NetMeeting on a LAN

NetMeeting on a School Network

NetMeeting is designed as a conferencing tool to use across the Internet. However, NetMeeting can also be a very useful tool to use across a local area network. It has a number of facilities, detailed below.

Before you begin

• make sure that all PCs are logged on to the Network.


• Get each  PC to open up Network Neighborhood and 'see' themselves and all the other PCs.


• Note the names of each logged-on PC, as you will use them in the Setup below.
  You might see a list something like …pcteacher, pc1, pc2 etc.

Setup

In Windows 98
Choose: Start > Programs > Accessories > Internet Tools > NetMeeting
Note: The location of the NetMeeting setup programme may vary.

You could do: Start > Find > Files or Folders > Named =NetMeeting > look in =C > Find Now.

When found, double-click the file or note the location of the file and navigate to
it. The following set of Dialogue Windows open:

• Introductory screen: …click Next


• Information screen: on PC13, for example, enter 'PC' as the First Name and
  '13' as the Second Name (or any identifier of your choice, based on the log-in
  names from Network Neighborhood) and pc13@ecdrumcondra.ie as the email (as this is for internal use only, email is not important) …click Next


• Directory screen: remove checkmarks …click Next


• Modem screen: make sure LAN button is selected …click Next


• Shortcut screen: remove checkmarks (see 'Technical 2' below)…click Next


• Audio Wizard




• listen to the volume Test …click Next


• Audio Wizard b): read and speak …click Finish (or see 'Technical 3' below)

 NetMeeting programme starts.

Placing Calls

To access the facilities in NetMeeting, you must first make a Call.

On the 'Call' menu, Teacher should:
New Call  > To = pc1 (the list from Network Neighborhood) > Using = network > click Call.

Repeat the calls to all the other PCs so that each one is connected. At each target (student) PC, a message appears: Do you want to accept a call from…? The student should click Accept.

Now, all the students are in a call with the Teacher (and, hence, in a conference call with each other). Note: students can also initiate this procedure so that you could have groups of students working together on projects.

The Tools available are:

Whiteboard: When the Teacher chooses Tools …Whiteboard, a virtual whiteboard
appears on every other screen. This can be used as a means for the teacher to
share ideas using text and (limited) graphics. It can also be used as a
collaborative drawing canvas, as all users have equal access to it.

Chat: Teacher types his/her message in the Message box, hits the Chat button
to the right (hitting Return just starts a new paragraph). If you choose from
the 'Send To' dropdown list before you Chat, the Teacher can direct private
advice to an individual student. As soon as Teacher sends the message, the Chat
boxes open up on each student's PC. Students can then 'whisper to each other'
just like in a 'normal' class and risking the 'normal penalties'! To end the
Chat session, each user must close their own Chat window.

File Transfer: the Teacher can navigate to a particular file/document on
his/her PC and send it to particular student(s). The file/document will
immediately open on the target PC (using the default application). Students no
longer have to navigate to a shared folder location.

Sharing is a powerful tool.
Teacher can: Tools > Sharing=choose from the list
that appears any one of the currently active applications on his/her PC > click
Share.

This application window opens up on all the student's PCs. Teacher says:
"I want everyone to look at their screens and watch how I …(for example) find
the sum of the numbers in this spreadsheet". Students can re-size or minimize
the viewing windows on their own PCs, but they cannot exit/close the window.
Equally, Teacher can ask any student to Share their open application. Teacher:
"now, everybody, let's have a look at how Johnny solved that spreadsheet
problem" or "let's all have a look at Mary's picture".

If the Student not only chooses the Share option but also chooses the Control
option, then Teacher can control the student's PC remotely (and can also share
what he/she is doing). Teacher: "This is a problem that James and a number of
others have run into. Have a look at your screens and I will run through the
steps again". To gain control initially, Student James shares his application,
Teacher goes to James' shared window (on Teacher's screen), click Control
…Request Control. James will get a message on his PC indicating the name of the
PC requesting control; James then clicks Accept. At the end of the demo, Teacher
can choose Control > Release Control or James can simply hit any key or mouse
button to regain control.

Where can I get NetMeeting?

NetMeeting is installed by default on Windows 98 (or later) PCs. You can also
install it as one of the options when you are upgrading to Microsoft Internet
Explorer Versions 5.0 or later. Look out for Version 5.5 (or later) on a
magazine cover CD-ROM. It will work on Windows 95, Windows 98 and a combination
of these.

Technical Information

Because NetMeeting is designed to work across networks, it uses the IP
protocol.

To see the IP address of your 'logged-on' PC, you can: Start > Run: type in
winipcfg > OK.

In the 'Ethernet Adapter Information' window that appears, choose
the Network Driver from the dropdown list. You should then see the IP address
(usually in the format 192.168.0.N, where N is the assigned/current IP number).
You can see the same information by opening NetMeeting, choose …Help …About
Windows NetMeeting.

I prefer not to leave shortcuts on the desktop as, in many schools, there are
so many shortcuts. If you find later that you use NetMeeting quite frequently,
you can navigate to its exec file ("C:\Program Files\NetMeeting\CONF.EXE") and
create a shortcut on the desktop. You can also choose to put the shortcut into
the Quick Launch toolbar, which is just a folder of shortcuts (the path is
something like C:\Windows\Profiles\ComputerRoom\Application
Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch).

You can choose to ignore the speech test, just click Next. You will be given
an instruction to the effect that no microphone is in place. Just click Next. At
a later date, you can return to …Tools …Audio Tuning Wizard.

NetMeeting can be used in Sharing mode to illustrate a piece of software that
you have running on only one PC (be careful about licensing issues).

As NetMeeting is one more application to run, some older PCs with lower
specification may crash! I bear no responsibility for any damage caused by the
installation. I have not encountered any problems with it so far.

The above-mentioned Johnny, James and Mary are fictional and bear no
resemblance to any person… 'Teacher', however, is real and is doing all this
computer work in the school around the corner! We must keep up with him/her!!

Coming Soon!

Adding voice and video to your NetMeeting conference (typed-out instructions on
this from any teacher/tutor would be much appreciated!!!). Any contributions/thank-yous/complaints are welcomed.

(c) David Kearney, 2000. Reproduced with permission.