(For quick access, click here to go to the Recording Steps and click here to go to the Panopto Settings Checklist at the bottom of this web page.)

If you often experience Internet connectivity problem, you may end up submitting your exams past the submission deadline. The penalty for late submission is that you will lose 5% for every late minute (starting at the beginning of the late minute). In order not to receive penalty for late submission, you need to provide PROOF to the instructor that your late submission was the result of Internet connectivity problem by following the instructions on this web page.

For this web page, we will assume that your exam starts at X:00:00 and ends at X:40:00(replace X with your exam start time). As usual for this class, the left side of a time interval is "closed" (i.e., including the left timestamp) and the right side of a time interval is "open" (i.e., upto but not including the right timestamp). If your exam end time is different, please make adjustments accordingly.

At X:40:00, you have 3 minutes to upload your exam answer text file to the submission server. You must attempt to make a submission as soon as you can at X:40:00 (you are not permitted to work on your exam as soon as the clock hits X:40:00). You should reload the exam submission web page and then make a submission. If your submission was successful (i.e., you see the submission ticket displayed in your web browser and the ticket looks right), then you are done and you don't have to do any of the stuff below!

If your submission was not successful, but you were able to load/reload the exam submission web page and see that the time on the submission server would change, then you do not have an Internet connectivity problem. Most likely, your submission failed because the submission server is busy when many students are making submissions at the same time. (To make sure if this is the case, you can open another tab in your browser and see if you can connect to another web site. If you can, then you don't have an Internet problem.) In this case, you should just reload the web page and submit again, and keep repeating these two steps until you either (1) see the submission ticket displayed in your web browser, or (2) your browser failed to reload the exam submission web page because you have lost your Internet connectivity. (Please note that with some browsers, when you reload the exam submission web page, you will have to fill out the web form again.)

If you encounter (1), you shold look for file_size, file_name, and server_time_string in the ticket to make sure that they are correct (i.e., you did not submit the wrong file); then you should save the content of the ticket web page into a PDF file for your record (saving a screenshot is really not a good idea; you need to save the entire ticket). If you have a copy of the ticket, you do not need an e-mail as evidence that the submission server has received your submissions. The ticket is all you need. Please understand that an e-mail can take days to get delivered.

If you encounter (2), then you are experiencing Internet connectivity problem and you must start recording your desktop with the Panopto Recorder immediately to record all your desktop activities into a video file as PROOF that you have Internet connectivity problem when you are submitting your exam. Please follow the procedure below to create a proper Panopto video file (in MP4 format). Please understand that if your Panopto video does not contain all the required information, I cannot make an exception and must apply the late submission penalty mentioned above. Therefore, if you are unfamiliar with the procedure of recording your desktop and including all the required information, you should practice the steps below as many times as you need.

5 minutes BEFORE X:00:00, you should set things up for the exam and get ready to record your screen (but don't start recording yet) in case you won't have Internet connectivity when time comes to submit your exam answers. If you don't have Internet connectivity at this time, you should send the instructor an e-mail from your smart phone as soon as possible and hope that the e-mail will get delivered quickly (please understand that it's possible to take days for an e-mail to get delivered; but we should all try our best).

To get ready, please do the following 5 minutes BEFORE X:00:00:

1. Start your browser and make sure that your browser is NOT maximized.

2. Next to your browser, please run a clock app to show the current date and time. On Windows 10, you can run the Alarms & Clock app and click on the Clock tab to show the current date and time. On a Mac, as it turns out, showing a clock in the menubar at the top of the Mac screen may not get recorded. Therefore, you must display a clock app when you record the Mac screen. Please click on the current time in the menubar at the top of the Mac screen and select Open Date & Time Preferences and you will get a stand-alone clock app. Please make sure that this clock is visible at all time when you are recording your desktop. Your screen should look like the following:

   

   In the above image, the browser is displaying the submission web form for warmup1 for the purpose of demonstration. What's important to show is the current time on the submission server when the web page was loaded/reloaded ("29Jun2020-19:02:15" is shown in the above image). Later on, when it's time for you to submit your exam, make sure you point your web browser to show the submission web form for the exam. Of course, if you have Internet connectivity problem, you most likely will not be able to see this web page at all when you reload this web page. (And if you can reload this web page, it means that you really don't have an Internet connectivity issue.)

3. You might also want to have your submission PIN handy because you will need it later. (Your submission PIN is the same for all programming assignments and exams.)

4. Start your Panopto Recorder and make sure that it's configured correctly (see configuration checklist). Do NOT start recording at this time yet. (You only need to record if you don't have Internet connectivity AT X:40:00.)

5. Set an alarm for X:39:00 to remind yourself that the exam is about to end soon (and make sure the time on your clock has the correct time).

Please remember, you ONLY need to make a recording if you don't have Internet connectivity at or soon after X:40:00. At X:40:00, if you have already made a successful submission (i.e., you have seen the ticket and the ticket looks right) and you haven't changed your exam answers text file, then you are done and there is no need to record anything. Otherwise, please read on.

Assuming that you have done all the preparation work mentioned above, at X:40:00, you should reload the exam submission web page. If you can see that the time on the submission server would change, then you do not have an Internet connectivity problem. Most likely, your submission failed because the submission server is busy because many students are making submissions at the same time. (To make sure if this is the case, you can open another tab in your browser and see if you can connect to another web site. If you can, then you don't have an Internet problem.) In this case, you should just reload the web page and submit again, and keep repeating these two steps until you either (1) see the submission ticket displayed in your web browser, or (2) your browser failed to reload the exam submission web page because you have lost your Internet connectivity. If you see the ticket (i.e., case (1)), you should make sure it looks right and you are done and there is no need to record anything. Otherwise (i.e., case (2)), please proceed below.

It's best to do two things. One is to make a video record of the Internet connectivity problem and record the content of your answers text file. The other is to take photos of your answers text file with your smartphone and e-mail those photos to the instructor immediately. The steps below include instructions for both of these activities.

In the unlikely event that the submission server is actually down (i.e., you can still reach other web sites but connection to the submission server failed again and again), as an insurance policy, you should e-mail your answers text file to the instructor. In this case, you should just reply to the e-mail that contained the exam download and submission instructions, attach your answers text file, check to make sure that the e-mail recipient is either <bill.cheng@usc.edu> or <chengw@usc.edu> and click Send to send a backup copy of your answers text file, just in case the submission sever is actually down. Then go back and continue to make a submission using the web form since it's possible that the submission server has returned while you are e-mailing. Again, e-mail can take a long time to deliver. It's best to use the submission web form and get a ticket so you have proof that my server has received your submission.

There are 3 things you must include in your recording. (1) The clock app showing the current time (and ticking away). (2) The web browser that's having trouble connecting to the exam submission web site. (3) The entire content of your exam answers text file. At this time, your Panopto Recorder should be running, configured correctly, and not recording and it should look like the following:

Now click on the red Record button in the Panopto Recorder. Wait a couple of seconds and your screen should look like the following to mean that recording of your desktop has started:

Here's what you must do:

Step 1:		Bring your clock app to the top of your desktop (to record the current time). Take a photo of your screen with your smartphone now.
Step 2:		Bring your web browser to the top of your desktop. Click on the reload button to record the fact that you cannot connect to the submission server. Take a photo of your screen with your smartphone now.
Step 3:		Bring the editor you are using to edit your exam answers text file to the top of your desktop. First scroll to the top of your exam answers text file. Take a photo of your screen with your smartphone now. Then scroll through the rest of your exam answers text file slowly so that the entire content of your answers text file is recorded. Every time you scroll to the next page, you should take a photo of your screen with your smartphone now.
Step 4:		Bring your web browser to the top of your desktop again. Click on the reload button to record the fact that you still cannot connect to the submission server.
Step 5:		Bring your clock app to the top of your desktop again (to record the current time).
Step 6:		E-mail all the photos you took from steps 1 through 3 to the instructor IMMEDIATELY. Please do NOT send the video. Keep the video on your computer unless the instructor asks you to upload the video.

Now that you have finished recording what's required, you should click on the red Stop button in the Panopto Record and your screen should look like the following:

You should enter a short description and click on the Done button and your screen should look like the following:

Click on the light blue "Set Offline" button and you are done! Do not click on the Delete Local or Delete button or you will lose your video.

To figure out where the video file is saved, please click on "Settings" on the very top of the Panopto window.

Now that you have created a video recording of your exam answers text file, you must first go to main Panopto screen and click on Manage Recordings near the top to see all your recordings and take a photo of your computer screen with your smartphone to show that a new video has been created, then IMMEDIATELY e-mail this photo to the instructor from your smartphone to let the instructor know that you have just created such a video. This e-mail must be sent right after you have created the video (i.e., within 2 minutes). Otherwise, we will have no idea if you were messing around with the system clock or editing the video to show an earlier time. After you have sent that e-mail, you still need to submit your exam answers text file using the exam submission web form. Since you cannot connect to the Internet from your laptop/desktop, you won't be able to use the exam submission web form at this time. So, you need to get a copy of your exam answers text file to the instructor as soon as you can.

If you can transfer your exam answers text file to your smart phone, you should do that and e-mail your exam answers text file to the instructor. If you cannot transfer files from your computer to your smart phone, you can take photos of you exam answers text file (one photo per page and make sure that every page is readable) and e-mail these photos to the instructor. In your e-mail, you should mention that you did not have Internet connectivity at X:40:00 and you have an MP4 video to prove that you did not have Internet connectivity at that time. But please do NOT attach the video file in your e-mail.

When you get your Internet back, you should submit your exam answers text file using the exam submission web form and send me another e-mail to let me know that you have just submitted your exam answers text file.

Finally, please do NOT e-mail your MP4 file to the instructor unless I explicitly ask for it. Your video file may be too large to be sent over e-mail and you need to discuss it with the instructor to figure out what needs to be done. Just make sure you don't delete it accidentally.

Below are instructions on how to download and install the Panopto Recorder.

Download Panopto

You must first log into D2L and click on our class before you can download and install the Panopto Recorder. Please do that first. Then visit the information page about Panopto for all the details. If your machine is a Windows machine, click on "Creating a new session - Windows", then click on the "Panopto recorder for Windows installation instructions" link and follow the instructions there. If your machine is a Mac, click on "Creating a new session - Mac", then click on the "How to Download and Install Panopto for Mac" link and follow the instructions there.

Launch Panopto

After the Panopto Recorder has been installed, you should launch it. You can look at the Panopto information page and click on the "Creating a new session" button to see what the Panopto Recorder should look like on Windows or on a Mac. Below, I'm using the Windows version as an example.

Configure Panopto

We only want to use the Panopto Recorder to record your desktop and do so without an Internet connection (i.e., record offline). Please follow the instructions here very carefully.

• In the left "Primary Sources" panel, select "None" as your video source and leave the default option as your audio source. Please note that if you also select "None" as your audio source, you will not be able to record anything (even if you just want to record the desktop). Make sure that the "Capture Computer Audio" checkbox is unchecked.

• In the left "Secondary Sources" panel, uncheck the "Capture PowerPoint" checkbox and make sure that the "Capture Main Screen" checkbox is checked. This means that you will be recording your entire desktop when you are recording.

• In the top "Session Settings" panel, click open the "Folder" drop-down menu. In the popup window, all the way at the bottom, there is a light blue button labled, "Offline Recording". Click on it and the "Folder" should change to "Offline Recording" and your screen should look like the following:

  

  Later on, when you record, you will not be uploading your video to the cloud and will be able to record offline.

• If you are on Windows, click on "Settings" on the very top of the Panopto window and you will be looking at the Basic Settings tab and your screen should look like the following

  

  There's nothing to do here. What's important on this screen is the location of your Recording Directory shown near the top. Your recorded MP4 video file will go into one of the subdirectories of the directory shown here.

  If you are on a Mac, "Settings" are known as "Preferences" and it's under the main application menu for Panopto. If you click on the "Preferences" menu item, you will also be able to see the recording directory.

• If you are on Windows, click on the "Advanced Settings" tab to the right of the "Basic Settings" tab near the top and your screen should look like the following:

  

  By default, the "Capture in MP4 format" checkbox is unchecked and the Panopto Recorder will record videos into its own format. Please click on the "Capture in MP4 format" checkbox and make sure that it's checked. For this class, the only acceptable format for video recording is the MP4 format. Therefore, you must make sure that this checkbox is checked. After you check the checkbox, the "Save" button at the bottom will turn light blue and your screen should look like the following:

  

  VERY IMPORTANT: Click on the "Save" button to save your settings and your screen will go back to the initial screen. If you don't click "Save", the recorder will record in the original format and that would be the wrong format!

  If you are on a Mac, there is nothing to do here (and there is no "advanced settings") since Mac records in the MP4 file format by default.

Configuration Checklist

It's imperative that your settings are all correct. It's a very good idea that you don't touch any of the settings unless you are asked to touch them. Below is a checklist that you should use to verify your settings before you start recording:

• Set primary video source to "None".
• Uncheck "Capture PowerPoint".
• Select "Offline Recording" as your "Folder".
• Check "Capture in MP4 format" if you have a Windows machine.