Introduction
These notes accompany the CD-ROM component of the Effective Coaching Skills and Techniques pack - part of 14-19 Workforce Support. This site should be checked for any updates since these notes were released. They supplement the extensive help to be found in the Help File on the CD
These notes describe bugs and operational eccentricities which were not spotted and/or eliminated before the CD was pressed. They also identify any potential problems which users might encounter using these resources in their circumstances.
!NEW! Note for Mac Users
The resources on the CD were designed to be compatible with current and past versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple's OSX. They were tested and ran normally on OSX 10.4.11 which was the current version at October 2009.
Some users working with later versions of OSX (specifically 10.6.2) report that the application is not recognised and won't run. We have revised and retested the application and believe that we have a version which will run properly under OSX 10.6.2. If you have experienced this problem and are using OSX 10.6.2, please contact us at info@curee.co.uk and we will arrange to send you an updated version of the application.
Please note that we offer no guarantees that the application will work in all circumstances - including yours. In particular, operating system suppliers introduce incompatibilities when they revise their products and we cannot and do not warrant that our product will continue to function.
Errors in the menu system
The menu system is quite complex and a small number of errors remain or were subsequently found. At time of pressing these were;
Missing entry in Evidence from Research and Practice – the submenu Framework is empty. This refers to the National Framework for Mentoring and Coaching. The Framework itself is on the CD and can be accessed and downloaded from several other menu entries, for instance from:
- Index/A lot to offer: a lot to gain/National Framework for Mentoring and Coaching;
- Resources by Theme/Problem Solving/Understanding the Principles of Mentoring and Coaching/
Alternatively, you can find it by selecting Search from the menu, entering Framework in the search box and clicking on Search.
Missing description in Resources by Theme/Tools/Thinking and Talking Frames. The resources themselves are present and can be accessed from the menu system as normal.
Other file errors
Wrong file type linked to menu system – the ‘Eye Diagram’ is available as an animated PowerPoint file but the menu system links to a static PDF file. You can access the PowerPoint version by clicking here. Alternatively, use Windows Explorer to open the Files folder on the CD and click on CU76R01..ppt (note the double full stop).
The full path to the file (if your CD drive is drive D): is D:/files/CU76R01..ppt Email us at sian.bravington@curee.co.uk if you are having trouble finding this file
Run time issues
There are very few issues we have identified in testing but keep an eye on these support pages in case others come to light.
Old version of QuickTime: The animations are designed to run in the current version of the QuickTime movie player (7.64) and will not run in earlier versions. The correct version is distributed on the Connecting Up CD. Some users may not be allowed to modify or install utilities or other software installed on school or college computers. They will need to ask a network or system administrator to install the upgrade for the animations to run.
Old version of Adobe Reader: This is a reminder rather than a bug. The PDF documents on the CD are designed to work with any version of Adobe Reader from version 5 onwards. If you have trouble opening them, the most likely cause is that you have an old (actually VERY old!) version of Adobe Reader. There is no alternative to upgrading to a more recent version such as the one supplied on the CD.
Conflict with versions of Realplayer: Realplayer (used for accessing downloads from the BBC site, for instance) will run earlier versions of CUREE’s Effective Mentoring and Coaching Suite but it depends on QuickTime movie player also being installed. Realplayer may attempt to run the animations and fail with a message the QuickTime is not installed – even though it is. Realplayer is not required to run Connecting Up but, to avoid it trying and failing, file associations have to be changed. The simplest way of doing this is to use Windows Explorer to open files on the CD. Switch to the CD drive (commonly drive D) and open the files folder. Scroll the list until you see a file called session1.mov. Select and right click the file. From the context menu select ‘open with..’ from the menu (about half way down) and select QuickTime Player from the list of applications offered. Make certain that the ‘always use the selected program to open this kind of file’ radio box is selected and click OK. From then on, the Connecting Up animations should run in the QuickTime player.
Windows’ security messages: Versions of Windows from XP onward have a variety of (often irritating) security measures built in. These are designed to stop rogue programs taking over your computer but they can also get in the way of legitimate material too. You and your colleagues are likely to get a series of warning messages when running anything from the CD. Generally, you can just click ‘OK’ and continue. If the security settings actually stop anything from working, send us an email (sian.bravington@curee.co.uk) with as much detail as possible and we will try to help you resolve the problem. If we get some repeating patterns of problem, we’ll post some general guidance notes on the support pages.