Tag Archives: 2013

Discounts and More from NERCOMP

TechNews, ,

nercomp_logoManaging technology resources for an entire campus means constantly balancing the need to provide tools and equipment you require with the realities of budget constraints. As a result, many of our services and partnerships are focused on extracting the greatest value possible from the investments we’ve made.

Foremost among these efforts is our partnership with the NorthEast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP). This arrangement allows Simmons to take advantage of significant discounts on Microsoft products that run on our servers and on-campus computers. These across-the-board discounts lower our infrastructure costs and free up budgetary resources for other projects and services.

In addition, NERCOMP provides frequent technology workshops and seminars in New England. You can sign up as an individual member through our institutional account and access these resources at a significant discount. To sign up, click here. Once you’re there, click “Join with your school” and complete the registration form. You’ll receive a confirmation email from NERCOMP with a user name and temporary password. After that, you can browse upcoming events and sign up at the discounted rate!

 

Improving the Service Desk Website

TechNews, ,

While many on-campus activities slow down after the Spring semester, this tends to be a busy time for the Technology team. We spend the summer months working on projects so they will be up and running by the beginning of Fall semester.

This summer, we’ll be overhauling the Service Desk website, making the most important information easier to find. In addition, we’ll improve the integration between the website, our knowledge base, and the ticket management system we use to track your requests. In the end, these changes will improve your ability to get the information you need and further streamline our process for handling requests.

Keep an eye out for more information as this project moves forward.

 

Online Training Now Available via lynda.com

TechNews, ,

Simmons Technology is pleased to announce our partnership with lynda.com, a provider of online training tools. This investment provides Simmons students, faculty, and staff with 24/7 online access to 1,400 training modules on more than 150 topics, including web design, Microsoft Office, photography, mobile app creation, social media, and much more.

The tutorials include in-depth training and practice exercises that can help you gain new skills or improve existing knowledge. Students and staff can use lynda.com to gain job-related skills and faculty can use it as a resource to supplement or even replace textbooks and online materials.

To get started, visit lynda.com and click log in, then enter simmons.edu on the right side of the login screen. You’ll be directed to a Simmons login page and returned to lynda.com after entering your Simmons username and password. Now you’re ready to learn!

To find out more about lynda.com, please visit servicedesk.simmons.edu. If you need assistance, call the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

Google Apps Training and a Note About the New Compose Experience

TechNews, ,

google_apps_smAs of Friday, April 18th, the faculty and staff migration to Google Apps for Education is more than eighty percent complete. Because so many faculty members have been migrated in the last month, we want to remind you that we’re holding Google Apps training every week on Tuesday and Thursday. You can find the full schedule here. There’s no need to sign up, just drop in and get answers to your questions about creating, collaborating, and sharing with Google Apps.

Many of you may have noticed that Gmail now has a new compose window that you’ll see when writing an email. The new compose setup features a few advantages, including the ability to minimize drafts in progress and to open the email you’re composing in a separate window. To find out more about the new compose experience, click here.

That brings us to our tip for this month. During training, many people have asked us if you can automatically open a new email in a new window, and the answer is yes. If you hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and click COMPOSE, a blank email will open in a new window in front of your inbox. You can find additional tips for making the most of the new compose experience over at the Chronicle of Higher Ed.

Being Aware: Spam, Phishing, and You

TechNews, , , ,

Though spam, phishing, and other attempts to obtain personal information via email are nothing new, we’d like to remind everyone that these types of threats are real and that Gmail is not immune to the most sophisticated attempts.

When using your Simmons email, please be aware of these threats. If you receive an email that you know is suspicious, you should report it to the Service Desk and click SPAM in the Gmail toolbar above the email.

For more information about safe computing, please read this FAQ and, for more information about phishing scams in particular, please see this FAQ on the Service Desk website. If you have questions about phishing or need guidance in a particular situation, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

REMINDER: Simmons is Moving from Sophos to Kaspersky Antivirus

TechNews, , ,

Kaspersky Sticker Icon 256Recently, you should have received a notice that beginning on May 6th at 5pm, Technology will automatically replace Sophos antivirus with Kaspersky antivirus on all Simmons-owned computers. Once the installation of Kaspersky is complete, you will be prompted to restart your computer. If you will not be in the office or using your computer at the time of installation, we ask that you save all files you’re working on but leave your computer on. This will allow the installation and restart process to happen automatically. Going forward, you should notice little to no change in how your computer handles antivirus scanning and security.

If you are currently using Sophos on a Windows computer that you own, you should replace it with one of the other free options now available at servicedesk.simmons.edu. If you use Sophos on a Mac that you own, no action is required. Please remember that it is important to protect your computer while accessing the Simmons network or any other network you use.

For more information on this change, click here. If you need assistance, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

Google Apps Tips and a Reminder about Meeting Maker

TechNews, ,

google_apps_smSimmons Technology is pleased to report that we have completed more than half of all faculty and staff Google Apps for Education migrations. The project is moving forward on schedule and should be complete by late May.

As we move forward, we would like to remind you that Meeting Maker will be decommissioned at the end of June. If your department is now using Google Calendar and you want your Meeting Maker account removed, please contact the Service Desk. For more information, and tips for moving your meetings to Google Calendar, please see our full Meeting Maker FAQ.

If you have started using Google Apps and you have questions, you can find many answers on the project site or from within Google Apps by clicking on “More” and then “Google Apps Training” in the black bar at the top of your email. We’re also hosting trainings every week, where we cover Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and the other available apps. To find an upcoming session, check the training calendar.

Beginning this month, we’ll also be providing some advanced tips and tricks to make Google Apps even more useful. Here’s the first one: Did you know that you can drag messages to a label right from your inbox? Just click and hold on or near the checkbox next to a message and drag it to the label you want to use. Your message has been organized with one click and without leaving your inbox.

Using Google Apps in (and outside of) the Classroom

TechNews, ,

As more faculty move to Google Apps for Education, we want to provide some ideas for how you can use the apps in your classes. We would also like to hear from you. If you have interesting or innovative use cases, please send an email to [email protected]. We would be happy to feature your stories in an upcoming newsletter.

Create
You can use Google Drive to quickly create and share lecture notes and presentations. Gather the information you need, create your doc or presentation in Drive, and then click “share” and copy the link to send to your students.

Collaborate
In addition to creating your own documents and presentations, you can also use Drive to start projects and then invite students to collaborate. Students can also use Drive to create assignments and then share them with you in order to get feedback. Drive allows for real-time chat, multiple comment conversations, and maintains a full history of revisions. You can work with students to develop a paper or presentation and track their progress as you provide feedback.

Collect
Need to gather information from students at the start of the semester? Looking for an easy way to create appointments during your office hours? Try Google Forms. You can create forms from within Drive in order to gather feedback quickly and track the results in a spreadsheet.

Empower
Your students can use Google Sites to compile portfolios or gather resources for a group project. Sites allows for embedding of documents, spreadsheets, images, videos, and more, making it the perfect place to create and display projects while gaining valuable technology and communication experience.

To find out more about each of the apps and what they can do, visit the Google Apps project site and click on the links under the “Using Google Apps” section.

Simmons Network Improvements Are Under Way

TechNews, , , ,

In an effort to improve network security and to provide better access to services based on your role at Simmons, Technology has begun a project to enhance both the wired and wireless networks.

This project began on March 20th and will continue through April 30th. It should not cause any downtime on our networks but you might notice some minor changes to your login process during the project if you’re using a personally-owned Mac or PC or a Simmons-owned Mac. If you’re using a Simmons-owned PC or accessing the network wirelessly or via a wired connection in the residence halls, you shouldn’t notice any change.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222.

Upgrading Simmons Computers to Internet Explorer 9

TechNews, , ,

windows_logoThis week, our Endpoint Systems team will be deploying Internet Explorer 9 to all Simmons-owned PCs. You won’t have to do anything to initiate the deployment but you will see a message prompting you to restart your computer once the installation is complete.

Upgrading to Internet Explorer 9 is necessary in order to comply with the requirements of integral systems, including Moodle. In addition, there are several major new features available in this version, including the ability to perform a search directly from the address bar and choosing your most frequently visited sites when you launch a new tab. Please note that, by default, Internet Explorer 9 hides toolbars (including Favorites). To enable these, right click next to the address bar and click “Favorites Bar.”

Please visit Microsoft’s official Internet Explorer 9 homepage to find out more about what is available in the newest version.