Friday, January 8, 2010

Rex2 Issues

We continue to experience sporadic issues with the Rex2 server. This server hosts printers as well as personal network storage space.
Although the issues have not been as frequent or campus wide we still have issues.
The hardest part of troubleshooting this issue is that we change/fix something on the server and don't experience the behavior for a weeks at a time.
We thought we had the issues resolved when we moved a portion of the data to a new server in late November. We moved Apps/Departmental/Course Materials to Morpheus. Then over Christmas break we replaced and increased the memory in the Rex2.
Our next option is to completely move the printers and personal network storage space to different hardware. This is a significant undertaking that we plan on getting started with the process next week.
Rex2 will need to be shutdown for a period of time to complete the migration. We've tentatively set January 16th in the AM hours for this transition. An email will be sent out the week of January 11th when we have a more concrete time frame.

Copy Course Materials into an Existing Blackboard Course

The Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course page enables Instructors to copy content from one course into another they are teaching. Instructors can select areas, such as Announcements, Staff Information or Course areas to copy. Copy Course will add content to a course, but it will not remove existing content.

Find this page.

Follow these steps to locate the Copy Course Materials into a New Course page.
1. Click Course Copy from the Control Panel.
2. Click Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course from the Copy Course page.
Destination Course ID
Enter a Course ID for the destination course or click Browse to open a Search function in a separate window.
Select course materials
Select the check boxes for each course area and tool in the course that should be copied into the existing course. The table below details what happens to each selectable option when the copy is performed.
NOTE: A Course Copy operation cannot be completed if the user does not select at least one of the following areas: Content, Staff Information or Settings. If none of these options is selected a warning will appear.

Tegrity Purge - Feb 1, 2010

Greetings,

The IT department will delete Tegrity recordings from the SMU Tegrity database on February 1, 2010.

Only Tegrity files from the semesters of 2008W3 and 2008M3 and prior semesters will be affected.

If there are recordings you would like to keep from a previous semester, there are 3 options available to you.

1) Move those recording(s) to a current semester offering.
2) Create an Image CD of the classes you would like to archive. This process zips up the recordings into a file that you can then extract and save.
3) Log a call at the Helpdesk to request that we not delete those class recordings.

The HelpDesk will need to have the specific course ID to pass along to IT staff. Please email http://mail.smumn.edu/create?helpdesk@smumn.edu, or call ext. 7800, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter.

Please note that unless you contact the Helpdesk, all Tegrity files from 2008W3 and 2008M3 and prior semesters, will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation,
SMU IT Dept.

Windows 7 in Lab 23

The Helpdesk has installed the latest Microsoft operating system, Windows 7, in Hendrickson Center Lab 23. For any instructors that would like to test the compatibility of course-specific software with Windows 7, contact the Helpdesk at 7800.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

2009 Educause Conference Proceedings

At the beginning of November the Information Technology Department hosted a viewing room for the 2009 Educause Conference - Online Edition.

This year's conference was the first in which Educause offered the online option. In an effort to keep abreast of what is going on in the industry and with emphasis placed on stretching the university dollar, Information Technology registered for the event and invited members of the Winona Campus to participate as they were available.

Twelve members of the university participated in a combination of 15 sessions offered over the 2 1/2 day period.

We are aware of a number of university members that were interested in attending session but could not due to prior commitments. Therefore as a follow up for those still interested in reviewing the content or possibly seeing it for the first time, conference materials, including presentation recordings can be viewed at http://www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/EDUCAUSE09/35198#tabs--2

Each session has a Resources and Video tab. This is the tab where you'll be able to view or listen to the conference proceedings.

Thanks to those of you that participated in the Online Conference with us. The conversations that we had after the sessions were great.

Thank You Letter from Rushford-Peterson Schools