Tech News – Page 8

Important Changes to Courses.SMU

UPDATE:

Due to an unprecedented chain of events yesterday, June 29th, SMU was unable to login to Canvas for several hours. The connection between SMU and Canvas has since been restored.

These events yesterday disrupted our expected timeline, and in order to recover and move forward, access to Blackboard via courses.smu.edu has been removed 24 hours earlier than scheduled. If you need your materials off of Blackboard, please contact your academic technology director in your college, or put in a ticket at the Helpdesk.

Direct Support Contacts:
James Pan	Dedman School of Law/Perkins School of Theology	pan@smu.edu	214.768.1820
Jeff Liew	Cox School of Business	jliew@smu.edu	214.768.4770
Scott Martin	Simmons School of Education	smartin@smu.edu	214.768.4864
Merlin Wilkerson	Lyle School of Engineering	merlin@smu.edu	214.768.8649
Mousumi Tanha	Meadows School of Arts	mtanha@smu.edu	214.768.2548
Michael Robertson	Dedman College	robertsonm@smu.edu	214.768.1148
Steve Snider	Guildhall	ssnider@smu.edu	214.768.1879

July 1st is going to be a big day for learning management systems at SMU. There will be some significant changes to Courses.SMU as we move away from Blackboard to Canvas. As advertised throughout the 2015-2016 academic year, the following changes will take effect on June 30th.

Continue reading Important Changes to Courses.SMU

Apple iOS 10: The New Bits

Last week’s Apple Worldwide Developer Conference has come to a close. Now that we’ve heard all that the folks in Cupertino have had to say about what’s new in the world of Mac and iOS; we can now summarize all of the great new things we can all expect this year.

In our summary last week, we only skimmed the surface of the new features of iOS mentioned in the WWDC opening keynote. Since then, several more tricks have been up iOS’ sleeve. This article is still only a snippet of the new things to know in iOS 10, but for a complete rundown you can visit Apple’s iOS 10 Preview page. Continue reading Apple iOS 10: The New Bits

Apple WWDC 2016: What’s New

macOS with Siri It’s that time of year again! Apple is hosting their annual Worldwide Developers Conference this week in San Francisco. The WWDC isn’t usually as flashy as the iPhone reveals, but there’s still a lot of cool features and products you can expect to find on your Apple devices in the coming months.

One of the bigger talking points during WWDC is OS X, and this year is no exception. The most noticeable change is the name. After fifteen years, OS X will now be known simply as macOS. The next upgrade of the operating system will be called Sierra, named after the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The new macOS will also include the debut of the iPhone’s voice-activated assistant, Siri. This will allow Mac users to use the same voice commands they use on their iPhone on their desktop as well. Siri has been studying, too! She will now have a huge amount of additional knowledge and commands to interact with desktop apps. The underlying technology behind Siri is now opened up to developers as well, so expect to see third-party apps using the technology soon.

Also on the horizon is the latest version of iOS: version 10. iOS 10 brings additional security features to iPhones and iPads, along with streamlined notifications on your lock screen.

Teaching & Video/Audio Conferencing with Zoom

Zoom Available now, Southern Methodist University has expanded services for Zoom, a cloud-based video conferencing and web conferencing service, as the primary eLearning tool for delivering easy-to-use, high-definition video/audio conferencing capabilities to faculty and students. Brought to campus in January 2015 as part of a pilot initiative, Zoom has proven a reliable, future-forward and cost-effective collaboration tool which is easy to use on just about any device (even Linux!). As Zoom transitions from pilot initiative and into a supported service, Zoom will also be replacing SMU’s current GoToMeeting conferencing service.

Over the next few months, OIT’s Academic Technology Services team will be integrating Zoom within Canvas and will be configuring Zoom for use with SMU’s single-sign-on technology so that you can use your SMU login credentials for access. Short-term Zoom Webinar licenses are also available but limited–please contact the IT Helpdesk for more information about webinars.

Suggested Uses for Zoom

1:1 Meetings with Students

Schedule meetings with students that you would normally meet face-to-face by using a Zoom meeting. If you have distance students, or when bad weather prohibits travel to campus, meetings and/or classes can still be held over Zoom (up to 50 participants).

Virtual Office Hours

With Zoom you can offer virtual office hours from any location anywhere in the world (with Internet accessibility). Send your students or collaborators an invite through email or post the meeting information on your Canvas course site as to the “office hours” that you will be available. Scheduled Zoom office hours create an active virtual “office” where students can come and go as needed.

Paper & Research Reviews

Using the Zoom Share Screen feature, you can have students or colleagues submit work for real-time review during a live Zoom session. Share Screen allows you to provide real-time feedback on work and to allow for any synchronous clarification as needed.

Exam Review Sessions

Launch a Zoom session and allow students to enter as necessary. Faculty members can choose to either moderate a student led review or to lead the review on their own.

External Research Collaboration

Need to host a research discussion or virtual seminar with up to 50 attendees? No problem! Create a Zoom session!

Recording Lectures, Meetings, & Sessions for Asynchronous Playback

Using Zoom’s recording functionality, all Zoom content can be recorded directly to your hard drive for future reference or future use in creating content for hybrid teaching.

Getting started with Zoom

Submit a Zoom account request to the IT Help Desk by calling 214.768.HELP or by emailing help@smu.edu. You will receive an email notification when your account has been created.
Once you’ve created a Zoom account, simply navigate to smu.edu/zoom to log in and host a meeting!

Zoom Requirements

System Requirements

Internet connection
Speakers & microphone—built-in or USB plug-in or wireless Bluetooth
Webcam or HD webcam—built-in or USB blug-in
Or, an HD cam or HD camcorder with video capture card

Supporting Operating Systems

Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later
Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7
Linux

Supported Tablets & Mobile Devices

iOS and Android devices
Surface Pro 2 & 3

Phone Scam: Hacking Over The Phone

Members of the SMU Community have reported a number of phone calls in the last several weeks attempting to gain access to your computer. Usually, these callers will indicate that they have “noticed” that your computer has been infected with malware and will helpfully offer to fix it for you while on the phone. The caller will direct you to a website and request that you download software to help fix your PC, but you will actually be downloading malware. This will usually lock your computer and the person will require you to pay hundreds of dollars to unlock it. Continue reading Phone Scam: Hacking Over The Phone