Technical Information and Help

Psych 3000 Section 90

Contents of this page:

  1. Help
  2. Special Notes
  3. Homework/Quiz Software
  4. Coping with Technical Glitches

Help

If you need assistance in getting the software to run please first consult the information given below. If you still need assistance then please contact Jake Jensen at 585-6218 or at jake.jensen@psych.utah.edu

Special Notes

The OLMS site

Please note that the olms site will not know you are registered in this class until the day after you register. In addition, be sure you are accessing the correct OLMS site, located at www.psych.utah.edu/olms

Special Note for Fall, 2007

The Homework/Quiz software (which I wrote) is quite stable in that it has been running for a couple of years now with no known bugs. This summer, however, the department staff has been busy integrating the Homework/Quiz software more seemlessly into the OLMS software (which was developed separately). There may be some glitches that occur as they work on this, your patience would be greatly appreciated.

Homework/Quiz Software

The 'Homework/Quiz' software requires that your browser support a full version of 'Java' (a programming language that allows software to run over the internet). I have attempted to provide below all the information you might need to get Java to work on your computer. If you are trying to run the software from behind a 'firewall' (a common situation when you use a computer in a work setting) then there may be problems (described below). If you want to run the software from a computer at home you may need to download and install some things (also described below)

Labs on Campus

The software should run on the computers in the labs on campus if you use the correct browsers (see below).

PC: Mozilla Firefox (recommended), Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer. If you experience problems with Navigator or Explorer try Firefox.

Mac: Apple Safari or Mozilla Camino.

Other Computers (Home/Work)

Working behind a firewall: The course software currently resides on a port that may not be accessible if you are behind a firewall (a common situation when using a computer at your place of business). You will need to talk to the network administrator about opening up this port. For assistance in doing this, you or your system adminstrator can contact the help staff listed at the top of this page.

PC: To run the software on a PC you need a fairly up-to-date browser and what is called the 'Java Plugin'.

Browsers: At last report the program was working with the following browsers on the PC: Mozzilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Netscape Navigator. I recommend that when in doubt that you use Firefox. There is a problem with some of the browsers that come pre-installed on a computer, they may have stripped down versions of the browser and can't run the appropriate version of Java. If this is the case you will need to download and install a complete version of a browser (see links below).

Java Plugin: For your browser to run the software (which was written in Java) you will need Java on your computer. To download Java go to the following link and download the 'JRE' version of Java. Look over the options carefully, it is the JRE version of Java that you want.

Mac: To run the software on a Mac you need System 10 or later, a 'Mac native' browser (see below), and Java (but Java comes with the Mac so you shouldn't have to download it).

Browsers: either Apple Safari or Mozilla Camino should work. If you have trouble with Camino try Safari..

Coping with Technical Glitches

Assuming that you are working on a computer that has worked for you before, here is some general advice about what to do if this particular time it doesn't seem to be working.

  1. Make sure you are using a browser that should work, not all browsers work on all platforms, see the information above.
  2. Try a different browser, try quitting your browser and starting it up again, try a different computer.
  3. Be patient, the application is rather large and can take a while to download.
  4. Wait a bit and try again. Several things can cause the program to temporarily not be available. It could be that there is a huge demand being placed on the network by others, or that the server is down for a while. This is one of the reasons why I try to get students to not wait until the last day to day to do an assignment, for they may not have the time left to return a few hours later and try again.
  5. Look at the Announcement Area on the course OLMS site to see if there is an announcement about some problem.

This particular semester we are moving into new territory and glitches are likely to arise. I am improving the software and adding new features and simulations. There are also the usual problems that arise outside of the software itself, such as the server being down or a problem at the olms site. Your patience and understanding would be greatly appreciated, your not waiting until the last moment to complete the assignments would also be appreciated (so there is time for you to try again later should a problem arise).

Our technical help person is great but the department places a huge load on his shoulders. Phoning him usually works better than emailing. Also, please do all you can to solve any problems (see strategies above) before contacting him so that we are only calling on his expertise when we really need it. Thank you.