Instructions for Getting Started in the PLATO (may also be called "Academic Systems")
Interactive Mathematics Software (Revised 8/16/02)
NOTE: These instructions were written to include information about how
to use the software at any ACC Learning Lab (tutoring center). If you
ignore the references to the Learning Labs, these same instructions will
work outside of ACC also. For free technical support, please call 1-800-681-4357
M-F 10AM-10PM and wait on the line to speak to someone, or visit http://support.plato.com.
Don't forget to bring your username and password with you when you
go. (You will not be able to use the software or save your work without
these.)
ACC's Learning Labs should already have the software loaded onto their
computers. You may call them to be sure that they have installed the software
and have the CDs available for students to use. It is possible that a
teacher may be using the CDs for a class. For locations, phone numbers
and hours of the Labs, please go to the Learning Lab web site at http://www2.austin.cc.tx.us/rvslab/ll
. If you call the Lab, please ask to speak to the Learning Lab's computer
technician or specialist. NOTE: Throughout the software, your textbook
is referred to as your Personal Academic Notebook (PAN).
- Ask the computer lab technicians in the Learning Lab for the first
of two CDs for your class. The CD is called PLATO (may also be called "Academic Systems") Interactive
Mathematics (Math Course Name Here) - Part 1. They may ask you to give
them an ID, which they will return to you when you return the CD. NOTE:
For Basic Math, the Math Course Name is "Prealgebra."
- You may use any computer in the lab which has a red icon (with white
IM) on the main computer screen (called the desktop). The icon has "Interactive
Mathematics" below it. When the software is installed, this icon
will appear. It is also possible, depending on the version of Client
Installer CD used during installation, that the icon will be red with
white A and say "Academic Online" below it.
- Put on the headphones and insert the CD. Lab technicians can help
you with this. For best performance of PLATO (may also be called "Academic Systems"), the display
settings should be High Color (16 bit) or True Color (32 bit), 800 by
600 pixels, and Small Fonts. You may ask the technicians whether the
display settings on the computer are already set to these, and if not,
you may ask them to change them.
- Double-click on the "Interactive Mathematics" icon to bring
up a web page. Depending on the computer, you may need to be already
connected to the internet when you do this step. At ACC, the computers
should already be connected directly to the internet.
- Follow the web page instructions to do a lesson. Be sure to select
Austin Community College in the list of colleges.
- You will get a new screen that asks for your "Log-on Name"
and "Password." Enter your "Log-on Name," then either
hit the "Tab" key or click in the "Password" field.
Enter your password. Then hit "Return" or "Enter".
If you accidentally hit "Return" or "Enter" before
entering your password (which has been done many, many times), you will
get a message which says "Log-on and/or Password Not Recognized."
If this happens, click "OK", then enter your password and
then hit "Return" or "Enter." NOTE: Unless you are
told otherwise, your log-on name is your first initial followed immediately
by your full last name (with no spaces or any other characters between),
and your password is "student" (with no quotation marks).
These may be entered in all capital letters, all lower-case letters,
or any combination of the two. It does not matter.
- When a new screen appears, click on "Do a Lesson."
- On the next "Select a Topic" screen, double-click on the
topic you want. For first-time users, this will be "Getting Started."
Please be patient while the lessons load. This may occur more quickly
at ACC than outside of ACC, but after the lesson loads, it should go
fairly quickly. Follow the instructions given in the "Getting Started"
lesson. If you need help, please ask the computer technicians. NOTE:
When the CD has been inserted, if you ever get a message instructing
you to insert the CD for the lesson, it may be that you have not waited
long enough for the computer to recognize the CD. After inserting the
CD, please wait for the computer to stop making noise and for any light
on the CD-ROM drive to stop blinking, and then click on the lesson.
- When you have completed "Getting Started," you will be taken
back to the "Select a Topic" screen. To begin in the actual
lessons, double-click on the first topic for your course, which may
be found in the weekly schedule provided by your instructor. For example,
if the first lesson in your weekly schedule is EII.A, click on "Topic
EII". Usually, after selecting a topic, you will be taken to the
"Select a Lesson" screen, where you will double-click on the
lesson you wish to do (in the previous example, it would be "Lesson
EII.A"). Follow through the lessons in the order in which they
appear in your weekly schedule. On the lesson list screen, a brown arrow
pointing to a lesson indicates that this is the lesson you last worked
on. A white check (outlined in black) next to a lesson indicates that
you have started the lesson (double-click on that lesson to complete
it). A black check indicates that you have completed the lesson (but
you may always go through it again if you want to).
- Each time a lesson ends or you wish to exit a lesson, go to the upper
left of your screen, and click on "File" and then "Quit."
When you "Quit" out of any lessons other than "Getting
Started," "The Tour," or Introductions, you will be given
a list of homework problems to complete. Please ignore this list, and
do the problems from the Homework List provided by your instructor.
To leave the Homework screen, click on "Quit" at the bottom
of that screen. To exit the software (after quitting a lesson), click
on "File" and then "Exit." To exit the original
web page from Step 4 above, click on the Close box (in the upper right
corner with an X on it).
- For additional help, please contact the free technical support listed
at the top of this page, or ask your instructor. Good luck!
