Forms, information for prospective student-athletes.
Taking Steps for the Future
Volume 20, 2011
Featured Article: Change to myOswego Helps Standardize Campus Logins
Users will soon have a new way of logging into myOswego.
After finals, myOswego will undergo a change that will allow users to login using their Laker NetID username and password. Your Laker NetID is the same username and password used to login to services such as ANGEL, the campus wireless network and the campus computer lab machines. Previously, your College ID number and a custom PIN were required.
Once logged in using your Laker NetID, you will have access to all of the same records you had before the change.
This change helps reduce the number of different logins needed to access various campus-based services.
Get ready for a campus upgrade to the newest version of Microsoft Office happening this summer!
CTS recently purchased a Microsoft Campus Agreement which allows Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus for PCs and Office 2011 Standard for Macs to be installed on all SUNY Oswego owned computers at no charge to departments/offices. It also allows faculty and staff to purchase either Office 2010 or 2011 for a personally-owned computer at a low price of $9.95 plus tax.
To get ready for a campus upgrade, CTS recently completed a pilot project with a variety of departments on campus. Office 2010 or 2011 was installed on about about 16o machines spanning 9 departments and 1 student organization. It was also installed on the 25 PCs in the Mahar 210 computer lab. This pilot was conducted during the spring semester to help CTS better understand and address any technical issues before upgrading the campus. The pilot completed successfully with minor issues.
We are looking to start upgrading the rest of the campus after graduation. Two campus announcements were sent out in May. The first went out with information on getting ready for the upgrade. The second was sent on May 16 and included details on how departments and users can start upgrading. Information on how to purchase copies of the suite for personally-owned computers were also included.
It is hoped that all faculty and staff machines will be upgraded by the start of the fall semester. General access and departmental computer labs will be upgraded in the June/July timeframe. Computers in the Advanced Technology Classrooms (ATCs) will be upgraded the last week of the summer.
Instructor led workshops will be available over the summer that cover features in the overall suite as well as new features in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. These same workshops will also be available as recordings within the CTS space of iTunes U. Check out the MS Office Workshop Opportunites for more information. In addition, a session will be offered during the CELT Spring BreakOut.
Instructor led workshops will be available over the summer that cover features in the overall suite as well as new features in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. These same workshops will also be available as recordings within the CTS space of iTunes U. Check out the MS Office Workshop Opportunites for more information. In addition, a session will be offered during the CELT Spring BreakOut.
To become familiar with interface changes and new features in the Office suites, please see the CTS Microsoft Office Upgrade site.
Digital Phone Installs Expanding Across Campus
Over the next few months, CTS will be completing new digital phone installs in buildings that have not been upgraded. Tyler and Mahar Halls will be the first on the list to be completed. The remaining buildings will be worked on subsequently.The new digital phones will be using the Voice over IP (VoIP) technology installed last summer. Since the phones are digital, they use the campus network to send and receive phone calls. All users will keep their existing campus phone number, but will receive a new handset. More information is available in the VoIP Upgrade Frequently Asked Questions.
Did You Know?
Did you know you can apply colors to your labels in LakerApps Gmail?
Labels in Gmail are used for organizing your email messages (similar to folders in other email applications). On the left side of your Gmail window, to the left of any custom label you have created, you will see a faded gray square box. Click on the box and a menu will open. At the top of the menu is a section for picking the label color. Select a color and all the email messages that have that label applied will inherit that label color.
LakerApps Sites replaces OU Educate for Personal Websites
Until recently, OU Educate was the only product available to all faculty, staff and students for creating and updating personal web pages at SUNY Oswego. OU Educate is a commercially licensed product for which CTS pays an annual license.
Recently, CTS introduced LakerApps Sites to the campus for creating and editing personal web pages. LakerApps Sites is part of the Google Apps for Education suite of products and is available to all faculty, staff and students. Since it is part of Google Apps for Education, there is no cost to the campus to use Sites.
In deciding when users should be directed to OU Educate or to Sites for their personal web site needs, CTS took the opportunity to analyze OU Educate's use. We discovered that over the past year, approximately 50 users had used it. Due to this low usage, we will be decommisioning OU Educate on June 30, 2011.
All OU Educate users that would like to continue having a personal website can choose to migrate their content to LakerApps Sites. Alternatively, for personal sites being used for class-related work, ANGEL is also an option.
A first communication about decommissioning OU Educate and the options available for migration was sent to the group of OU Educate users in mid-March. If you use OU Educate and did not receive an announcement, please fill out the Migration Questionnaire so we may add you to our communications.
CTS will be assisting OU Educate users in their migration needs. We are offering migration workshops going on now and continuing every other week through early July. These workshops will review the two options available for migrating (Sites, ANGEL) and then assist users in migrating their content to their chosen option.
For more information about the overall project, more information on Sites, frequently asked questions and workshop registration, please see the OU Educate page.
If you have any specific questions, you can email the oueducate-migration-list@ls.oswego.edu email address and one of the project team members will respond.
Recently, CTS introduced LakerApps Sites to the campus for creating and editing personal web pages. LakerApps Sites is part of the Google Apps for Education suite of products and is available to all faculty, staff and students. Since it is part of Google Apps for Education, there is no cost to the campus to use Sites.
In deciding when users should be directed to OU Educate or to Sites for their personal web site needs, CTS took the opportunity to analyze OU Educate's use. We discovered that over the past year, approximately 50 users had used it. Due to this low usage, we will be decommisioning OU Educate on June 30, 2011.
All OU Educate users that would like to continue having a personal website can choose to migrate their content to LakerApps Sites. Alternatively, for personal sites being used for class-related work, ANGEL is also an option.
A first communication about decommissioning OU Educate and the options available for migration was sent to the group of OU Educate users in mid-March. If you use OU Educate and did not receive an announcement, please fill out the Migration Questionnaire so we may add you to our communications.
CTS will be assisting OU Educate users in their migration needs. We are offering migration workshops going on now and continuing every other week through early July. These workshops will review the two options available for migrating (Sites, ANGEL) and then assist users in migrating their content to their chosen option.
For more information about the overall project, more information on Sites, frequently asked questions and workshop registration, please see the OU Educate page.
If you have any specific questions, you can email the oueducate-migration-list@ls.oswego.edu email address and one of the project team members will respond.
Over the summer CTS will be working with Cisco Systems to install two telepresence systems - one in Campus Center 137 and the other one at the Metro Center in downtown Syracuse. What is “telepresence”? It is not a means by which we can “beam” students, faculty, and staff between Oswego and Syracuse (although that would be very handy). Telepresence is high definition video conferencing technology that allows users to feel as if they are actually sitting across the table from the people at the remote site. This is a unique opportunity for SUNY Oswego as there is only one other such unit installed anywhere in central New York.
Telepresence has found wide-spread adoption in the corporate sector as a viable alternative to travel to allow executives and staff to meet with colleagues, partners, and customers. How might this technology be relevant at SUNY Oswego? The opportunities are numerous. Most immediately, faculty and staff might use the technology to conduct meetings between staff in Oswego and Syracuse without having to make the 85 mile round trip. This certainly saves time and contributes to the campus’ sustainability initiatives by reducing greenhouse gases. Faculty may find this technology useful in conducting seminar classes that could include students from both sites making scheduling easier and again reducing travel. Given the utilization of telepresence in the corporate world, the College may be able to invite guest speakers who might not otherwise be able to travel to campus to address a wide variety of classes throughout the curriculum.
Telepresence demos will be available in the fall for those members of the campus community who might be interested in giving it a try and exploring possible uses.
The SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT) conference is right around the corner!
CIT 2011, “20/20 Vision - Looking Forward and Remembering the Past” is the 20th anniversary of the CIT conference and will be hosted at the campus where it all began, SUNY Oneonta. Join fellow SUNY colleagues from around the state May 24-27, as they converge to talk about a range of pedagogical and technical topics.
The conference provides an opportunity for faculty, instructional support professionals, librarians, and administrators to share best practices and innovations in the use of technology to enhance teaching, learning, and research.
If you haven’t registered, there’s still some time left, but hurry!
Professional Development Opportunities
CTS workshops for the Spring semester have completed. We will be offering a few workshops over the summer timeframe for Office 2010 and migrating your personal website from OU Educate to LakerApps Sites. Look for the full schedule of workshops and online registration from our CTS training site. CTS Workshops are freely available to all SUNY Oswego faculty, staff and students.
The Skillport e-learning software is available to all faculty, staff and students. Skillport includes business and technology-related courses (including Office 2010) as well as courses and test preps needed to prepare you for many business and technical certifications. Get started at the Skillport home page.
Coming soon, CTS will be placing recorded trainings in our iTunes U space. Just go to the SUNY Oswego iTunes U site at www.oswego.edu/itunesu, click the “Launch SUNY Oswego on iTunes U” button and navigate to the Campus Technology Services space. You’ll see a variety of short trainings on various technical topics. Office 2010 recordings on the new user interface called the Ribbon, Word, Excel and PowerPoint are coming soon!
The Skillport e-learning software is available to all faculty, staff and students. Skillport includes business and technology-related courses (including Office 2010) as well as courses and test preps needed to prepare you for many business and technical certifications. Get started at the Skillport home page.
Coming soon, CTS will be placing recorded trainings in our iTunes U space. Just go to the SUNY Oswego iTunes U site at www.oswego.edu/itunesu, click the “Launch SUNY Oswego on iTunes U” button and navigate to the Campus Technology Services space. You’ll see a variety of short trainings on various technical topics. Office 2010 recordings on the new user interface called the Ribbon, Word, Excel and PowerPoint are coming soon!
Notes from the Help Desk
The Technology Support Center (TSC) is located in 26 Lanigan Hall. You can reach us by phone at x3456, by email at help@oswego.edu or on the web at www.oswego.edu/help.
Starting May 16, the TSC will be open summer hours Monday-Friday, 8am – 4:30pm.
Are you on Facebook? Want to receive updates from CTS on new services, updates, system outages, and more? We recently created a "SUNY Oswego - Campus Technology Services" Facebook group. Become a fan and start receiving updates!
Wireless Expands to Cayuga Hall
This summer, Cayuga Hall will undergo infrastructure changes to support new wired and wireless connections.
A project to upgrade old networking cable will begin after the semester ends. By the start of the Fall semester, new wired data jacks will eliminate the need for network hubs previously required for residents to connect to the Internet.
A wireless network will also be available in residence hall rooms and common areas such as lounges by either the start of the Fall semester or shortly thereafter.
Tech Tip
Become a "Gmail Ninja" with this collection of tips and tricks from Google:
http://www.google.com/mail/help/tips.html