First+Class+Classroom+Conferences

=Getting Started=

Each teacher here at the Marine Military Academy has a conference set up through First Class that corresponds to their class. For example, if you teach English I then you have been assigned an English I conference icon on your First Class desktop as do all of your students:

Opening the icon opens the conference. This conference works like any other conference in First Class with the exception that you are the moderator and can control content. You have the ability to make changes; to add and remove postings; to post assignments and documents; you can even add video and audio if you would like. It's all up to you! The best part is that having students upload to the conference, instead of sending you the files through email, saves space in your First Class and on your computer. You can open their assignments in the conference and leave them there without taking up any room on your hard drive. The following tutorial will show you to do these things and more.

Conference Layout
After opening the conference you get this page:

Looking at the conference screen you can see that it is split in two. The top half is the **Header**. The bottom half is the **Messaging** section

Header
Highlight the title by clicking it, then right click the highlighted portion to bring up the menu. Choose Rename to change the header name.

Right clicking anywhere else in the header will bring up this menu: This is a list of options that allow you to make more changes to the header as well as create messages, First Class documents, presentations, conferences, as well as folders to store things within the header. You can also change how the page is presented using icons or lists. You can upload any file to the header. At the very bottom is **Change View Properties**.

Change View Properties
Opening **Change View Properties** brings up another menu. This menu has for pages starting with Sorting:

Sorting is where you can adjust how items on your conference are displayed and how you want to group and sort them.

Display: Display lets you choose what format the conference title and other heading titles are in.

Icons: Icons lets you decide what size your header icons should be and how to open them. **Important:** If you plan on adding documents or anything to the header that may create icons then click **Lock Positions**. If you don't then anyone with access to the conference, this means students, can move the icons around. They may not be able to delete them but they move them around or hide them.

Background: Background lets you select from a collection of images to use as the background of the header. The little girl with the chalkboard is the default. There are many others. If you want to get real advanced then you can create your own background. See TechCo for the template.

Adding Files to the Header
Adding a file to the header is helpful for placing a file there you want all the students to read without it getting lost in the messaging section. Adding any file to the header is very easy. You can do it one of two ways.
 * 1) Drag the item from your computer to the conference screen. The file will pop up in the lower half of the screen. Just select the item and drag it into the header.
 * 2) Right click the header and choose **Upload** from the pop-up menu. Browse the location of the item on your computer and upload it to the conference. Drag the item from the lower half of the conference into the upper half.

To change the icon of the file, highlight the file by clicking on it. Right click the file and choose **Properties**. the Properties menu comes up. In the upper left hand corner is a small representation of the icon. Click on it and you will be presented with hundreds of different icons. Change to the icon you wish by clicking on it.

**Messaging**
The messaging section is located in the lower half of the conference. Here anyone can post a message relating to your class. If someone posts a message you deem inappropriate, bring attention of this message to the school administration. The poster will be dealt with accordingly.

Posting in here is like posting in any other conference and is as easy as sending an email. First thing you need to do is click on the **New** button located at the top of the screen. Choose **New Message** then fill in your subject and whatever information you want to convey. The message will appear immediately in the messaging area. Double click on the message to open it. You can respond to the message within the conference or directly to the sender's email by making the proper choice in the reply box.

Messages can be sorted by any of the listed headings by clicking on the heading at the top of the messaging section. Example: clicking on name will sort the messages by **Name** or **Last Modified** will sort it by date and time.

For students to upload an item they can either attach it to a message or drag it into the messaging area. If they use the latter make sure they save the file with a name that distinguishes it, i.e. using their name.

If you have any questions about how to use the conferences please contact the school TechCo by creating a MMA Tech Ticket.