Getting started using the C@ribNET portal

Version 2.1 – Nov. 5th 2013 Presentation by Yacine Khelladi, team leader of

ACP CONNECT PROJECT No. 2012/305814 "KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AND RELATED SERVICES FOR THE CARIBBEAN KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING

NETWORK"

Project financed by European Union under the

ACP Connect Program

implemented by Astec Global ICT Consortium

Contents

1.  About the C@ribNET portal 2.  What tools are available? 3.  What can I do on C@ribNET? 4.  How to register and first steps 5.  Known bugs and issues (and solutions) 6.  Learn More 7.  Get Support

About this portal

About the C@ribNET portal It is: n  A tool for fostering Caribbean regional cross-sector

collaboration, research and access to advanced online application and services

n  Accessible both via Internet and C@ribNET connectivity / e-infrastructure

n  Adapted from and hosted by RedCLARA, the Latin American Association of Research Networks . Thus, it is robust, interoperable, widely used and tested and interconnected globally with advanced research networks and tools (e.g. RedCLARA, Internet 2 and GÉANT)

About the C@ribNET portal (2)

n  Connects you to tools services and apps from several servers and provides with unique authentication system (you login once and are automatically recognised in several servers and services)

n  Completely Free for use for registered users from C@ribNET member institutions

n  Provides user support n  Is a work in progress, 95% ready now .. still

translating few things from Spanish, correcting bugs and adapting services to Caribbean needs and infrastructure

What tools are available?

C@ribNET portal services n  Community tools, such as

¨  Internal Forums ¨  Community Bulletins and blogs ¨  Multimedia sharing (pics, videos) ¨  Community WIKI (to organise

collective knowledge, information, links, folders, etc)

n  Web Video Conference system and video conference organiser (for full “polycom” VCs or Web VC)

n  A cross network search engine n  An E-Learning Management System (you can set up your course)

n  Large File Transfer tool n  Video on Demand n  And many more… come explore!

What can we use this portal for?

Use the community tool to organise a working group, a taskforce or just link up people and organise thematic knowledge.

n  Communities are created and available immediately n  You can manage as many as needed n  Communities’ content can be public (seen by non-

members) or members only n  Membership can be open or set private (by invitation) n  Tools and apps are particular to each community (wiki,

Video conference private room, events, albums, forums, bulletins)

n  Publishing for its members only n  Administration can be delegated to other registered users n  You can have non-C@ribNET guests in the community

video conference room.

Then the community can n  Organise collective knowledge in a shared library (links,

documents, text, references) n  Organise knowledge sharing online events (and include

non-members, hold webinars, broadcast conferences ) n  Articulate working groups and inter-institutional projects

coordination or activities (VC + Forums + Wiki) n  Conduct distance training (using e-learning LMS, or do

Webinars in VC expresso or Carib Cafe) n  Share and disseminate bulletins / newsletters, etc. n  Share multimedia material as videos, maps, databases,

and other large files n  Collective editing (wiki) of documents n  Mutual support system / nurture a knowledge base

(forums and wiki FAQ)

How to register

1. How to register

n  Make sure you have access to your organisation’s institutional email (Important: you can only have access with your institutional mail; please do not use Yahoo mail, Hotmail, Gmail, Caribsurf etc.)

n  Go to www.caribnet.org and click on “register here”

Registering (cont’d.)

n  Fill out the registration form (at least all the fields marked *)

n  The password is not your email password, but one you choose for this portal

Registering (cont’d.)

n  Select the organisation you belong to (and to which your email account belongs)

n  If you do not belong to a university, for “Institutional Relationship” and “Faculty,” choose what is closest to your reality n  In the “Position” field, describe yourself more accurately n  Don’t forget to AGREE with our policies of use

Registering (cont’d.)

n  Then you go to your email inbox and look for the instructions on the validation mail

n  You click and … voila! You are done! n  (Next thing you want to do is edit your profile,

complete information and upload a nice profile picture. Or set up your email Notification preferences)

My home community n  When you register, you are added to “C@ribNET-all” community

n  From there, you can access your communities,

create one or search

and join others

n  By clicking On “Communities,”

you are back to the portal entry

n  NOTE – Automatic log out

is 30 minutes

Known bugs

I’m logged in, and suddenly have menus and content in Spanish Solution:

1.  Reload (refresh) (F5) the page. It should reload in English 2.  If this has not solved it:

n  Copy the URL for the page your are visiting and want to return to

n  Got to www.caribnet.org n  Click log in to portal n  Once there, copy the URL in the

address bar and access the page. It should be all in good old English.

If the page still does not reload in English: email support seg@ckln.org describing the error and include the link to the page you visited

When you follow a link from an email sent from the portal (such as an invitation, an announcement, etc.) and you are not logged in (remember automatic

logout is 30 min.), you might : n  get this error Or…..

…You may be asked to log in but get a weird Spanish page, without the main menu & frame…

(see solution next slide)

n  Copy the URL/link you want to follow (https://sxxxx.)

n  Go to www.caribnet.org n  Click on the login sign n  Login (email, password) n  The main page should open, then n  Paste the URL on the address bar

Solution: Re-login and reload the link

Learn more

Check these resources

Video Tutorials on how to use some portal tools 1.  Large file transfer tutorial 2.  Online Videoconference rooms (VC) tutorial 3.  SIVIC tool for organising events and video conferences

tutorial 4.  How to use my Community WIKI And this Presentation Communities of Practice on C@ribNET (what is a community

of practice, what tools can I use, how to manage, moderate and facilitate one)

Support

email us for support

If you need guidance, help, or want to report a

problem: Email seg@ckln.org describing the need or error

(and include the link to the page you visited when problem occurred.)

Thanks, CKLN portal team