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Below we summarize the most common questions we get each week. The majority of questions are technical in nature, so we've separated the questions into two categories: technical (having problems logging in, not receiving membership information, firewall problems, etc.) and non-technical (how do I join, how can I use TAPPED IN, etc.) If you have a question that isn't answered here, or need more help, just contact us. Technical Questions
General (Non-Technical) Questions
I filled out a membership application, but haven't gotten any email with my membership information. What's up? It could be that you typed in your email address incorrectly by accident, so our email reply with your account information bounced, and we can't reach you. Or, it could be that you already have a TAPPED IN membership: Maybe you (or a friend) filled out an application a while back, and you have an membership name already. When you apply for a membership via the membership form, the TAPPED IN system checks to see if there is an existing membership account with that email address. If it finds one, it assumes the new request is a repeat request, and doesn't create a new account. If you have applied for a membership again because you have forgotten your password, you can search for your membership name and request a new password . If you want to change your membership account information, if you have any other questions, please contact us. My email address changed, who should I tell so the newsletter and other mailings go to the right place? Currently, the way you update your email address is to simply contact us and we'll change it for you. Eventually you'll be able to update your own but for now the easiest way is for us to do it. I can log in as a guest, but my account name and password don't work. What do I do? First, make sure you are entering the password exactly as it was sent--passwords are case sensitive, so, for example, r8ZaBc is not the same as R8ZAbC. Passwords are the only thing in TAPPED IN that is case sensitive. You can enter your account name and all TAPPED IN commands in all caps, all lowercase, or any combination of cases. But your password has to exactly match the specified case. Also make sure you aren't typing typing quotes around your member name or password. If you think your password has changed, or if you have forgotten your member name or your password, you can search for your member name and request a new password . I'm using AOL and I can't get TAPestry or the web interface to work on my computer. What do I do? AOL's web browser does not support Java, and goes through their proxy server. The latter reason is the main reason why you can't use the AOL browser with TAPPED IN. You can get around this problem by running another browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer when you are connected to AOL. See how to log on using AOL for more information. I can't seem to log in with TAPestry on my Mac. What's wrong? It may be that you need to allocate more memory to your browser, or update your browser to a more recent version. If you can't get TAPestry to work, you can still connect to TAPPED IN via a text client plus an optional web window. Netscape 3.04 and higher works well on the Mac. Some early versions of Nescape 4.0 (like 4.01-4.04) are buggy, so you should update. Folks have reported problems with Java in Internet Explorer (IE) 3 and 4. If you use IE, you may need to select Apple MRJ as the default Java Virtual Machine in the Edit/Preferences/Java window. See more about Internet Explorer and MRJ on the Mac. You should also set your browser to at least 10000K (12000 or 15000 if you have it), unless you are using MRJ. (MRJ uses RAM from temporary memory, not the browser's memory, so if you increase the browser's preferred memory too much there may actually not be any temporary memory left for MRJ to use.) To increase the memory allocated to your browser, quit the browser and find the browser application icon on your computer. Select the icon and select "Get Info" from the "File" menu. In the box that says Minimum Size, type 10000 (ten thousand). In the box that says Prefered Size, type 15000 (fifteen thousand). Also make sure that Java and JavaScript are enabled in your browser (they are by default, unless someone turned them off; look under Preferences/Advanced). If you still have no luck, then download and connect via a text client, and open a web window without TAPestry. TAPestry doesn't work with Internet Explorer on my Mac. I read that I need MRJ. What is MRJ and how do I get it? On the Mac, Internet Explorer works best if you select Apple MRJ (we recommend MRJ 2.1 or higher) as the default Java Virtual Machine. See what browsers can I use with TAPestry and download MRJ. Once you've installed MRJ, launch Internet Explorer, and under Edit/Preferences/Java, choose Apple MRJ as the virtual machine. MRJ stands for Macintosh Runtime for Java. MRJ is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for the mac, developed by Apple. TAPestry is written in Java and requires some JVM to run. Netscape's browser has a built-in JVM that works well. Internet Explorer has a built-in JVM too, but it's buggy. Apple's MRJ is fast, and much better. I can't seem to log in with TAPestry on my Windows PC. What's wrong? You may need the Sun Java Virtual Machine (JVM) plugin, especially if you are using Windows XP since Windows stopped including Java in early releases of Windows XP (although they have since changed their mind and will include it in future releases of XP). It's also possible that you may just need to update your browser. We recommend Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. Netscape 3 and above or Internet Explorer 4 and above generally work, except Netscape 4.0x is buggy when using the new user interface (Netscape 4.0x has bugs in it's javascript support). IE 3.0 has problems (e.g., JScript errors), and browsers for Windows 3.1 are very unreliable Java-wise (if they offer it at all). Also make sure that Java and JavaScript are enabled in your browser (they are by default, unless someone turned them off). If upgrading your browser doesn't help, contact us or just open a web window without TAPestry. When I log in via Tapestry, the text window opens up and I can talk, but the Web Window just says" TAPestry is loading" and the room map newver appears. What should I do? This is a sporadic problem that may occur when you accidentally click somewhere while the TAPestry applet and web page are loading (causing the transmission to be interrupted), or our web server may have somehow timed-out in sending you the map (this could happen if the web server is very busy or several people are requesting a connection at the same time; this isn't uncommon on the web!) You can try to force the web window to reload by moving your character to a new room in TAPPED IN. Every time you move to a new room, a new request for a room map is sent to our web server, causing the page to reload. To move to a new room, type the name of an exit (e.g., /OUT) in the text window. If this causes the room map to load, then you're set. If not, contact us. I can log in via a text client, but I want a web window too (like TAPestry gives you). Can I get one? Sure. If TAPestry doesn't work or you just want another option, you can open a web window without Java, using a text-only client like Muddweller or gMud. First, download Muddweller for the Mac or download gMUD for Windows 95, and then log in with the text client. Then go to the Member Login Webpage, enter your membername and password and click OPEN WEB WINDOW instead of CONNECT VIA TAPESTRY. The biggest difference is that you can't receive projected web pages without TAPestry, and you need to click the UPDATE button if the text and web window get out of synch. The TAPPED IN window doesn't fit in my screen, and I can't see all of it at one time. Can I fix this? Yes. You will need to adjust your screen size resolution. You'll need to set it to at least 800 x 600 pixels. If you are using a PC, click on START and go to your control panel. Then click on DISPLAY. Then click on the SETTINGS tab. You will see your screen size resolution at the bottom left-hand corner. Adjust to it to 800 x 600 pixels or higher. This will cause the TAPPED IN window to become smaller. If the font size in TAPPED IN is too small for you to read, but you want to keep the smaller window size, simply click on PREFERENCES in the TAPPED IN window and increase the font size. If you are using a MAC, you can click on your control strip and select the button for screen size resolution. You will want to click on the picture of the monitor. It is a black and white checkered square on the control strip. 
If you don't have your control strip turned on, go to the Apple menu (upper left hand corner) and select the "control panels" folder and then either the "Monitors" or the "Monitors and Sound" control panel depending on what version of MacOS you are running. When you open the the "Monitors" or the "Monitors and Sound" control panel your resolution choices will be on the right side of the screen. We recommend selecting 1024 x 768 if you have that option or at least 800 x 600. (The larger the numbers are the more "screen real estate" you will have to see more of web pages or other windows.) I can't seem to log in with even a text client, what could be wrong? First, make sure you're using one of the text clients we offer, and check the configuration. Make sure you've typed in the right host (tappedin.sri.com) and port (7777). If you get an error relating to "DNS Lookup", it could be that the domain name server for your ISP is having problems. A domain name server just maps names like "tappedin.sri.com" to an IP address, like 128.18.101.99, which points to a particular computer on the internet. If you get an DNS error, try typing in 128.18.101.99 for the host, instead of tappedin.sri.com. If you still have problems, it could be that you're behind a firewall that doesn't allow access to certain ports on other computers (we use ports 8000, 80, and 7777). See what to do if you think you might be behind a firewall. I can't log in through my school's proxy server. What can I do? TAPPED IN doesn't do well when you go through a proxy server, especially if the proxy hides your IP address. You need to contact your system administrator, or give us their phone number and/or email and we'll try to talk to them. Here's what your system administrators need to know. If you are going through a proxy server, make sure that the proxy does NOT hide IP numbers of the machines that are attempting to connect to TAPPED IN. You can usually specify not to hide IP addresses just to TAPPED IN (and keep them hidden from other sites). I think I'm behind a firewall and can't log in. Is there anything I can do? You need to contact your system administrator, or contact us with their phone number and/or email and we'll try to talk to them. Here's what your system administrators need to know. Ports 8000 and 80 need to be open for outgoing http, and port 7777 needs to be open for Telnet (very few people use 7777). 80 is the common web page port so it should already be open. 8000 is for http traffic to our special tappedin MOO web server. It is important that port 7777 is open for Telnet, not just http, to allow users to chat with teachers in tappedin. From the perspective of your system administrator, all of these ports need to be open for outbound traffic only, not incoming traffic, which means that it is not a security risk to you. Opening these should be a very simple change to the configuration, taking only a few minutes. If you want an even smaller "hole" in your firewall, just open these ports for the IP addresses of 128.18.101.98 and 128.18.101.99. If you are reading this, port 80 must be open in your firewall. To verify that your system administrator has also opened ports 7777 and 8000 for outgoing traffic, do the following:
I get in, but then after a few minutes I keep getting booted off line. What's up? What might be happening (which is somewhat common) is that your PPP connection is timing out because the computer thinks you are not active. Check your AOL or PPP settings to determine this. If that's not the case, then contact us with more specifics about what is happening when you get kicked offline. Is your modem connection terminating? Is Netscape quitting? Is your computer freezing? Also, when you log into TAPPED IN you get two windows: a text window and a regular web window. The text window might be covering up the web window, so make the text window a little smaller. You need both windows. Don't close either of them, or you will get disconnected from TAPPED IN. I'm having problems with the new web interface. What do I do? The new web interface (released mid-1999) provides an improved layout and design, but requires frames and JavaScript which some older browsers do not support well. Known browser bugs:
Our recommendation: if you want to use the new web interface but are having problems, upgrade to the latest Netscape browser or upgrade to the latest Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer on the Mac works best if you also use MRJ. Also, make sure that frames, JavaScript, and Java are enabled in your browser. (You only need Java enabled if you want to use TAPestry). All are enabled by default, unless someone turned them off; look under Preferences/Advanced to view or modify these settings. If all else fails, the older interface, which did not require frames or javascript, is still available. To use it, just uncheck the box when you log in. The layout and design are not as nice, but it will run with about any 2.0 or above browser. If you uncheck the box but still have difficulties, you may need to quit and restart your browser; it may be in a funky state if it failed to open the new UI. Some more pointers:
How do I know if my browser supports frames, Java and JavaScript? See our our browser configuration checker. If it says that Java and/or Javascript are off, then you need to enable them in your web browser. To do that:
When I log in, I get a message that the system is trying to close the window. Now what? When you get this message, click Yes. The window is supposed to close. Java just gives you a warning first. I have Netscape 6.0 and I can't use TAPestry. What should I do? Unfortunately, TAPestry does not work with Netscape 6.0. You will need to download a text client and log in with that. Then you can go to http://www.tappedin.org and click on Member Login. Then enter you member info and click on Open a Web Window instead Open Via TAPestry. I have Internet Explorer 5.0 and I can't use TAPestry. What should I do? Some of our users have reported problems using IE 5.0 with TAPestry. If you experience any difficulties, first try restarting your computer to see if this helps. If you have Netscape on your computer, try logging in with that instead. You can also update your version of Internet Explorer. If all else fails, you can download a text client and log in with that. Then you can go to http://www.tappedin.org and click on Member Login. Then enter you member info and click on Open a Web Window instead Open Via TAPestry. What is the underlying purpose of TAPPED IN? Teacher professional development (TPD) is a critical component of education reform and school restructuring. In practice, many exemplary TPD efforts find it difficult to maintain support for teachers after an institute or workshop, to encourage sustained interaction among participating teachers. Teachers have difficulty finding, and finding the time to particpate in, high-quality professional development activities. These issues have motivated several nationally-recognized K-12 TPD organizations and SRI to build a new vision of on-line professional development based on the premise that learning to implement reform-based teaching practices occurs most effectively (a) within an environment that supports rich collaborative discourse and (b) surrounded by a well-established and diverse community of practice engaged in the work of education reform. We envision a virtual place where teachers with diverse interests, skills, and backgrounds can meet and learn from one another; where teachers can be exposed to not one but many education reform concepts and approaches; where teachers can find high-quality resources in minutes rather than hours; and a thriving teacher community practicing these aspects of their profession on-line. We created TAPPED IN to implement our vision. TAPPED IN is analogous to a research hospital. While each organization and teacher group goes about its own business, we are conducting research on how to support the community more effectively and how others can replicate our model. Our research goals are to:
TAPPED IN has several sponsors. For more information, please see our on-line papers describing more about why we created TAPPED IN. I am interested in joining TAPPED IN. What do I need to do? TAPPED IN membership is free to all educators and education researchers. You don't need to be a teacher; college students studying to be teachers are welcome, as are others interested in getting more connected into the education community. Just fill out and submit the membership form, and include all required information. Please select other/na from the pull-down "Program" menu if you are not affiliated with one of our Partner organizations. After submitting the form, you will receive an email message with your member name (e.g., ChuckM), temporary password (e.g., rhsj8s), and more detailed instructions on starting with Tapped In. Be sure to save this email. You can change your password when you log in by typing PASSWORD and following the prompts. If you forget your password, you can request a new password be mailed to you. If you forget your username, you can search for your username online. Feel free to log into TAPPED IN to practice anytime; talk to staff members Mark, Judi, Kari or HelpDesk volunteers like BJB, CourtneyG, or DiannS. Although TAPPED IN can be accessed from Macs, PCs, and Unix machines, the software needed to run it smoothly may differ depending on your particular hardware, software, and browser version. The simplest way is via your Web browser (you should use Netscape version 3.04 or 4.06/4.07 or Internet Explorer 4). Go to the member login page on our website, fill in your member name and password and click the Connect via TAPestry button. This will open up both a text window for commuincating and a Web window for navigating (it can take a couple minutes to load). NOTE: The minimal requirements for the TAPestry Java interface are a 28.8 modem (or direct connection), 16meg of RAM on your computer, and a minimum memory allocation to Netscape or MSIE of 10meg. If the TAPestry Java interface will not work on your computer, read about what to do depending if you're using a mac or pc. You can also download our free text-client software. You can then open a Web Window after you log in. If you have difficulty or questions, contact us, or ask someone in TAPPED IN (e.g., Mark, Judi, Hulda, or Patti) to help you. Identify yourself and what kind of computer or browser you are using, and we'll respond promptly! Is it possible to use TAPPED IN to create discussion rooms for groups, like different schools, to begin collaborating on a variety of issues? Yes it is possible for groups to to have their own room for holding meetings, storing documents, etc. We need to know a bit more about your group, its size, and the kinds of discussions you plan to conduct before we can advise you specifically. However, in general, we have two ways that organizations can begin conducting activities in TAPPED IN. The first is to become a partner (or tenant) organization. Tenants usually have a large number of teacher affiliates or want to attrach them. All of the suites of rooms on the 2nd floor are owned by tenants. Either they pay us to build the suite (and if necessary train their teachers and provide on-line technical support) or we are funded by a grant to do so. We commonly write joint grant proposals with our partners to US Gov agencies and local Foundations. There is never a cost for individuals to become members or for login time. The second no-cost way (we call it the test-the-waters method) is for you to OCCUPY one of our free bare-bones offices and begin conducting your activities in there. Offices are on the 3rd floor and up. (Open offices are on the higher floors). You will have to learn enough about TAPPED IN to do your own training, although we can help with overheads, materals, and on-line assistance. Your teachers will still be able to use all of our facilities and ask us for assistance once they are on-line. If it seems to be working out for you and you want to scale up, then we can discuss a suite on the second floor. The only catch is that you must submit a report to us twice a year describing how you are using TAPPED IN, whether it is helping achieve your goals, the lessons you would share with others, and how we can make your experience better. Feel free to contact us to discuss this further or get help creating offices or planning activities. Can I bring my students into TAPPED IN? Yes, and we've had several of our members do so. Students must be sponsored by one or more TAPPED IN members who will take responsibility for their conduct. You can request student accounts by filling out our student visitor request form. Students are given temporary accounts that expire (by default) after 2 months, unless you request a longer period (up to 6 months). Students can't enter the TAPPED IN building proper, only the Student Activity Center, Campus Center and Woodlands. We do this to guarantee privacy and security for our TAPPED IN members. Although the system will not let students enter the TAPPED IN building, you can can set it up so they can enter your own private office. To do this, OCCUPY an office on one of the upper floors, and then enter the office and type @setprop here.allow_students to 1 Then whenever you are in your office, your students can JOIN you there. Tell them to type /JOIN (your name) when you are inside your office. How do I get an office in TAPPED IN? The 3rd floor and above have offices available for members. Any member can get an office and use it for private meetings, a quiet place to retreat, and a place to store documents. To get your own office in TAPPED IN become a member and then log in and type /Help Office and you will get the instructions for making an office. What is TAPPED IN Etiquette? With the influx of hundreds of new members every month, we have been asked many times, "What is appropriate TAPPED IN behavior?" The answer is: professional behavior. TAPPED IN is a place for professional development, and behavior that is appropriate at a conference or at work is appropriate in TAPPED IN. Logging into TAPPED IN has been compared to attending a professional development workshop or conference. Everyone knows that sometimes workshops and conferences have moments of silliness, but that's not their purpose. Public Spaces Here are some tips for appropriate TAPPED IN behavior in public spaces -- on the first and second floors. Reception is our MOST public space, as most people "land" there when they log in. HelpDesk folks frequently are found there waiting to help new people. It's also a great place for meeting new people since it's frequently quite a lively place. When a new person (either a member or a guest) logs in, the HelpDesk person will typically greet the person and if they appear to be new, will tell them how to talk. When new folks log in, members in Reception should welcome them into the conversation, or be quiet so as to not scare them off (lots of text scrolling by on the screen can be overwhelming). The After School Online (ASO) Room is a public space in which almost all After School Online sessions take place. ASOs are also a way to get to know other members of the community. The ASO room is also a convenient place to step into to take a conversation out of Reception if an ASO is not in session. The first and second floor and the woods "outside" are public areas in which folks may wander in and out of. If you walk into what looks like a meeting, etiquette calls for you to quietly ask if you are disturbing or to just walk on out. It's also a good idea to check to make sure a meeting is not occurring before entering meeting rooms on the second floor (type /WHO and if you see a large number of people in a room, chances are it's a meeting). Private Offices Any member in TAPPED IN may get their own private office to insure a quiet meeting place for colleagues. When you are in your private office, it is up to you to set up your own norms about what is appropriate behavior. If you would like help learning to hold an effective meeting online, or would like to know more about TAPPED IN partnerships (how to get a room on the second floor) email us and let us know. We're glad to help. Other Tips To find out who is online click on WHO'S ONLINE at the top of the page. If you see someone online who is in their private office, Page them (type: /PAGE MemberName message) and ask first if you may join. It's polite and gives them warning. If you have any questions about TAPPED IN don't hesitate to ask. Almost anyone online will be happy to help if they know the answer. We're a community! What is the technology underlying TAPPED IN? TAPPED IN is a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) that enables you to:
See our papers for more information on MUVE technology and other educational MUVES. How can I access past transcripts of the After School Online discussions? We keep transcripts of all of our After School Online discussions listed on the calendar. To access them, log into TAPPED IN and click on After School Online Room to the left of Reception. Once you are there, click on the Transcript Emailer. A new screen will come up. Click on the year of transcripts you are interested in. Another new screen will come up. You'll see the transcripts grouped by months. You can find the transcript you are looking for there. Once you've found it, click on it and it will be emailed directly to you. You are welcome to any of the transcripts you see there. **Please note: Only members of TAPPED IN are able to access the transcripts. To become a member, please fill out our membership form. |
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©1995-2002 SRI International.
TAPPED IN is a trademark of SRI International. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers REC9725528 and REC0106926. |
Questions? Contact us |