Elluminate is the virtual equivalent of the classroom here at PA Virtual Charter School. We use Elluminate for many kinds of live, real-time meetings. Elluminate, and the Elluminate plugin pull together a number of different web-based technologies to create this virtual, real-time classroom. Because of this, a problem with just one component could potentially keep you from launching the Elluminate Live! classroom.
Assuming you are using a K12 Inc. supplied computer, your system will meet these needs. In case you are not using a school provided computer, you can get a review Elluminate's minimum system requirements for all supported platforms. This includes Windows, Mac, Solaris, and Linux.
Elluminate is primarily a Java based application. Therefore you must have Java installed. To be able to take advantage of the great features inside an Elluminate Live! classroom, you will have to make sure that your software is configured properly. Elluminate has provided a simple 3 step process to ensure that you software is installed and configured properly for all First Time Users. Please visit the Elluminate Support page and complete the three steps shown in the "First Time Users" box.
Again, all three of these steps can be found in the "First Time Users" section of the Elluminate Support page.
If you have a problem launching Elluminate during one of these three steps, most likely your solution will be found in Elluminate's Self Help Support Portal. Below, we have listed some of the most common solutions the we have found work for the students and parents of PAVCS.
You may still be experiencing some issues even after you completing the three steps in the "First Time Users" section noted above. Below, we have listed some of the more common solutions. You should try each solution in the order they are listed. We ask that you try each solution one at a time. After making an alteration, go back and try to access the troublesome Elluminate session. Only if it does not work should you proceed to the next possible solution.
If you are using Internet Explorer, you may find that you are constantly warned when trying to
launch an Elluminate Live! session. Or it may appear that everything is going OK, but
the session never actually launches. This can usually be fixed by adding *.elluminate.com
and https://sas.elluminate.com to the list of trusted sites. Please see the
Trusted Sites howto on our other support page.
Since the Elluminate Live! session will open in a new window, many pop-up blockers will
stop it from launching. Depending on the blocker you have installed, you may be able to added
elluminate.com to a list of "OK" websites. Many of the pop-up blockers include a temporary
circumventing option that will allow the new window to open. There are too many pop-up blockers
available for us to list all the solution, you should check with your software's documentation.
Most seem to use the CTRL key as a switch. We suggest that before you click on the
Elluminate Live! link, that you hold down your CTRL key. Then remain holding
down the CTRL key until the Elluminate session is open.
Although the Elluminate Support page shows you that you have Java installed, it does not always let you know if you are running the most up-to-date version or not. Check Sun's Testing Page to verify if you are up-to-date or not. If not I suggest you (1) update your version and then (2) clear your Java cache.NOTE: As of Apr, 2008 the most recent version of Java is version 1.6.0_05. The directions on the download page are a bit out of date, and refer to version 1.4.xxx
As defined by Wikipedia, cache is:
is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access. Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data, so that the average access time is shorter.
Sometimes these cached files can be older then what is needed, and therefore leads to errors when launching Elluminate. These cache files are only temporary files, and therefore it is safe to delete them. After clearing the cache, Elluminate will simple request new ones the next time you try to launch a session. You can find directions for clearing your cache in the Elluminate Support Knowledge Base.
Don't give up yet, there is still some things you can do to correct the problem.
You can watch a video that goes over many of the solutions and issues listed above. The video will open in a new window, so that you can refer back to these directions at the same time.