Using Notebook Computers in Teaching Classrooms and Lecture Theatres

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Down Stop Up Top

WiFi Collaboration among the JUCC Institutions

With the collaboration among the JUCC institutions (CityU, HKU, CUHK, PolyU, HKUST, HKBU, LU and HKIEd), the Computing Services Centre (CSC) is pleased to announce that CityU members (staff members or students alike) from now on can enjoy wifi connections to the Internet while they are visiting any of the above eight JUCC institutions without any prior approval.

All you need is an IEEE802.11b/g/n compliant wireless device, no matter whether it is a WiFi phone, PDA or notebook computer. While you are at one of the JUCC member institutions, use your WiFi device to search the WiFi network there for the SSID "Universities WiFi" (which is common to all JUCC institutions and denotes the name of the collaborated WiFi service). After connecting to the said SSID, use your CityU's Network Connection password to login the wireless network there (the same password for logging in the CityU's Wireless LAN network) and then gain WiFi access to the Internet. You can check the locations at each institution where WiFi access is available by visiting http://wifi.jucc.edu.hk/jucc-wifi/.

The "Universities WiFi" utilizes the most secure connection and data encryption (WPA and WPA2) to protect your data privacy. Please refer to http://www.cityu.edu.hk/csc/
deptweb/facilities/ctnet/wlan
/wlan-summary.htm for the set-up procedures and details.

Please be reminded that you can also enjoy the same WiFi connection to the Internet while visiting any of the EduRoam member institutions and any local hotspots run by PCCW and Y5Zones. For details, please refer to the CityU WLAN home page at http://www.cityu.edu.hk/csc/
deptweb/facilities/ctnet/
wlan/wlanmain.htm.

How to Go Green: Double-sided Printing

Double-sided (or 2-sided or duplex) printing should be used whenever possible. Besides the benefits of saving trees, reducing carbon in the atmosphere, and holding a handier set of hardcopies, surprisingly it can save up your print quota. With immediate effect, whenever you use duplex printing to print on a piece of paper through the Quota Controlled Fast Print Queue, your print quota will be deducted by 1.5 instead of 2. This is really a big saver!

To use double-sided printing, when you print:

Choose the printer Quota_FastPQ on CCSTUNG1
Click Preferences and then Finishing on the Printing Preferences window
Select 2-sided Printing and click OK

Using double-sided printing is a small change but can have a big impact. As going green is our common goal, act NOW to show your support!

CSC e-Forms

Submit CSC Work Req.
Req. for Printing
Req. for Dump / Restore
Teaching Studio Booking / Cancellation
Apply for a Computer Account
Email Alias Application
Apply for a New Domain Name
Remove an Existing Domain Name
Modify the Hosting of an Existing Domain Name

Useful Links

網上中文網頁繁簡轉換
CityU Email Services
Computing Dictionary
High-Tech Dictionary
Webopedia
Web Glossary
What is?

Got any questions, comments or suggestions? Contact the editors at ccnetcom@cityu.edu.hk

Issue 49 - September 2006

Using Notebook Computers in Teaching Classrooms and Lecture Theatres
By Joe Chow

Currently, there are about 150 teaching classrooms and lecture theatres (LTs) on campus, all of which are equipped with computers and audio-visual equipment. For most users, the desktop computers in these rooms are already sufficient for their teaching purposes. However, users may prefer bringing along their own notebooks or another PC in addition to the one provided due to the following circumstances:

The requirement of hardware, operating system or software which cannot be met by the standard desktop PC.
Special or non-standard configurations or settings are required.
Demonstrations requiring two or more computers.
Users require to use their own data stored in their computers and do not want to share them over the network.

The followings are some of the guidelines users may need to know when using external PCs/notebooks inside the LT/Classrooms:

Network Connection

Standard wireless LAN access is provided throughout the campus including classrooms and LTs. It is mandatory that all wireless LAN cards must be registered with the Computing Services Centre (CSC) before they are allowed to connect to the campus wireless LAN. After registration, all staff and students can logon the wireless LAN using their network connection account (the same one staff used to logon the PC at their offices).

If, however, users want to use a wired network connection instead for performance or other reasons, they may use the network port provided near the lectern. In this case, users should note the followings:

The network settings required for their PC/notebooks (e.g. disabling the WLAN network access, setting IP and DNS to be assigned by the DHCP server etc.).
Bring along the UTP network cable.
For security reasons, this wired network connection require staff authentication (using the network connection account of the staff). Staff should make prearrangements with the CSC if there is a need for students to logon to the LT/Classroom network.

AV Connection and Display Control

Other than the standard projector connections, an external VGA connection is provided for projecting the display of notebooks/PCs brought along by the instructors or guests to the screen. The followings should be noted:

Every LT/classroom has an A/V control panel on the lectern, bring along a VGA cable for connecting the VGA output port of the notebook/PC to the control panel.
Users need to select correctly the input source between the standard desktop PC display and the display of the external notebook/PC.
Users should select the correct display settings of their notebook/PC in order to achieve the best quality projector display as well as to press the correct function key on the notebook/PC to send the display both to the internal screen and to the VGA output port.

References

Users may reference the following materials for details on how to use the wireless LAN and instructions on how to set up their notebooks/PCs in the LT/classroom: