SMU Mobile App Updated for Fall 2016

Update: OIT is winding down its SMU Mobile app for iPhone and Android. On February 12, 2018, SMU Mobile will no longer appear in app stores and will stop working after February 28, 2018.

Last year, we released a brand-new SMU mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. This year, we’ve made the app even better!

The SMU Mobile App includes quick information about many campus services within easy reach; like dining hall menus, campus maps, your class schedule, sporting event schedules, and more. Soon, you will be able to add and drop courses directly from the app as well, so you no longer have to trek to a computer to log into my.SMU. The add/drop is currently in beta, and we hope to enable this feature for everyone in coming weeks. Continue reading SMU Mobile App Updated for Fall 2016

OIT Resources and Support for Faculty & Staff

Many University employees are unaware of the vast resources available at their fingertips. As we have entered the back to school season we’ve put together this list of resources and reminders for you. As always, if you have any questions about any of them feel free to reach out to the IT Help Desk. Continue reading OIT Resources and Support for Faculty & Staff

Getting TA’s and Others in Your Canvas Course

Canvas Tips & Tricks The process to put people and classes into Canvas is an automated one; whatever information is in my.SMU is what will be used to populate those users and roles into Canvas. There are several designations in my.smu that help to get people in their correct course and role, such as, Instructors, Co-Instructors, TAs, and students. All students, Instructors, secondary instructors, observing/supervising instructors, and students are enrolled every couple of hours throughout the week. Continue reading Getting TA’s and Others in Your Canvas Course

Box Features Get Deprecated

In Box’s effort to improve the user experience, they sometimes remove functionality to make room for an even better product. Starting in September, a few Box features will be withdrawn.

Support for Flash Video Previews

Starting on September 5, 2016, Box will end support for previewing flash video files (.flv, .f4v and .swf file extensions) in the most current Box web experience. You will need to use an alternative to viewing flash video files, such as downloading them and using a desktop application. Here is the list of file types that Box preview supports.

End of Support for Internet Explorer (IE) Browser Versions 9 and 10

Box will be ending support for IE versions 9 and 10 on September 26, 2016. Compatibility mode for any of the unsupported browsers is also unsupported. Box only supports the two latest browser versions. As of January 12, 2016, Microsoft stopped supporting IE browsers 9 and 10 for the Windows OS – Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit only) and Windows 10. Microsoft supports IE 11 on Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

Prior to the end of support date, Box will notify users on IE 9 and IE 10 browsers via an in-app banner that their browser will soon be unsupported. After the end of support date, the in-app banner will say that the browser is out of date and that the user needs to upgrade to a supported browser. Eventually, users who try to access Box on either of these unsupported browsers (including on the associated compatibility modes for these browsers) will be blocked entirely from using Box (via a blocking page) until they have upgraded to a supported browser.

For more information on Box@SMU, please visit smu.edu/box.

Canvas Resources for Faculty & Staff

Canvas Tips & Tricks The Academic Technology team has worked feverishly to get our faculty and staff up and running with Canvas, our new course management system that rolled out to campus this summer. While some faculty members may have already engaged in this new system, many will be using it for the first time this semester.

Since January, Academic Technology and IT Training, have trained over 400 Canvas users to help them get their courses built. We’ve done this by facilitating departmental training, hosting weekly Canvas workshops, and providing additional learning opportunities through our Canvas Boot Camp and Canvas Nights webinar series. That doesn’t take into account the number of people the Academic Technology team has assisted through personal meetings, help desk tickets and direct phone calls.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to join us for one of our workshops, we will continue offering weekly seminars through the end of September. The weekly Canvas training schedule is available at smu.edu/ittraining. Also, we have other Canvas resources and learning options available for you: Continue reading Canvas Resources for Faculty & Staff