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FAQs for issues with Respondus Lockdown Browser

  1. New to Respondus Quizzes? Read the CTL’s write-up.
  2. No Photo ID (Niner ID or other state-issued)? Use the reception desk camera to take a photo with sheet, like below, we will forward it to the teacher for verification. photo-example
  3. Issues with starting:
    1. Respondus won’t open: How to bypass a Moodle Popup Window when using Respondus lockdown browser
    2. Test won’t open and you get a warning
      1. in Moodle that this test must be run in Respondus Lockdown Browser? Close your regular web browser and double click on the desktop on the Moodle Lockdown Browser Icon:, then go to Moodle2 from in there.
      2. in Respondus that “No more attempts are allowed”, but the student has not made any attempts yet and the quiz closing date is long in the past: contact the teacher to check whether the quiz needs updating. image
  4. Issues with Audio:
    1. Students are advised to test the headsets before entering Respondus Lockdown browser assessments:
      1. Start Audacity from the desktop, click record: if you say something, you must see something;
      2. Play back to test the speakers. Hear nothing? Try the volume knob:CALIFONE-HEADSET-IMAG0006-volume
      3. (More detail here).
    2. Rewind-audio may get you stuck – to fix, next-page, then back (reloads page). More info: How to workaround Moodle quiz audio not playing to the end in Respondus Lockdown Browser
    3. How to bypass a Moodle Popup Window when using Respondus lockdown browser
    4. imageIf no audio and error “pluginfile” flashes when clicking “Next”and back: notify permanent staff.
  5. Issues with Writing:
    1. Lost the clip_image002?
      1. Clicking around nearby where it was may bring it back.
      2. Or clip_image004, quickly cancel (gets you out of lockdown browser), new attempt from desktop shortcut.
      3. Learn to use the installed US-international keyboard shortcuts. us-international.
      4. more info: Problems with accented characters in Respondus Lockdown Browser
    2. If your keyboard stops typing in English in a Respondus lockdown browser quiz…
  6. Issues with finishing
    1. If the test won’t submit, start Respondus lockdown browser on a different computer to see whether you can resume your attempt there.
  7. More issues? Let us know in the comments here.

Google new maps’ photo tour slideshow viewer

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<Grumble> If these internet companies invent anything else, I won’t get out much anymore.</Grumble> (I have always loved “travelling on a map” too much alreadySmile).

This is not your grandparents’ photos feature in Google maps anymore. The new photo tour automatically (I must assume? Based on GIS data included in the photo, image recognition to cluster motifs?) intelligently tags the map includes highlights of well-known sights, and it seems to automatically group similar shots/motifs, providing the feel of an in-depth exploration, even presence. And the occasional grandparents in the foreground remind us, that this remains a crowd-sourced project… Smile

Now how to plan a better intercultural map exploration class with this…

Call it “blog”, “CMS” or whatever, as long as your WordPress site visitor stats show that it helped people

I have been asked by a colleague about the “hits” in the upper right on my website. They are the number of visits I had(not counting myself, at least not when I am logged in – like many  “bloggers”, I am likely my own best audience! Smile).

My website could be called “a blog”, since it is based on WordPress, which started as a platform for blogging (but now – being so easy and flexible, and free (though not to host)- is behind every 5th website on the planet!).

WordPress  is also the platform for the faculty blogs in CLAS-pages: If you are member of CLAS and not represented up there, I hope you know that you can request getting a CLAS-page here.

“Blog stats” is a hard-coded label that I cannot change.  If I could, I’d prefer to call it “Content Management System stats” (that’s probably why they do not allow for changes Smile).

As opposed to just “web-logging” what is going on in my daily work life, I try to organize in this CMS the little things that I discover, hoping for reuse:

  1. by other people. That’s at least my justification for blathering, and I am sticking to it.  (1125 posts? Really? Plus plus 1? Oh well… Smile).
  2. by myself. For the CMS and blogging habit (summarizing into a somewhat presentable, comprehensible form, and tagging for findability) makes me often search for answers that I have forgotten on my blog rather than on my computer (and that is despite me loving OneNote).

In my WordPress site (hosted on wordpress.com), I can see site visitor statistics like in the picture below:  Includes search terms which led to clicks on one of my posts, countries of origin, outgoing links clicked etc.

I don’t do SEO or anything similar advanced on this website, nor do I use the statistics to cater to my audience (I am sure it is almost entirely transient). For me, it is just fun how I can glean  from these statistics that I could help people find answers to their language, learning (and too often: computer infrastructure) questions and some of my work can be reused.

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Heck, I decided to “blog” this email response, since it might answer the questions of a few more of colleagues than the person that emailed me.

Free interactive online learning materials for Heinle Interaction

  1. Available here – in spite of the prominent user login button, you do not need to sign up.
  2. Rather simply click the “Select Chapter” to get started. image
  3. You then have access to some of these types of exercises, per chapter: image
  4. Free (a (free) account is not needed):
    1. Tutorial Quiz
    2. Audio
    3. Web Search Activities
    4. Concentration
    5. Heinle Playlist
    6. Google Earth Coordinates
    7. Web Links
  5. Not free
    1. Flashcards
    2. Video (except for chapter 1 as taster) image
    3. Podcasts
    4. Crossword
    5. Chapter Glossary
  6. What this content is good for:
    1. Practicing. Including with a tutor, for since this content is not assessed, there is no ethical issue if the tutor helps with these materials.
    2. It is from edition 8, which is not the current edition – but I expect it to be still reasonably to the current chapters chapter:
      1. Le commerce et la consommation
      2. Modes de vie
      3. La vie des jeunes
      4. Les télécommunications
      5. La presse et le message
      6. Le mot et l’image
      7. Les transports et la technologie
      8. A la fac
      9. La francophonie
      10. Découvrir et se décourvir

Protected: Website error documentation

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LRC website migration from WordPress to Drupal

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Original: image

Since when is Craigslist charging for electronics–for sale by owner?

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Have not been able to find anything about this on their site, nor on the web? – Seems to have been a glitch, came back later w/o fee. Are they planning something?

Free German online proofing tool by Duden

  1. Don’t have MS-Word Proofing Tools, and can’t come to the LRC which has proofing tools for German and many other languages installed?
  2. Try Duden’s (= authoritative German dictionary publisher, and nowadays much more) free (up to 800 characters at a time; a time-limited (=30 days add-in for MS-Word is also availableOnline version:image
  3. Use it wisely: Learning is not cheating. But please consult your teacher whether this is legitimate help. 
  4. Now how’s the quality? Drop us a comment below.