Horizon Wimba Technical Support
Horizon Wimba Live Classroom
Horizon Wimba Live Classroom runs from inside Blackboard, and provides virtual classrooms that support audio, application sharing, and content display.
The first and most important step of being a successful participant in a Horizon Wimba Live Classroom is running the Setup Wizard. You should follow all of the recommended steps in the Wizard, run it all the way through, and be sure to agree to install any of the suggested plugins. Once you have run the Setup Wizard on your computer, you can skip the setup and click on “If you have completed the wizard previously, click here to enter Live Classroom.”
Horizon Wimba Technical Support
Loyola has arranged for Horizon Wimba for Live Classroom, 24/7 telephone support service.
When you need help, you can:
- Call Horizon Wimba at 866-350-4978
- Send them an e-mail to technicalsupport@horizonwimba.com,
- Access the Horizon Wimba Technical Support page at http://www.horizonwimba.com/technicalsupport/
Popup Blockers will cause some areas of Horizon Wimba Live Classroom not to launch properly. In order to use Horizon Wimba, you will need to disable your pop-up blocker or configure it to allow pop-ups from your Horizon Wimba server.
Pop-up blockers can be found in these three categories:
- Browser toolbar add-ons (AIM toolbar, Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, Earthlink toolbar, etc.)
- Packaged with Internet security applications (Norton, McAfee, etc.)
- Within Internet browsers themselves (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, etc)
Please refer to the vendor documentation on how to configure a pop-up blocker to work with Horizon Wimba.
It is not uncommon to have more than one pop-up blocker enabled on your computer, and some may not be displayed. You may find that you need to not only turn off popup blockers, but remove the toolbars completely.
For further information and instructions on finding and disabling pop-up blockers, please run the Wizard and click on the 'Help' button when you fail the pop-up blocker test. This will provide instructions to turn off many of the popular pop-up blockers that are available.
- Anyone using Horizon Wimba needs to have Java installed on his/her computer. To find out if you have Java installed, run the Wizard that pops up after you enter Live Classroom. Java can be downloaded from http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp and other plugins can be found at http://www.luc.edu/its/help_blackboard_plug_ins.shtml.
- Broadband access to the Internet (T1, DSL, or cable modem) is strongly recommended.
- Computers you use for Horizon Wimba must have sound cards.
- To use Horizon Wimba, you need a headset with a microphone. The Plantronics 750 DSP USB Stereo Headset with Microphone is one model you might consider.
- Wimba is sensitive to Internet slowdowns; you may want to avoid busy times of day, like late afternoon and early evening.
- Lock Talk (found under the Options button) is a feature that allows the instructor to talk without having to hold down the Talk button continually. Don’t turn Lock Talk on with external speakers; audio from the speakers goes back into the microphone and creates an echo.
- If the presenter is using video, the video will automatically appear in the student’s window. But if a student wants to broadcast video, s/he must hold down the Control key on the keyboard as s/he holds down the Talk key in the Live Classroom window.
- If you are archiving your lecture, review the Silence Detection setting under Options > Audio Options > Filters. If you see a checkmark beside it, click to remove the checkmark -- this produces a smoother recording.
- If an instructor needs to copy an archive from a previous course to a new course shell, s/he should email Blackboard@luc.edu with the course ID of the old and new courses and which archives to copy.
- Find a list of Horizon Wimba guides and other useful links for instructors at http://www.wimba.com/services/instructor/classroom/; guides for students are at http://www.wimba.com/services/students/classroom/.