Setting up a Hands-On Lab

To provide attendees with more hands-on training, Cisco Webex Training supports:

  • On-demand Hands-on Lab sessions. Attendees connect to remote computers outside a training session to practice what they learn at their own pace.

  • In-session Hands-on Lab. Attendees practice what they learn while they are attending a training session. Attendees gain experience by connecting to remote computers on which training software has been installed.

Before you begin

Hosts reserve on-demand and in-session Hands-on Lab computers from the same pool of remote computers. The Hands-on Lab administrator in your organization sets up the labs and remote computers.

1

To access the Hands-on Lab page, sign in to your Webex Training website. On the navigation bar, select Host a Session > Hands-On Lab.

2

Do one of the following:

Option Description
To set up an in-session Hands-on Lab First reserve computers in one of the labs when scheduling a training session, and then start Hands-on Lab during the training session.
To set up an on-demand Hands-on Lab First reserve computers in one of the labs, and then invite attendees to use the reserved computers during the scheduled time.

About the Hands-On Lab Page

To access the Hands-on Lab page, sign in to your Webex Training website. On the navigation bar, expand Host a Session, and then select Hands-on Lab.

You can do the following from the Hands-on Labs tab:

  • View a list of the Hands-on Lab computers set up by your Hands-on Lab administrator.

  • View the schedule for each of the labs.

  • Reserve computers for on-demand sessions.

You can do the following from the My Reservations tab:

  • View the sessions you have scheduled for in-session or on-demand Hands-on Lab.

  • Change your reservations, such as inviting attendees and canceling reservations.

Reserve Computers for In-Session Hands-On Lab

1

On the Schedule Training Session, select In-session Hands-on Lab > Reserve computers from lab.

For instructions on viewing the Hands-on Lab schedule, see View the Hands-on Lab Schedule.

2

Choose a lab from the drop-down list.

3

Select Lab Info to view the lab description or number of computers in a selected lab.

4

Enter the number of computers that you want to reserve.

5

Check availability of the computers and lab.

Your reservation status appears in the Reservation status box. The reservation status refreshes each time you select Check Availability.

6

To preassign computers to registered attendees, select Require attendee registration in the Registration section of the Schedule Training Session page.

Requiring attendee registration allows you to assign computers to attendees as they register. To assign computers to attendees as they register, see Assign Hands-on Lab Computers to Registered Attendees.

7

When you are finished scheduling your training session and Hands-on Lab, select Schedule.

If the computers are not available, the Computers Not Available page appears. Select Close, and select a new reservation time or number of computers on the Schedule Training Session page.

8

Select OK.

View the Hands-On Lab Schedule

1

Sign in to your Webex Training website and select Host a Session > Hands-On Lab.

2

For the lab in which you are interested, select Lab Schedule > View Schedule.

3

Point to a time slot to view details of the lab schedule.

Assign Hands-On Lab Computers to Registered Attendees

1

Sign in to your Webex Training website and select Attend a Session > List of Sessions.

2

Select your session topic. and then click Manage Registrations.

3

Click Pre-assign attendees to Hands-On Labs.

4

To assign an attendee to a computer, select the name of the attendee under Unassigned Attendees.

5

To assign multiple attendees to one computer, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting the names of the attendees.

6

Select Assign > OK.

Schedule On-Demand Hands-On Lab

1

Go to the Hands-on Lab page on your Webex Training website and select the Hands-on Labs tab.

2

In the On-demand Lab column, select any Reserve Computers link.

3

Specify the reservation options and select Reserve.

See also Invite attendees for on-demand Hands-on Lab.

Invite Attendees for On-Demand Hands-on Lab

1

On the Hands-on Lab page, select My Reservations > On-demand use.

2

Select the link for the topic of the Hands-on Lab session.

3

Select Invite Attendees.

4

Do any of the following as appropriate:

  • Select Select Live Sessions to invite all attendees from an existing training session.

  • Type the email addresses of the individuals you want to invite in the Invited attendees text box.

  • Select Select Attendees to select contacts from an address book stored on your Webex Training website.

  • (Optional) Select Edit Email Options to customize the content of the invitation email message.

5

Select OK.

Change Reservations

1

On the Hands-on Lab page, select My Reservations > On-demand use.

2

Select the link for the Hands-on Lab session reservation you want to change.

3

Select Change Reservation.

4

Do one of the following as appropriate:

  • To delete the reservation, select Cancel Reservation.

  • To changes the reservation, update the information and select Change Reservation.

Start a Hands-On Lab Session

As a training host, if you have scheduled a Hands-on Lab, you can start the Hands-on Lab session within 15 minutes of the reserved time. The presenter is responsible for managing the Hands-on Lab session.

1

In the Session window, select Lab > Start Hands-on Lab.

The Start Hands-on Lab dialog box appears showing which lab and how many computers are reserved.


 

You can start the Hands-on Lab session 15 minutes or less before the scheduled reserved time. If you try to start the Hands-on Lab session earlier than 15 minutes before the scheduled reserved time, an error message appears informing you to start the Hands-on Lab session during the reserved time.

2

Under Computer Allocation, select one of the following:

  • Allow attendees to choose computers.

  • Assign attendees to computers manually.

3

(Optional) Check the Record remote computers automatically when participants connect check box. The Record button turns on for all reserved computers. Whenever a participant signs in to a reserved computer, the computer records the actions. When the participant signs out, the recording stops.

4

Select Start.

Training Manager contacts the remote computers reserved for your Hands-on Lab session.

Once the reserved computers are contacted, the Start Hands-on Lab Confirmation dialog box appears.

The Start Hands-on Lab Confirmation dialog box lists all the computers that are connected to the session and the total attendees in the session.

5

(Optional) To limit the number of attendees that can connect to each remote computer, select Limit Attendees > Limit, and then enter a number.

6

If you selected Assign attendees to computers manually, see Assign Computers During Hands-on Lab Sessions.

7

Select Done.

Record Hands-on Lab Sessions

As the presenter, you can record the actions of each remote computer in the Hands-on Lab session. This can be helpful for observing how participants use the remote computer during a training session. You can choose to begin recording automatically when participants connect to a remote computer, or you can start recording at any time from the Hands-on Lab panel.

Once you record a remote computer, Training Manager downloads and installs Webex Player on your computer. You must use Webex Player to play a recording.

1

In the Session window, select Lab > Hands-on Lab Options.

2

Check Record remote computers automatically when participants connect.

3

Under Record to folder on remote computer, type a folder location at which to store the recording.

The folder is stored on the remote computer. The names of Webex Recording Format (WRF) files have a .wrf extension.

4

Select OK.

  • To start recording from the Hands-on Lab panel, select computer from Computers list and select the Record button.
  • To pause and resume recording, select computer from Computers list and select the Pause button.
  • To stop the recording, select computer from Computers list and select the Stop button.

Assign Computers During Hands-On Lab Sessions

If you selected Assign attendees to computers manually, you can assign computers to participants from the Start Hands-On Lab Confirmation dialog box, from the Hands-on Lab panel, or from the Lab menu.

If you chose the scheduling option to support over 500 attendees for this session, the number of participants that can access a Hands-on Lab computer is limited to 50.

1

Select Assign Computers.

2

Under Unassigned Participants, select the participants that you want to assign to a particular computer.

3

Under Computers, select the computer that you want to assign to the selected participant and select Assign.

4

To give control of the computer to a particular participant, select Give Control.

5

Select OK.

6

Select Done in the Start Hands-on Lab Confirmation dialog box.

To unassign a participant, select Lab > Assign Computers. In the Assign Computers dialog box, select the name of a participant and select Unassign.

Broadcast a Message to Participants

1

On the Hands-on Lab panel, select the Broadcast Message button.

2

Select All or choose a remote computer to which you want to broadcast your message.

3

Type your message and select OK.

Your message appears on the selected participants' desktops.

Respond to a Request for Help

If a participant requests help, the Ask for Help indicator appears next to participant's name in the Hands-on Lab panel.

1

Select the Ask for Help indicator.

2

Type a message and select OK.

Your message appears on the participant's desktop.


 

You can then connect to the participant's remote computer and use the chat viewer to continue to help the participant.

Take Control of a Hands-On Lab Computer

1

Connect to the remote computer.

2

In the Hands-on Lab Manager panel, select the Pass Control button.

You now have control of the remote computer.

Ask All to Return from Labs

During a Hands-on Lab session, you can ask all the participants to return from the Hands-on Lab session to the main training session. You can choose to have the participants return immediately, or you can give them a time limit for returning.

1

Select Lab > Ask All To Return.

2

Do either of the following:

  • Select within and choose a time in minutes from the drop-down list. This option gives participants time to finish the tasks that they are working on.

  • Select immediately and end all sessions after 30 seconds.

3

Select OK.

All participants receive a message asking them to return from Hands-On Lab. The Hands-on Lab sessions end at the designated times.

End the Hands-on Lab Session

To end the Hands-on lab session, select Lab > End Hands-on Lab.

The Hands-on Lab session ends for all participants.


If you do not manually end the Hands-on Lab sessions, they end automatically when your reservation for Hands-on Lab computers expires. A message appears on your screen 15 minutes before your reservation expires. If the computers have not been reserved for another training session, you can continue to connect to the Hands-on Lab computers. If the host of the new session attempts to connect to the reserved computers, you are disconnected from the reserved computers.