A Sneak Peek at New Technology Services

OIT Technology NewsThere are several exciting new services that will be available to the SMU Community during this Academic Year.  The following are a few projects that are underway to deliver new technology to the campus community.  Each of these will be highlighted in various blog posts and newsletters over the next several months.

Box (File Storage replacement for Locker)

BoxLocker.SMU and Bstore.SMU will be replaced by a popular file storage solution, Box.  Box was selected for the replacement service as it will offer unlimited storage for all faculty, staff and students in addition to providing a robust and more user-friendly interface!  Box is a cloud-based system that allows you to store documents online so you can access, manage and share them from anywhere (including your mobile devices).  This project has just launched, so a timeline will be provided in a future update.

Canvas:  New Learning Management Tool

CanvasAs announced by the Provost, Blackboard will be replaced by Canvas for the next academic year.  OIT is working closely with the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Office of Assessment and Accreditation to coordinate the transition to Canvas.  Many faculty have begun using Canvas this semester as a pilot group.  All faculty will have the option to transition to this new platform for the Spring semester.  Blackboard will be decommissioned in June of 2016. Workshops, migration options and other resources will be made available throughout the semester to ensure a smooth transition to Canvas.

LyndaCampus: Online Training for the SMU Campus

LyndaLynda.com offers over 2,000 self-paced training classes on a variety of applications.  Click here for more details about this service.

Duo (Two Factor Authentication)

Duo provides two-factor authentication before accessing various applications or content. This requires both your SMU credentials and a quick verification process that can be completed with the click of a button on a mobile device.   OIT is currently reviewing the list of applications to select the appropriate ones to integrate with this extra security component.  Our intention is to protect the most sensitive information first, such as direct deposit information and other financial information.

Unified Messaging (New Voicemail for On Campus Phones)

Unified MessagingWe are currently in the pilot phase of the new voicemail replacement project.  During the summer, we migrated approximately 75 accounts to the new system.  We will begin the campus wide implementation during the month of October.  This new service will deliver voicemail messages straight to your email mailbox.  A speech-to-text transcription will be included in the email message along with the actual audio file.  In addition, users can call into the voicemail system to retrieve messages as well as access email, calendar appointments and more.  If an individual calls your number but does not leave a message, a missed call notification will be delivered to your email as well.  All of these features (and more) can be controlled from the options menu within webmail.smu.edu.

Power BI (Business Intelligence Application)

Power BiThe Power BI service was recently enabled via Office 365 for faculty,staff and students. This online service enables you to find and visualize data through dashboards, shared reports and more.  To activate Power BI, you must login to office.smu.edu with your @smu.edu username and account password.  Select the Power BI icon to begin the activation process.

We look forward to bringing these new solutions to the SMU Community during the upcoming academic year.

IT Help Desk: New Location, New Hours

Help Desk MapOver the summer, the Help Desk relocated to the Hughes Trigg Student Center while Fondren Library is under renovation.  They are conveniently located on the main floor, right next to the M Lounge.

Semester Hours:

Monday through Friday 8:00AM until 8:00 PM
Saturday 9:00AM-5:00PM
Sunday 12:00pm-6:00pm

Contact Information:

Phones: 214-768-4357
Email: help@smu.edu
Online Support Portal: help.smu.edu
Walk up support in Hughes Trigg

We have hired a great group of students who will be assisting our full time staff in providing support during our open hours.  The STAR students will also continue working on a variety of projects including web publishing, graphic design and assisting faculty with instructional projects.  We look forward to a great semester in our new location!

LyndaCampus Coming Soon

lynda.comThe Office of Information Technology is pleased to announce the expansion of our online training solution.  We will no longer require a checkout license for lynda.com training as we have purchased  lyndaCampus. lyndaCampus provides academic institutions with unlimited, organization-wide access to the entire lynda.com library of instructional videos. With  over 2,000 self-paced training classes, practice files and environments, the SMU community will have the ability to access topics including: the entire suite of Microsoft and Adobe products, website development, business skills, design skills, audio and video tools, creative inspirations, and much more.

All of the courses are taught by expert instructors and have fully searchable transcripts.  Additional benefits include:

For Faculty

  • Assign tutorials to students utilizing LMS integration
  • Map content to syllabi
  • Embrace the flipped classroom model
  • Pursue professional development

For Staff

  • Keep pace with technology
  • Support the daily workflow
  • Create playlists for employees or colleagues
  • Get immediate, just-in-time answers to questions

For Students

  • Explore hundreds of topics in multimedia, design, web development, and social media
  • Perform independent study
  • Expand a resume and prepare for the workforce
  • Build presentation, time management, and research skills
  • Get immediate answers to technology questions

Features

  • Shareable course playlists to support individualized learning
  • Mobile device access
  • Searchable course transcripts for quick answers
  • Bookmarks for favorite sections and easy reference
  • Downloadable courses and exercise files that reinforce retention
  • Certificates of completion may be produced and uploaded to your LinkedIn profile
  • New courses added every week
  • Privacy and security—FERPA, COPPA, and TRUSTe compliant

We are finalizing the subscription setup to allow the SMU community to use their SMU account and password to access the tutorials.  We will make the service available during the month of September and notify campus as soon as it is ready.

 

Eduroam Available Throughout Campus

Eduroam logoIf you will be traveling to other universities this year, be sure to check out eduroam.  The eduroam wireless network is available at SMU as well as thousands of educational institutions around the world. SMU participates as both a service provider (for users on-campus) and as an identity provider (for users off-campus). Basically, you can use your SMU credentials to connect to the eduroam network on other campuses and visitors can use their educational credentials to connect to the wireless network at SMU.

There is more information available on the wireless service page at smu.edu/wifi

eduroam maps!

You may be interested to see a map of institutions worldwide that participate in eduroam and offer the eduroam wireless service on their campuses. Note that it may take a while to load the large amount of data on these websites.

How can I use eduroam?

Simply find the eduroam wireless network with your wireless device. For the username, use your SMU email name (i.e., user@smu.edu), and the same password you would use to sign in to Webmail or my.SMU. You may be prompted to trust the wireless network certificate, which is safe to accept.

Once you’ve joined your device to the eduroam wireless network, you’ll find that your device should automatically connect to the eduroam wireless network here at SMU as well as at other participating institutions without being prompted again for credentials.

 

Chrome Ends Support for Java and Silverlight

This month, certain plug-ins will cease functioning in the Google Chrome web browser. This is a decision Google made in its development roadmap over a year ago. As Google phased out the plug-ins, there has been some workarounds, but even those workarounds will cease to function. We are aware Google Chrome is a popular browser on campus and SMU has been in conversations with the vendors of the university’s affected web applications. The suggestions based on those conversations are below.

  • AdminImages.SMU (Java) – The software vendor is working on replacement; use Internet Explorer (for linking) or Firefox for now.
  • Inside.SMU – Microsoft has offered no correction plans. Internet Explorer is the best method to work with Inside.SMU.
  • TeamDynamix (Silverlight) – Working with vendor. Use Firefox for now.

While plugins like Java and Silverlight are two of the more popular plug-ins losing support, the change is not limited to them. Below is a sample list of some of the plugins that are affected by this change to Google Chrome:

  • Java
  • Silverlight
  • Acrobat Reader (prior to Adobe Reader X)
  • Quicktime
  • Shockwave
  • Windows Media Player

All web pages that use plug-ins like these will cease functioning in Chrome in September of 2015. Chrome users will see the following messages when viewing web pages using these plugins:

Chrome-Unsupported-Plug-in

For those wanting more information on Google’s decision, below are links to extended discussions on the matter.