Groups Doing Mystery Box Exercise
January 24, 2003

Group 1: Shali, Stephanie, Andy, Emily, and Diana

Group 2: Leah, David, Astrid, Addie, and Kwinn

Group 3: Lupe, Elyse, Patrick, Crystal, and Kaila

Group 4: Alexis, Morgan, Kristy, John, and Michelle

Group 5: Carmen, Brad, Nichole, and Chelle

Group 6: Brian, Jenny, Kisan, Tammie, and Ally

Communications Technology

• Setting up Your Email
• Saving Files on the Server
• Publishing Files on the Internet

We will be doing a lot of old-fashioned, face-to-face communication during our six hours per week together. In addition, we want to exploit some new technology to maximize our communication and collaboration during the semester. We will know each other pretty well by the end of the semester.

You set up an MCC e-mail account to gain access to many of the tools that you will use this semester.  You will have access to on-campus computers and you can use your home computer if you have the proper hardware and Internet connection.  You will be expected to participate in online discussions, to share data and graphics via e-mail, and to write and submit homework electronically.  You do not need to be a computer expert to do these things, as you will be provided with instructions and support to develop your computer skills.

Setting-up Your Email Account

There is extensive online help for setting up and using your e-mail account. The most extensive set of information is located at http://dltutorials.mc.maricopa.edu/   You should read the tutorials here that are relevant to our class. At the very least, you must create your e-mail account if you don't already have an MCC e-mail account.

Specific directions for creating your e-mail account can be found here: http://dltutorials.mc.maricopa.edu/dltutorial/setting_up_your_mcc_mail_account.htm

If you are not familiar with our e-mail system, you should also read about using our e-mail system here:

http://dltutorials.mc.maricopa.edu/dltutorial/using_your_mcc_mail_account.htm

Once you have an account, you can access most class resources via MyMCC, which is accessible at the following URL or by clicking the MyMCC button that is available on a number of pages at MCC.

http://www2.mc.maricopa.edu/mymcc/Index.jsp

From the MyClasses tab, you can access all internet resources necessary for our class.

In particular, you will become familiar with WebCT.  You can access this course management software from within MyMCC.  To learn more about WebCT, read the tutorial available here: http://dltutorials.mc.maricopa.edu/dltutorial/webct_tutorial.htm

There are also some more powerful methods to access e-mail and other technology resources at MCC, but they are beyond this simple introduction. 

If you need further help, you can call the Help Desk at 480.461.7217 or ask for help in the new Library and High Tech Center.

Saving and Accessing Files on the Server

Along with your e-mail account, you wee allocated 10 MB of storage space on the student file server.   You can use this space to store files that you can access from any computer or you can use this space to publish web pages. Your allocation will remain across semesters if you are continually enrolled, but, if you registration should lapse for any reason, all files will be deleted.

However, you should always back up your files to a floppy or Zip disk as there is always a risk that some technical glitch or operator error will cause your files to be lost or corrupted.  It is always much better to be safe than sorry.

To save or access your files on the server, you need your e-mail username and password.  However, you do not need to be logged in to the e-mail system to save or access files on the server. 

You can use any ftp client to save and access files on the server, but Netscape Navigator provides a convenient and widely accessible means for accessing your files.  Eventually, you will want to get an ftp program for managing your files because Nets cape's file management procedures are very limited (or nonexistent).

To access your file space using Netscape's ftp features:

1. Launch Netscape Communicator and make the browser (Navigator) your active window.
2. Select File, then Open Page from the Netscape menu (or use CTRL+O).
3. Type the following URL in the text field of the Open Page panel and then click the Open button.

ftp://username@public.mc.maricopa.edu
where username is your username.

4. Type your e-mail password in the text field of the password panel and click OK.

This will bring up a list of files and directories in your browser (Navigator) window. You can now upload files for storage, download files, or publish files on the internet.

To upload a file for storage:

1. Launch Netscape and login as described above.
2. Select File, then Upload File from the Netscape menu.
3. Navigate to the file you want to upload in the File Upload panel, select the file, and then click the OPEN button.  (Note that the file must be saved somewhere to be able to perform this procedure.)

The filename should appear in the list of files in your browser window.

To download a file from the server:

1. Launch Netscape and login as described above.
2. Click on the file in the list of files in your browser window.
3. Select the save to disk option by clicking the radio button for this option and click OK.
4. Select a destination for the save. On most college computers, you will only be able to save to the Temp directory or to a floppy or Zip disk.
5. Give the file a name in the filename field or accept the existing filename and click OK.

The file will be downloaded while displaying information about the download. You can now open the file in any application appropriate for it.

To publish a file on the internet is very similar to uploading a file for storage except that you must save the file in a special www directory and the file must be in html format.

1. Launch Netscape and login as described above.
2. Change directories to the www directory by clicking on the www directory in the list of files and directories in your browser window.
3. Select File, then Upload File from the Netscape menu.
4. Navigate to the file you want to upload in the File Upload panel, select the file, and then click the OPEN button.  (Note that the file must be saved somewhere to be able to perform this procedure and it must be in html format to be viewable on the internet.)

The filename should appear in the list of files in your browser window and it will be accessible to anyone via the internet.

To access a file in the www directory via the internet:

1. Launch Netscape Communicator and make the browser (Navigator) your active window.
2. Select File, then Open Page from the Netscape menu (or use CTRL+O).
3. Type the following URL in the text field of the Open Page panel and then click the Open button.

http://public.mc.maricopa.edu/~username/filename.htm

where username is your username and filename is the name of the html file you want to access.