"How to" Guideline series is coordinated by Helen Mongan-Rallis of the Education Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to improve these guidelines please me at e-mail hrallis@d.umn.edu.

UMConnect/Adobe Connect Participant Guidelines

By Helen Mongan-Rallis. Last updated: January 6, 2009

Viewing a recording of the meeting/class session

Viewing a session that has been recorded using UMConnect/Adobe Connect is very straightforward, and requires no specialized software or skills. Follow these steps:

1. In order to view the meeting, all that you will need is an Internet connection and a your preferred browser (e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari).
2. Your instructor or the organizer of the meeting will share the URL of the class/meeting with you. This URL will look something like this: "https://umconnect.umn.edu/p25854358/"
3. To connect to the meeting link to the meeting/session URL (or copy and paste it into your browser) --> the meeting recording will load in a browser window and begin playing.
4. While viewing the meeting/session, you can:
• stop or restart the playing of the recording at any point by clicking on the "pause" button that is displayed at the bottom left side of the browser window.
• move forwards or backwards to different points in the recording by dragging and clicking on the gray vertical bar (to the left of where it says "playing"). This enables you to replay parts of the recording or to skip ahead in the recording.
5. Jumping to specific points in the recording: The amount of elapsed time is shown to the right of the "playing" message. If you know at what point you want to begin reviewing the recording, you can move the slider forward until the desired point (e.g. 18.22 seconds into the recording) and begin playing the recording from there. For example, your instructor may tell you to focus on particular segments of a recorded class/meeting by telling you the number of seconds/minutes into the recording of the segments. (e.g. "Pay particular attention to the segments at 0:03:15 and 0:20:30). To locate these, move the vertical bar forwards, watching the timer as you do so, and stop when you reach the desired point in the recording.
   
   

Participating in a live meeting/class session

1. Your instructor or the organizer of the meeting will share the URL of the class/meeting with you. Once you receive the URL, link to it using your preferred browser.
2. When you click on the link, a new window (Adobe Acrobat Connect) will open. You may be prompted to install updates that will enable Adobe Connect to run. Go ahead and install these, restart your browser, and return to the URL of the class/meeting.
3. Once you link to the class/meeting, you will be prompted to login. Go ahead and do this (for UMConnect, you may be asked to authenticate if the class is limited only to class members). Otherwise you may be able to choose to login as a guest.
4. Once you have logged in, you will be taken to the class/meeting in an Adobe Acrobat window. You will see:
   • Attendee list pod: your name will appear listed in a window (called a pod) along with any other attendees who are already in the room (or you may be the first to arrive. If so, don't leave!)
   • Chat pod: If you want to make a comment or ask a question of the instructor or other participants, type you comment in the space just below the chat pod, and when you are ready to "send" it, click on your enter/return key --> this will post your message in the chat window.
   • Note pod: often this is blank, but can be used by the session host to display notes to the attendees
   • Share pod: any information that the instructor/host has displayed in the main window (called a "pod"). There may not be anything in the main pod at the start of the meeting, so be patient!
5. Make sure that your computer sound is turned up so that you can hear any audio that is part of the session. It is best to wear headphones if you have these (but not essential unless you are going to be asked by the host to speak).
6. You can wait for the session host/instructor to tell you what to do next.

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