What are LaIR helper hours?
LaIR helper hours are an additional set of office hours staffed by our awesome fleet of section leaders. At the LaIR, students can get individual help with debugging and conceptual questions.
Logistics
- The LaIR help queue is open Sundays-Wednesdays from 5pm to 9pm this quarter. To sign up help, add your request to the queue using the Paperless Remote Student Portal.
- When a section leader takes your request, they will set up a new Zoom meeting and invite you or will join the Zoom url that you gave when signing up for the queue. We ask that you please be aware of where you are in the queue and are attentive to Zoom when it is your turn to be helped. Our system will send you an email once you are close to the front of the queue. If a section leader is unable to reach you via Zoom, they will send an email to try to resolve and move to the next person in the queue. If you become active soon afterwards and the section leader is able to get in contact with you, they will come back and service your request after finishing their current one. Requests will be limited to 15 minutes in order to get to everyone in the queue.
- The most important thing we want to ask of you all to help this run smoothly is to get Zoom set up and working before signing up in the queue, and making sure to be attentive to meeting invites after you have signed up for help. With all of your help, we can get you the help you need!
Weekly schedule
| Day | Time |
|---|---|
| Sunday | 5-9pm Pacific |
| Monday | 5-9pm Pacific |
| Tuesday | 9-11am (only if you are unable to make evening LaIR), 5-9pm Pacific |
| Wednesday | 5-9pm Pacific |
| Thursday | 9-11am (only if you are unable to make evening LaIR), 5-9pm Pacific |
Common questions about Lair
My Zoom isn’t working. Can I still get help?
Yes! Still signup as usual. If you know when you signup that your Zoom isn’t working, leave a note in the request so that the section leader knows to email you once it’s your turn to troubleshoot. If your Zoom stops working after you’ve signed up, you can respond to the email the section leader sends to let them know you need to get help using a different platform (like Google Meet).
My microphone isn’t working! What should I do?
The Zoom invitation includes a phone number that you can call from a phone. You can use your phone as the microphone and audio source for your call rather than your computer’s built-in microphone if necessary.
What should I do if my internet is slow or lagging?
Consider temporarily turning off your video stream and only maintaining the audio stream. Turning off the video should improve communication quality and consistency. If your connection is still not working well enough to share your screen, you can email your code to the section leader helping you. Emailing a zip file is sometimes blocked for security reasons, so better to email a specific code file. The section leader can then discuss the code you sent using Zoom audio or a phone call.
I’m having issues with installing the software necessary for the class. What should I do?
If you’re having issues with installing or setting up the software required for the class, the section leader will try to help you figure it out. However, sometimes it is helpful for the SL to be able to debug the issue using your computer. Therefore, they may ask you to enable Zoom’s remote control access tool. First, you should select “Share Screen” and pick the window you would like to share (note that the SL will be able to control whatever you decide to share, so we recommend sharing your entire desktop with them if you are comfortable with this). The SL will then request to control your screen (there should be a pop up asking for your permission). You may have to enable settings in your computer’s preferences in order to activate this option. Once enabled, the section leader will be able to control your computer as though they are sitting at it. This is very useful for troubleshooting software issues; however, if you are uncomfortable with this, let the section leader know, and they can try to give you verbal instructions for how to troubleshoot your IDE issues.
I tried to sign up for the LaIR helper queue, but the queue was closed, even though now is within the open hours for the LaIR.
In times of peak demand, the helpers may need to close the queue to new requests before the end of the open hours. We do this to ensure that we have sufficient resources to assist all students in the queue before the end of the shift.