May 22, 2013

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Faculty Activity – New Custom Reports

February 27, 2013 by

We are pleased to announce recent enhancements to the Faculty ActivFaculty Activity Menuity interface in myOleMiss.   You can now create custom reports through the Faculty Activity interface. The custom report feature does not replace your annual Faculty Report, but will allow you to leverage the data that has been entered over time into a format for other reports. (To start your annual Faculty Activity Report, see Build Annual Report on the Detailed Navigation Menu.)

A custom report can be generated for a variety of content in either HTML or RTF file formats.  Chairs and those in administration will be able to easily gather information for analysis for a specific time period, activity or faculty member.  Faculty members can produce a report including all of their activities, courses, advisees, theses, and committees over a set period of time. This can be a great asset for tenure track faculty members in the creation of their report.   To begin a custom report, choose Create Custom Report on the Detailed Navigation Menu.

Faculty Activity - Create Custom ReportGetting Help

A training workshop on the Faculty Activity interface will be offered on Friday, March 1st at 1:30 pm. To register, visit http://ittraining.olemiss.edu/. If you need assistance,  or if you have any questions, please contact Faculty Technology Development Center at 662-915-7918 or ftdc@olemiss.edu.  If you would like individual assistance in person, please visit the FTDC in 101 Weir Hall weekdays between the hours of 8:00 AM  and 5:00 PM.

Filed Under: Academic Technology, Faculty Activity Reports, Faculty Activity Reports, FTDC, myOleMiss Tagged With: ,

Blackboard Becomes More Mobile with Recent Upgrades

June 14, 2012 by

If you haven’t noticed by now, the Blackboard Learning Management System recently received several product enhancements with the release of a new version of Blackboard Mobile Learn and a system upgrade to version 9.1 SP7.

Blackboard Mobile Learn gives students and instructors access to their course content on a variety of mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry.  Students can use the Bb Mobile Learn App to access course documents, read announcements, respond to discussion board posts, upload photos or video attachments to discussion boards or blogs, and check their Blackboard grades.  Instructors can use the mobile app to post announcements, read and respond to discussion board posts, and upload photos or videos.

Version 3.0 of the Bb Mobile Learn App, released on May 16, 2012, introduced Mobile Friendly Tests and high resolution graphics for retina displays.  Instructors now have a streamlined interface to create mobile-compatible tests from within Blackboard (see Instructions for Creating Mobile Tests), and students can take mobile compatible tests directly from their mobile device.  In fact, any Blackboard test that includes compatible question types (Multiple Choice, Hot Spot, Fill in the Blank, etc) can be taken from within the Blackboard Mobile Learn App.  The interface itself makes use of several unique features of mobile devices.  For example, students can flag a question to come back to later by tapping the corner of the page to create a dog-ear.  They can also eliminate options on multiple-choice questions by swiping across them to gray them out.  Instructors can even ask students to submit pictures from their mobile device as part of a mobile quiz answer. Grades on mobile quizzes are automatically added into the Blackboard Grade Center.

To download the Blackboard Mobile Learn App, visit your device’s App Store today, or view the Blackboard Mobile Learn Tutorial for more information.

Blackboard System Upgrade – On May 28, 2012, the Blackboard application servers were upgraded to version 9.1 SP7.  This update was necessary to provide compatibility with a wider range of Web browsers, including Internet Explorer 8 and 9, Firefox 12, Chrome and Safari 5.

The upgrade also provided several new features:

  • Timed Assessments - Attempt information for timed assessments includes details on how much time the student spent on the attempt versus how much time was allotted.  Instructors can choose to make the make the timed assessment save and submit automatically when the timer expires, or to allow the assessment to continue beyond the allotted time.  Tests will also now auto-save every minute during the student attempt.
  • Interactive Rubrics - When creating a rubric, instructors can assign weights to categories, allowing the same rubric to be used across multiple items with different possible points.  Rubrics can be imported and exported for use across courses.  Instructors can associate rubrics when creating gradable content items. The rubrics can be visible to students at any time, or only after grading has been completed.  Instructors can interact with any associated rubric for grading in a grid or list view, and feedback can be entered for each criteria as well as the entire assessment.  When a rubric has been used for grading, a report is available to view the results of all content graded with that rubric.
  • Needs Grading - Gradable Blogs, Journals, Wikis, and Discussion Board activity can appear in Needs Grading status in the Grade Center and on the Needs Grading page.  When an instructor chooses to make an interactive tool gradable, they will also have the option to choose how many interactions will place the item in needs grading status.  A Discussion Board forum, for instance, might be set to only appear in Needs Grading status after a student has made three posts, rather than with each individual post.

For more information about Blackboard or any of its features, contact the Faculty Technology Development Center at (662) 915-7918 or blackboard@olemiss.edu.

 

Filed Under: Academic Technology, FTDC, Helpdesk, Mobile

Higher Education Meets eBay: An Online Marketplace for Course Notes

April 23, 2012 by

Instructors and students have been sharing course materials online for over fifteen years.  In the early years of the Internet and web browsers, instructors posted course materials on a personal web page or a file transfer (ftp) site.  In recent years, web-based learning management systems have replaced these personal course web pages.  Products such as Blackboard Learn offer an online site with a common interface for instructors and students to interact as well as a document repository for course materials.

Today, several new document marketplace sites have emerged including notehall.com,  sharenotes.com,  collegenoteshare.com,  notelog.com, coursehero.com, notepig.com and noteutopia.com to name a few.  Simply put, these sites provide students with the ability to buy and sell course materials.   For example, a student taking Econ 403 might take exceptional course notes.  Using a document marketplace site, the student can upload his/her course materials, advertise the availability of these notes and then get paid by the document marketplace site when other students purchase the materials.   Unlike eBay, document market sites can charge buyers a premium while paying the seller a smaller percentage or royalty from the sales.   There is no guarantee the seller will receive payment from all transactions.

Responsibilities of Students

Before choosing to become a member of a document marketplace site, students must remember to follow the IT Appropriate Use Policy. Student sellers are not permitted to upload material written by others, including, but not limited to, professors, students, textbook authors and University administrators.  Regardless of information from the document marketplace representatives, students cannot advertise or agree to allow a company to advertise on University of Mississippi managed systems such as Blackboard.  Student buyers should also take precautions to protect themselves.  These document marketplace sites will not guarantee the accuracy of the course notes.  And as always, review an online site before making purchases to ensure your personal and financial data will be properly secured.

Responsibilities of Instructors

These online marketplace sites are available to students nationwide. Talk to your students about their responsibilities to avoid violations of copyright laws and the IT Appropriate Use Policy.   In the event a student violates the IT Appropriate Use Policy, report the activity to the Dean of Students.   Also, the document marketplace sites publish guidelines for instructors to report policy infringements.  The information is typically found in the site FAQ or terms and conditions documentation.

Final Thoughts

With all the risks outlined above, the concept of sharing online course notes has been accepted on some university campuses.  The University of California at Berkeley (UCB) allows course notes online through a university sanctioned student group.   This course notes service is supported by UCB administration and approved by the University of California Board of Regents.

Browse safely.

Filed Under: Academic Technology, Classroom Technology, FTDC, IT Appropriate Use

Faculty Receive New Technology Through TACIT

November 15, 2011 by

Ninety-six faculty members were approved recipients as part of this year’s TACIT program.  Now in its thirteenth year, TACIT provides for the cyclical replacement of faculty technology and is sponsored by the Provost’s Office and carried out by the Office of Information Technology (IT).  Only full-time instructional faculty and full-time faculty with computers purchased prior to January 2007  were eligible to apply.  Faculty were given the opportunity to choose from the following PC or Mac replacement options:  desktop, desktop with iPad2, laptop, or laptop with external monitor, keyboard, and docking accessories.  A new option for this year was the iPad2 to give faculty who chose desktop models a mobility option.  All computers came with Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat Professional,  and Symantec Anti-virus software.

IT's Chris Reichley teaching "Adobe Flash for Online Interactive Education"

The distribution of technology was as follows:

  •  iPad2s: 38
  •  PC Desktops: 32
  •  PC Laptops: 12
  •  27″ iMac Desktops: 15
  •  MacBook Pro Laptops: 33

As part of the program, faculty members attended the general TACIT training session and at least two workshops during the period of  October 31- November 11.  The Faculty Technology Development Center (FTDC) offered a variety of workshops on different topics such as PowerPoint, Blackboard Grade Center, Blackboard Safe Assignments, Tips and Tricks, All About the iPad, Podcasting, etc.

For more information about TACIT or other technology offerings for faculty, please contact the Faculty Technology Development Center  at (662) 915-7918, ftdc@olemiss.edu or the  Provost’s Office at (662) 915-5974.

Filed Under: FTDC Tagged With:

Blackboard Mobile Learn

October 6, 2011 by

Would you like to access Blackboard from anywhere?
Now there’s an App for that.

Blackboard Mobile LearnIntroducing Blackboard Mobile Learn
at The University of Mississippi

The Office of Information Technology is pleased to announce the launch of Blackboard Mobile Learn, a free mobile application that brings interactive teaching and learning to mobile devices and gives students full access to their Blackboard course information directly from their smartphones. This intuitive application, designed specifically for each of the major mobile platforms, allows students to check grades and assignments, view documents, create threaded discussion posts and comment on blogs and journals, upload content, and more. Instructors can use the app to post announcements, create blog and discussion posts, comment on their students’ blogs, discussions, and journals, and upload media files.

Blackboard Mobile Learn is available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android devices, BlackBerry smartphone devices, and HP web OS devices, and works over Wi-Fi, as well as all cellular networks.  The Mobile Learn app may be downloaded for free at the appropriate device App Store.

QR Codes to Download Apps

For more information on how to download the Blackboard Mobile Learn application for your device, visit the Blackboard Mobile Learn Help Page.

For additional support or questions, contact the Faculty Technology Development Center at 662-915-7918 or blackboard@olemiss.edu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: FTDC, Helpdesk, Mobile, Technological Advances

Online Tutorials

April 14, 2011 by
Screen shot of Tutorial page

Tutorial Links

People often want to know what online resources are available to help them get up to speed on new software. To help answer that, we have just compiled a list of tutorials, how-tos, and video demonstrations for some popular programs.  Among these are Outlook 2010 (which many employees will begin using with the current Exchange / UM Mail migration), Word 2010, Dreamweaver CS5, and Photoshop CS5.

These Online Tutorial links are a new part of the IT Training site where employees can also review and register for workshops and seminars conducted by IT staff.  The tutorials themselves are located on Adobe or Microsoft websites where you may find even more information about their products.

The Adobe videos were of particular interest to me since I spend much of my time in Dreamweaver and Photoshop.  Our lists for the Adobe products only include the “Getting Started” series for each, but once you are on Adobe’s sites you will see that many other tutorials are continually being added.  Microsoft’s sites have a wealth of information, and we hope our links will make it easier for you to find it all.

Even if you consider yourself proficient in the use of one of these programs, you’re bound to learn something new after just a few minutes with these tutorials.  I can’t wait to try out a couple of new Photoshop techniques I picked up.

Filed Under: FTDC, Helpdesk, Technology Procurements

Firefox 4 – Not Recommended

April 5, 2011 by

You may have recently read about or been prompted to upgrade your Web browser to Firefox version 4.  This new version of Firefox, released on March 22, 2011, has been causing its own share of headaches on the UM campus in recent days.

Firefox 4, on both the Windows and Mac platforms, is not compatible with myOleMiss, due to issues with the SAP portal environment.  Blackboard also does not support this version of the browser.  For these reasons, the IT Helpdesk recommends that you do not update your browser to version 4 at this time.

If you have already updated to Firefox version 4 and are currently experiencing issues, you will need to roll back to an earlier version. You can download the previous version of Firefox 3.6.16 at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html.

Filed Under: Faculty Activity Reports, FTDC, Helpdesk, myOleMiss, Upgrades, Web Applications, Web Site

Update on Faculty Activity Reports

December 6, 2010 by

It is getting to be that time of year again! Whereas many students and instructors are focused on wrapping up the fall semester, various others have been actively working on adjustments to the Faculty Activity Report process, which will begin in March 2011 — sooner than we want to believe. So your question may be, “What is happening with Faculty Activity Reports?”

Faculty Activity Report Review Task Force

In June, the Provost’s Office established a Faculty Activity Report Review Task Force to identify and evaluate options. The Task Force is chaired by Dr. Maurice Eftink, Associate Provost, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and includes the following members:  Dr. Glenn Hopkins, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts;  Dr. Mark Wilder, Dean of Accountancy; Dr. Linda Chitwood, Dean of the School of Applied Sciences;  Dr. Delvin Hawley, Senior Associate Dean of the School of Business and Associate Professor of Finance;  Dr. Ivo Kamps, Chair and Professor of English;  Dr. Stephen J. Cutler, Chair and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry;  Dr. Conrad Cunningham, Chair and Professor of Computer Science;  Ms. Mary Harrington, Director of Institutional Research; Dr. Robin Buchannon, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research & Sponsored Programs;  Dr. Noel Wilkin, Associate Provost and Professor of Pharmacy Administration;  Dr. Mark Dolan, Associate Professor of Journalism and New Media; Dr. Jason Ritchie, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Dr. Lori Wolff, Associate Professor of Leadership and Counselor Education; Dr. Dwight Waddell; Assistant Professor of Health, Exercise Science & Recreation Management;  Dr. Tom Marshall, Professor of Physics and Astronomy; and Dr. Kathy Gates, Chief Information Officer. 

July Decision to Continue with Structured Database Model

In July, the Task Force voted to continue with a structured database model, which would allow for institutional reporting on activities. Long term options are still being considered, specifically whether to continue with an in-house solution or to adopt a commercial product. Given the time that is required to make a careful decision and then to implement that decision, the current in-house system will be used for at least one more year and has been updated based on feedback and assistance from the Task Force. This article highlights the changes that have been made so far.

User Interface Improvements

First and foremost, the interface has been incorporated into MyOleMiss for improved usability.  No more pop-ups or opening in other screens or tabs. Another major change is that the layout has been redesigned to use a tabbed format. When adding or editing an activity, there are no more long, scrolling pages that seem to go on forever, but rather there is now a tabbed layout that saves your content as you add it between the tabs on a single screen.

Other changes relate to how you manage your activities. As you may remember, there are two parts to the process: adding activities into a database that is searchable; and pulling those activities into an annual report to which you can add commentary. It is now easier to manage database activities such as journal articles, books, or artistic works. The system presents a list of activities that gives you more information initially, such as the start and end dates and the current status, so you can decide if you need to edit an existing activity or create a new activity. You are able to sort this list with primary and secondary sorting capabilities, and a drop-down menu beside each activity gives quick options for many functions (e.g., editing, deleting, or adding participants).

When adding participants, there is now an “auto suggest” feature. As you type in a person’s name (Last, First Middle) a drop-down list will show the first five matching responses. Help text is hidden under a question mark icon; that is, when you click on the icon, the screen will expand to shown customized notes for that particular field.

Numerous other small changes have been made to simplify the layout and make the process more user-friendly. These changes were based on feedback from the Task Force and individual faculty members as well as reviews of commercial products.

The interface to enter and edit faculty activities is currently available. You may begin adding your activities such as conferences, journal articles, etc. to the database now. Changes are planned for the report creation part too. The revised interface to create reports will be available by early February.

Getting Help

If you need assistance with the new layout or if you have any questions, please contact Faculty Technology Development Center at 915-7918 or ftdc@olemiss.edu. If you would like individual assistance in person, drop by FTDC in 101 Weir Hall weekdays between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Filed Under: FTDC, myOleMiss, Web Applications Tagged With:

Faculty Members Receive New Computers Through TACIT

November 4, 2010 by

Ninety-four faculty members received new computers as part of this year’s TACIT program (see http://www.olemiss.edu/tacit/).   Now in its twelfth year, TACIT provides for the cyclical replacement of faculty computers and is sponsored by the Provost’s Office and carried out by the Office of Information Technology (IT). Faculty members are given the choice between desktop, laptop, PC, and Mac. This year’s numbers were as follows:

  • # PC Desktops: 35
  • # PC Laptops: 19
  • # Apple Desktops: 13
  • # Apple Laptops: 27

As part of the program, faculty members attended three or more training sessions, including a general session that covered technology topics currently of interest. See http://www.olemiss.edu/tacit/training.html for a full listing of this year’s TACIT training sessions. The general sessions took place the week of October 25 and included lots of good discussion, which is summarized below for the benefit of any who may also be interested. See http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/it/TACIT2010.pdf for discussion slides.

 

 

 

 

 

Cell Phones as Clickers

What is the possibility of cell phones being used as clickers instead of separately purchased clicker devices? Several small private schools have had success in using iPhones and iPod Touch devices as clickers (see http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/mobile-college-app-turning-iphones-into-super-clickers-for-classroom-feedback/4434). The problem is more challenging in an environment like ours where many different kinds of devices are in use and not all students have smart phones with data plans, but this is an area that we are watching closely. We have begun brainstorming on how we might be able to record attendance for classes and performances using the GPS capabilities of cell phones and the HTML 5 standard.

Cell Service in Oxford and on the UM Campus

Help is on the way for AT&T cell customers who live near the intersection of HWY 7 and HWY 6. AT&T is constructing a new cell tower in that area and expects for work to be completed by the end of November.

With regard to on-campus service, UM has partnered with a company called NextG Networks (see http://www.nextgnetworks.net/) to install a vendor-neutral Distributed Antenna System (DAS). A DAS is a network of small antenna nodes connected by fiber to a head-end. DAS technology has been used with great success in airports, malls, cruise ships, etc. and is beginning to gain popularity on college campuses with the first NextG university customer being Notre Dame.

We had hoped to have the DAS up and running by the start of football season, but establishing the first contract between NextG and AT&T has taken longer than expected, not only for UM but also for a number of other major universities. Most of the issues have been resolved and the designs approved. Phase one of the DAS project will include the football stadium, the Holman / Conner complex, the Ford Center, and the Grove. Plans are underway for Phase 2, which will address the northwest side of campus including the Mall area either by means of a new cell macro site (tower) or an extension of the DAS.

Mobile Blackboard

Both students and instructors have expressed interest in a mobile interface to Blackboard. Blackboard launched a free version for Sprint users earlier this year and is now making available a device-agnostic version for an additional licensing fee. UM is watching this closely and, with other universities, is requesting that Blackboard provide affordable licensing options.

Sending E-mail from Off-Campus

One of the most common questions that comes to the FTDC and IT Helpdesk is how to send e-mail from off-campus when you are not using a Web-based client such as Webmail. This requires a Virtual Private Network (VPN) client and account, which all employees already have. See http://vpnhelp.olemiss.edu/ for instructions on downloading the client and using VPN from an iPhone. Login to VPN with your WedID and password.

Student Use of E-mail

IT is upgrading the Microsoft Exchange environment which has provided calendaring services for employees in the past. In the future, this platform will provide e-mail and calendaring services for all UM employees. Calendar users have already been moved over, and other employees will be moved over in small groups over the next few months. In parallel, IT has been looking at Google mail for students. Several discussions with ASB leaders took place this summer, and a test platform has been established.

In the TACIT general sessions, faculty members expressed opinions both for and against outsourcing student e-mail. Some expressed enthusiasm about the possibility of using Google Apps for Education, whereas others expressed concerns about e-mails getting caught up in spam filters, being able to confirm that students receive e-mails, etc. There will be many more discussions with key groups from around campus before making a final decision. Separating out employee and student e-mail is an important first step.

In several of the general sessions, faculty members expressed dismay over the fact that students don’t seem to read e-mail. This is a common observation at other universities too and is part of the motivation for providing SMS text messaging as a new way for instructors and advisors to reach students. Right now, instructors and advisors can send text messages from the Ole Miss Today interface, and over eighty people have used this feature since it was first made available in late September. During Thanksgiving week, additional links will be added to myOleMiss to provide a one-step method to send text-only e-mail and SMS text messages.  A mobile equivalent is also in the works.  One thing to keep in mind is that text messages only go to the students who have opted in to receive them.

Student Use of the Network and Bandwidth Issues

One of the technology services most affected by increased enrollment is wireless access and overall available bandwidth. A specific example is the increased use of video streaming services such as Netflix on Demand by students in residence halls. Currently, the campus network is partitioned into three segments: research, general office, and residence halls. Network policies are in place to give priority to each segment and to certain types of traffic. In the evening, after 6 pm, more bandwidth is shifted to the residence halls. This fall, IT purchased more commodity Internet bandwidth. The IT network group is continuing to monitor this situation closely and is adjusting network policies in response to user feedback. Any faculty members who are experiencing bandwidth limitations in their offices or in classrooms should send details to ftdc@olemiss.edu.

Faculty Activity Reports

A Faculty Activity Report Task Force was established in June by the Provost’s Office and is being chaired by Dr. Maurice Eftink. The task force made a key decision in July to continue with a structured database model for reporting completed activities. The next major decision will be whether to continue with a home-grown solution or move to a commercial product such as Sedona (https://sedonaweb.com/i/index.cfm) or Activity Insight by Digital Measures (http://www.digitalmeasures.com/ActivityInsight/).

The current system will be used in Spring 2011 and is being updated based on feedback from the FAR Task Force. In each of the general sessions, faculty members previewed the new screen layouts for entering activities and offered comments based on past experiences. The feedback on the new layouts was generally positive with the caveat that they really need to be able to try them out before making a final judgment. Faculty members noted the following as problem areas from past years: deleting activities, understanding the role of and managing activity dates (which affects the roll forward of activities from previous years), too many windows opening up, and reporting grants that fall outside of ORSP processes. Related topics included standardizing on reference software such as RefWorks or Zotero and then having interfaces to import research activities from that environment, using faculty activity report data to automatically populate tenure and promotion dossiers, and moving to a calendar year for reporting activities, which most thought would be helpful.

Filed Under: FTDC Tagged With: , , ,