, there is more: Proposing:
If you followed the instructions in TBA:request meeting, you should immediately get an acceptance response from the resource:
If something went wrong, read the denial response for how to overcome the issue:

there are resource specific policies, like maximum booking duration, listed here: TBA: list resources
if there is a conflict with a prior booking of the resources, please go back to the meeting request scheduling assistant and find a time when the resource is available.
if you requested a recurring/repeating meeting, like for a weekly class meeting in the LRC, there may be individual conflicts. Note that we have set the resource scheduling options for the non-conflicting instances of your request to be accepted (in most cases). For how to deal with the conflicting instances, study the conflict information in the denial response.

Note that the LRC calendars are set up so that the LRC staff is copied (as delegates) on LRC resource requests (as a backup for issues and paper trail for reporting):
If you find you get too many meeting reminders that you do not need, when requesting a meeting, turn the default reminder option off:

The reminder can also be set to off as default in the calendar settings for a resource.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-students, e-infrastructure, service-is-library Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

Room and Equipment handling using MS-Exchange Resource Mailboxes: Configuration with OWA instead of PowerShell

2011/08/30 plagwitz 1 comment

As once can easily find documented for MS-Exchange 2007, if you are the owner of the mailbox, you can use the OWA-feature “open other mailbox”.
As impersonated user for this mailbox , you can access the “Options / Settings”:
for the “resource” scheduling
for its “calendar”
This is maybe not as much fun as PowerShell’s Set-MailboxCalendarSettings and set-CalendarProcessing (click as you go, no batching), but easier on your MS-Exchange admin and especially practical for quick modifications and tests,

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-manager, documentation, e-infrastructure, service-is-library Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, exchange, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling, setcalendarprocessing

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Resource Calendaring: LRC resources in the Global Address List (GAL)

2011/08/30 plagwitz 3 comments

Open the GAL for resources by clicking on “Resources” in a meeting request, like here:

You will find an equivalent of the LRC bookable resources list in Outlook’s/O’WA’s Global Address List.
In the GAL,you can filter by recipient type:
1. the result, in outlook:
for LRC resources, especially other than rooms, it is easier to filter by name(all LRC resource names start with “LRC”) – the result,
1. in Outlook:
2. in OWA you will see the GAL as part of the address book

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure, service-is-library, training Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Resource Calendaring: How to cancel meetings in OWA

2011/08/30 plagwitz 4 comments

View instead a short screencast how to cancel meeting requests in OWA.
Or: You start out with a meeting request conversation like this, showing:
1. a request send from account LRC help (example)
2. an accepted meeting response from the resource (e.g. the room) account
to cancel that meeting, you can go to your (!) calendar in OWA,
1. select (click on) the meeting and choose “delete”
  1. either from the context menu after right-click the meeting
    1. or from the ribbon after selecting the meeting
  2. if the meeting was repeating/recurring, you will be given the option to
you can also just open the meeting and choose from the top menu the “Cancel meeting” button, then press menu button: “Send update”:
1. 1. Again, for recurring/repeating meetings, you will be asked to confirm what exactly you want to cancel, the individual occurrence or the entire series of meetings:
2. You have the opportunity to include an informative note in your update before sending.
After the cancellation has gone through, this is how the results will look like in the e-paper trail:
1. “sent items”
2. a cancelled meeting conversation in your “inbox” in “conversation view”:
3. Here is a complete icon legend:

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure, Screencasts, service-is-library, training Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, cancelling, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Resource Calendaring: How staff view resource “Calendars from your organization” in OWA

2011/08/30 plagwitz 6 comments

Note: Students that have not been specifically invited to share a calendar, must use (staff may also) this approach to view calendars, to avoid a permission problem .
Staff can load resource calendars, but as somebody who books the resource (except where you still cannot book/schedule/sign up: Tutors), you normally neither need nor want to (unless you manage the resources).
1. To preview the free/busy schedule of the resource, use the scheduling assistant instead.
2. To make sure that you have booked the resource, load your OWN calendar instead: Since it is you who “meets” with the resource, your meeting will be reflected on there. If you also loaded the resource’s calendar, you would see your “meeting” twice. A meeting always appears in the calendar of all “participants” – only that, other than for resource calendars, you normally do not view the calendar of the other participants who are “human resources”(or maybe you are, at least in the scheduling assistant, but not with details beyond “busy”).
3. You may want to load the resource calendar to learn details about the other “meetings”of the resource (e.g. which conflicting meeting organizer you can contact in an emergency, or to know how many tentative meeting requests are already pending for a tutor). Below is how:
Similarly to in Outlook (desktop): , in OWA, click on the lower left “Calendar-icon” to unfold the “My Calendars” list in the left pane, then right-click on “My Calendars”, choose “Add Calendar” .
put (part of) the name, click “ok”
if there are multiple matches, select the correct one (you can only select one at a time)
press “OK” again: .
As explained above, there is little reason to go overboard and add too many calendars, unless you have to manage:
However, you can also easily remove calendars, through the context menu item “Remove shared calendar”