February 2013 HelpDesk Stats...

The iT HelpDesk February Results

 

Tickets created: 447

Closed on First Contact: 257

CoFC percentage:  57.5%

HelpDesk Goal: 58%

 

Winona HelpDesk Results:

Tickets: 389

CoFC: 202

CoFC %: 52%

 

Winona HelpDesk Staff that achieved 58% goal:

Brian Behling(iT), Prescilla Ramirez (TA), Owen Kuemerle (TA), Tom Plante (TA),

Heather Ludwig(TA), Stephanie Delveaux(TA), Camden Webster(TA)

 

Minneapolis HelpDesk Staff Results:

Tickets: 58

CoFC: 55

CoFC %: 95%

All staff made CoFC goal.

Thanks Mike Montgomery, Doug Waller, Alex Ajaluwa, and Lincoln Scully.



 

Classrooms and Tegrity

Tegrity is set up in classrooms for desktop and laptop users.

Laptop users, be sure to plug the cords back into the desktop machine after use.  

We have had several Helpdesk calls regarding Tegrity not working due to the cords not returned to the desktop.

Desktop users, be sure to check that the cords are plugged into the desktop when starting up Tegrity.  

If you don't see the camera, elmo or no sound, its probably due to the cords not plugged in.




Here is a picture of what cables and where they should be plugged in to.  The USB cable can be in any of the 4 USB ports on the front of the classroom PC and the cord for audio has to be in the one shown.

Compressing Photos in Powerpoint

You often need to compress PowerPoint presentations when sharing it via emai or saving space on your personal network drive, U Drive.

 If your presentation is full of images, you can try compressing these images to reduce the overall size of the presentation.

Once the picture is inserted in the Presentation then click the Compress Pictures option under Format > Picture Tools.

Now be sure to check the Delete cropped areas of pictures option to reduce the overall size of the presentation. Also select the appropriate target output.

Click OK to complete the configuration.

What’s new in PowerPoint for Mac 2011

There are several new tools in Powerpoint for Mac 2011
Learn more about the Ribbon, make professional looking presentations, new animations, and more.

See more by Clicking here 

Cool Information Found by SMU Director of Instructional Technology Jason Spartz.

 

Students this is directed specfically to you to assist you with various research searches using Google specifically but the basics can be use with other search engines as well.

 

This is a fairly quick read that can save you a huge amount of time to gather information for papers, assignments, and other academic endeavors.

 

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2012/07/how-college-students-can-get-most-out-google-infographic

 

Author Jimmy Daly posted to EdTech Magazine in July 2012



A Visual Guide To Twitter For Beginners
By Jeff Dunn Posted 2/12/13

http://edudemic.com/2013/02/a-visual-guide-to-twitter-for-beginners/

These are in a format called infographics.

 

VLC Media Player

You may notice a new icon on SMU computers.  This is the icon for the VLC media player.  It is a program much like Windows Media Player or Quicktime, but in testing it has performed very well with video formats that the aforementioned programs couldn't handle.  It will be rolled out to all SMU computers as time goes on.  Try it today!

Be Aware of SPAM and Phishing emails

Please be very observant and diligent with regards to reading and acting on emails. In early January 2013, the following email may have gotten through to some of the SMU Community.
This is the actual text of the email, DO NOT click the link:



"Subject: Dear Account User

To:

Congratulation You can now log in to Saint Mary's University of
Minnesota news forum and get the latest information and news/update.
Please use the database link:
http://www.empin.org/phpFormGen/forms/form1.html you are required to
log in for automatic update of your account to log in for more
information about this service.

Sign, ©smumn.edu
All rights reserved."

This is the from information:
From: Email Account User <eosigney@ucdavis.edu>
Date: Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 4:46 PM

Again as we have pointed out numerous times in the past these types of email NEVER come from SMU iT staff or the HelpDesk. We are very cognizant of how we word email and how it is addressed and signed. Note important key observations to indicate phishing emails:
1) the to: field is generic or blank
2) the subject field is generically addressed to "dear account user" iT would not have this be a subject, EVER
3) the from is not an SMU email address and if you reply it would be telling it is not an smu email
4) it is generically signed at the bottom or not signed at all
5) we would not give you a link to login with we would ask you to login to a specific system on your own.
6) Spelling and grammar may or may not be good. granted people typo but SMU IT tries very hard to have accurate and correct spelling, grammar, and content in messages that go out to our customers.

These are dangerous emails to respond to as your are giving third parties access to your username and password. We have observed in the past these being taken advantage of within an one or two of being supplied the information by a user.

Warranty on Desktops, Laptops and Tablets

Saint Mary's owned desktops, laptops and tablets are under a 3yr warranty/accidental contract.

If you notice any problems, with any piece of equipment, call the Helpdesk and log a call.

Laptop/tablet problems may include:  laptop latch, CD ROM drive, fan, or keyboard/mouse not working. 
Desktop problems my include: fan not working, hard drive crashing, and/or CD ROM drive not working.

The HP 8000 (desktop), HP 8440 (laptop), and HP 2740 (tablet) warranties will expire this coming summer.  If anyone has any issues with them, now is the time to let iT know.

Heidi Johnson
Faculty Support

Windows 8 in Lab 17

Windows 8 is installed on 4 machines in Lab 17.  Two of the machines have touch screen monitors allowing you to really experience Windows 8 as it was designed.  We have no plans to migrate to Windows 8 this coming summer, but we will most likely be moving to Windows 8 at some point in the future.  Take it for a spin today!

MS Office Powerpoint Tip: Turn your mouse into a laser pointer

When you want to emphasize a point on a slide, you can turn your mouse pointer into a laser pointer.

In Slide Show view, simply hold down CTRL, click the left mouse button, and begin pointing.

To change the pointer color, click Slide Show from the Ribbon, then click Set Up Slide Show, 

under Show options, Pen color, Specify the color you want for your laser pointer

Brother Leopold Hall Swipeless Card Access

Brother Leopold Hall is one of the first locations on campus to feature card proximity readers.  It offers a swipeless design that will prolong the longevity of student ID cards and offer more flexibility in building access.

January 2013 Blackboard Upgrade

Information Technology will be upgrading Blackboard Learn to 9.1 SP9.  This will result in Blackboard being unavailable between 8pm-3am CST on January 3rd, 2013. If you would like to preview the new version prior to the upgrade, you may do so at bbpilot.smumn.edu. Please note any changes made in the preview will not be saved.

This upgrade brings several enhancements including a modern user interface, improved grade center, enhanced rubrics, simpler course navigation and more detailed reports. Please see this article for more information: http://techfaq.smumn.edu/index.php?action=artikel&cat=4&id=322&artlang=en

Here is a preview of upgraded version: