IRT: News & Events: TechUpdates: September 19, 2006

This periodic email publication is our way of informing the Drexel community about services we offer and how to make use of them. In Tech Update, you'll find information about new services, tips to help you take advantage of existing services, and news from the computing world.

There will be articles about WebCT Vista (our online course system), warnings about computer security, new products or services, and general tips and tricks to make your computing life easier.

This is a special issue for new students, so we cover the topics that new students need to know. In a few days you will also receive the Tech Update for the general Drexel community. We normally publish about three times a term, but more often if there are urgent matters to communicate.

Past issues of the IRT Technology Update are archived at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/news/technews/.

2. Checklist: What's Important for New Students to Know and Do?

College is a new experience, and computing at college can be an especially complicated part of that new experience.

A ready-reference guide, with links to how-to pages on the web, is available at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/support/tips/general/newstudents.pdf.

There's a one-click link to this "New Student Technology Checklist" on the IRT web page (http://www.drexel.edu/IRT), currently about half-way down the page under HelpCentral.

We recommend that you print out this list and keep it handy for your first weeks at Drexel. We highlight a few of the most important items below.

3. Setting Up Your Internet Connection

Students moving in to Drexel residence halls have a lot on their minds: getting moved in, meeting roommates, finding out how to get to class, learning where to buy the best cheesesteak ....

One of the first things new students need to do is to get their computers up and running and connected to the Internet.

For your security and ours, we want to make sure your computer is safe. When you first plug your computer into the network jack and try to browse the Internet, you'll be directed to the "Resnet Isolated Network" registration page. The steps on that page will help you check your computer for infection, verify your settings, and register for the Drexel network.

Please read and follow these instructions completely and accurately. If you have problems, call the IRT Help Desk at 215-895-2020 from your room. To leave a message, include your full name, a phone number where we can reach you, and a description of the problem (something more informative than "Help, it doesn't work!").

4. Setting Up Wireless Internet Access

If you have a computer or other device with a wireless network adapter, you need to connect it to DragonFly - Drexel's wireless network. You must "register" your wireless card at the DragonFly Registration page.

Go to http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/support/wireless. Log in to that page with the same username and password that you use for DrexelOne and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you have problems, bring your laptop to the Help Desk on the first floor of the Korman Computing Center (33rd Street between Chestnut and Market, facing the Quad) for assistance.

The Drexel campus is entirely wireless, inside and out, so if you have wireless capability, do register and use it.

5. Getting Software

Did your computer come with a full version of Microsoft Office Pro? If not, you'll need to install it at some point to do your classwork. You may also need other programs like Visual Studio, SPSS or SSH.

If you're living in a Drexel residence hall, you will have installed Symantec AntiVirus in the process of connecting your computer to the network, but if you're an off-campus user you are still entitled to a copy of our licensed anti-virus software.

These and other programs are site-licensed for the Drexel community. To download the software (if you're connected to the Drexel network) and/or to purchase media for some programs for a very nominal fee, see our Computer Marketplace web page at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/services/comp_mark/index.html. Use your Drexel username and password to log in.

6. If You Need Help

The IRT Help Desk, as the name implies, is here to help!

If you run into problems with your Drexel accounts, network access, wireless registration, etc., call us at 215-895-2020, email us at consult@drexel.edu, or stop by the Korman Computing Center on the east side of 33rd Street between Chestnut and Market Streets, facing the (presently under construction) Quad. See http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/facilities/korman for hours of operation and other information.

If you send email or leave a message on voicemail, be sure to include complete contact information (name, phone number, email address) as well as a good description of your problems. Providing us with the right information up front helps us to help you more quickly.

he IRT web page, full of useful information, is at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT.

7. WebCT Vista for Online Learning

WebCT Vista is used at Drexel for online learning. Instructors use it to augment face-to-face classes, to deliver classes completely on line, and everything in between. All Drexel courses listed in Banner, the student registration system, exist also as a section in WebCT Vista.

Instructors choose how to utilize WebCT Vista. They may use it to:

post the course syllabus;
link students to Internet resources;
distribute rich media such as audio and/or video content;
conduct asynchronous discussions;
provide a digital dropbox for submitting assignments;
administer quizzes and surveys;
post grades.

Hundreds of Drexel's courses make at least some use of WebCT Vista, so you'll want to get acquainted soon. Check it out at http://one.drexel.edu, under the Students tab.

Of course, if you took Drexel placement exams on line, you have already seen WebCT Vista.

If you have questions about using WebCT Vista, take advantage of one of the frequent walk-in student orientation sessions during the first two weeks of Fall term. See http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/services/webct/walkInSchedule.html for the schedule. You can bring your laptop with you for help in configuring it for WebCT Vista.

8. Protect Your Identity, Protect Your Password

One of the master keys to your Drexel identity is your Drexel account password. Keep it secret, keep it safe, and don't under any circumstances share it.

That's the message of Article II(2) of Drexel's Acceptable Use Policy, and several other sections of the AUP as well. The "why" is simple. Given your password, anyone can get to your private information and, if so inclined, mis-use it. Further, your password constitutes your legal signature; you are responsible for anything done with it.

The University does its best, and is obliged by law, to safeguard your private information. But a single act of carelessness on your part can make you vulnerable to identity theft, forgery and fraud. So:

Do not give your password to anyone - not your best friend, not your twin sister, not your boss.
Do not write down your password in any accessible place - not on a post-it note on your monitor, nor under your keyboard, nor .... If you need to write it down to remember it, keep it under lock and key at a place remote from your computer.
Give yourself a strong password (What's a strong password? See http://www.drexel.edu/irt/policies/email.html#password for tips), and change it periodically at http://accounts.drexel.edu.

9. Privacy: Mind Your Manners and Think Ahead

Issues of personal privacy are becoming increasingly urgent in today's computerized world, with ramifications far beyond the present.

With today's search engines, your youthful indiscretions may be damnably persistent. That oh-so-funny web page you put up when you were a college freshman may come back to haunt you years later when you're interviewing for your dream job. It may live on in caches at Google, Yahoo, and other web repositories, not to mention Tom-Dick-and-Harry's personal computers, long after you have purged it from your Drexel account.

For a thoughtful treatment of this dilemma and other privacy issues, see an essay on the Cornell University IT website at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html.

As an interesting test, try googling your own name and see what comes up.

To read previous issues of the IRT Technology Update, go to http://www.drexel.edu/irt/news/technews/

To manage your subscription options to the IRT Technology Update and other Drexel Announcements, go to http://www.drexel.edu/irt/subscriptions. If you prefer to receive a plain text version, please email your request to mailreq@drexel.edu.

Modified: August 20, 2008

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1. Welcome to Tech Update