Summer 2011 Classroom Improvements

mgardzina September 7, 2011

The Office of Information Technology in collaboration with the Classroom Stewards Committee improved and updated classroom technology in numerous rooms across campus. Here’s a list of some of the details:

Taylor 210 – Added ceiling speakers and control system
Taylor 109C, 206 & 207 – Installed ceiling speakers and video control
Scovel 105 & 205 – Installed new front-mounted projectors, as well as improved audio and video controls
Severance 009 – new projector, podium and control system
Severance 123 & 211 – Installed speakers, media cabinets and courtesy port for guest laptops
Mateer 305 – Installed a new VHS/DVD player
Morgan 101 & 308 – Installed a new projectors, and control systems
Morgan 222 – Installed new speakers
Kauke 305 – Installed Sympodium for classroom use

If you have any suggestions for new and innovative technology to use in the classroom consult Instructional Technology or your classroom steward.

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Did you know we have a Spam Filter?

Mary Schantz October 20, 2010

Analysts estimate that 75% to 80% of global e-mail traffic is unsolicited commercial e-mail, better known as “SPAM”.  Some Spam messages are intended to collect personal information like usernames and passwords.  These messages mask themselves as notices from your bank, the IRS, and even the technology office at the College.  That information is then used maliciously by Spammers and can result in some cases in Identity Theft.  Despite laws against Spam, the amount of Spam increases annually.  While Spam filters do a good job of blocking most of this traffic (our Spam filter at Wooster catches approximately 4 million messages per week), Spammers are getting better and better at finding ways to craft sophisticated spam messages that ultimately pass through Spam filters.   This creates a tough situation for those who manage the spam filter.  Our Spam filter provider, Xecuritas, updates our spam filter automatically to adjust for increases in Spam traffic internationally.   But as they try to better identify spam messages, sometimes emails that we would consider to be legitimate or from trusted senders can get trapped by accident.

To help identify legitimate email messages that may have been trapped in the filter, our Spam filter offers a daily report feature that each user can configure.  Instead of having to visit the spam filter daily to check for trapped messages, the filter will send a daily email reporting all messages that have been trapped.  If you notice something that shouldn’t have been caught, you can visit the filter and release the message.

More information on configuring this automatic summary email can be found here.

More information about reducing the amount of Spam you receive can be found here.

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Student Printing Made Easier

Mary Schantz October 19, 2010

Student printing just got better.  In previous years, students would have to use a separate swipe device to print and photocopy. Students had to install multiple queues to be able to print to all of the public printers on campus.  Now, photocopying and printing is controlled through one touch screen device and students can print to any public printer by using Pharos’ new cloud printing technology.   Cloud printing simply means that students print to a single print queue and can stop by any of the public printers, swipe their card and release the print job.  If the line is long at the Wired Scot, head over to Andrews Library to print your paper.   It doesn’t matter which lab you print from – your job will be waiting to be released by any of our public printers/copiers in all 3 locations – Timken Science Library, The Wired Scot, and Andrews Library.

Additionally, students can install the main print queue on their personal laptops and print to our public printers from any location on campus.  Working on a paper in the Lowry lounge? Print your paper and pick it up later.  Print jobs will be held in the print queue for up to 24 hours.  Only you can release your print job using your cow card.   More information can be found here.

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OIT Streamlines Connecting to Wireless

Mary Schantz October 19, 2010

In an effort to simplify the process for connecting to our secure wireless network, Scotzone, OIT has invested in a product called Cloudpath.  Instead of requiring  students, faculty and staff to follow a tedious five page document to connect to the wireless network,  Cloudpath provides a wizard that automatically configures each device for secure wireless access quickly and efficiently.  To get connected, first select Laptopsstarthere from the list of available wireless networks.  Launch a browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari, and enter your Wooster Username and Password (same thing you use to log in to Email, Woodle, etc).  Follow the on screen prompts and you will be automatically connected to Scotzone. More information about connecting to wireless  on campus can be found here.

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Educause @ Wooster

Mary Schantz October 19, 2010

On October 13-15th, OIT hosted Educause 2010 Online, a virtual conference for IT professionals in higher education that explores the key issues impacting our institutions today, from the role that IT can play in developing collaborative, transformative learning environments and dealing with and understanding emerging technologies to working within reduced IT budgets.

The online conference included a series of virtual presentations, expert discussion sessions, and streamed point/counterpoint sessions in addition to a live “expo center” in the Digital Media Lab in Taylor Hall featuring Office 2010/2011, our new notebook systems options, GroupWise 8 (coming to all of you who use it soon), projects and resources in Instructional Technology, Informer, WebAdvisor, Cloudpath (the easy way to connect to wireless), and more.

Thanks to all who participated in one of our first College-wide IT professional development activities.

Look for details about next year’s Educause @ Wooster!

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mgardzina September 24, 2009

digitalMEDIAlab

digitalMEDIAlab

Over the summer of 2009, we made some big changes to the College’s digital media lab located in Taylor 205. The old lab saw a lot of use and sparked a wonderful variety of media projects, but was looking a little tired and no longer meeting the demands of digital media use at The College of Wooster. So last Spring, The Office of Information Technology formed a project team to talk to academic departments about their needs for digital media in the curriculum and based on those needs, set out to rethink the space and find the right technologies. This project team’s plan was implemented over the summer with some work continuing through this academic year. See the information below to find out what we’ve done.

Technologies now available in the digitalMEDIAlab

  • twelve new iMacs running Mac OSX Leopard and Windows XP
  • a projector, screen and instructor station for workshops
  • two group stations with flexible furniture, mobile whiteboards and mobile LCD screens to accommodate laptops (coming soon)
  • a large format printer and color printer
  • an audio recording booth
  • multi-standard and region free video import and editing station
  • three NTSC video import and editing stations
  • two scanning stations with optical character recognition and the ability to scan film, slides, and high-quality images
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OIT Initiates 5% Less Campaign

Mary Schantz August 25, 2009

The typical U.S. office worker uses about 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. How much paper is 10,000 sheets?  In one large stack, 10,000 sheets of unused paper, weighs about 100 pounds.  Last year, members of the College of Wooster Community printed and copied roughly 5,400,000 pages. That’s equivalent to 27 tons of paper.

The Environmental Defense Fund provides a paper calculator to help organizations and individuals understand the impact of paper usage.  Click here to see a break down of our contribution and what you can do to help reduce paper usage on campus by 5%:

Continue reading →

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Instructional Technology Welcomes Jedidiah Rex

mgardzina July 23, 2009

jedidiahThe Department of Instructional Technology is pleased to welcome our new intern, Jedidiah Rex.  Jedidiah is currently finishing a masters degree program in Instructional Technology at Kent State University and expects to graduate in December.  Most recently he completed a practicum experience at Valley Christian Academy where he served the school by working in the technology lab and taught some technology courses.   Jedidiah also has extensive experience as a music educator both in class settings and private instruction. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Malone College.  At Wooster, he will be providing support to faculty and staff in their use and implementation of technology in the curriculum and instruction.   He will also manage the updated Taylor digital media lab and provide support for the general operations of the Instructional Technology department.  Welcome, Jedidiah!

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OIT to Offer Office 2007 Training

dwaldron May 16, 2009

The Office of Information Technology will sponsor training courses in Microsoft Word and Excel 2007 for those interested in upgrading from Office 2003 to Office 2007. While 2007 has functionality similar to that of the previous version, the look and feel of Office 2007 is very different. The training schedule is as follows:

May 27th 9:00-4:00  Microsoft Word Beginning
June 18th 9:00-4:00  Microsoft Word Intermediate
June 12th 9:00-4:00  Microsoft Excel Beginning
June 25th 9:00-4:00  Microsoft Excel Intermediate

To sign up for these courses, please email Mary Schantz, Director of User Services. Seats are limited and fill quickly!

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Steve Ehrmann Talk Now Online

dwaldron May 6, 2009

Steve Ehrmann, one of the founders of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group, recently visited the College of Wooster. On April 7, Steve delivered a public talk entitled “Greater Expectations for 21st Century Learning: Implications of Information Technology for the Nature of Education at the College of Wooster.” Steve’s talk was part of the series of events associated with our inaugural Instructional Technology Month.

Steve earned undergraduate degrees in aerospace engineering and urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in management and higher education, also from M.I.T.

QuickTime is required to view the video. To do so, launch the QuickTime application. Choose the “Open URL” option from the “File” menu. Enter the URL “rtsp://helix.wooster.edu/Ehrmann.mov” and click “OK.” Please note that the video can only be viewed from on-campus locations. The slides Steve used during his presentation can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/djplnq.

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