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.

If you are a faculty or staff member who uses SPSS for statistical analysis, you can now download the newest version of SPSS to your personal computer.

To get started, make sure you’re connected to the Simmons network using the Simmons Virtual Private Network (VPN), and then follow the instructions here.

If you have questions about the download, or would like to install SPSS on a Simmons-owned computer, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

On Tuesday, October 22, Apple released their newest Mac operating system: OS X Mavericks (10.9). The new operating system was immediately made available as a free download for current Mac owners. Mavericks is a completely new version of OS X and requires a reinstall of the entire operating system. Because Mavericks has just been released, we are asking anyone with a Simmons-owned Mac to continue using their current OS until the Service Desk has verified that Mavericks works with all applications commonly used at Simmons.

To find out more about Mavericks, please visit the official OS X webpage here.

Simmons Technology has opened a new support venue in Lefavour Hall, just in time for the Fall semester. The Technology Support Center (TSC) provides a variety of services focused on student workers supporting other students. The TSC provides assistance with personally owned computers, mobile phones, tablets, and the various Simmons online resources, such as Simmons Connection, Google Apps, and Simmons Moodle. The TSC is located in LEF-331, conveniently positioned upstairs from Beatley Library and is open Monday-Friday from 8am-6pm. The TSC operates on a first come, first served basis and, while the focus is on helping students with tech questions, our student workers are available to assist faculty and staff as well.

In addition to the TSC, technology support is also available at the Beatley Library reference desk. Technology staff will be there to assist with any computer or printing difficulties in the Library and can also direct you to the TSC for assistance with more complex issues. Technology staff are available in the library Monday-Friday from 8am-6pm, with extended hours as needed.

For additional information on this and other Technology services, please visit the technology support page on our website.

If you frequently plan or attend meetings on the phone or via the Web, you know that there are a lot of options out there. Simmons Technology also recognizes this and, to better serve the community, we’ve created a partnership with GoToMeeting to provide a comprehensive phone and web conferencing solution for faculty and staff that’s accessible using your Simmons email address. GoToMeeting is available on your computer or mobile device and features built-in chat, webcam sharing, desktop sharing, and more. We hope you’ll find this service useful for enhancing your use of collaborative media in your office or classroom.

All Simmons faculty and staff now have access to GoToMeeting using their Simmons email address. You should have received an account creation email from Simmons Technology instructing you to create a password and complete your account setup.

If you’re using a Simmons computer, the software is already installed. If you want to install GoToMeeting on a personal computer or mobile device, you can find the download links here. Once you’ve installed the software, you can create, schedule, or join a meeting of up to 25 participants at any time.

We’ve created an FAQ to help you get started, and you can find additional resources by visiting the GoToMeeting support center, where you’ll find answers to common questions as well as step-by-step video tutorials.

Looking for a guided tour of GoToMeeting? Sign up for a one-hour webinar to learn more:

The transition to a new learning management system began in Summer 2011 and since then, we have worked with each School to move all requested course content out of eLearning and into Moodle. As of the Fall 2013 semester, the transition is complete. Looking forward, we hope that this project will mark the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership as faculty members continue to enrich and improve this critical teaching and learning tool.

Simmons Technology would like to thank the Simmons College faculty and support community for their cooperation throughout this transition. We would also like to thank our original pilot faculty as well as adventurous instructors from across the faculty whose input and patience have helped make this transition possible.

A recent article in The New York Times covered a widespread malware attack conducted through a web browser plug-in that hijacked people’s social media accounts and used those accounts to send spam on their behalf.

While attacks like these are unfortunate, they serve as useful reminders that the proliferation of apps, plug-ins, and add-ons, created by thousands of developers throughout the world, opens new channels for malware, viruses, and phishing attempts. Most apps and plug-ins available through trusted sources such as the iTunes Store or Google’s Chrome Web Store are free from harmful code, but it’s worthwhile to be cognizant of what you’re downloading and installing. You can do this by reading reviews from other customers and being mindful of what access you grant when installing software that integrates with your web browser or social media accounts.

Another important step is to keep your browser and apps up-to-date. While it’s easy to ignore those little app store reminders that updates are available, you should make an effort to install updates as often as possible. Frequently, updates include enhanced security features or fixes for recently discovered vulnerabilities.

Staying up-to-date will minimize your exposure to malicious software and help to keep your data safe.