BNFO 491 
Molecular Biology Through Discovery
Meeting room participant instructions
Fall 2012 


OVERVIEW OF WIMBA MEETING ROOMS

Wimba meeting rooms enables you to communicate with others through your computer and share computer screens. It may be just what you need to collaborate on some problem or project.

Every session needs at least one presenter and may have any number of participants. The presenter can control which screen is visible. The screen may belong to the presenter or any participant. It's probably less confusing to have only one presenter.

What follows are instructions on how to log in as a participant. For instructions on how to log in as a presenter, click here.


LOG IN INSTRUCTIONS

  • Go to the Wimba log in page (http://vculive.wimba.com/
     
  • Click Participant Login
     
  • Login as a participant by entering a name (presumably your own) in the upper box. This is the name that will identify you when you enter a meeting room. Ignore the request for username/password in the lower boxes.
     
  • Run the setup wizard if you haven't done so already (see below)
     
  • If you have already run the wizard, then by pass it by clicking click here at the bottom of the page in small letters. Brace yourself for a wait that might be tens of seconds.
     
  • You should see a list of open rooms in alphabetical order. Scroll down to BioBIKE Room 01 (or some other previously agreed upon BioBIKE meeting room) and click it.
     
  • You should find yourself in a virtual room with your name in the People box. That's all that will happen unless other people are there as well.
     
  • Once in the room, you can text or communicate via headset (optional). If there's a presenter in the room, you can share computer screens.

RUNNING THE SETUP WIZARD

The setup wizard takes about a minute, with each step potentially taking some tens of seconds. The first two steps are automatic checks requiring your attention only if they fail. The last four require your active participation.

  • Click Start from the welcome screen.
     
  • You probably will not pass the popup window test. In that case, you will need to enable popup windows for the site. In Firefox, you'll see an Options button in the right hand corner of the window that will enable you to do this. Once you've OK'd popups, click Retry Test.
     
  • The Java test generally presents no problem to PC users, but Mac users have reported issues. If the test hangs, you should probably contact VCU Technology Services, 828-2227.
     
  • The Allowing Signed Applet test has never failed in my experience. Click Next.
     
  • The Audio Playback test determines whether you can hear communication from the meeting room through your headset. If you don't want to use a headset, ignore the test and click Next
     
  • The Audio Recording test determines whether you can speak to the meeting room through your headset. If you don't want to use a headset, ignore the test and click Next
     
  • Click Finished!