Security Settings and Opening PowerPoint or Other Files

Sometimes when students indicate they cannot see a PowerPoint presentation (meaning they click the links in your course and the presentation doesn’t open) it may be due to the security settings in their browser. When using Internet Explorer, the user may get a notice from IE that a download has been prevented because of potential risks. The cue is a yellow strip with warning text that appears at the top of the browser window. If this occurs the user can click the yellow strip and choose the option to proceed with the download. At times this action will kick the user out of the course but when they log back in they’ll be able to open the presentation. If the student holds the Ctrl key (Windows users) while clicking the link to the presentation, it should open without the yellow warning strip. Holding the Ctrl key while clicking a link is a way of telling the browser “I’m aware of the risks associated with this type of action but want to open this file anyway”.

Thanks to Davy Jones for the tip.

Opening Office 2007 Files from Students

Sooner or later, your students are going to start submitting files created using Office 2007 rather than Office 2003 (the current version supported on campus). If you do not have access to Office 2007 (like most computers on campus), you can still open Office 2007 documents if you first install a Compatibility Pack from Microsoft.

You can download it from: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

If you’re a user of Microsoft Office XP or Office 2003 programs (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint), you’ll need to install all high-priority updates from Microsoft Update before downloading and installing the Compatibility Pack.

After installing the upgrade you’ll be able to open, edit, and save files using the file formats new to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007. The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in those new formats.

Blackboard and Windows Vista

Many computer manufacturers are now delivering new computer systems with Windows Vista pre-installed, so you may be wondering if Blackboard CE is compatible with Windows Vista. Here’s what Blackboard support has indicated:

Blackboard has been conducting ongoing tests with Beta versions of the MS Vista product as part of the MS Beta program for some time now. However, there are often substantial differences between Beta software packages from Microsoft and their final versions. ...Microsoft's own early certification program kicked off only 3 weeks ago with the intention of getting their partners (Blackboard included) certified within 90 days of the release of Vista. Bb is not alone in this program as Apple, Adobe, SAP, and other vendors are all still working to certify and update their applications to accommodate the Vista OS.

So until we can complete certification by going through a full QA test cycle with the final version of MS Vista we can’t say that MS Vista is certified or compatible to use when running any version of Blackboard Academic Suite. Once Bb has certified this new operating system, a Support Bulletin will be issued on Behind the Blackboard and the associated end user documentation will be updated.

In some preliminary testing by Ed Tech Center staff, we found the following problems when using Windows Vista and Blackboard CE 6. We suspect there will be additional issues discovered as we test further.

For the testing we used Windows Vista Enterprise with Aero scheme, both Internet Explorer 7 with Java 1.5.0_06 and Firefox 2.0.0.1 with Java 1.5.0._06.

The following is a summary and each item and with the exception of number 6, the issues should be obvious and reproducible. Overall, we didn’t experience problems doing typical “user” activities, such as using the Mail tool, the Calendar tool, viewing content, and so on.

1. WebDAV does not work.
2. Webfolders do not work.
3. Get Files (to upload files) displays only one line of files in IE7 with Java 1.5.0_06. However, it works when using Firefox.
4. The Windows Vista Aero screen mode changes to Vista Basic View after logging in to Blackboard CE.
5. PowerPoint slideshows display in PowerPoint 2007 (when installed) but not within the Blackboard browser window.
6. There are intermittent buggy screen displays such as when the left menu completely covers the screen from left to right.

more information becomes available, we’ll pass it on.

Minimizing Those HUGE PowerPoint Slideshows

In yesterday’s tip, we talked about factors that cause “slow” access times on the Internet. On big factor that an instructor/designer has control over is file size. All things being equal, the smaller the file size, the faster the download. I’ve seen faculty trying to deliver 25 to 70MB files (usually PowerPoint slideshows) using Blackboard CE and they wonder why students complain of slow download times. A simple solution is to reduce the size of your PowerPoint slideshow. A handy tool to accomplish that task is PPTminimizer (http://www.pptminimizer.com/).

PPTminimizer is installed in the Ed Tech Center labs (LIB 371 and 373) and in the Center’s Faculty Media Development Area (LIB 375). Stop by and we’ll show you how it works, or use the following instructions.

To compress your PowerPoint slideshows using PPTminizer:

1. Open PPT Minimizer.
2. Click the “Open Presentations” button
3. Choose the PowerPoint file(s) you would like to optimize. You can select one slideshow to minimize or use the Add to List button to select multiple slideshows to minimize at the same time.
4. By default the optimized PPT file will be saved in the same folder as the original. If you want it saved in another folder, select the “…” button (appears under the “Optimized presentations” button, and choose the folder into which you want to save the optimized presentations.
5. If you select a different folder (not the source folder) into which to save the optimized file, you’ll see the “Add extension to Filenames” check box (found above the “…” button). Deselect if you do not ant the “(PPTminimizer)” suffix added to the filename.
6. Next you can choose your compression settings. The default “standard compression” is usually a good choice. If you would like an even smaller file size then move the compression slider to “Strong Compression”. This setting may reduce your image quality and you should always check the optimized presentation when choosing “Strong Compression”. Further, if you find the images in your slideshow too pixilated using “Standard Compression,” lower the slider to use “Low Compression.”
7. Click the “Optimize Presentations” button.
8. If you are asked to confirm conversion of embedded objects, you should click the “yes” button in order to reduce file size. You will not be able to edit the embedded objects in the optimized file, but you can edit it in the original slideshow and run the file through the optimizer again when changes need to be made.
9. Once the progress bar reaches 100% your file has been optimized.
10. You’ll see three buttons: View Presentation(s), E-Mail Presentation(s) and Delete Presentation(s). Be sure to view your compressed slideshows to verify that they look satisfactory.
11. Next you are presented with the statistics of the optimization including how much spaced you saved. Out experience is tat typical slideshows with graphics can be reduced in size easily from 60% to 95%.
12. Your optimized file is placed in the directory you specified.

Try it, you’ll like it and so will your students.