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UB School of Nursing
1040 Kimball Tower
3435 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14214
716.829.2537

UBlearns Overview

Before accessing your online course, you should have the following in place:

• You are familiar with how to access and use UBlearns
• You are familiar with the informal rules of 'Netiquette'
• You know who to contact for computer related assistance
• You have your UB IT name and UB email address enabled
• The computer you are using meets the Hardware Requirements
• You have current versions of the following installed:
  • Windows XP (or OS X for Macintosh systems)
  • Microsoft Office
  • Norton Anti virus
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Macromedia Flash Player Plug-in
  • Java
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader

If you are unsure about any of the items on the list, there are more details below.

Using UBlearns

Ublearns Tutorials

Demonstrations of the main features of UBlearns are available to help you become more familiar with the online learning environment.

Interactive UBlearns Demonstrations

Getting Started Using your Computer at UB

If you are setting up your home computer to use for your course work for the first time, this site has important step-by-step information on how to set up your computer and where to find useful UB resources.

http://www.ubmicro.buffalo.edu/snap.shtml

Hardware Requirements

If you plan to use your home computer, check that it meets the minimum hardware requirements. The minimum hardware requirements for computers as defined UB can be found here

http://ubit.buffalo.edu/newstudent/1.1.php

Software Requirements

Microsoft Campus Agreement

An agreement between the University at Buffalo and Microsoft puts into the hands of every full-time and part-time UB student, who has paid their technology fee. Microsoft software, such as Windows and Office XP, for both the MAC and Windows operating systems are available. While most of these software titles are available to students at no cost, some titles do have a minimal cost.  See the link below for more information.

http://www.ubmicro.buffalo.edu/msca_st.shtml

Other Software

You will need to make sure that you have the appropriate software installed on your computer to access your course content easily and safely. Everything you need can be found on the Tech Tools CD that is distributed by UB Micro. You can purchase the CD, or you can download the various software items from the Tech Tools web site.

Windows download page or Mac download page

Before accessing your course, make sure you have the following software from the Tech Tools CD installed:

Utilities:

• Norton Anti Virus
• Ad-aware

Browser and plug-ins:

• Internet Explorer
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Macromedia Flash Player
• Java

If you do have some of this software already, make sure that the version on your computer is newer or the same as the one on the Tech Tools CD.

XP Service Pack 2 Users

If you are not currently running Windows XP and Internet Explorer to access UBlearns, please disregard this message.

Microsoft has recently released Service Pac 2 (SP2) for Windows XP machines as a critical update. The update includes changes to Internet Explorer.

SP2 provides a Pop-up Blocker by default. Unfortunately, many applications including Blackboard use this functionality to provide legitimate services to the user. For example, UBlearns uses a pop-up within the chat tool.

Internet Explorer allows you to modify the setting of the Pop-up Blocker to allow pop-ups from specific applications. Please follow the directions below to permit pop-ups from Blackboard.

To change Pop-up Blocker settings

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Pop-up Blocker, and then click Pop-up Blocker Settings.

To see pop-up windows from UBlearns, type ublearns.buffalo.edu in the Address of Web site to allow box, and then click Add.

Netiquette

Communicating on the Internet via text in emails, discussion boards and chat rooms, can be very different than having a regular verbal conversation. Netiquette is the informal set of rules that you need to follow to communicate effectively online.

The following site contains the must-read rules of netiquette by Albion :

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

© 2004 Albion

Finding Help

CIT Helpdesk

The CIT helpdesk is available to assist you with your UB IT account, installing hardware or software, connecting to the internet, as well as other computer related issues. You can contact them by phone, email or in person on campus. Print out a copy of the CIT helpdesk contact information in case you need to contact them when you are unable to connect to the internet or start you computer.

http://www.cit-helpdesk.buffalo.edu/

The Ublearns Help Page

The UBlearns help page can direct you to contact the appropriate people for help if you need assistance using UBlearns. It also has information on what to do if you are having problems receiving class emails or remembering your password.

http://wings.buffalo.edu/services/ublearns/documentation/index.htm

Nursing Online Computing Orientations

If you are taking an online course for the first time, the School of Nursing Online Computing Orientation covers important information on using UBlearns as well as accessing other online resources like the library and course reserve.

http://nursing.buffalo.edu/orientation/index.htm

Additional SON Computer Resource Information

For more information on the computing resources available to you through the School of nUrsing, please see the School of Nursing Computing Resources page: http://nursing.buffalo.edu/student/computing.asp