850-644-9623(Director)
850-644-2725Fall 2007 Technology Newsletter
August 2007
Table of Contents
- Fall accounts with FSU TEC (Technology Enhanced Classroom)
- BlackBoard
- Turnitin
- Free video and audioconferencing
- Skype
- vRoom Elluminate
- Polycom Viewstation
- FSU technology resources affected by budget cuts
- E-mail changes
- New resources
- Vista and Office 2007 available for home machines
- Video site
- Mediasite.com (beta)
- JISC Collections Catalogues of Online Resources
- SAS
- Annenberg videolibrary
- COE Survey Management System
- Inspiration-extra copies available
- Office of Information and Instructional Technology news
Fall accounts with FSU TEC (Technology Enhanced Classroom)
Please follow these links:
- To check what your FSU Tec classroom has
- To renew your FSU TEC account
- To check the software and order something new
BlackBoard
The default for BB sites to be populated by students is 10 days prior to the start of the semester. A faculty can request an earlier enrollment date by emailing help@campus.fsu.edu.
COE had 126 BB course and organization sites in Summer 2007, 328 in Spring 2007, and 342 in Fall 2006. Would you like to enhance you ruse of BB? Sign up for BB workshops!
Turnitin
Ever wondered about originality of your student work? You can not get it checked through Turnitin (powerlink in BlackBoard suite). To know more:
Free video and audioconferencing
Skype
It comes with video calling so you can see who you are taking to. As long as you and the person you call both have webcams, you can enjoy hassle-free video calling. You can also have a free audioconferencing with up to nine people at a time. Make sure to close Skype when not in use. Please contact Refika Olgan (ro03c@fsu.edu, 644-9623) for demo.
vRoom Elluminate
E-Learning technology provider Elluminate has rolled out the final release of its new, free Web conferencing system, vRoom. Elluminate's vRoom is a collaboration tool supporting up to three simultaneous users, including the moderator. It incorporates "most" of the technology of Elluminate Live!, according to the company, but is available for use free of charge. vRoom is essentially a virtual office, providing features like video and audio conferencing, instant messaging, application and desktop sharing, and interactive whiteboard capabilities.
Polycom Viewstation
We have Polycom Viewstation to be used for videoconferencing in the LRC or other Stone Building classrooms. Please contact Dina Vyortkina (dvyortkina@fsu.edu) for more details or stop by 124 B STB for a demo.
FSU technology resources affected by budget cuts
- Reduced FSU labs schedule
- Reduced hours for Helpdesk
- No more FSU Dialup: As of August 1, no new account requests for dialup will be accepted. Pre-existing accounts will remain active through August 31 to allow time to select another provider. More details.
E-mail changes
FSU email changes
Migration information for users currently checking mailer, garnet, or admin accounts. Please note that all mailer accounts are under voluntary upgrade. Mandatory mailer account upgrades will be completed during a winter break, in December 2007.
Client setup information for the new JES server that the aforementioned servers are moving to, is located at the bottom of this page
COE email changes
Setup instruction page to assist users who want to setup Mozilla Thunderbird to check email from home or work are on the OIIT website.
As of July 10th 2007, the OIIT Network group has implemented a new Horde based webmail server for all College of Education email accounts (this pertains to coe.fsu.edu email accounts only). This has been implemented to give COE email users a secure web based interface for sending/receiving emails from most Internet Web Browsers. To check out the new server go to http://webmail.coe.fsu.edu. Also, with this implementation of the new webmail server, users of with College of Education email accounts will be able to create, enable, and disable their vacation message (check out our Email FAQ page).
New resources
Vista and Office 2007 available for home machines
The Microsoft Work at Home program is now offering the Vista operating system and Office 2007 suite. Each product is available to FSU faculty and staff for $19.95 through CDW. Information about accessing the Work at Home site can be found at http://usl.fsu.edu/whi.html.
Video site
In the same vein as YouTube, SciTalks.com (Boston, MA) has launched a searchable online collection of science lecture video files from across the world. Currently 1,000 lectures are online, with new videos being added daily. http://campustechnology.com/articles/49060/
Mediasite.com (beta)
It is an advanced rich media search engine that automatically indexes publicly available webcasts recorded with Mediasite by Sonic.
JISC Collections Catalogues of Online Resources
http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/catalogue.aspx
Intute: a searchable database, across all subject areas, of over 115,000 Internet resources and websites, complemented by over 60 revised and updated Virtual Training Suite tutorials, Blogs, MyIntute, and much more.
SAS
SAS Launches OnDemand for Academics
Analytics software developer SAS recently announced OnDemand for Academics, a new service designed for higher education. The new version provides additional means for students and educators to access SAS analytics technologies, via the Internet through a graphical interface.
OnDemand for Academics provides Guided Analytics, which allows users to organize and maintain projects, as well as create reports, graphical, analytical, and wizard-based tasks; the ability to access and view data types and manipulate data table; OLAP data cubes for storing, analyzing, and extracting information from multidimensional sources; and result distribution and sharing via integration with with Microsoft Windows Scheduler.
Professors who wish to register can download the software free. Students will be charged based on length of license, estimated to be equal to the cost of a textbook. OnDemand for Academics is expected to be available for the fall 2007 semester. Follow this link for more info.
Annenberg videolibrary
- Connect to http://www.learner.org/
- Select Free Video on Demand
- Find a program your interested in and select it
- Make sure it has VoD at the end of each selection and click the VoD button
- You may need to create an account, if you do not already have one at this point, each account is free
- Watch the video or advise your students to use it
- Learner's FAQ page
COE Survey Management System
We upgraded our web-based survey tool. It is free to use for COE faculty and students. You will enjoy easy creation and deployment of surveys. Data can be exported into Excel or directly to SPSS. Contact Dina Vyortkina for more details. You can request an account by completing this request from (and also reviewing the survey software in action). More details.
Inspiration-extra copies available
We have done some evaluation reports for Inspiration and they were kind enough to give us 133 free license copies. We used majority of licenses to install them in COE computer labs and classrooms. We have 10 extra copies left. Please contact Dina Vyortkina if you would like to have one installed on your office machine. To get a better understanding of the software and make an informed decision, you might want to view a demo and/or install a trial version for 30 days.
Office of Information and Instructional Technology news
Scheduling equipment
We have various equipment for checkout available either for your class or conference presentation. For availability and forms visit the LRC website.
Labs
In summer, we installed new PC computers in the LRC 124 C and D STB. Please come and visit us to enjoy new machines! Check us out online!
To schedule labs please call 644-4553 (for 124 B, C, D, E STB) or 644-1583 (for 212 Tully).
For more OIIT news and view an overview presentation online follow this link (under Quick Links)
Research Reference Hours
Every Thursday
124 B STB
3 - 5 pm
Please come and receive individualized research assistance from FSU librarians, get organized resources for your course BlackBoard site, and learn how to use new databases.
- Burt Altman, 644-3271, baltman@mailer.fsu.edu (EPLS, LSI)
- Gloria Colvin, 645-1680, gcolvin@mailer.fsu.edu (ELPS, SMRMPE)
- Melanie Brooks, 645-7447, mcbrooks@mailer.fsu.edu (CERDS, MSE)
Please feel free to contact them if you have questions about library services and resources.
FSU libraries have a comprehensive list of services at http://www.lib.fsu.edu/forfaculty (for faculty), http://www.lib.fsu.edu/forgrad (graduate students), and http://www.lib.fsu.edu/forundergrad (undergraduates).
Buzz: Second Life
Second Life (SL): ever wondered what happens there? Stay tuned for an overview and list of resources! Cannot wait? Browse these links for initial info:
Secondlife is an internet based virtual; world where residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, and participate in individual and group activities - such as trade, recreation and learning
Intro to SL (YouTube video)
SL construction tutorial (YouTube video)
Many more SL demos and video examples in YouTube
A SL wiki hosted by the International Society of Technology in Education
Secondlife in education - discussion list Those of you who are waking up to the potential of SL in teaching and learning may like to sign up to an email list to discuss its use and development
Proceedings of the Second Life Education Workshop at the Second Life Community
Convention San Francisco, August 20th, 2006. Please see attached (good informative papers on educational context, student and faculty perspectives; 14 papers and presentations).
The Unofficial Complete Fool's Guide to Second Life. (72 pages)
The Eduserv Foundation Symposium 2007: Virtual worlds, real learning?