Information Services

Reminder: Class of 2013 – Termination of your IT accounts

Lynda S. LaRoche — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:41:31 +0000

Class of 2013,

Please remember your DePauw IT accounts will expire on the following dates:

August 1, 2013 – Google Apps (email, calendar, docs, etc.)
August 1, 2013 – Network (I: drive, p: drive)
May 31, 2014 – e-Services

For details on preserving any information you may need, please refer to the email named “Reminder: Class of 2013 – Termination of your IT Accounts”.

Transitioning from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.3. Don’t wait until August!

Lynda S. LaRoche — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:26:24 +0000

Dear Faculty Members,

Before you leave for the summer, please note the following important information regarding the transition from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.3!

1) Moodle support sessions for semester’s end/early summer are provided below. You can find the current schedule on the I.S. Blog and instructions on the KnowledgeBase. If you will be gone most of summer, we strongly urge you to attend a workshop or come to FITS during open lab hours before you leave, so that you can plan ahead for the transition. Backing up and restoring courses will take more of your time than previous Moodle upgrades have because of a new filing system in Moodle 2.3. Don’t wait until August!

2) Courses from Spring 2009 and earlier are currently on http://moodlearchive.depauw.edu/ but will disappear on July 1. Please back up your courses by June 30 and contact FITS before that date for any help learning that process.

3) Non-academic Moodle courses (for example, a committee that uses a Moodle course to collect materials) will be created in Moodle 2.3 upon request only. Please fill out this form to have a course created.

Please let us know if you have any questions or need support by contacting fits@depauw.edu. We’re here to help make the transition as smooth as possible!

Donnie Sendelbach

Class of 2013 – Termination of your DePauw University accounts (Google Mail, network, and e-Services)

Lynda S. LaRoche — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:01:46 +0000

Class of 2013

As you prepare for life after DePauw, it is important to know what will happen to your DePauw IT accounts upon graduation:

Google Apps (email, calendar, docs, etc.)

Your current DePauw Google account will be deleted on August 1, 2013. Once it is deleted, it is gone and you will not be able to retrieve any of your saved emails, calendar events, contacts, docs, or other information contained in that account.

To learn how you can use the Google Mail Fetcher to migrate your DePauw email into another mail account before the account is deleted, browse to https://support.google.com/mail/answer/21289?hl=en&from=21288&rd=1.

DePauw’s Alumni Office offers you the option of signing up for Email for Life.

Email for Life is a forwarding service available through the DePauw Gateway that provides you with a permanent DePauw identity for communicating within the DePauw community. Please browse to http://gateway.depauw.edu and click Register Now! to learn more. If you have questions, you may contact the Alumni Office at alumnioffice@depauw.edu or 765-658-4208.

Network

Your DePauw network account will expire on August 1, 2013. If you have information in your class (I: drive) or personal (P: drive) folders, be sure to back them up before this date.

e-Services

Your e-Services account will expire on May 31, 2014. To request a transcript after this day, you may browse to the transcript ordering portal on the Registrar’s website at http://www.depauw.edu/academics/academic-resources/advising/registrar/transcripts/.

Questions concerning your IT accounts may be directed to the HelpDesk at helpdesk@depauw.edu or 765-658-4294.

Questions concerning the DePauw Gateway may be directed to the Alumni Office at alumnioffice@depauw.edu or 765-658-4208.

Wishing you success with your future endeavors!

Best,

Lynda S. LaRoche
Information Services, HelpDesk and User Support Director
helpdesk@depauw.edu or 765-658-4294

Moodle 2 Upgrade is Coming this Summer – Here’s the timeline

Carol L. Smith — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:37:41 +0000

From Carol L. Smith, CIO

As you know, we are preparing to upgrade to Moodle 2 this summer. Since Moodle 2 is a bit different from our current Moodle, FITS has been working closely with faculty members and staff over the past several months to pilot-test the new version and offer demos and orientation sessions to help everyone prepare for the upgrade.

Many more details will be shared by email from the FITS folks, but the following provides a general timeline of the transition and outlines basic things you can do to prepare for using Moodle 2 next fall.

Overview:

DePauw currently is using Moodle 1.9 LAE (Liberal Arts Edition). On June 1, moodle.depauw.edu will be upgraded to Moodle 2.3 and all fall 2013 courses will be set up in the new version. Courses that currently exist in Moodle will be relocated to moodlearchive.depauw.edu (running Moodle 1.9 LAE). Finally, the current Moodle archive (which contains courses from prior to Fall 2009) will be renamed to moodlearchive2009, then will be shut down and retired on June 30.

Transition Timeline:

Spring 2013 (Now)	Version	Description
moodle.depauw.edu	Moodle 1.9 LAE	Used for all active courses and Moodle sites (Fall 2009 – Spring 2013)
moodlearchive.depauw.edu	Moodle 1.8	Archived Moodle courses from prior to Fall 2009
moodle2test.depauw.edu	Moodle 2.3	Pilot test of Moodle 2. Selected Spring courses in use by faculty & staff beta testers.

June 1, 2013	Version	Description
moodle.depauw.edu	Moodle 2.3	Used for all active courses and Moodle sites (Fall 2013 and following)
moodlearchive.depauw.edu	Moodle 1.9 LAE	Archived Moodle courses from Fall 2009 – Spring 2013
moodlearchive2009.depauw.eduNo longer available after June 30, 2013.	Moodle 1.8	Archived Moodle courses from prior to Fall 2009.On June 30, 2013, Moodle 1.8 will be shut down and retired.

What do you need to do to prepare?

Attend a Moodle 2 demo session to preview the new version. The schedule of sessions can be found at http://www.depauw.edu/it/fits/events. Additional sessions for early summer will be added, but feel free to contact FITS if your availability is limited.

Be sure to schedule ample time this spring and/or summer to build out your courses that will use Moodle in the Fall.If you plan to reuse content from an existing Moodle site in another course in the Fall, consult with a FITS team member for assistance. This process to transfer content from the old Moodle to Moodle 2.3 will take extra time, so it will be important to START EARLY.

Arrange for Library e-Reserves items for Fall courses in the same way that you do now and these will be automatically set up in Moodle 2 as usual.

If you have any courses left at the current moodlearchive.depauw.edu that you wish to preserve, be sure to export them prior to July 1 (when the system will be shut down).

FITS will be available throughout the summer to provide any help that you need, so feel free to reach out to anyone on the FITS team (fits@depauw.edu) to ask for assistance.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

– Carol.

DePauw is participating in ECAR Study of Students & IT – Watch for details in email soon

Carol L. Smith — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:01:43 +0000

From Carol L. Smith, CIO:

On February 25, DePauw will invite students to participate in the EDUCAUSE ECAR Annual Survey for Students and IT.

The survey explores technology ownership, use patterns, and perceptions of technology among undergraduate students and gathers information from students at nearly 200 institutions. Now in the tenth year of the study, ECAR creates an annual report about student technology trends based on the data collected and publishes the findings on the EDUCAUSE website (here).

As a participating institution, DePauw will receive de-identified data files containing our students’ responses and an aggregate-level summary that compares DePauw students’ responses with those at similar institutions. This information will be extremely helpful for us in planning for pedagogical integration of technology and providing appropriate technologies and support services for our students. If the opportunity arises, please feel free to encourage your students to participate in the survey!

Survey Timeline:

An email inviting students to participate will be sent on February 25, and the the survey will be open for them from February 25 until March 11, 2013.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Carol Smith – CIO (clsmith@depauw.edu), Mikah Pritchard – FITS Instructional Technologist (mikahpritchard@depauw.edu), or Kayla Birt – Assessment Specialist (kaylabirt@depauw.edu).

Linkback to this article: http://tinyurl.com/depauwecarstudy

Spring 2013 Technical Workshops Schedule is available

Carol L. Smith — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:05:46 +0000

From David Diedriech, Technical Trainer:

The spring semester is almost upon us. As we prepare for longer days and warmer weather (I hope!), I want to make you aware of the workshops being offered this spring. As always, if you have any questions, or would like more information about any of the workshops, please let me know.

A complete list and description of the workshops can be found on the IT Training web page, and you can reserve a spot in any of the workshops by completing the Spring RSVP form.

Thanks,
Dave

Celebrate #GISDay at DePauw today! 11.14.12, 3-5pm Julian Atrium. All are welcome.

Carol L. Smith — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:58:18 +0000

Please join your friends and colleagues as we celebrate GIS Day on Wednesday, November 14, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the Julian Atrium.

GIS Day is an annual, worldwide event for users of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to inform people about how geography makes a difference in our everyday lives. DePauw’s open house-style GIS Day event will showcase GIS projects and concepts via posters, displays, and activities by DePauw students, faculty members, and staff members. Just a handful of the many GIS projects that will be showcased at this year’s event are:

Coal-Powered Cancer: An Exploration of Mountaintop Removal in West Virginia
Brittany Slate (2013) and Michael Osborn (2013)
Daily Life in the Colonial South
Dr. John Schlotterbeck (History)
DePauw Dig 175
Dr. Rebecca Schindler (Classical Studies), Dr. Pedar Foss (Classical Studies), Kat Raymond-Judy (2015), and Danica Andersen (2015)
Effects of Agricultural Runoff on Water Quality in the Big Walnut Creek Watershed
Dr. Jeanette Pope (Geosciences), Carly Dutkiewicz (2014), Caitlin Handy (2015), Ali Pistoia (2013), Greg Screws (2013), and Reilly Taylor (2013)
Indiana Local Government Redistricting
Kelsey Kauffman (University Studies) and Richard Walsh (2015)

Also featured will be student Google Earth projects from Dr. Scott Wilkerson’s “Introduction to GIS Using Google Earth” 2012 Winter Term course and student GIS projects from Dr. Tim Cope’s Fall 2012 “Introduction to GIS” class.

Faculty members, please announce this event in your classes to invite students that may be interested in attending. Students that attend the event and successfully complete DePauw’s GIS Quest will be eligible to win a handheld GPS unit. Also, if you are interested in identifying your students that attend GIS Day for credit/other purposes, please let me know and inform your students to fill in the course/professor fields on the registration form. I will email you a list of your participating students after the event.

Come visit with friends, enjoy some refreshments, and learn about GIS! Hope to see you there!!!

Cheers,
Beth

M. Beth Wilkerson
GIS Specialist

FITS is preparing for a Moodle Upgrade Planned for Summer 2013

Carol L. Smith — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:29:15 +0000

From Carol L. Smith, CIO

The FITS team is beginning a project to research and plan for the next Moodle system update, which we are planning for the coming summer. DePauw currently is using Moodle version 1.9 LAE (Liberal Arts Edition). Over the past year, Moodle.org has released several new versions of Moodle, most recently Moodle 2.3 that became available last June.

Version 2.3 offers a number of enhancements that will be useful to faculty and staff members using the system, including improvements to file management and course pages, drag and drop capability, a new activity chooser, and new navigation. In addition, Moodle 2.3 has a more modern look and feel that provides a more familiar interface for students and others who use the system. (If you are interested, the Moodle 2.3 release notes are available at http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_2.3_release_notes.)

At this point, we are targeting June-July 2013 for upgrading to Moodle 2.3. Since the new version is somewhat different from our current one, FITS will be working closely with faculty members and staff over the next several months to fully research, pilot and help everyone prepare for the upgrade.

Mikah Pritchard, who is leading the upgrade project, will provide more details about the overall process and solicit for persons who would like to participate in the review project in the next few days. We welcome both faculty and staff to participate in this endeavor. If you would like to be part of the review process, please feel free to respond directly to Mikah and let her know. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best, Carol.

Fall 2012 – Starting the Year with Information Technology at DePauw (Updates & Tips)

Carol L. Smith — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:16:52 +0000

From Carol L. Smith, CIO

Welcome back as we begin the new academic year! I wanted to take a moment to provide some quick tips and updates about key IT projects that are underway or will be coming up soon.

If you have any questions about these (or any other IT-related projects), please don’t hesitate to contact me at clsmith@depauw.edu.

Cheers,

–Carol.

Topics in the following include:

Keeping in touch with IT at DePauw
Helping students get logged in to Moodle, P: or I: drives, printers, etc.
Wireless network expansion in University-owned student living units is complete
Overview of the Student Laptop Program & known shipping delays for some students
Voicemail system replacement timeline and setting up Google Voice voicemail

1) Keeping in Touch with IT at DePauw

The HelpDesk – The Help Desk provides technical support services to students, faculty and staff members in DePauw campus community.

The IT KnowledgeBase – The KnowledgeBase offers immediate 24/7 access to a broad collection of self-service IT support information and documentation.

HelpDesk Status Hotline – Available 24×7, includes a blog, phone number (x6666) and RSS feed to provide up-to-the-minute notices about IT-related service announcements, known system issues, and other useful IT tips & tricks.

Information Services Blog – Provides periodic articles about I.S. activities, DePauw IT updates, etc., aimed at the whole DePauw community.

Faculty Instructional Technology Support (FITS) – FITS assists faculty members in enhancing their teaching and their students’ learning through the latest technology with an emphasis on the pedagogical applications of technology rather than with explicit technical training.

2) Helping students get logged in to Moodle, P: or I: drives, printers, etc .

After being away from campus for the summer some students may have forgotten their passwords, while many new students are unfamiliar with tools like Moodle, the network (I: or P: Drives), or the public campus printers. Following are a couple of resources that you can guide them toward that will help them figure things out:

Overview of DePauw students IT accounts – Provides a quick description of all their accounts, including which account to use to login to each resource

If they’ve forgotten a password – Direct them to visit the HelpDesk in person to have it reset.

3) Wi-Fi expansion in University-owned student living units is complete

With the completion of upgrades made in the west duplexes just last week, we now have 100% Wi-Fi coverage in University-owned student living units.

4) Overview of the Student Laptop Program & known shipping delays for some students

About the Laptop Program:

All students entering DePauw are required purchase a designated DePauw Program Laptop and a Software/Service Bundle through the DePauw Laptop Program. The program requirements ensure that all students are equipped with the tools needed to support their DePauw learning experience and enable faculty members to most effectively make use of technology in the classroom.

Incoming students have a choice between four types of laptops, including an Apple MacBook Pro, an HP TabletPC, an HP ProBook, and an HP EliteBook. The HP ProBook and EliteBooks are new options this year, replacing the Dell models that were formerly offered.

The laptop program provides an onsite repair service center (currently located at the HelpDesk) for students whose laptops are broken or have failed. Students can also borrow a loaner laptop during the repair of their laptop.

Complete details about the Laptop Program are at www.depauw.edu/it/laptop.

Known shipping delays for some students:

HP has recently experienced shipping delays on some student laptop orders. As a result, approximately 30 students who have ordered an HP laptop may not receive their computers in time for the start of classes. We are working closely with our contacts at HP on this issue and the delayed orders are estimated to be delivered within the first couple of weeks of the semester.

In the meantime, there are several public computer labs and workstations available where students can work on assignments for their courses, check email, print e-Reserves, log in to Moodle and e-Services, etc., while they are waiting for their laptops to arrive. Some options include the lab in the lower level of Roy O. West Library, Scholar Stations located in the Prevo, School of Music and Roy O. West libraries, the Julian 108 and Julian 109 computer labs, and the MITC lab in GCPA 1151.

If you have questions or hear from students with concerns about waiting for their laptop to arrive, you can contact Mike Moore, mikemoore@depauw.edu, x4293.

5) Voicemail system replacement timeline and setting up Google Voice voicemail

We are currently evaluating voicemail options to replace the Google Voice voicemail system we introduced last spring and anticipate implementing a new system sometime mid-semester.

In the meantime, you can continue to use Google Voice by creating a Google Voice number with your DePauw Google account and forwarding your office phone to it.

To set up Google Voice as your voicemail:

For step-by-step instructions for using Google Voice as your voicemail, refer to the IT KnowledgeBase article Google Voice as your voicemail.

You must follow the 3-step process completely to avoid issues:

Set up a local* phone number in your DePauw Google account. These are provided by Google and often (though not always) in the 765-276-xxxx range, which is a local Greencastle call.
Forward your office phone to the phone number created in step 1.
Finalize your Google Voice settings. ***VERY IMPORTANT STEP!***

*At times, Google expends all its local numbers for our area. Usually, they are able to acquire more within a week or two when this happens. If you don’t want to wait until a local number becomes available go ahead and select a long distance number. The small long distance cost for leaving/getting a voicemail message will negligible, generally only 5-10 cents per message.

Spring 2012 workshops and events for faculty and staff

Lynda S. LaRoche — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:33:25 +0000

From Donnie Sendelbach, Director of Instructional and Learning Services and Director of the Information Technology Associates Program

FITS events are now posted on the IS Workshop and Event Calendar at http://goo.gl/eQb7l. Offerings include workshops in image editing for the web, blogging, and creating surveys along with Google and Moodle workshops. Please RSVP for events that you plan to attend at http://goo.gl/pVwtf.

In addition to the RSVP listings, a webinar on VoiceThread, a platform for collaborative slide/audio sharing, will be held Thurs., Feb. 16, 3:00-4:00 p.m. in ROW Instruction Room A. Refreshments will be served.

Best wishes for the start of a new semester. Hope it goes from good to great!