15. Respondus Installation Issue in Windows Vista
16. New Activities Available in StudyMate Class Server
17. iWork ‘09 Available in the ITC
18. Capture Your Lectures
19. Wimba Pronto—New and Improved!
20. IRT Upcoming Workshops
1. Reservations and Hours for Summer Term
The Korman Computing Center has eight computer classrooms that can be reserved by faculty members for single sessions or for an entire term. These rooms accommodate between 20 and 30 students, depending on the room configuration. IRT is now accepting reservations for Summer term. To make a reservation, visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/facilities/korman/classrooms.
Any special requests for software must be renewed each term. Instructors must supply media, licenses, and any activation codes to IRT by the Wednesday of the last week of the preceding term. Additionally, instructors should schedule a time before the start of term to check the installation and functionality of any software that has been installed at their request.
Summer hours for the Korman Center, which begin the week of June 22, 2009, will be as follows:
- Sunday: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Monday: Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday: CLOSED
For summer break and graduation from June 13 to June 21, the Korman Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Korman Center will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays during this time.
Normal hours will resume the week of September 20, 2009 for the start of Fall term.
For more information about Korman Center hours and holiday closures, visit http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/facilities/korman/calendar.
2. Announcing Camtasia Relay for Faculty and Staff
Camtasia Relay is a lightweight desktop recording front-end for DragonDrop that is available for both Windows and Mac OS X. Relay allows you to video-capture your desktop, record audio, review your work, and then upload your recording directly to DragonDrop for encoding and publication. Once it is processed by the system, the file will appear on your Relay playlist in DragonDrop, and you will receive an email containing a link to the file and playlist.
All faculty and staff with existing DragonDrop accounts are eligible to use Camtasia Relay. To get started with Relay, you must first request a Relay account by sending an email to rmcp@dcollege.net. You can download the Relay software from http://relay.irt.drexel.edu.
For more information about DragonDrop or Camtasia Relay, sign up for an upcoming DragonDrop training session. Training dates are available on the OLT Workshops page at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/services/workshops. If you have any questions about Relay, please email the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu or call 215-895-1224.
3. 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 30 days after graduation and will affect access to University services such as the Computer Marketplace.
For a summary of these and other electronic services after graduation, see http://www.drexel.edu/irt/policies/email.html#continue.
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.
4. Sunday Maintenance Reminder
IRT reserves Sunday mornings from 6 a.m. to noon for routine and critical maintenance, if needed, on central University systems. On most Sundays, this maintenance window is not used. For the most up-to-date information concerning maintenance and outages, visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/status.
The month of April proved to be a busy one for IRT’s system maintenance personnel. During each Sunday morning maintenance period in April, IRT applied system patches and upgrades to a variety of University services, including Banner, BannerWeb, BbVista, DrexelOne, Advance, the TouchNet system for credit card purchases and payments, and others.
5. Name Change for SPSS Statistics
The application known as SPSS Statistics has changed its name. SPSS is now PASW, or Predictive Analytics Software. Students, faculty, and staff can download the latest version of the application (PASW17) from IRT’s Computer Marketplace at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/services/comp_mark/software.html by clicking on the link “PASW formerly SPSS.”
The SPSS name change is part of a rebranding campaign initiated by the software publisher to better identify its various software families, and does not affect the application itself or product licensing. More information about the name change can be found at http://www.spss.com/software/product-name-guide.
6. LinkEdu and Windows Live Features: An Introduction
Last spring, IRT introduced LinkEdu, a unique partnership between Drexel and two other companies, Microsoft and Google. LinkEdu provides students with exclusive access to Drexel-branded email accounts from these services. This article is the first in a series of articles that will discuss the features of LinkEdu and how students can use the LinkEdu accounts. (Faculty and staff can take advantage of these services by visiting http://www.windowslive.com or http://docs.google.com directly). Students can activate these additional email accounts through the Computer Accounts site at http://accounts.drexel.edu.
- Microsoft™ offers Drexel students Exchange Labs accounts that utilize Windows Live authentication. Windows Live integrates remote services such as SkyDrive (25 GB of online storage), Office Live, and Messenger.
- Google™ also offers useful add-ons such as Google Docs--a remote service that allows you to view and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents online, even if you don’t have the respective programs installed. Google also offers Google Talk, a free instant message client.
Visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/LinkEdu/index.html and stay tuned for future articles in this series!
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:
Rearrange Paragraphs in Word
Changing File Properties in Windows Vista
Customize the Status Bar in Office 2007 Programs
Choose a Different Signature in Outlook 2007
Create Tables to Your Own Specifications in Word 2007
Turn Off Email Notifications in Outlook 2007
Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista
Paste Values Instead of Formulas in Excel 2007
News & Notes from the Online Learning Team
15. Respondus Installation Issue in Windows Vista
Users who attempt to install Respondus on a Windows Vista computer might encounter an error message indicating that they do not have administrative rights to run the program. If you encounter this error message, simply right-click on the Respondus 3.5 program and select “Run as administrator.”
The program will then prompt you for the Respondus license information. The Institution Name and Installation Password must be entered exactly as they appear in the license code file ("licensecode08_09.txt"). To minimize mistakes, copy and paste the information instead of retyping it.
Also, users are encouraged to update Respondus regularly. To perform an update, go to the Help menu, select "Check for Update," and then click the “Get Update” button.
Respondus automates the upload and download of questions and answers to Bb Vista’s Assessment tool.
For assistance with installing or using Respondus, please email the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu or call 215-895-1224. The Respondus installer and license code file for the 2008-09 academic year are located in the “Downloads” folder of the Designer 101 Forum on Bb Vista. If you do not see the Designer 101 course section on your Bb Vista Course List, please contact us.
16. New Activities Available in StudyMate Class Server
Respondus StudyMate Class Server is an add-in tool in Bb Vista that creates Flash-based activities, including flash cards, quizzes, and games similar to Hangman and Jeopardy. Now crossword puzzle and matching activities are available as well! Instructors can supply the questions that these activities use, or allow students to create and edit their own questions. Instructors can also allow students to edit each other’s contributions. Student participation is tracked and can be graded. Grades flow automatically into the Bb Vista grade book.
To create a StudyMate instance in a Bb Vista section(s):
- Go to the Build tab and click “Add Content Link.”
- Select “StudyMate” and click “Create StudyMate.”
- On the next screen, enter a title and click “Configure StudyMate Instance.”
- Select the level of editing rights and click “Create StudyMate Class Server Instance.”
- Finally, switch to the Teach tab and click on the StudyMate link that was just created to begin adding questions.
A Brown Bag session on StudyMate Class Server will be offered in the coming months; stay tuned for details.
17. iWork ‘09 Available in the ITC
Apple's iWork ‘09 suite has recently been installed on all four of the Macs in the lab area of the Instructional Technology Center (ITC), located in room 109 of the Korman Center. Although the ITC is staffed by the Online Learning Team from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, the lab area remains open and available to faculty during the operating hours of the Korman Center. Korman’s hours are viewable online at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/facilities/korman.
iWork ‘09 is a productivity software suite for the Mac OS X operating system. It includes Pages, Numbers and Keynote, and is completely compatible with the Microsoft Office software suite.
18. Capture Your Lectures
Going to a conference, but don't want to cancel class? You don't have to! Your students can still hear and/or watch your lecture while you are half a world away. IRT provides a variety of technologies for capturing audio and video. For advice on the application or course of action that will best meet your needs, email olt@drexel.edu, call 215-895-1224, or stop by Korman 109 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
19. Wimba Pronto—New and Improved!
Wimba Pronto is a free instant messaging, video, and voice chat tool that allows students and instructors to spontaneously meet live online at any time to discuss their coursework. Wimba Pronto integrates with Bb Vista to automatically populate student and faculty enrollment lists each term, thereby making it easier for users to collaborate online. Anyone logged into Bb Vista can follow the link at the bottom of the Bb Vista Home page to create a new Pronto account, or instructors can add the tool to their sections via the “Add Content Link” drop-down menu.
Once they create a Pronto account, students and faculty can communicate without logging into Bb Vista. Using the free downloadable software, users can send instant messages, make audio calls (either on a one-to-one or group basis), see who else is online, add avatars, create personal contact lists, and save chat logs for future reference. Students benefit from the ability to instantly ask available classmates for help; Pronto thereby facilitates peer-to-peer learning.
Since course listings in Pronto are pulled directly from the Bb Vista system, only members of the Drexel community can contact instructors and students.
If you would like to learn more about Pronto, please contact the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu, visit the Wimba Pronto site at http://www.wimba.com/products/wimba_pronto, or review the user manual at http://webhelp.wimba.com/WPB/v2_1/en/User_Guide.
20. IRT Upcoming Workshops
Please email olt@drexel.edu to reserve a spot. All sessions will be held in Korman 116.
- Snap Basic
Tuesday, May 12, 2 - 3 p.m.
This workshop is for new users of Snap, Drexel's survey software. A demonstration of the entire survey setup process will be presented.
- Brown Bag: Best Practices for PC Maintenance
Wednesday, May 13, 12 - 1 p.m.
Hints and tips for keeping your PC in good shape. *Not* a hands-on session. Beverages and a dessert item will be provided.
- Dreamweaver Basic
Thursday, May 14, 2 - 4 p.m.
In the basic course, we create simple pages using Dreamweaver CS4, including headings, lists, images, and links.
- Using the Teach Tab and More
Wednesday, May 20, 1 - 4 p.m.
An open forum session intended for current or experienced Bb Vista users.
- Impatica
Tuesday, May 26, 10 - 11 a.m.
Impatica for PowerPoint packages a PowerPoint presentation into a file that can be viewed over the Internet without additional user software.
- Camtasia Basic
Tuesday, May 26, 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Record onscreen activity and voiceover, turn it into a polished video, and share it.
- Dreamweaver Intermediate
Thursday, May 28, 2 - 4 p.m.
In the intermediate course, we create and modify stylesheets and apply styles including fonts, float positioning, and colors.
- Camtasia Intermediate
Tuesday, June 2, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Learn how to edit your video, enhance your audio, and more!
To view the full, up-to-date workshop schedule, visit http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/services/workshops.