How It Works
When you book your place on one of our courses you will be sent a welcome pack containing a set of comprehensive course manuals, an audio headset and other introductory information. After you received your headset one of our technical team will contact you to check that you can connect to our servers and to help configure your computer if there are any issues.
Before your course starts we will send you joining instructions which will confirm the dates and times of your course and include login details such as your account 'username' and 'password'. To join your course simply use your web browser to navigate to our login page: www.openknowledge.co.uk/login.html.
Having arrived at our login page you simply need to select your course, enter your username and password then click the 'JOIN' button. You will then immediately be taken to your live online classrooms where your instructor will be waiting to greet you. Our conferencing software allows you to see and hear your instructor together with your other classmates.
You will be able to view all presentations including slides, whiteboard drawings and demonstrations, live on the screen immediately in front of you.
In the image below you can see the instructor sharing or publishing his webcam so that everyone can see as well as hear him. Delegates usually publish/share their webcams as well, so you also get to see and chat with your fellow delegates. Whether you publish your webcam is entirely up to you, either way you will be able to hear everyone and see anyone who has published their webcam.
In the top right 'USES' window you can see a list of all the delegates logged into the class and in the lower right 'LISTENERS' window is a list of all those logged into VOIP (voice over IP). The little webcam icon in the 'USERS' window indicates that Paul is 'sharing' his webcam. The fact that he is the only one sharing his webcam explains why only his image is present. The little 'hand' icon indicates that Milissa wants to ask a question. The little 'speaker' icon in the 'LISTENERS' window indicates that Milissa is in fact speaking.
In addition to audio and video, the conferencing software has a text based 'CHAT' facility, visible in the top left corner. Using the 'CHAT' facility you can send a public message by selecting the 'ALL' tab or send a private message by selecting the tab of the user you want to send the message to. The image above shows an exchange of private messages between 'Steven' and the instructor 'Paul'.
The 'slide' presentation window appears in the middle of the screen by default but like all other windows it can be moved and resized at will. In this example the instructor has added some annotations to the slide; two yellow 'highlight' circles, around the 'SQL Cache' and the 'Data Dictionary cache'. The instructor can also draw on the slide using similar features.
The conferencing software also provides the instructor with a 'pointing' device, seen in the image above as a 'Red Dot'. The instructor moves this around the slide with their mouse to point out items as they discuss them. It is used the same way a laser pointer is used in a regular classroom. The image above shows the instructor using the pointer to point out the 'PGA' memory area.
If the instructor needs to do more than annotate or highlight parts of a slide they simply switch to the whiteboard application shown below.
The whiteboard application is used by the instructor to graphically illustrate concepts or other technical points.
It is used in combination with a graphics pad which allows the instructor to draw detailed images. For illustration purposes the image above shows some Calligraphy, some matchstick characters and a rather elaborate technical doodle.
In addition to explanation and illustration the course will include lots of demonstrations. Whilst the instructor explains exactly what they are doing, their desktop will be projected to the screen right in front of you. Consequently everyone automatically has a completely unobstructed, close-up view of all presentations and demonstrations.
The image below shows the instructor's desktop with Oracle's SQLDeveloper running an 'explain plan' command for a simple 'top n' query.
After the instructor has finished presenting a chapter it is usually followed by a practice session involving a number of exercises designed to illustrate and consolidate the material presented in that chapter. For the purposes of these practice sessions all delegates are provided with a 'Remote Desktop Environment' containing all the software and scripts required for the practical exercises.
Delegates use a small 'remote desktop' application to access their remote desktop environment. Our technical team will offer to guide you through the process of downloading and configuring this application prior to the start of your course. However, many delegates complete this relatively simple task themselves using our Remote Client Installation Guide.
Once installed and configured you simply enter your username and password and click 'OK'. Your remote desktop will then pop-up in a dedicated window on your computer. The remote desktop window can be resized to your taste and made 'full screen' when required e.g. during the practical sessions. You will have access to your remote desktop environment 24/7 throughout the duration of the course. Outside of classroom hours you could use it for additional practice, consolidation work or just to experiment.
Each delegate also has their own database server which they can access from their remote desktop. Once connected to your remote desktop you will be able to run an Oracle application from the desktop or connect to your database server directly. The image below shows a delegate using SQLDeveloper to run an 'explain plan' command for a basic join query, having previously used an ssh session (bottom right) to connect to their database server and startup the Oracle database.
The instructor has an application which shows a live, miniature image of the desktops of each of the delegates in their class. In the image below the instructor's desktop shows the application's window containing miniature images of two desktops belonging to delegates; Melissa and Steven. To view a full size image the instructor could simply double click one of the miniature images. However, even this minimal effort is not required.
On the 'taskbar' at the bottom of the instructors screen, there is a row of 'squares' (highlighted) which represent virtual desktops. Each of the delegates' remote desktop has been linked to one of the instructor's virtual desktops. This means that all the instructor has to do to see a full size, interactive image of a particular delegate's desktop, is to run their mouse across the virtual desktop icons in the taskbar until the delegates name appears and then click on that virtual desktop icon. The instructor's desktop will then immediately switch to that delegate's remote desktop. The instructor can then see and interact with the delegates desktop at will (image below).
This not only makes it easy and convenient for instructors to check the progress and understanding of their delegates but also ensures that help and assistance is only ever a click away.
For further information please contact us via email or by telephone during office hours.