Technical Issues
General
For account, purchasing, or password-related MyLab Spanish questions, contact MyLab Spanish support. For questions about Spanish or grading, talk to your instructor. For all other issues, check the FAQ here or fill out the Help Form.
For concerns related to technology using Canvas, please contact the Spanish Basic Language Program’s Technology Coordinator using the link to the Technical Help Form in the Course Support and Resources module in Canvas.
For technical difficulties with Contraseña (e.g., while registering on Contraseña, accessing your online activities and/or presentations, etc.), contact LingroLearning for support: click on Assist from within the course for Live Chat M-F 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. or email LingroLearning Tech Support at hubsupport@lingrolearning.com. Self-service videos are also available within the course from the Help button in the left menu bar.
For questions or concerns related to LinguaMeeting, contact LinguaMeeting’s technical support team via email at support@linguameeting.com, via live chat from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (EST), or by visiting their technical support page.
For questions about Spanish or grading, talk to your instructor. For all other issues, check the FAQ here or fill out the Help Form.
There are a number of ways to type accents. Please consult the page on “How to Type Spanish Accent Marks” for information on doing this with your Mac or PC. Please see the Laptop Accents page for more information on typing accents on a laptop.
In order to access your content material and online homework, you need to register in the course management system called Contraseña. You will purchase access directly from LingroLearning (www.lingrolearning.com > Students: Register > Register for a Course).
To gain access to the course materials, you will first register for a LingroLearning Account. When you register with Contraseña, use your Penn State email (do NOT use any other account). You only have to register once through the Course Registration Form. However, when accessing the content for each lesson, you will be asked to authenticate, using your “Login Name” and the “Password” that you created during the registration process.
If you are not officially enrolled in the course, you are not allowed to register to Contraseña or complete the assignments. Make sure you do not purchase the access code until you are sure you belong to this course. If you are not sure if you belong to this course, you can use the 14-day free trial.
Tech support: If you have any technical difficulties (e.g., while registering on Contraseña, accessing your online activities and/or presentations, etc.), contact LingroLearning for support: click on Assist from within the course for Live Chat M-F 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. or email LingroLearning Tech Support at hubsupport@lingrolearning.com. Self-service videos are also available within the course from the Help button in the left menu bar. Your instructor will not address questions related to technical problems with online assignments.
Canvas
It is highly recommended that you have your Canvas email forwarded to another email account. This makes it easier to check your mail and to reply to your instructors.
- Select the Account option on the left menu in Canvas
- Select the “Notifications” link
- Your Penn State email will be selected already.
- In the right column select the “check mark”, “clock”, “calendar” or “x” icons to indicate how frequently you would like to get email notifications.
- The icon definitions at the top of the page define the meaning on each icon.
These will unlock for you if you do the proper assessment such as the Academic Integrity Form. Check your syllabus for assessments that need to be done before you start on your main work.
You have an issue that needs admin support. Fill out the Help Form and let the administrator know what is happening.
Zoom and Kaltura (Spanish 1 University Park and Spanish 1, 2 World Campus Only)
- Group meetings do not need to be scheduled in Zoom.
- Whoever is hosting the Zoom meeting simply needs to share their Zoom Room link with their group members, and have everyone join it at an agreed date and time.
- Click on the Zoom Room link given to you by someone from your group, or copy and paste it into the address bar in your browser.
- You may be prompted to check your microphone and speaker settings.
- If the meeting host has their waiting room set up, you may have to wait until you are let into the meeting room.
No. Zoom is completely web-based so you will not have to install any new software onto your computer. Using Zoom with Safari may require downloading the Zoom app, but you are encouraged to use Firefox or Chrome when meeting with Zoom. However, you may need to install your camera and/or microphone in order to successfully complete the assignments.
A headset with a built-in microphone is recommended to reduce audio echo and feedback. Penn State ITS recommends a camera and headset with USB or Firewire connectors, rather than a headphone plug connector. A built-in camera and microphone will work, however it is highly recommended to use headphones to reduce feedback.
We recommend wearing headphones while using this program. It will reduce the amount of sound coming out of your speakers, especially if you are using a built-in microphone.
- NOTE: Only one member of your group needs to record a meeting. That task should be done by the group leader.
- Wait until everyone is in your room and all audio/video has been checked and is working properly.
- At the bottom of the Zoom window, click the Record button.
- If you do not see a Record button, expand the Zoom window. If the Zoom window is too small, some buttons can be hidden.
- Click the pause icon if you want to pause the recording.
- Click the start icon when you are ready to resume recording.
- Click the stop icon when you’re ready to stop the recording.
- Make sure you end the Zoom meeting. The recording will not begin processing until the meeting ends.
- Every time you start and end a recorded meeting in Zoom, the video file from that recording is automatically sent to Kaltura, Penn State’s media storage platform.
- NOTE: Only one member of your group needs to submit the recording. That task should be done by the group leader.
- After your meeting has ended, make sure to click the stop button in Zoom to end the recording.
- Follow the steps in this guide on Kaltura: Sharing a Link to your Media File
- Also be sure to follow the steps in this guide on renaming your Zoom recordings in Kaltura to rename the recording according to the requirements found in the Speaking Assignment’s instructions.
- When you finish working through that guide you should have the link to your media file copied and ready to paste.
- Enter the page in Canvas for that particular Speaking Assignment
- Click “Start Assignment”
- Paste the link to your video in the field labeled “Website URL”
- Enter any comments you wish to include (optional)
- Click “Submit Assignment”
LinguaMeeting
Clear your browser’s cache and switch to Firefox if you aren’t already using it.
LinguaMeeting is set up to work best with the Firefox browser. Using other browsers may result in performance problems.
Students are able to book their sessions with their coach in their portal by selecting their preferred time/day within the corresponding coaching week.
- Enter linguameeting.com, and login to your portal
- Click “View Course”
- Go to the “Next sessions” tab, and click “Book Session”.
- Select the date and time, and your preferred coach. Then confirm the booking.
- Check your dashboard to see that the session has been correctly booked.
*** It is important to note that sessions must be booked 12 hours in advance
Students are able to join their virtual classroom two minutes prior to their session scheduled time. See our video tutorial or follow our step-by-step instructions on how to enter your session.
- Enter your credentials at linguameeting.com/login
- Click on “View Course”
- Once you are on the new page, scroll down and select “Join Session”
- Click the “Join Session” button, which will appear 2 mins prior to the session start time
Recordings are only available if the instructor has activated this feature.
Step 1: Go to your portal and look for the attendance tab on the left-hand side
Step 2: Click on the camera icon
- If there is no camera icon, this means your instructor has not allowed session recordings to be viewed by students
Step 3: Click on the button in the upper right-hand corner to download the recording
Make-Up Policy: Make-up sessions are used to make up a missed session. A make-up should only be used in extraordinary circumstances in which a student misses their scheduled session time without having been able to reschedule or cancel beforehand. Make-ups, like regularly scheduled sessions, must be scheduled 12 hours before the session start time to assure our coaches adequate time to prepare.
Video Tutorial:
How to make-up a session, Student Portal
How to access your Make-Up Session:
- Enter your student portal at linguameeting.com/login
- Click “View Course”
- Once redirected, click on the “Missed Sessions” drop down menu
- Click the “Make-up” button
- Click the “Use Make up” button, and schedule as you would a normal session
- Your make-up session will appear in the “Next Sessions” tab as shown below
A headset with a built-in microphone is recommended to reduce audio echo and feedback. Penn State ITS recommends a camera and headset with USB or Firewire connectors, rather than a headphone plug connector. A built-in camera and microphone will work, however it is highly recommended to use headphones to reduce feedback.
We recommend wearing headphones while using this program. It will reduce the amount of sound coming out of your speakers, especially if you are using a built-in microphone.
Visit https://www.linguameeting.com/support for help from LinguaMeeting’s technical support staff.