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Using SabaMeeting
Q: What is SabaMeeting?
A: A LMS (Learning Management System) which uses VOIP (Voice Over the Internet Program). We will use it extensively in this class.
Q: Was that supposed to be helpful?
A: Not really, but it was accurate.
Q: So what does SabaMeeting do for us?
A: It lets you talk to me during class lectures or during help sessions as if you were in the room with me.
Q: So, SabaMeeting is like Skype?
A: Not just Skype, because you can also use SabaMeeting to show me work (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, anything, really) that you are doing for the class, just as if you were in the room with me.
Q: Will SabaMeeting also do video?
A: It can, but I don’t use that (it makes the file size too big).
Q: Why can’t we just use e-mail to send you files and questions?
A: You can, but SabaMeeting is real-time (you get immediate feedback) and SabaMeeting also records the sessions, so they can be played back later on.
Q: Is that important?
A: Very important – not every student will be able to be present during a session, but they will all need the information I am providing.
Q: What do I need to use SabaMeeting?
A: To begin with, you will receive an e-mail message from the SabaMeeting administrator, providing you with the web site for SabaMeeting as well as your user name and password.
Q: What if I used SabaMeeting last semester, will I get a new password?
A: No. The same user name and password you had the last time you used SabaMeeting will still work this semester.

Q: Will my password be the same as my Pirate ID (ECU e-mail account) password?
A: Yes, the most recent update linked the two systems, so you can now find SabaMeeting from a link on the ECU homepage and log in that way.
Q: Will my SabaMeeting password change when I change my Pirate ID password?
A: Yes.
Q: Will SabaMeeting work on a Macintosh, or with Windows 8?
A: Allegedly yes, but some students have had trouble using it.
Q: What will happen when I enter the SabaMeeting web site?
A: You will reach a log-in page, where you type your username and password. After that, you will end up on the “My Schedule” page. You will see a list of sessions that you have been signed up for. When you click on the “Attend” link, you will be prompted to download SabaMeeting to the computer you are working on. After you have done this once, you won’t have to continue installing the software each time you attend a session.
Q: Will I have to pay for the software?
A: No, ECU has paid (quite a lot, actually) for the software – for you, it is free.
Q: Will I need any additional hardware or software?
A: Additional software, no. SabaMeeting is a self-contained system. Additional hardware – sort of. Most computers currently have speakers, so at a minimum you would need a microphone. SabaMeeting has a lot of problems with stand-alone microphones (feedback and echoing) so I recommend, very strongly, that you get a headset (combined earphones and microphone). I go even further and recommend you get a USB headset that will plug into any USB port. If you don’t then you will have to unplug the existing speakers to plug in the headset, which is a pain.
Q: What does the “My Schedule” page show me?
A: The list of sessions to which you have been invited, including Upcoming sessions, On-going sessions, Recorded sessions and Past sessions (there are four tabs, one for each of those categories).
Q: If I have to be invited, does that mean I can’t use SabaMeeting on my own?
A: The latest version gives students some ability to set up sessions on their own, but it is limited.
Q: How will I know when I have been scheduled for a SabaMeeting session?
A: Sometimes you will receive an e-mail notifying you (particularly at first), but it is your professor’s responsibility (and yours) to see that you know.
Q: What is a SabaMeeting session like?
A: That depends on whether you are leading the session or simple participating.
Q: How does it work for a participant?
A: That’s easy. You log into SabaMeeting and press “Attend” beside the appropriate session (the one for that day). Once in, test your headset (there is a button marked “Audio” just for this), and then start listening. If you have a question, there is a button to “Raise your hand.” If your professor asks for a response, there are buttons for “Yes” and “No.” If you need to talk, there is a button to activate your microphone. If your professor makes a joke, no matter how lame, there is button for “Laugh.” It’s really very simple.
Q: How does it work if you are leading the session?
A: That’s a bit more complicated. When you find the appropriate session, you will click on “Present”, instead of “Attend”. When you are presenting a case, the only difference will be that you will be the only one talking and you will have control of the slides, to advance them during your presentation. If you are part of group that is meeting to discuss a case, then you have to figure out how to begin the session, import slides, open “AppShare,” or do any of the other administrative duties. It isn’t hard, but you do have to learn.
Q: How will you use SabaMeeting?
A: For lectures, for group meetings and for presentations.
Q: How will you use SabaMeeting for lectures?
A: A couple of different ways. First, any time I am talking to the face-to-face section I will have a SabaMeeting session running concurrently, so everything I say to the face-to-face students is recorded for the on-line students to listen to.
Q: Will the on-line students be able to see what you write on the board?
A: No, but I don’t write on the board. I have a “tablet” computer, so I can write on the computer screen and what I write is projected (for the face-to-face students to see) and recorded (for the on-line students to see). If I project a spreadsheet or a Word document, that is recorded also.
Q: Can the on-line students “attend” the face-to-face section by listening to SabaMeeting while it is recording?
A: Yes, they can not only listen in, but they can participate by asking questions. I try to repeat every question that is asked by a student, so all students can hear both the questions and my answers.
Q: Will face-to-face students have access to these recordings?
A: Yes, the face-to-face students can listen to the recorded SabaMeeting sessions if they want to.
Q: Can face-to-face students listen in via SabaMeeting, rather than going to class?
A: Yes they can, although up to now not a lot of them have done that. If too many start doing that, I may have to change my policies.
Q: How often do you lecture?
A: Actually, I don’t. The lecture notes that are posted on the class web site are designed to replace the lectures I used to give. During classes, I answer questions from the students, go over assignments, talk about cases, or present sample cases. Except for test days and case presentation days, any time the face-to-face section meets, I have a SabaMeeting session.
Q: Do you ever do SabaMeeting sessions just for the on-line students?
A: I learned this past semester that when presentations are taking up class time, I need to schedule extra SabaMeeting sessions. These sessions are usually scheduled at night, often on Sunday evenings, but they can be any time of day. These sessions are not restricted to the on-line students; all students, face-to-face and on-line, are invited to attend, or can listen to the recording later on.
Q: How do you use SabaMeeting for group meetings?
A: I don’t; the on-line students do. The face-to-face students can get together in the meeting rooms, at the library, or anywhere in Greenville, but the on-line students tend to be geographically dispersed (far apart). I set up on-going sessions – ones I do not have to schedule for them. The way an on-going session works is I set up the initial session for the group members, and then any group member can log in and talk to any other group member at any time. They can share files, help each other, exchange ideas, everything the face-to-face students can do (except see each other’s faces).
Q: Are there any differences between on-going sessions and one-time sessions?
A: Only one – every time you start a new part of the on-going session, it overwrites the recording of the previous part. To say that again – let’s pretend a group met on Monday for a couple of hours, recording everything they did. If they get back together on Tuesday and start recording again, the recording from Monday gets wiped.
Q: Is there anything that can be done about that?
A: You can download the recorded session before starting a new one.
Q: How do you download one-time a session?
A: After one-time sessions are completed and saved (called “published”), they are moved to the “Past” tab on the “My Schedule” page. You simply look up the session you want under the “Past” tab, click on “Playback”, then click on “Download.” If you simply want to review it, you can click “Play,” but if you want to keep a copy on your computer, you “Download.”
Q: What is different for on-going sessions?
A: The only difference is that you don’t go under “Past” sessions. You look under “On-going” sessions and click the “Playback” link for the appropriate session.
Q: How do you use SabaMeeting for presentations?
A: The most important difference is that not everyone will be invited to the session. I usually break my on-line class into two groups, and then break each group into presenting teams (this lets me keep the size of the presenting groups down to five or less).
Q: What do the presenters have to do?
A: All the presenters are enrolled as Co-Presenters. This lets them log in early and get their slides imported before the presentation starts. Once I log in and the official start time arrives (I try to log in a few minutes early, in case problems arise), the first presenter starts talking. When that person’s portion of the presentation is done, the next group member simply starts talking. Whoever is talking controls the slides. All questions are held to the end, when one of the group members acts as Master of Ceremonies (in case you’ve ever wondered why they are called emcee’s) and calls on the students in the order in which they raise their hands with questions.
Q: How is using SabaMeeting different from presenting face-to-face?
A: The biggest difference, obviously, is that since we don’t use the video feature, you can’t see you audience and your audience can’t see you. This changes the way you build your presentation slides and the way you present.
Q: How do the slides have to change?
A: Since you can’t use your hands to point out things on the slides (something I tell my face-to-face students they should do – think of a weatherperson presenting on the evening news), you have to build more highlighting into the slides to draw the audience’s attention to the points you want to make.
Q: Doesn’t SabaMeeting have pointers built into it?
A: Yes, but it is very difficult to keep talking, advance the slides, and use your mouse to control the highlighters and pointers all at the same time. I usually suggest the students concentrate on talking and keeping the slides moving.
Q: How does the way we present change?
A: Again, the audience can’t see you, so you can’t use your body motions and hand gestures to keep their attention. All the audience “sees” of you is your voice, so your voice has to do all the work for you.
Q: Do you mean, don’t talk in a monotone?
A: That is one part, but only a small part. You have to make your voice live. The best advice I can give is to listen to an old radio broadcast. Those performers could change their voices and simply by emphasizing different words, keep you glued to the speakers of your radio. That is what you have to learn to do. As a side note – I sat in on a discussion by a group of business people, and they were talking about “virtual skills.” What they meant was not only the ability to use the technology (podcasts, VOIP software, avatars, all the rest) but being comfortable with it and using it effectively. That’s what I’m asking you to do.
Q: What can go wrong when using SabaMeeting?
A: As with any technology, there can be problems. If you have a weak or slow internet connection, then you might get kicked out of a SabaMeeting session, or simply not let in. You could lose audio or your system could freeze. I’m sure there are more problems we will discover as we use the system more.
Q: What happens if I get kicked out of a session?
A: You log back in as quickly as you can. If it happens repeatedly, then you should try to find a more reliable connection. That may be inconvenient, but SabaMeeting is a big part of this course and as on-line students it is up to you to have a reliable connection.
Q: What if I lose audio?
A: A quick fix is to use the “Text Chat” feature. Longer term, fix your connection, or get better equipment – whatever fixes the problem.
Q: What if my system freezes?
A: That’s a real pain, because then you probably have to shut down your computer and reboot, log back in, and try to catch up with the session.
Q: What if this happens during a presentation?
A: If you find these problems occurring during the preparation for the presentation (during your group’s on-going sessions), then I expect you to try to get them fixed by the day of your presentation. If it unexpectedly happens during a presentation, normally one of your group members would take over for you until you can get logged back in – do so as quickly as possible. So far, I’ve never had a student not be able to finish their presentation, but it will happen someday.
Q: What happens at the end of a session?
A: If you are simply listening, nothing. You log off and go do something else. If you are leading an on-going session, then you might be required to “publish” the recording, but that is simply clicking on a button.
Q: What if the session fails to record?
A: There is often a message that pops up when I am publishing, saying something clever, like “Error in publishing.” All it means is that the web site detected some little glitch in the recording. It looks like the recording was wiped, but it is actually there and has been saved.
Q: Is there anything else we need to know?
A: I’m sure there is, but for the life of me I can’t think of anything else to write. If, during the semester, you come across something and think “Gee, I wish he had told us about that at the start of the semester,” shoot me an e-mail message and I’ll add it to these notes.