At least once a week, your CIC class will be held in a computer classroom. It is especially important to remember that anything you save on in the lab is only available during class time, so you will need to decide how you plan to get your work from the computer classroom to your personal computer. You will also need to save file produced at home in a format usable in the lab.
CIC Computer Classroom Use Policies
First, some ground rules. Make sure you are aware of what is expected of you every time you are in the computer labclassroom.
- Absolutely no food or drink is allowed in the computer lab classrooms. Please keep your work area tidy. Recycling containers and trash cans are located at the front of both computer classrooms.
- Do not sit on the desktops that connect pod workstations. While sturdy, they are not designed to support human weight.
- Accessible stations are located in the front center pod. Disabled students have priority for these stations. The desktops on the accessible stations should only be adjusted to accommodate wheelchairs or other equipment.
- Use of both lab classrooms is limited to currently installed software. You may not install or use any of your own software on class computers, nor may you download software, games, or apps.
- Files saved to lab computers cannot be accessed outside the lab. Make sure to transfer all files produced or revised in class.
- Do not manipulate any of the hardware. Unplugging cables can cause the system to crash and people to lose files. If you are having a problem with your station, consult your teacher or the technical support staff.
- Do not turn off the computers or screens unless told to do so by your instructor or by a technical support person.
- Log off computers at the end of class. If you do not do so, the next user can see your work. Note that logging off will delete any files saved to the computer's hard drive. Remember to transfer any files you need before logging off.
File Conversion
If you use anything but Microsoft Word at home, you will need to convert your documents to a format you can use on CIC computers. In addition, you will need to save documents created in the lab in a format you can use at home. These conversions are very easy if you pay attention to a few important details. Please note that you should follow the same procedure whether working at home or in the lab.
PCs
Under the File menu, select Save As and choose either Word Document or Rich Text Format (.*rtf) from the pull-down menu in the Save as Type box. You may lose some formatting markers when saving in Rich Text Format, but you will be able to work with the document.
MACs
In the lab, select Save As from the File menu, and choose Rich Text Format (.*rtf) in the Save as Type box. On the Macintosh, select Save As from the File menu, and choose Rich Text Format (RTF) in the Format box.
Apple’s own word processing program, Pages, allows you to save documents in Word or Rich Text Format. To do so:
- Select Export from the File menu:
1. Choose Word or RTF from the options that appear and click the Next button:
2. Name your file, select the location you want to save to, and click the Export button. A window confirming the export will appear.
3. You will return to your Pages document. Note that the document will be untitled, as you haven’t saved it in the default “.pages” format. If you want to save a copy in ".pages" format as well, select Save as from the File menu.
Taking Files Away from the Lab
Its a given that you will eventually have to transfer work produce at home to the lab and vice versa. Remember you cannot access files produced in class anywhere but lab classroom. Here are some options for transferring your work:
Flash Drives
You can copy work saved on a machine hard drive to a flash drive. One drawback of this method is that you may forget to bring your flash drive to class, or you may lose it.
The U Drive
The U Drive is a central file storage system that provides UW students, faculty and staff with a place to house files. Since files can be accessed anywhere (both on- and off- campus), using the U Drive is an effective way to store the work produced in the lab. You can store up to 10GB of data, which is automatically backed up. This service is automatically activated when you receive a UW Net ID.
Accessing the U Drive from an On-Campus Computer
In the lab, you may access the U Drive as follows:
1. Click on the U Drive icon on the desktop:
2. A log in screen will appear; enter your UW Net ID and password.
3. After you log in, a Windows Explorer window will open up to display all files and folders you currently have in the U Drive. Drag and drop file icons into the window to save files to the U Drive.
Accessing the U Drive from an Off-Campus Computer
The UW recommends using Filezilla as a platform to access files from home. Filezilla is an open-source FTP/ SFTP client that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and many flavors of GNU/ Linux.
1. Install the platform on your home computers by going here. After installation, students follow these steps to upload your files:
2. Open Filezilla. Type in stfp.udrive.uw.edu for host. For port, type in "22." From there, enter your UW NetID and password:
3. Click on "QuickConnect," and double-click on "udrive" on the right side of the window. This will open the U Drive folder.
4. Drag files between the left side of the window (your computer) and the right side of the window (the U Drive).
For more detailed instructions and information on Filezilla, click here.
Canvas
You may save files on your Canvas account. You can then access them from any computer with an internet connection. Moreover, you can upload them directly to course Discussions or Assignments. To save files and folders in Canvas storage space:
1. Log on to Canvas and click on your name in the upper-right hand corner of the window (where the image below reads "Test Student"):
2. Select "Files" from the menu on the left hand side of the window:
3. You may upload any document, image, powerpoint presentation or other file by clicking on Add Files " in the Files window. You may create folders for individual projects or classes by clicking Add Folder.
Cloud Storage
You may save work in a cloud storage space such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive or Box. These spaces store any kind of file, including images, photographs, videos and documents, and you can access them from any computer with an internet connection.
Since UW partners with Google to provide UW Net ID-protected Google Apps to students, faculty, staff, alumi and former students, it may be most convenient for you to use Google Drive as a space to create, store, and share files.