After you have successfully logged in to North Seattle’s FirstClass server your personalized Desktop will appear and will look somewhat like this.

Your Desktop will consist of several icons.  The typical icons are shown above but your Desktop icons will vary depending upon which classes or groups you belong to.  The following list will give a more detailed description of the icons. 

The Mailbox is where you will send and receive emails sent to individuals.  Any messages you send whether to a group or within a conference will have a copy placed in your mailbox.  

Characteristics of your mailbox:

• A red flag signifies an unread message sent to you. 

• A non colored flag signifies an unsent message 

• No flag means that you have clicked on the message and it is considered as read mail 

You can sort your mail by clicking on the column heading within your Mailbox.  You can also go to the menu select View – Change View Properties.  You can customize how your mail is sorted by opening the dialog box shown below and selecting the Sorting tab.

The Calendar brings up a personal planner that you can use to schedule your appointments or events. 

Address Book opens your personal address list.  You can access all users by clicking on the menu selection Collaborate > Directory”.  You can also place the Directory icon in your toolbar. 

Help opens several folders that give information on using FirstClass. 

General Conferences is the main holder for all the sub conferences.  You may or may not have General Conferences on your desktop, your desktop may only have the conference(s) that you are a member of.  By double clicking on your specific conference you will open your virtual classroom. Your classroom may look similar to the following picture containing more or fewer sub conferences:

Your virtual classrooms conferences will vary depending on the content of the class and conform to the requests of the instructor.  There may be a Syllabus, Announcements, Bios, Student Lounge, a weekly classroom, and conference for assignments.   You will receive instructions on the set up and interactions required for your classroom by your instructor.   Only the instructor and students registered in the course or group will have access to the course.  

Please Note: Your FirstClass account is only available to you while you are enrolled in a course that is using FirstClass.  Students not currently enrolled in a FirstClass course will not have access to their accounts and messages from a previous quarter and these accounts will not be retained on the NSCC server.  If there are important messages or documents that you want to retain you should save them on your own personal computer hard drive before the end of the quarter. 

Web Client Example: 
Shown below is an example of the Web Client FirstClass Desktop.  The configuration is somewhat different than the NSCC FirstClass Desktop and it is important to note that when using this version your options for use are more limited that is why it is recommended you download the FirstClass software to your computer. 
If you do use the Web Client and you have difficulty sending messages to conferences please contact the Distance Learning office staff at 206 527-3738 or email Distance@sccd.ctc.edu for assistance. 

Installing FirstClass

Creating Messages