All posts by Randolph Pfaff

Google Apps for Education: Core vs. More

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In addition to Google Apps for Edu Core Apps such as Gmail and Calendar, Simmons has enabled Consumer Apps, such as Google+, Blogger, YouTube, Maps, and more.

These additional apps present a wealth of resources for the Simmons community, but they do differ from the Core Apps in a few important ways. For example, Core Apps are covered in the contract that Simmons has with Google, meaning that none of the information in those apps will be used by Google for any purpose other than providing service and support for our Google Apps for Education account.

Consumer Apps are additional services provided by Google that Simmons has enabled to improve your experience using Google Apps for Education. The first time you use any of the Consumer Apps, you will be asked to agree to a separate set of terms and conditions that cover those products. These products are not covered by the same agreement that governs use of the Core Apps and using them with your Simmons account is equivalent to using a personal Google account.

Because the Consumer Apps are not covered under our agreement with Google, no one at Simmons will be required to use any of the Consumer Apps and choosing not to use them will in no way affect your use of the Core Apps.

To find out more, please see this article on the Google Apps for Edu project website. If you have any questions about Consumer Apps, please contact us at 617-521-2222.

FAQs and Video Tutorials from the Service Desk

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Not sure how to find AARC? Wondering how to use Campus Print? Curious about technology discounts?

Did you know that you can access answers to these and dozens of other common technology questions on the Service Desk website? In addition to the FAQs, we’re also adding new video tutorials every week!

Simply follow this link or connect to the Service Desk website and then click on FAQ in the top menu bar.

Faculty Record and Share Their Classes with Tegrity

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Since September, Simmons Technology has been working with a small group of faculty members to test a new product called Tegrity for capturing and sharing lectures, presentations, and other in-class activities. We want to provide an update on how faculty have been using Tegrity and some of the opportunities it might create in the future.

School of Management professor Jill Avery was able to leverage Tegrity to help a number of students who missed one of her classes in order to attend a conference. Professor Avery reached out to Technology for a way to record the content of her course and make it available to students online. Technology was able to work with her to add Tegrity to her course, record course content, upload it to Moodle, and make it available to students within Moodle.

Michael Jordan, professor in the department of Chemistry & Physics, has also been recording all of his lectures in PHYS 103 and making the videos available in Moodle for his students as an optional way to review content. In addition, Professor Jordan is giving students the opportunity to record their own videos and upload them to Moodle. He has also edited course content using external tools on his computer and uploaded them back into Tegrity for student access.

These are just a couple of examples of how faculty are using Tegrity in their classes. If you are a faculty member who’s interested in using Tegrity during the Spring semester, please email [email protected] for more information.

Solutions for Accessing Kronos

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Many Simmons employees use Kronos, our timecard management system, to enter their hours on a weekly or biweekly basis. We recently found that browser incompatibility issues have caused Kronos to not work as expected for many Simmons staff and faculty. Technology is collaborating with the Talent and Human Capital Strategy Group to find a long-term solution.

In the meantime, Technology has created a workaround that will allow you to enter your time from any computer. For instructions on how to use Kronos, click here.

If this solution is not working for you or if you need additional instructions, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.