IRT Technology Update
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Contents:
1. Email Settings: The Time for Security Is Now!
2. Email Settings: Verify Identity, Reduce Fraud
3. A Special Event: Faculty Showcase
4. Capturing Your Lectures for Special Situations
5. SP2 Released for Microsoft Office 2003/2004
WebCT Vista News
6. Training for WebCT Vista for Faculty
7. Brown Bag Lunch Sessions for Faculty Members
8. Tips for This Month
1. Email Settings: The Time for Security Is Now!
Over the summer, the Drexel community was notified that mail server security would be increased later in the year. The affected services include both IMAP and POP for checking email and SMTP for sending it.
If you only use DrexelOne, Webmail, and Exchange (via Outlook or ExchangeWeb) for your @drexel.edu email, you need read no further. These systems are already in compliance with standard secure access methods.
Otherwise, go to http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/support/ConfigureEmail.html for instructions on how to make a one-time change to your email program for better password protection. For more help or advice, contact consult@drexel.edu or 215-895-2698.
It is recommended that you make these changes soon to assure no interruption in your email service. As of November 28, 2005, Drexel's email servers will only work with the secure settings.
If you use multiple Drexel email accounts, see the next item.
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2. Email Settings: Verify Identity, Reduce Fraud
As part of its improved security, Drexel's email servers now verify that mail claiming to be from someone @drexel.edu is really being sent by the account it claims to be. This is an anti-"spoofing" measure designed to protect students, faculty and staff from unauthorized emails purporting to be from friends and colleagues.
As with the security changes described above, this new form of security is already in place for users of DrexelOne, Webmail, and Exchange (via Outlook or ExchangeWeb), so changes are only needed for those using programs like Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Eudora that use the POP, IMAP, and SMTP protocols.
For people who need to use multiple Drexel email accounts - a personal account plus a departmental/organizational account or who send mail on behalf of someone else - extra setup may be required. The consultants will help.
Go to http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/support/ConfigureEmail.html for information. If you have additional questions, contact consult@drexel.edu or 215-895-2698.
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3. A Special Event: Faculty Showcase
IRT's WebCT Faculty Showcase will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, November 14, 2005 in the Living Arts Lounge, adjacent to the Mandell Theater in the Creese Student Center (33rd and Chestnut Streets).
Ideas are solicited for presentations showcasing innovative ways of incorporating WebCT Vista into learning environments. Send submissions or suggestions at once to webct@drexel.edu. Use the same address to register to attend by 4 p.m. Tuesday, November 8. All faculty members, administrators, and teaching assistants are welcome.
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4. Capturing Your Lectures for Special Situations
You're scheduled to attend a conference out of town and will need to miss one or more classes. Do you cancel your classes, or recruit a replacement? It may be that you want a colleague to give your students an alternative viewpoint anyway, and this is an appropriate opportunity to do that.
But you do have a choice. You can capture your own lectures for just such occasions.
Contact the consultants in the Faculty Development Center to explore the variety of applications available to meet your specific needs. They can use Camtasia, Captivate, MediaSiteLive, Flash, or even PowerPoint, to mention the most common tools.
You can reach the FDC staff at 215-895-1224 or via email at webct@drexel.edu.
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5. SP2 Released for Microsoft Office 2003/2004
Microsoft has released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Office 2003 for Windows and Office 2004 for Macintosh. This service pack includes a host of security patches, updates, and product enhancements. For Macintosh users with Exchange email accounts, SP2 greatly enhances the Exchange client functionality of Entourage 2004.
This release was available in late September and is also available now from Drexel's software site. Visit the following links for information and to download SP2.
Description of SP2 for Office 2003 for Windows:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887616
Description of SP2 for Office 2004 for Macintosh:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=office2004sp2
Download SP2 from Drexel's software site:
http://www.drexel.edu/irt/services/comp_mark/software.html
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WebCT Vista News
6. Training for WebCT Vista for Faculty
IRT offers faculty members two kinds of training - Boot Camps for new users and Workshops for current users. As sessions fill up, more may be added, so watch for schedule updates on the IRT Web site at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/services/workshops/index.html.
* For New Users: WebCT Vista Boot Camps
WebCT Vista Boot Camps, held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in room 116 of the Korman Computing Center, provide an introduction to the most essential WebCT tools for novice users. Boot Camps are scheduled for the following dates:
Friday, November 4
Friday, November 18
Friday, December 16
Laptops are provided as well as lunch. Reserve your slot at webct@drexel.edu.
* For Current Users: WebCT Vista Workshops
These are four-hour workshops to enhance your knowledge in selected areas, for experienced users of WebCT Vista. These workshops will be held in Room 116 Korman Center on the following dates and times:
Friday, November 11, noon-4 p.m.
Friday, December 9, noon-4 p.m.
To sign up, email webct@drexel.edu.
* Departmental Training
If you would prefer to have a WebCT workshop or boot camp just for your department, let us know. We'll provide the same information at a time convenient for your group. We can, if you wish, break it into shorter segments spread over several days. We can do it in Korman or in your own lab. Contact us at webct@drexel.edu.
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7. Brown Bag Lunch Sessions for Faculty Members
Bring your lunch, share your experiences, and learn more about WebCT Vista and other academic technologies in informal sessions with fellow faculty members.
Brown Bag Lunches for faculty and staff are scheduled for noon-1 p.m. in Korman room 116 as follows:
Wednesday, November 30
Tuesday, December 20
To reserve a spot, complete with a soda and a dessert, send email to webct@drexel.edu.
Topics are invited. Use the same email address to suggest topics for future brown baggers.
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8. Tips for This Month
* If you are using the Assessment Tool in WebCT Vista for your students to take quizzes online, you need to be aware of the Results Settings for your assessments. If you do not want your students to see the correct answers for a specific quiz, you must make sure that option 1 (Show the evaluation of the student's response), option 2 (Show the correct answer for each question), and option 3 (Show the full evaluation of each question) are NOT checked.
If ANY of these boxes are checked, then the correct answer will be provided to your students. If your course was imported from WebCT CE, double check that the settings are correct on migrated quizzes.
* You do not have to log out of WebCT Vista to move from one course section to another. The My WebCT link, in the upper right corner of the WebCT Vista interface, returns you to your course list, where you can make another selection.
* Use the Log Out hyperlink at the top right of your screen when you are done with WebCT. Merely closing your browser window does not terminate your session on the server.
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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.
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