Tech Update - June 02, 2010
Contents:
01. New Email Servers and Improved Web Email Client
02. Computer Account Information for New Graduates
03. Help! My Directory Information Needs to Be Updated!
04. Workshop on “Boosting Productivity with Mac OS X Snow Leopard”
05. ListServ Tip of the Month: Sending Emails to a List
Tips & Tricks
News & Notes from the Online Learning Team
11. Get a Taste of MERLOT
12. Spring Term Classes Closing Soon in Bb Vista
13. Reusing a Bb Vista Section in a New Term
14. Streamline Your Grading with Turnitin's GradeMark Tool
15. Bb Vista Mac Browser Throw-Down
16. Camtasia Relay
17. Schedule for Upcoming IRT Workshops
1. New Email Servers and Improved Web Email Client
Over the course of the summer, IRT will replace the old email servers with the new SunMail email servers. About 90,000 user mailboxes will be migrated to the new servers. IRT has already installed a new storage network to house the mailboxes while accounts are migrated to the new servers. The migration itself is scheduled to begin before the end of this month; mailboxes will be migrated overnight, and users will only lose access for the few minutes it takes to move an individual account.
One of the advantages the new servers provide is support for an improved Webmail client; additionally, IRT will replace the current DrexelOne mail client with the new Webmail. You will know when your mailbox has been moved if you see the new mail client in DrexelOne. IRT will also migrate and merge any address books you have in DrexelOne and Webmail.
More specific details will be forthcoming once the migration begins. This migration does not affect users of Microsoft Exchange email. If you have any questions, please contact the IRT Help Desk at consult@drexel.edu, via online chat at http://www.drexel.edu/irt, or call 215-895-2020.
2. Computer Account Information for New Graduates
Drexel alumni may keep their Drexel email accounts and their access to DrexelOne for up to two years after graduation. This two-year grace period allows students to use their Drexel email during the initial job search process and provides them with an easy way to keep in touch with college friends. During this time, graduates may access email directly from their Drexel email accounts or forward it to a non-Drexel account, such as one provided by an employer, an ISP, or an online service such as Gmail or Hotmail.
At any time during the two-year period, graduates may close their Drexel accounts by notifying IRT at accounts@drexel.edu. After the two years have passed, graduates will receive an email from IRT stating that the account will be closed if it is still open. However, alumni may still keep their Drexel username and official Drexel email address for long-term forwarding to a non-Drexel account.
Note that LinkEdu email accounts will stay open indefinitely as Drexel does not close them.
Drexel Domain access will be shut off shortly after graduation and will affect access to University services such as the software server.
For a summary of these and other electronic services after graduation, see http://www.drexel.edu/irt/org/policies/email/#continuance. For tips on a smooth transition to a different email service, visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/accounts/goodbye.
Also, as a longer-term solution to keeping in touch with Drexel friends, a number of services are offered by the Office of Alumni Relations. Learn more by visiting http://www.drexel.edu/alumni, or contact Alumni Relations at 1-888-DU-GRADS, or alumni@drexel.edu.
3. Help! My Directory Information Needs to Be Updated!
If your directory information is inaccurate or has changed (because you moved or got a new phone number), your record in the Banner system needs to be updated. Depending on your role at the University, you should contact the appropriate office to request a change to your information on file:
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Drexel Students: Visit or contact the Student Resource Center (http://www.drexel.edu/src/contact). You can also update some information, such as addresses and phone numbers, through DrexelOne (see below for instructions).
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Drexel Faculty and Staff: Contact Human Resources Information Services (HRIS, hris@drexel.edu).
Specific instructions for updating personal information (address changes, inaccuracies, legal name changes, etc.) can be found in DrexelOne. Go to the "drexel" tab, and then follow the "More BannerWeb Personal Information Menu" link.
Requests for changing the name on file must be made in person and validated against your social security card at the appropriate office: Human Resources for faculty/staff (http://www.drexel.edu/hr/about/contact), and the Student Resource Center for students (http://www.drexel.edu/src/contact).
NOTE: In the case of a change of name: Once your official name of record at the University has been updated in Banner, you can then request that your official Drexel email address be updated to reflect the name change. To update your Drexel email address, please contact the IRT Help Desk at 215-895-2020 and ask for the Accounts Team, or email accounts@drexel.edu.
4. Workshop on “Boosting Productivity with Mac OS X Snow Leopard”
If you're new to the Mac or simply need a refresher course on how to get the most out of your Mac, register today for "Boosting Productivity with Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Your guide to using a Mac effectively and efficiently." This workshop, presented by Apple Senior Systems Engineer Michael Wolk, will be held on Wednesday, June 23 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. in Korman 116.
If you want to learn how to get around your Mac desktop (or the Aqua interface); figure out how to best utilize peripherals such as your printer, iPod, digital camera, or other devices; discover new tips and tricks for how to do various tasks; understand how to operate the software that came with your Mac; or just discuss how others accomplish things, this is the workshop for you!
Come with questions (and bring your own Mac laptop if you wish)! To sign up, email olt@drexel.edu.
5. ListServ Tip of the Month: Sending Emails to a List
So your list has been created by IRT, and subscribers have been added to it. Now, you can begin sending messages. Here’s how:
- Compose a new message from the email account that is associated with ownership of the list. Address the message to your list’s email address (usually in the format listname-l@lists.drexel.edu).
- Enter a subject, type your message into the body as you would for any email message, and click “Send.”
- If your list is configured to request message confirmation, you must first confirm the message before ListServ will distribute it to your list subscribers. When ListServ responds to your message with a confirmation request, use one of the following methods to confirm your message for distribution:
- If you have an account set up with the ListServ Web Interface (https://lists.drexel.edu), then you can simply click the link in the confirmation request.
NOTE: If you do not yet have an account for the Web Interface, consider creating one. Use the email address that is associated with your list(s) as your username, and choose a password that is NOT tied to ANY other accounts (for security purposes).
- Reply to the confirmation request, clear the entire message body of text (including your signature block), and type the letters OK into the body. Once you click “Send,” the message will be approved for distribution. No further action is necessary.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Mailing List Team at mailreq@drexel.edu. List management information is also available at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/email/mailinglists/listservmanagersguide.
Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks are helpful articles that address a variety of Windows and Mac applications. Click on one of the links below to view the full article:
Using Voting Buttons in Outlook 2007
Taking a Screenshot on a Mac
Work with Two Windows Side by Side in Windows 7
Keyboard Shortcuts in Internet Explorer and Firefox
Combine Two Slide Presentations in PowerPoint 2007
News & Notes from the Online Learning Team
11. Get a Taste of MERLOT
MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) is a repository of peer-reviewed learning objects and materials. Under the Creative Commons license, instructors can use any of the learning resources provided by MERLOT members. One little-known resource includes more than 900 open textbooks that are available as course supplements. You can find textbooks in the following categories:
- Academic Support Services
- Arts
- Business
- Education
- Humanities
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Science and Technology
- Social Sciences
To search for open textbooks, visit http://www.merlot.org and click the “Learning Materials" tab. Look for the “Material Types” section in the left-hand pane, click “Open Textbook,” and type your search term(s) into the box at the top of the screen.
12. Spring Term Classes Closing Soon in Bb Vista
By default, courses in Blackboard Vista open on the first day of the term at midnight and close on the last day of the term at midnight. Students will no longer be able to access courses for the 2009 Spring quarter (200935) after Saturday, June 12 at 11:59 p.m. For those instructors who want to extend student access to their course(s), please follow the instructions at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/coursetools/toolList/bbvista/help/faculty/howToChangeDates.
Settings for current-term courses might be reset during system integration. Therefore, instructors should check their course settings from time to time.
For the upcoming Summer quarter, students will be able to access Summer courses on Monday, June 21 at 12:01 a.m. To open courses early, instructors should refer to the instructions contained in the link above.
Contact the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu or 215-895-1224 with questions.
13. Reusing a Bb Vista Section in a New Term
The easiest way to build out a new section in Bb Vista is to copy the content of an existing one. If you teach a particular course on an ongoing basis, you can leverage past section build-outs quickly and easily.
Before the start of a new term, your upcoming section(s) will appear on your Course List in Bb Vista (http://learning.drexel.edu). (By default, students do not see Bb Vista sections until the term starts.) The first time you click on your new section(s), you can choose to make any of your past sections the basis for the new one(s) by selecting “Copy content from another course” from the four choices displayed on the “Assign Course Content” screen. Everything is copied over except for enrollments, student contributions, and PowerLinked items, including Turnitin assignments and Wimba Classroom instances.
To view a brief slideshow on how to reassign content from a previous section, go to http://www.drexel.edu/irt/coursetools/toolList/bbvista/help/faculty/copyContent.
For assistance, contact the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu or 215-895-1224.
14. Streamline Your Grading with Turnitin's GradeMark Tool
Did you know that you can grade and mark up Turnitin assignments online? In this one-hour video (http://media.irt.drexel.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=bc1fe4c387034d629f436c8f4126f447), Dr. Mike Scheuermann from IRT demonstrates how to use Turnitin’s GradeMark tool, a powerful electronic grading and commenting feature. By building rubric sets and reusing comments, you can potentially save hours of your time!
If you have any questions about Turnitin or GradeMark, please contact the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu or 215-895-1224.
15. Bb Vista Mac Browser Throw-Down
Are you a Mac user who is wondering which browser you should use to interact with Bb Vista? There is no "right" or "wrong" browser, but there are certain features that work better (or only work) in certain browsers. Since most Mac users are using either Safari or Firefox, we'll limit this discussion to those two browsers.
Officially, all versions of Safari from 2 on up are either listed as "Compatible" or "Certified" by Blackboard. However, the browser version detected by Bb Vista's Browser Check displays as version 531.22.7 and therefore appears to be "non-validated or unsupported." Rest assured, however, that nearly everything you do in Bb Vista as an instructor, designer, or student will work properly.
Firefox 2.0 (which is not a recent version and therefore not recommended for use with Bb Vista) through 3.5 are also listed as "Compatible" or "Certified" by Blackboard. Even the latest version, 3.6, is properly detected by the Browser Check and appears as "Validated." Despite this status, there is one feature that does NOT work in any recent version of Firefox on a Mac, and that is the HTML Creator. (The “Enable HTML Creator” button simply does not appear in Firefox.) The HTML Creator is most often used when editing the header or footer on the home page or in a folder of a Bb Vista course, but it can also be used in many other tools and areas of Bb Vista. If you know how to hand-code HTML, you can still enter it in areas that allow it, and it will render properly (as long as you check the "Use HTML" checkbox).
The bottom line? For most tasks, either Safari or Firefox will work properly with Bb Vista. However, if you need the HTML Creator, use Safari 2 or higher. While there are other browser choices (Chrome, Opera, etc.), none of them have been tested or certified for use with Bb Vista, so use them at your own risk.
16. Camtasia Relay
Camtasia Relay is a lightweight screencasting tool that can publish your videos directly to DragonDrop, Drexel's streaming server. It can be used to capture lectures within a classroom setting, demonstrate processes, and much more.
Camtasia Relay is free for Drexel faculty and staff. In order to gain access to Camtasia Relay:
- Activate your DragonDrop account by logging in at http://drexel.edu/irt/coursetools/toolList/dragonDrop.
- Request a Camtasia Relay account by emailing rmcp@dcollege.net.
- Download the Relay client from http://relay.irt.drexel.edu.
To learn more about Camtasia Relay, you can attend an IRT workshop. For a listing of upcoming workshops, refer to the last article in this issue or visit our website at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/help/workshops/#camtasia. To register for a workshop, email olt@drexel.edu.
17. Schedule for Upcoming IRT Workshops
Unless otherwise noted, all sessions will be held in Korman 116. To sign up for any of these workshops, please email olt@drexel.edu.
Bb Vista
- Bb Vista Full Day Workshop
Wednesday, June 16, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 15, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 3, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
Aimed at instructors and administrators who are new to Bb Vista or who have not worked in Bb Vista for a while. Lunch will be provided.
- Bb Vista: Using the Teach Tab and More
Wednesday, June 2, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 19, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
This workshop is being offered to individuals who are familiar with Bb Vista and want to learn more about using the system from a teaching perspective (managing assignments, creating assessments, using the Grade Book, etc.). Come with questions!
Brown Bags and Workshops
- 7 Things Instructors Must Know about Adobe Acrobat
Friday, June 4, noon – 1:30 p.m.
During this session, seven Adobe Acrobat features will be demonstrated that you can immediately use to benefit your face-to-face or online courses.
- Creating Audio Podcasts with Audacity and DragonDrop
Tuesday, July 20, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Learn how Audacity, a freely-available software package, can be used to record and edit audio for use in your course. This hands-on session will cover basic functionality and techniques, and provide an introduction to podcasting using DragonDrop.
- Editing Images for Your Course
Tuesday, June 15, 10:00 a.m. – noon
Thursday, August 12, 10:00 a.m. – noon
Learn how GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), a freely-available software package, can be used to fix and edit images for use in your course or personal collections. Basic functionality and techniques will be covered in this hands-on session.
- Last Name Shall be First and Other Tricks with Microsoft Office
Wednesday, July 7, noon – 1:00 p.m.
MS Word’s “Find and Replace” is extremely powerful, especially when combined with “Convert Text to Table.” Learn this and other tricks from an Office wizard. Hands-on.
Camtasia
- Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay
Thursday, July 8, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Learn about the basics of screencasting, how to prepare yourself for the recording process, and how to use Camtasia Relay to record your desktop for publication on the Web.
- Recording and Editing with Camtasia for Mac
Wednesday, July 14, 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Learn how to use Camtasia for Mac to record your desktop and presentations, edit your work, and produce media files. Prerequisite: Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay. Recommended: Bring your Intel-powered Mac laptop (MacBook, Pro, or Air).
- Recording and Editing with Camtasia Studio for Windows
Tuesday, June 8, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 22, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 17, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Learn how to use Camtasia Studio for Windows to record your desktop and presentations, edit your work, and produce media files. Prerequisite: Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay.
DragonDrop
- DragonDrop Basic Training
Tuesday, June 22, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, July 20, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Friday, August 27, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
This workshop will introduce you to the basics of working with DragonDrop, a web-based application for capturing, encoding, and publishing rich media for Web access.
Dreamweaver
- Dreamweaver Basic
Thursday, June 10, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 8, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
In the Basic course, we create simple pages using Dreamweaver CS4, including headings, lists, images,and links.
- Dreamweaver Intermediate
Thursday, June 24, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 29, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
In the Intermediate course, we create and modify stylesheets and apply styles including fonts, float positioning, and colors.
Mac Workshops
- Boost Productivity with Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Wednesday, June 23, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
If you're new to the Mac or need a refresher on how to get the most out of your Mac, join Apple Senior Systems Engineer Michael Wolk as he presents “Boosting Productivity with Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Your guide to using a Mac effectively and efficiently.”
Respondus
- Respondus
Thursday, June 17, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Respondus products help us to easily import quiz questions/answers into Bb Vista, secure the online testing environment, and create interesting (and entertaining) learning objects.
SharePoint
- SharePoint Basic
Thursday, June 3, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 30, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, July 6, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, July 21, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
SharePoint is a powerful tool for document collaboration. This session provides step-by-step directions and an overview of SharePoint's key functions. Topics covered include site navigation, creating and editing items, and uploading documents.
Snap
- Snap Basic
Wednesday, July 21, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
This Basic course is geared towards new users of Snap, Drexel's survey software. A demonstration of the entire survey setup process will be presented.
- Snap Advanced
Tuesday, June 22, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 17, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
In the Advanced course, users of Snap will learn how to create a survey, set up routing rules, and sendautomated survey invitation and reminder messages through Snap. Password-protected surveys and iterative surveys will also be discussed.
Wimba Live Classroom
- Wimba Classroom and Other Wimba Tools
Thursday, July 22, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Wimba Classroom is a synchronous, virtual classroom. Its features include multi-way audio and video, easy upload of PowerPoint presentations, application sharing, polling, and more—all designed to create a robust online classroom experience.