How To: Create and Access an Authoring Account in Argos

FAQ:

How do I make an Argos authoring account?

As part of our commitment to providing you with the best experience, this guide will take you through the simple process of creating an authoring account. 

Unlike instructor accounts, authoring accounts require a quick one-time setup. We are working to streamline this process in the future for new users, but once you create your account, you won’t need to use these steps again. 

Here you will find a step-by-step guide or a video tutorial to walk you through this one-time process.

Step 1

Logging In and Enabling Educator Mode: To get started, make sure you're logged into your Infiniscope account. Once you're in, enable educator mode. This step is crucial because it grants you access to essential features.

Step 2

Accessing Educator Resources: Enabling educator mode will unlock the option to view educator resources on lesson cards. Click Educator Info, then View Resources. Clicking here will take you to the lesson landing page.

Step 3

Generating Your Authoring Account: Scroll down the lesson landing page until you reach the bottom. There, you'll spot the "Customize to get started" button. Click to initiate the account creation process.

Step 4

Creating a New Section: Upon clicking the button, an Argos page will open with a Project Overview page.No further action is needed on this page – simply close it. By now, your authoring account has been successfully generated.

Step 5

Start Your First Project or Close out: To start a new lesson, click “Projects” on the left panel, then “New Project” to get started.

Once you close out of Argos, you’ll need to access your authoring account. Below are instructions and a quick video to get you back to projects.

Step 6

Accessing Your Authoring Account: To access your newly minted authoring account once you’ve closed out of Argos, ensure you're logged into the Infiniscope website with educator mode enabled. This step allows you to see the tools menu. From this menu, select "Argos."

Step 7

Switching to Your Authoring Account: When you initially enter Argos, you'll be taken to your default instructor account. To access your authoring account, look for the dropdown menu next to your profile icon. Choose "Go to Course Author" from the menu, and you'll seamlessly switch to your authoring account.

Congratulations! You've successfully created your authoring account and regained access from the Infiniscope website.

We're thrilled to have you on board and look forward to the content you'll create. If you have any questions or need further assistance, contact us! 

Jess 👑🐝

Ideal Images for Your Virtual Tour

FAQ:

What's an Equirectangular image?

So, you’ve got an idea for a really great immersive virtual tour, and you’re all set to jump in and launch Tour It. That’s excellent!

You upload your first panorama and things don’t look quite right. There’s a black void above and below the photo. What could have gone wrong? Not to worry! It’s not an error, but the type of image you’ve uploaded.

This blog post will discuss the differences between two types of “panoramas” and help you select the right kind of imagery to tell your story.

Panoramic vs Equirectangular

You don’t have to be a photography nerd to know what a panoramic image is. And if you ARE a photography nerd – cool! You’ll probably have this part down pat. 

In short, when you build your tour, you’ll want to ensure you’re selecting equirectangular images. These are sometimes referred to as 360-degree images, spherical panoramas, or photospheres. Either way, as you’ll see below, these are the preferred image type when building a virtual tour in Tour It.

What’s the Difference?

If you examine the two images below, both taken from actual tours created in Tour It, you should notice how the panoramic image has two missing sections - a “hole” on the top and bottom. 

Compare that to the equirectangular image, and you should see that it has no missing pieces; the “holes” at top and bottom feature more of the scenery. These equirectangular images are considered “more complete.”

Ok, but why do I NEED to use equirectangular images?

That’s a fair question! While it’s true that Tour It *can* work with panoramic imagery, we HIGHLY recommend equirectangular pics for a few reasons: 

• Your audience will have a more immersive experience and be more connected to “place.”
• There’s more real estate available for you to place hotspots for exploration by your audience.
• And, if we’re being honest - it just looks better!

Equipment

If you’re planning to visit the location to capture the imagery (rather than utilizing existing images), you can typically pick one up for a couple of hundred dollars. If finances are an issue, we have good news! We have cameras specially designed to capture equirectangular images and the even better news is, we’re happy to loan one to you if you need it! You can connect with us here and inquire about the camera loan program. 

Resources

This media development resource is an excellent guide to help you through some of the nuances of Tour it. You’ll find image size limitations, where to find certain media, and even tips on how to capture images for your tour. 

Hopefully this answers some of your questions on images. If you still feel a little stuck, you can always connect with us using the Contact Us form or check us out on social media!

Jess 👑🐝

Troubleshooting Login Issues

FAQ:

You've created an account but see an error message

We get it! You’ve explored the Infiniscope website, created an account and are excited to get started. You go to log into your account and receive the following error. No need to fret, we know exactly what happened and how to resolve the issue.

The Issue

What has happened here is that a critical step in the account creation process was missed. When you first created your account, you should have seen this message:

What’s critical to note here is, even though you’ve created your account, there is a review process our admin team goes through with every new submission. We do this to ensure members of our community are vetted educators. This ultimately reduces SPAM messages in our community space. Less junk for you! So, it’s likely you’ve created an account but we’ve yet to approve it through our review process.

Now what?

Now that you’ve seen this error, the next step is to email our team. Send us a quick message using the Contact Us email and let us know you’ve received this error. Our only method to repair this issue is to delete your original account request. Once we’ve deleted the account request, we will notify you that you are cleared to request a new one. 

NOTE: Once you make this new request, wait for the confirmation email to arrive in your inbox. Then you should be good to go!

It is our goal to provide you with seamless access to the resources you need, just in time for your learners. We value your experience, and we hope that this user's guide enhances your ability to find, navigate, and make the most of our website's content. Happy exploring!

Jess 👑🐝

Login Timeout Error Message

FAQ:

Why are you seeing an error message pop up?

As an Infiniscope member, you know that logging into your account provides access to additional content, creative tools, and features like enrollment. 

To protect your account, you’ll automatically be logged out every 2 weeks. When this happens you'll see some odd behavior with a series of error messages that you'll need to acknowledge by clicking "OK." Don't worry! This is totally normal behavior. In the future, we will be streamlining this process, but for now, here is what you'll need to do.

Below are the error messages in sequence. For each error message, simply click OK.

Once you've clicked OK on each message, you will need to log into your account again. Just be aware, you will likely see this series of messages again in two weeks.

It is our goal to provide you with seamless access to the resources you need, just in time for your learners. We value your experience, and we hope that this user's guide enhances your ability to find, navigate, and make the most of our website's content. Happy exploring!

Jess 👑🐝

How to Search Infiniscope

FAQ:

How do I
find the lessons
I'm looking for?

You've created an account and you know there's good stuff you want to integrate in your classroom, but you aren't sure how to find it. Well, this post is for you! 

 First and foremost...Welcome to Infiniscope! 

In this post, we'll guide you through the process of using, navigating, and searching our website effectively. From the homepage to the search page, we'll explore various methods and features that empower you to find the content that matters most to you.

Getting Started

Upon landing on our homepage, you'll notice that the featured and newest content rows are initially visible.

However, to access the full range of content available, you'll need to proceed to the search page. You can reach the search page in two ways:

Content Library: Navigate to the "Content Library" menu in the header and select "Full Catalog" to access the search page.

Search Bar: Simply place your cursor in the search bar at the top of the home screen, enter your search term, and press enter.

Search Page: Exploring Filters and Options

Once you've arrived at the search page, you'll find a range of basic filters in the left panel. By toggling "Educator Mode" to the ON position, you can expand the search filters and access additional options. It's worth noting that all filters are selected ON by default, so you'll need to deselect any unwanted filters to refine your search results.

Enhancing Your Search

Content Types

On the search page, you can directly search for specific topics by entering keywords such as "moon" or ESS2.1 in the topic name search field. This search will yield results across the four content types – Lessons, Visualizations, Contributed, and Collections.

• Lessons: digital learning experiences created by the Infiniscope team with the goal of teaching a particular Earth or space science concept.

• Visualizations: simulations and digital interactives that Infiniscope lessons are built around. We’ve removed the lesson content so that you can use them in new and different ways to meet the needs of your learners.

• Collections: groups of lessons or other content types that share a central theme.

• Contributed: content that has been created by one of our Infiniscope community members. Educators just like you who have created lessons for their classrooms and shared them with the wider community. All contributed content is reviewed prior to publishing.

Topics

To further narrow down your results, utilize the Most Popular Tags option in the left column.

Another convenient way to search is by clicking on topics that appear on content cards or landing pages. Please ensure that "Educator Mode" is activated to reveal the topics and access the landing page. Clicking on a topic will automatically redirect you to the search page, where the results will be filtered based on that specific topic.

It is our goal to provide you with seamless access to the resources you need, just in time for your learners. We value your experience, and we hope that this user's guide enhances your ability to find, navigate, and make the most of our website's content. Happy exploring!

Jess 👑🐝