In the Technology department, we’re always looking for ways to improve services while also reducing costs. Sometimes, those changes are large (like Google Apps for Education), but sometimes, opportunities are found in less obvious places. One not so obvious area is our network. Members of the Simmons community access the network in many different ways: wired and wireless, on campus or from home, via a computer or a mobile device.

In an effort to improve one aspect of our networking services, Technology will be introducing a new Virtual Private Network (VPN) after the semester break. VPN is the service that many people use to connect to the Simmons file server and other secure services from off campus. The new service, called Check Point Mobile Access, will come with enhanced features, including improved security and availability on mobile devices.

Currently, the Simmons VPN is available through vpn.simmons.edu or by using AnyConnect, a desktop application. Once Mobile Access is active, the VPN will still be available at vpn.simmons.edu or through the new Mobile Access desktop application and mobile apps.

We’ll be sending out an email with more details after the semester break. In the meantime, if you have any questions about how this change will affect your access to the Simmons network, please reach out to us via the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

Google Apps is a constantly evolving tool and there are frequent updates to the service as Google rolls out small improvements. This month, we’d like to focus on two new features, as well as some tricks for getting the most out of your web searches.

Email Attachments

Recently, you may have noticed that your Gmail attachments look slightly different. When you receive an email with attachments, you now have three options. First, you can click anywhere on the small preview to open a full-screen preview of the attachment. This is a great time-saving tool if you just want to view an attachment quickly without having to download it. In addition, you can download the attachment or save it to Google Drive by clicking the icons in the small preview, all without leaving your email. The last new option, which can be helpful if you receive an email with a large number of attachments, is the ability to download or save all attachments to Google Drive. You can do this by clicking the icons on the right side of your screen. To see a visual guide to the new attachment options, click the preview image above.

Research While Creating

Have you ever been working on a Google Doc or Presentation and needed to look up a definition or search for something? Now, you can do that without leaving Google Drive by clicking the Tools menu and clicking on Research. This will open a panel on the right side of your screen that you can use to do research while you work. To see an example of how this works, click the preview image to the right.

Search More Effectively

Finally, we’ve got 10 great tips from the blog Lifehacker on how you can make your web searches more efficient and effective. These include using reverse image search, searching within websites, and quickly finding downloads on the Web. Take a look at all of the tricks here!

On Monday, November 18, the Kotzen Center played host to a day-long seminar focused on how and when faculty are using technology to supplement their teaching, and the impact it has on their students.

Sponsored by CASTL (a committee representing The Center for Excellence in Teaching, Assessment, Simmons Online, Technology, and the Library), the event featured a panel discussion of current trends in online education, and a roundtable discussion of the Horizon Report, a long-term study of technology adoption in higher education.

In addition, teams of faculty and staff members spoke about instructional technologies currently available at Simmons. The topics covered included using Tegrity to create videos, teaching with streaming content, hosting virtual office hours using GoToMeeting, and employing TurningPoint to gather feedback during lectures and presentations. The event was well attended and generated quite a bit of conversation about effectively incorporating new technology into the classroom experience.

If you weren’t able to attend, you can find out more about Tegrity, GoToMeeting, TurningPoint, and content streaming by clicking the preceding links. To find out more about how the Center for Excellence in Teaching can work with you to identify and employ new teaching tools and strategies, please visit their website.

As part of Strategy 2015, we have all been asked to identify opportunities for communicating the value of Simmons College and increasing the visibility of the characteristics that allow us to occupy a unique place in the higher education landscape. For the Technology department, this has meant focusing on how our community uses technology and looking for ways to improve core services. From a visibility standpoint, there is no platform more valuable than our online presence, which is frequently the primary source of information about Simmons for those outside of the College.

The platform we use to manage our website no longer meets the needs of our community and was not designed to handle the rich, interactive content (such as videos, social media, and apps) that have quickly become the backbone of the most successful websites out there today. The need to replace our content management platform has presented us with an opportunity not only to update the way we use our website, but to reassess the entire strategy for our larger digital ecosystem.

To accomplish this, Technology is participating in a College-wide initiative, with representatives from across campus, to create a strategy that focuses on organizing and sharing content, particularly the research of our faculty and the accomplishments of our students and alumnae/i.

Our goal is to have the first phase of the Digital Ecosystem Project complete by September 2014. We will be taking an iterative approach, beginning with a new website, a new mobile app for students, and a new way to manage content. Prior to these services going live, we will work with the community to develop policies to guide content creation, and focus on training stakeholders to use these new tools in order to maximize the visibility and impact of Simmons’s online presence.

In the coming months, we’ll provide updates on the Digital Ecosystem Project as it takes shape and moves forward. We also welcome your feedback, which is vital to the success of this project. Please contact Nephellie Dobie, Director of Project Management and Business Analysis, if you have questions or comments you’d like to share.

You might not have had this circled on your calendars, but October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. NCSAM is part of an ongoing campaign to promote greater understanding of the threats to our computers, mobile devices, and data.

We would strongly encourage everyone to take time to make sure you’re studying, working, and shopping safely online. Here are a few resources to help get you started:

• Simmons College Information Security

• StaySafeOnline.org

• Google’s Guide to Online Safety and Security

• Microsoft’s Safety and Security Center

• McAfee’s Guide to Online Shopping (PDF)

These are just some of the many places to find information about staying safe and secure online. If you have any questions about cyber security, you can always reach out to the Service Desk and we will help you address your concerns.

We recognize that Google Drive has quickly become a popular way to store and share files at Simmons, and that the widespread adoption of this tool can make it difficult to keep track of what files you’ve uploaded and with whom you’ve shared them.

To help keep our data safe, Simmons Technology will deploy a solution called CloudLock to monitor sensitive data in Google Drive beginning November 15th. While Google Drive meets our security requirements and is FERPA compliant, there are certain kinds of data that should not be stored there, including credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and student financial information. Many members of the Simmons community also access Google Drive on various mobile devices from non-Simmons WiFi networks, which increases the possibility of sensitive data being made available outside the Simmons network.

That’s where CloudLock comes in. It programmatically identifies certain data that appear to match these types of sensitive information, and if found, alerts you by email. This automated process does not require Technology staff to view or monitor files in Google Drive, and it directly alerts you to the presence of any sensitive data so that you can remove it.

Prior to the rollout of CloudLock, we will send an email to all faculty and staff detailing how you will be notified and what action you can take to remove sensitive data. In the meantime, if you have questions about CloudLock or keeping your Google Drive files compliant, please contact David Bruce, Director of Infrastructure & Online Services.