WebEx for Students: Get Started

WebEx is an online, live presentation and collaboration tool that shares audio, video, and presentations in a virtual class or meeting room. Recordings can be made of sessions and your instructor may post them after an online class.

In this article:

Your student account on WebEx

All undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Waterloo have a WebEx account. To access your account:

  1. Go to: uwaterloo.webex.com

  2. Log in with your 8-character UWaterloo username @uwaterloo.ca (i.e. j25rober@uwaterloo.ca). Use the same login as you would for LEARN.

 

Access your live classrooms

Access your live classrooms through Learn- Using Webex Widget

If your professor has made a WebEx widget on the LEARN page, then you can use that to join online classrooms or office hours. Please refer to the following instructions:

  1. Download and install Webex Meetings desktop application

    1. https://www.webex.com/downloads.html

  2. Click on Click Here to access WebEx

  3. On the following page click on Virtual Meetings

  4. Under Meetings you will see 3 tabs

    1. Upcoming— shows your upcoming meetings. To join an upcoming meeting, click on the Join button.

    2. Past meetings— view a list of past meetings

    3. Recordings— view any past recorded lectures. (Note: Recordings can take about 24 hours to post)

Note: Do not join meetings from the Learn calendar, as you may encounter an error depending on your browser settings. Make sure to only join from the Widget as described above in #4.

Access your live classrooms if it is posted as announcement (or if you have been given a direct link)

Courses may use the above process for online classroom access. However, your instructor may choose another method where you will need to login to WebEx as an authenticated UWaterloo student.

  1. The link posted on LEARN brings you to the page shown below. Enter the following information in the Join Session Now window and click on the Join Now button:

    1. Your name: Enter your full name

    2. Email address: Enter your email address

    3. Session password: The session password is filled automatically – Do not change
       

       

  2. Clicking on Join Now brings you to the UWaterloo ADFS authentication page to sign in with your username @ uwaterloo.ca (Your username is your 8 character UWaterloo username, i.e. j25rober@uwaterloo.ca)


  3. Click Next

  4. You will now be directed to your online classroom.

Access your live classrooms in WebEx as a Guest

Most courses are set up in this mode. However, your instructor may have chosen a different set-up in LEARN, and your experience may differ! Also see the next section below, titled “Access your live classrooms as an Authenticated UWaterloo student” that uses an added authentication step.

Some courses may be setup so that you can enter the room as a guest.

  1. The link posted on LEARN brings you to the page shown below. Enter the following information in the Join Session Now window and click on the Join Now button:

    1. Your name: Enter your full name

    2. Email address: Enter your email address

    3. Session password: The session password is filled automatically – Do not change

 

Student Login issues: Troubleshooting

WebEx account lockouts can occur if you entered the incorrect email address. To login to ADFS you need to use the same as you use to login to LEARN. (Your username is your 8 character UWaterloo username, i.e. j25rober@uwaterloo.ca).

If you made an error, the incorrect credentials could be cached and you can get into a loop of error! The following step can force a refresh so you can login correctly, though your experience may vary. Try to close the WebEx app, and reopen it again.

  1. Download WebEx Teams app and install: https://www.webex.com/downloads.html

  2. Start the WebEx Teams app

  3. Login as username@uwaterloo.ca (same as LEARN)

    1. You may receive a Cisco WebEx activation email. If so, follow their prompts. You want to eventually get forwarded to UW’s login page. Don’t enter your password anywhere else if you don’t see that UW scenery in the picture above.

  4. You may have to give it a bit of time for the refresh take place.

  5. If you still have problems logging in, send a help request to: rt-ist-itms-collab@rt.uwaterloo.ca

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