Laptop & Software Experiences

Software installed on Laptop Windows XP Microsoft Office 2007 Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 Adobe Presenter 7 Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.2 Adobe Flash Paper 2 Adobe Captivate 3 Audacity 1.2.6 Photostory 3 Apple iTunes Windows Movie Maker 5.1 Windows Media Player 11 Super v2008.build.30 (file conversion program)

Please upload any good files you have made using this technology.
Hints and Tips on using the Laptops and installed Software and any difficulties/issues you've had using this technology.

Hints & Tips:

Speakers: The second speaker gets connected to the first speaker that has the USB port. It took me 5 minutes to work out how the speakers get connected. AWESOME sound!!! (Rita) Date posted: 27 August 2008

Thanks Rita. It took seconds to connect because of this tip. Only issue I found was that you need to connect the speakers BEFORE opening any media. I was listening to music when I decided to hook them up - no sound from the speakers! I stopped media player using the speaker control buttons (these are on top of one of the speakers) and started playback again and WHAM - AWESOME SOUND as previously stated by Rita (Nayomie).

I checked the headset with iTunes and at first they did not work. I was playing around with some menu options and then wham - sound came through headset loud and clear. I think the trick is to connect the headset before starting iTunes.

Headset with iTunes: I found the same thing; you need to connect the headset BEFORE you start iTunes and then there are no issues (Nayomie).

Fuzzy display fix for the laptop - if display on laptop is blurry or fuzzy (and you haven't had a few reds) try adjusting the resolution in the control panel display settings. I changed mine to 1280 x 800 and it fixed the problem. You can also do this by right clicking on the desktop and going into properties, then settings and changing the screen resolution (Nayomie).

Staff need to be aware they need to remove files when they have finished with devices. Librarians will not have access to files on the laptop if teachers log in with their own user name and password, so have no way to remove them apart from rebuilding the computer. Also to keep in mind when using the laptop to share files eg samples and training resources.

Issues & Difficulties:

Laptop Visual Display: The display is quite blurry on the laptop; seems better without the glasses which may be a problem. Not sure if I should play around with it though; better not I think :) (Nayomie) Fixed the problem with the fuzzy display - a little hint for others if there is a similar problem is to adjust the resolution. See hints and tips above :)

Files to share:

Adobe Connect User Group
This link is to the Adobe Connect User Group AsiaPac site and contains pdf docs you can print re using Connect

All things connected
A blog for CLI and TAFE NSW users of Adobe Connect, Presenter and Captivate

Photoshop Elements online Book from the Library

Safari books online has an online book for Photoshop Elements – The missing manual, that our TTs might find helpful. So might the teachers they are training.
This is the direct link to the Photoshop book but there may be other useful books there too. You will probably need to click through a couple of all black text pages until you get to the picture area but don't give up!
Safari Books Online
Below is the notice sent out by the Library:-
For those of you who have never used Safari, it is a collection of e-books, specialising in I.T. and Business texts. The titles available have been hand-picked by WSI Library staff to best reflect our student’s needs.
To access Safari, go to the WSI Internet page WSI Intranet
Select WSI Libraries in the left hand column
Select E-Resources, then scroll through the alphabetical list to find Safari Books Online.
Alternatively, click on this link to take you straight there:
Safari Books Online Link
You will be asked to enter your TAFE Username and Password to get started.

Captivate

Mmy first attempt at Captivate! It was good - I used the templates available from the teachers' tookit in sharepoint. John van Emden was extremely helpful when I called him to ask about tricky bits. This is the link to the templates:

Teacher Tools

There is still some tweaking to be done, but I've embedded my Captivate onto my SWAT Wiki if you want to see one in action - check e-journal practice task 4 - parts_of_speech.exe. I know Anne Creswell uses Captivate all the time... Anne - how about some maths revision for us?

Fiona