Tech How-To Guide

Answers to Some Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What are the technical requirements?  Do I need special software?

A: The following are required:

A 33.6 Kbps or faster connection to the Internet (56K or faster preferred). 

RealPlayer, version 5.0 or later, available free from <http://www.real.com/products/player>

A computer with speakers or headphones and the volume on. 

A JAVA-enabled browser or a standalone IRC client.

If you do not know what these are or for alternatives if your computer doesn't meet these requirements, please ask your Information Technology help staff or email <webcasthelp@cyber.law.harvard.edu>.

Access to some portions of the remote participation system may be difficult or impossible for users behind firewalls (see below).

Please make sure you follow the instructions below to see if this is a problem for you. With advance notice, your IT department and our tech people may well be able to fix the problem.

Q: How do I get connected on April 23rd and April 30th?

A: Fifteen minutes before the class begins (approximately 12:15 pm EST), a prominent link will be added to the top of the digital discovery CLE webpage: <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/digitaldiscovery/cle.html>

with explicit directions for how to get connected.  Check the webpage at 12:15, then follow the link to the webcast.

Please consider connecting to the webcast early, so as to (1) ensure that your tech is working properly and (2) refamiliarize yourself with the contents of the page and how everything there works.

Q: How do I know if I have a firewall that will block me from accessing the CLE course?

A: A firewall could potentially block your access to RealAudio or to chatrooms. To be sure that you will be able to participate fully, please perform the following checks from the computer you will be using during the webcast.

• To check if you can access RealAudio:

Go to <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/netmusic_agenda.html>  

Scroll down until you see a little video icon.  Click on the icon and listen (make sure your speakers are on first).  If you can't hear anything, speak to the information technology help at your organization or email <webcasthelp@cyber.law.harvard.edu>.

• To check if you can access a chatroom:

Go to <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/chat/index.asp?channel=test>  

The page is titled Berkman Center Chat Service – Web Access.  Fill in something under “Your Name” and click on “Enter Chat Area.”  If you are brought to a screen with a box entitled #test with the words “you have joined #test” at the top left, you have successfully entered a chat space.  Feel free to test the chat space:  your name will be in the right-hand column entitled Users (in the real chat, this box will contain a list of all participants); you can type a message in the box with the flashing cursor at the bottom.

If you can't enter the chat space, speak to the information technology help at your organization or email <webcasthelp@cyber.law.harvard.edu>.

Q: What will I see when I log on to the webcast?

A: The best way for you to become familiar with what you will see is to "drop by" the webcast test session on Friday April 27th between 3 and 5PM (EST).

The screen you will see when you log on will have 6 major components:

1. The Live Video. In the top left corner of the screen you will see the RealVideo of what is happening here at the Berkman Center. This will alternately show Professor Nesson or a wider view including the rest of the teaching staff as well. The video will be visible to you throughout the webcast. When you are answering questions Professor Nesson will be silent, so you may not hear any sound from the video.

2. The Navigation Bar. Directly below the video will be a list of links--called a "navigation bar"--to all of the resources we will be using during the webcast. These links are your controls for the webcast. When you click on them, they will bring up what you are looking for on the right side of the screen.

3. The Discussion Group. When you click on the "Real-Time Discussion" link the right side of your screen will divide into two halves. The top half will be a discussion area where you can maintain a discussion with your digital discovery teaching fellow and other participants. At certain times you will be asked to discuss a specific topic in your discussion group. Throughout the rest of the webcast we encourage you to remain in your discussion group and chat with fellow participants and your TF as much as you like. (Note: if you find that you have exited the discussion, simply clicking on the link will bring it back.) While you are in the discussion, the bottom half of the right side of your screen will show the document library from which you will have access to cases, articles, and other relevant background material.

4. The Questions. In the center of the navigation bar there will be links to questions. When Professor Nesson requests that you click on the link for a particular question go to these links on the left side of your screen in the navigation bar. Clicking on the link for a particular question will cause the question to appear on the right side of your screen. Some questions have introductory text for you to consider and most have multiple parts. As a result, you will probably need to use the scroll bar on the right side of the window to scroll down to see all of the parts of the parts of the question and the spaces in which to type your answers. You can answer the questions by typing your answers into the spaces provided and then pressing submit.

5. The Document Library. When you click on the "Document Library" link in the navigation bar the right side of your screen will become the document library. The document library contains relevant cases and articles and other helpful information. (Note that if you are in the chat and you click on the document library link, you will exit the chat.)

6. The Technical Help Resources. At the bottom of the navigation bar you will find instructions on what to do if you are having difficulty with any part of the webcast. First you will see a link to the "manual". If you click on this link it will bring up the information included on this page in a new window. Next there is a link to live tech help. This will open a live chat with the digital discovery technical staff. Below you will see the name and telephone number of someone to call for help and an email address to which you can send questions. Please feel free to call or email with questions during the webcast.

Q:  If I am not well-versed in technology, will participating in this CLE course be difficult?

A:  Digital discovery CLE is an experiment in online CLE with new and more exciting technology. We are working to make the digital discovery CLE experience more user-friendly. We have not yet ironed out all the kinks, but all we need from you is a willingness to experiment and do your best. 

If you have any questions, please email <webcasthelp@cyber.law.harvard.edu>.  We hope that the technology will facilitate increased participation.