1. Tools for Collaboration and Learning
(TCL)
Christopher Smick
May 26, 2005

2. A first look at the ‘Tools for Collaboration and Learning Project
If you put all your eggs in one basket, put copies of that basket in several places
i.e. Make backups
The more important the information, the more copies of it there should be
Possible backup methods:
Printouts of your grade entry pages
(simple, low tech, but high recovery effort)
Burn files to CD
(mid-tech, medium recovery effort, but not ‘eco-friendly’)
Copy to file server (bird two)
(slightly higher tech, but low recovery effort and very eco-friendly) .

3. The File Server (bird two)
What is a ‘file server’?
A computer with a very large hard drive.
Nobody uses it as a workstation; its only job is to hold files people put on it until they want them
Where is the file server?
It ‘lives’ at the center of the school’s network, down in the ‘cage’
What can you do with it?
Save backup copies of key files on it
Save a file from one machine and retrieve it from another one
(since any computer on our network can connect to it)
Leave files for colleagues or students to be able to download (without any risk of them changing or deleting the file)
Have students or colleagues ‘deposit’ files for you in your ‘drop box’ (without the risk of anyone else being able to see or delete the file)
Return work to students’ or colleagues’ dropboxes

4. What are the parts or ‘sections’ of the file server?
There are ‘folders’ for each class (named for their year of graduation)
There is a ‘faculty’ folder, containing folders for departments and some collaborative groups, as well as for each member of the faculty and staff, as
There is a ‘Courses’ folder, in which we can create folders for your courses
There is an ‘Organization’s folder, which contains folders for clubs and groups

5. How do users connect to the file server?
Go to the ‘Finder’ or ‘desktop’ of the iMac on which you’re working
Go up to the ‘Go’ menu and select the bottom command, ‘Go to Server’
(You can also use the keyboard shortcut ‘Command-K’ when you’re at the Desktop)
The ‘Connect To Server window will open:
The address for the server, afp://file-server.nobles.lan, will probably already be in the 'Server Address' window at the top. In that case, just click on the blue 'Connect' button at the bottom of the window.
If the 'Server Address' field does not already say 'afp://file- server.nobles.edu', then look down the list of servers in the 'Favorite Servers' pane just below the 'Server Address' window. If you see 'afp://file-server.nobles.edu' somewhere in the list, just double-click on it.

6. If by any chance you don't see 'afp://file-server. nobles
If by any chance you don't see 'afp://file-server.nobles.lan' either in the Server Address window or in the 'Favorite Servers' window, then just copy it from this page and paste it into the 'Server Address' field at the top of the window
Then click on the little plus sign just to the right of the 'Server Address' field into which you just pasted the address of the server. Clicking on the plus sign will add that server's address to the list of favorites, which will make it vastly easier to connect again the next time.
Then click on the ‘Connect’ button (or double-click on the server’s name)

7. When the log-in dialogue box opens:
enter your ‘UNID’ (Universal Nobles ID) and password
Your UNID is your first initial, the first 10 characters of your last name, and the last two years of your year of graduation
(for faculty, the 'year of graduation' characters are 0f - the number zero, followed by an f)
enter your password
for faculty, this was set to your Noblesnet password as it was back in September
if you have any questions or problems, I can reset it for you now, or ask any ISS Team member

8. When you connect to the server, you’ll see a list of the available ‘Volumes’ (think ‘folders’):
Scroll down until you find the 'Volume' (folder) you want, then select it and click ‘OK’ (or just double-click on it).
When the folder opens, you can quickly find folders inside it by typing the first couple of characters
for example, if you've connected to the 'Volume' which contains your own folder, you can jump to your folder by typing your first initial and last initial
Double-click on your folder.

9. How do you back up key files to the server? (Bird two)
Open a new ‘finder window’ on your computer and navigate to a point where you can see the files which you want to back up
Which files should those be? (See next slide . . .)
Open a second ‘finder window’ on your computer and navigate to where you can see the location in your folder on the server to which you want to save your files
Drag the files or folders you want to back up from the window showing the files on your computer to the location in your folder on the server where you want the files saved
If you’ve done this before, you will probably get a message saying ‘An item named [filename] already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it?’ Since you presumably do want to replace the older file on the server with the newer copy, click on ‘Replace’
If you’re offered a ‘Replace All’ choice, that can save a lot of time spent clicking ‘Replace’ . . .
Disconnect (’log out’) from the server

10. How do you back up key files to the server?
Probable locations of key files (you’ve got to know where they are . . .)
Your ‘Desktop’
Your ‘Documents’ folder
* files whose locations often cause them to be overlooked:
EasyGrade Pro gradebooks and CommentWriter comments
should be in ‘Documents’ or in a special ‘Faculty Applications’ folder, not in the ‘main’ Applications folder
(so they’ll be certain to be transferred if ISS has to shift you to another computer)
Any special applications (’programs’) on your computer which are not part of our standard ‘images’
should be in a special ‘Faculty Applications’ folder, not in the ‘main’ Applications folder
(also so they’ll be transfered if ISS has to shift you to another computer)
Safari or Internet Explorer bookmarks or favorites
these are in faculty/Library/Safari or faculty/Library/Preferences/Explorer
(back up those whole folders — it’s easier)

11. How do you know whether you’ve really backed up?
(You don’t know that you’ve really backed up a file until and unless you know that you can ‘restore’ that file)
Test it!
Copy one of your key files from the server back to your computer (but in a different location than the original copy of that file — so you don’t risk overwriting the original)
Try to open the ‘copy of the copy’ by double-clicking on it
If it opens and it is all there, then you know that you could use your backed up files if you had to . . .
Let’s try it:
There is a Help Page available on this (Bird Three)
log in to Community -> Faculty Pages -> Nobles Help and ISS -> Nobles Help - Tutorials -> Connecting to the File Server
or direct link: