Knowledgebase
YoteNet Information Technology

Are you new to Teams? Do you need to remember how to find or do something? Then you're at the right place. We put together a training video that takes you from downloading and installing Teams, to joining a class, to creating your own meetings. You may need to sign in to Microsoft Stream with your YoteNet ID to watch. If you have any trouble with the video below please try to watch it on Microsoft Stream instead. This video is about 40 minutes long.

This video was made in 2020 and some references are outdated. Teams has many new features and enhancements, so if something seems to be missing in your version it probably is. It's likely automatic now and you don't need to worry about it.

Microsoft provides great on-line training and up-to-date videos for Teams.

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Need something specific? These links will take you right to that part of the video in Stream. All of these links open in a new tab.

Class sessions will be held in Teams, but what about your course materials? Syllabi, assignments, submissions, files, and more can be found in Canvas. We put together this training video to get you signed in and up to speed. You may need to sign in to Microsoft Stream with your YoteNet ID to watch. If you have any trouble with the video below please try to watch it on Microsoft Stream instead. This video is about 20 minutes long.

Still relevant in 2022-23; content created Fall 2020/2021. Did you know there's even more to know about technology at The College of Idaho? If you're a new student then please watch our IT Orientation video. Since we couldn't meet with new students in person this year we recorded our usual move-in weekend presentation instead. If you have any trouble with the video below please try to watch it on Microsoft Stream instead. This video is about 30 minutes long.

Are you watching this video in 2022? That's okay, but note that some content or recommendations may have changed. It wouldn't be anything significant. We also have a PDF version of the new 2021 presentation available for download.

Residential students are expected to bring a computer with them to school. Computer labs are open when permitted, but they do not have cameras nor microphones and have reduced capacities for physical distancing and sanitization when needed. Having your own computer means you can work how you need to, when you need to, where you need to.

Your access to a computer and our network (YoteNet) is essential for your success at The College of Idaho. For the best outcomes we prepared this list of specifications to help you choose the right computer. We don't provide direct links to products for purchase since they change very frequently, but this list can either be taken to your favorite local store or used to check the tech specs on any computer you're considering online or in-person.

Specifications

You don't have to follow these specs for your computer, but if you choose not to you may run into trouble accessing course materials, using required apps and software, getting help, or connecting smoothly. In particular, we know that Apple products and macOS are popular, but we have applications that only run on Windows. If any of your courses use this software you may be stuck using our labs (assuming the lab is open) or purchasing additional, complex software for your Mac in order to run Windows apps. And, we hate to tell you, but Macs do break and they do get malware.

We do not recommend Android-, chromeOS-, or iOS-based tablets like Chromebooks or iPads for your primary computing device. While it's possible to do a lot of work from devices like these, and we've had students do just that, there are performance and compatibility limits that are very likely to make the lower cost not worth the trouble. If you'd like to bring one of these devices in addition to a computer that's fine.

With care and no major accidents both our minimum and recommended laptops are expected to meet all of your needs for all four years. The recommended configuration is more expensive, but we also expect it to last a few years after college and still have decent performance.

Purchasing Tips

If you need to buy a computer before arriving or need to upgrade yours after you're here, review these tips to get a good computer at a fair price.

• Save a lot and don't buy Microsoft Office. We provide it to you for free.
• If possible, try before you buy. Shopping online is easy, but actually seeing the laptop in a store can help you find the right combination of price, size, and fit.
• Have a Costco membership? Costco always has great deals on laptops that meet our spec, and they include an extra year's warranty.
• We typically recommend HP, Microsoft Surface, or Dell computers. We exclusively buy HP for our employees.
• We typically do not recommend Sony, Acer, ASUS, or Toshiba. We've had issues with these brands.

A simple way to dramatically increase the quality of your online courses and meetings is simply to use dedicated call hardware. That might sound pretty fancy but it's actually very simple.

Upgrade Your Audio

If you need to choose one thing to help with your online experience then you need to choose audio. The most important thing you can do is physically separate your speakers from your microphone. Yes, the distance between the two help (which is why laptops frequently have issues on calls), but it's even better to totally isolate the input (microphone) from the output (speakers).

Headphones

The easiest way to do this is with a simple pair of headphones. It doesn't matter if they have a built-in microphone or not; just getting the sound into your ears and nowhere else drastically improves audio quality. Like wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19, getting headphones isn't primarily about you and it takes everyone participating for the best outcome. When you remove the echo and feedback created by your speakers and microphone all of the other participants benefit from far less audio distortion on their ends. It also helps you cut out background noise and focus on the conversation.

Headsets

For even more improvement of your audio you can buy a headset. This could be earbuds with a built-in mic (like old-style Samsung and Apple models with a a 1/8" (3.5mm) plug). It could be a USB or Bluetooth headset with a boom mic. Or it could be full noise-canceling headphones. No matter what style you choose, headsets are designed to put the sound in your ears and the microphone closer to your mouth. A headset provides the best audio for a single user, especailly if you are in a space with a lot of background noise.

Conference Speakers

If you don't want to wear anything at all you can still improve your audio with a conference speaker. While this isn't ideal and is not recommended it will help more than just using your laptop. Conference speakers are specifically engineered to listen to one or more people with a speaker/microphone combination unit. Since they do their own audio processing, engineered exactly to the device and its intended use, they augment any processing done by your computer and produce better audio.

Product Recommendations

We can't recommend an exact audio product of every type because there are so many styles, features, and price points to consider. However, we do suggest two simple models that balance price and performance, and several brands that build quality devices if you'd like something else and have a higher budget. Please note that "standard" (that means recommended) headsets may be out of stock at most retailers due to continuing worldwide demand. "Higher-end" options are more likely to be available but at a higher price.

If your laptop has Bluetooth connectivity (all C of I employee laptops do) then choosing a Bluetooth headset means you don't need to deal with a cable or dedicated USB receiver. Bluetooth options are widely available, both personal and commercial, but will cost more than our recommended options. If you already have Bluetooth earbuds or headphones then good news! Pair them to your laptop for instantly better meetings. Not all Bluteooth audio devices support pairing to more than one host device, so you may lose connection on your phone or other device after pairing to your laptop. Additionally, audio devices that do support more than one paired host device may not properly select the host device you want to use. You will either need to toggle pairings (consult your user manual) or turn off Bluetooth on the host deivce you don't want to use at the moment.

• Basic upgrade: any cheap wired headphones without a mic
• Recommended: Logitech H390 USB Wired Headset
• Recommended: Logitech H600 USB Wireless Headset
• Suggested Bluetooth earbud/headphone brands: Beats, Bose, Jabra, Jaybird, Poly/Plantronics
• Suggested mic-only upgrade (you still need headphones): Blue Snowball Ice, Snowball, or Yeti
• Suggested conference speaker brands (better than nothing but not recommended): Jabra Speak series

We continue to use Instructure Canvas and Microsoft Teams for course materials, tools, and delivery. Other LMS or meeting applications are not supported by IT and may not be used for teaching. Canvas is available via web browser or mobile app. Teams is an installable application, and while available on the web we do not recommend the web-based version (and you will have trouble with certain things).

• Go to Canvas
• Download Microsoft Teams for Windows
• Download Microsoft Teams for Mac

Sign in to all of our sites and apps with your YoteNet ID.

Microsoft School Data Sync (SDS) automatically creates and will manages Teams teams and Office 365 Groups for each course section offered in a given term, just like Canvas. All you need to do is activate a team to use it with your students. Groups take no special activations and are already available. Don't want to use the team or Group we manage? No problem. Just don't activate the team and your students will never see it, and tell them to ignore the Group. Remember that you'll be responsible for adding and removing students if you choose to create and manage your own teams.

SDS does not automatically create class meetings for you. You need to schedule the meetings yourself. Scroll down to find our training video "Scheduling Class Meetings."

Activation allows you to create Channels, upload content, make posts, work with your Class Notebook, and more before students see anything. It's just like Canvas's Publish function where you can prepare ahead of time and then open it to students when you're ready.

To activate your course team(s):

1. Launch Teams on your computer
2. Go to teams on the left
3. Click on the team you want to activate (they start with 21_SP and 21_WI) to open it
4. Click the Activate button

Having trouble? Please contact the helpdesk for assistance. Since SDS is a new product on our campus there may be some undiscovered issues.

Many faculty like to record their class sessions, and we encourage this for students who can't attend class (especially in a pandemic) or who benefit from being able to see and hear the session again. Some students also benefit from captions on the video, which isn't just the law but also a great way to make your class inclusive.

Effective January 7, 2021, all Teams meeting recordings are saved to the meeting organizer's OneDrive. All invitees can view and download the video. If you don't want your meeting recording to be downloadable you will need to manually edit its permissions and unshare it, or upload it to Microsoft Stream before deleting it. Videos stored in OneDrive are deleted when the team is deleted (one year after the term).

Long-Term, Enhanced Storage with Stream

Stream is still completely available and recommended. Upload your recording, set your settings and permissions, and then share the link or embed it in Canvas. While this is a small extra step it gives you more control over your meeting video (for example, it can't be downloaded) and should help reduce confusion about meeting titles, missing permissions, sharing options, and managing your video library. Very importantly, using Stream means your video gets closed captions and multiple quality options. If you leave the video on OneDrive it's just a file. There are no captions for accessibility assistance and it's one single, large file for people to watch regardless of internet connection quality.

Learn how to upload videos to Stream.

Hint: you can add a Group (team) to the permissions list so that you don't need to type every person's name by hand. Type part of the name of the Group to search for it. If you want to embed your video in Canvas then students must have permission to view the video. Simply embedding it in Canvas does not give them permission in Stream.

Scheduling Class Meetings - Faculty

When your courses are added to Teams and Office 365 they do not include any meeting times. It's not possible for us to create meetings for you, nor is it feasible to have us determine when your class should meet. Watch this training video to learn how to schedule a meeting with a team Channel so that it's on your students' calendars. Want to schedule your meetings via Outlook? That's fine, but we recommend (and are only documenting) how to schedule in Teams with a Channel. If you have any trouble with the video below please try to watch it on Microsoft Stream instead. This video is about 20 minutes long.