ACCS - News

Informer Beta and Session Update

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:54:30 -0800

First, AIS would like to thank the campus community for their patience and understanding while we work to increase the number of available logins to the Datatel Colleague system. We've noticed a marked dropoff in sessions left running which has made a nice impact to performance. Thank you!

Informer Upgrade Ahead

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:54:43 -0800

AIS has offered the Informer web reporting system to administration and faculty since 2006 to allow easy access to the data you need from the college's administrative database. While the current version has remained very popular, we've been excited to start initial work on a new server running the latest version (new in 2009) that promises an improved interface and new features.

Please limit your number of sessions

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:45:01 -0800

During registration, which lasts until about December 4, please limit the number of Datatel sessions you use. We reached our Unidata License Limit today at about 1:15pm. The critical times are 8-9am and 1-2pm. When you are done with a Datatel session, please log off.

Please limit your number of sessions

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:45:01 -0800

AIS at Datatel User's Group Conference

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:07:54 -0700

Rich, Susan, and Jason will be going down to Washington DC for the annual Datatel User's Group conference on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of April. We'll be joined by a record eight other Allegheny users to learn about best business practices and ways we can make Allegheny more efficient and the administration better at what they do. Todd Fox from the Development office helps plan the Advancement portion of the DUG conference and is a presenter and panelist at the conference. Rich is a key coordinator for the regional PADUG and conference, held this year in September at Hershey. In addition Jason and Jason Andracki from Admissions office will be first-time presenters at this year's DUG. For more information about DUG, Datatel consulting, or the annual PADUG conference contact a member of the AIS team.

Colleague Advancement Conversion - Date Set

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:03:25 -0700

After careful deliberation of AIS and the eleven most affected offices on campus, the date has been set for the Colleague Advancement implementation: August 7th - 10th. This project will unify the student and financial system with the alumni database into a single, integrated system. We will shut down the Datatel Colleague production account (r18-production) at 5pm on August 6th and reopen it at 9am on August 11th. WebAdvisor and Informer will be unaffected by this shutdown and will remain available for campus use throughout the conversion. Benefactor will become unavailable prior to the start of conversion. After conversion, use of Benefactor will be replaced by screens in Colleague (r18-production). For additional questions or details regarding Benefactor and the new Colleague Advancement module, please contact the Development office.

Informer Server Maintenance Today

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:59:27 -0700

TNS is performing routine maintenance on the Informer report server that will involve it being offline over lunch today. (Roughly between 12 and 1.) No changes are being made to the system.

ALl problems resolved

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:06:08 -0800

All problems from Sunday have been corrected. Everything should be working normally now. Thank you for your patience.

Some problem remain from Sunday

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:47:21 -0800

One of the listeners affected by Sunday's problem during system maintenance is still unable to start. This will not affect most users, but the Ben/GL interface is not working. Some other processes mail not work until this issue is resolved. AIS is in contact with Datatel to get the problem resolved.

Datatel and WebAdvisor available

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:42:46 -0800

AIS has resolved the problem and both Datatel and WebAdvisor are available again.

Datatel System, including WebAdvisor, is down

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:42:02 -0800

While performing maintenance at about 9:15 on Sunday morning a problem occurred with the Datatel system causing the production environment, including WebAdvisor, to become unavialable. The problem has been reported to Datatel. Unfortunately, software support is not available over the weekend so this will be resolved as soon as possible Monday morning.

XREL screen available

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:16:46 -0800

The problem reported with XREL not being accessible has been fixed. Please begin using XREL to help resolve privacy concerns.

APR Comment Field Corrected

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:02:42 -0800

The problem with entering multiple line in the Comment field of the APRs on WebAdvisor has been fixed as of this morning.

Count Day - Success!

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:48:55 -0800

The count day adjustments are completed and Colleague is back up and running. It's ok to start using Colleague for your day to day operations. As a reminder for those who may discover any required changes involving the count, these changes must be recorded in both the live account and also in the colred account.

Semi-Annual Count Day

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:45:49 -0800

Wednesday, January 28th is Count Day for this semester. As with other previous Count Days, we use this day to get all the registration/billing/housing information in sync. As part of this procedure we must close down Datatel's Colleague for a few hours while all the offices do their last minute fine tuning of the data. So please be ready to signoff of Colleague at noon on Wednesday. If all goes well with the count procedures, Colleague will be back up by Thursday morning. Benefactor, WebAdvisor and Informer users do not have to sign off and may continue to those systems throughout the day.

Student FTP Server (Hercules) Now Available

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:34:40 -0800

The issue with the student ftp server (hercules) has been corrected. Users can now access their stored files....

Student FTP Server (hercules) Is Unavailable

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:01:58 -0800

A raid drive failure is causing a problem with the student FTP server (hercules). FTP access is not available at this time. A resolution is being worked on to bring the server back on-line....

BlackBerry PhoneSnoop Application Used to Spy on Users

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:43:53 -0800

There have been reports of a new software application called PhoneSnoop. This software allows an attacker to call a user's BlackBerry and listen to personal conversations. In order to install and setup the PhoneSnoop application, attackers must have physical access...

Public Wireless Access Restored

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:49:23 -0800

Access to Allegheny's public wireless network has been restored across campus. Please contact the help desk at x2755 if you experience technical difficulties....

Public Wireless Access Unavailable

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:11:46 -0800

The public wireless network is temporarily unavailable in select areas on campus due to some unscheduled maintenance....

Accounts Older Than Six Monthes Turned Off

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:43:54 -0800

Yesterday, over two hundred Allegheny accounts were deactivated because the password had not been changed in the last six months. If your account was turned off please contact Computing Services by calling 814-332-2755 to learn how to reactivate your account....

Datatel Back Online

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:03:30 -0700

AIS reports that Datatel is online and preforming without error following yesterday's maintenance. Should you experience problems with the system at this point please report them by creating a help ticket using Web Help Desk....

Datatel Update

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:12:38 -0700

The Datatel system will be shutdown tonight for some needed system updates. Everyone must be off of the Datatel system by 4:45 pm, the shutdown and restart should take only about 15 minutes. Once again, everyone must be off Datatel...

Spam Email

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:10:01 -0700

Some people are receiving an email with the following message, "Mailbox Quota Exceeded!!!" and asking you to click on a link to prevent this. This is not an email sent out by User Services, so please do not click on...

WebAdvisor Down

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:07:28 -0700

WebAdvisor is temporarily down for some unscheduled maintenance....

Remember to Change Your Password

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In March 2009, a new password change policy was started that requires users to change their passwords at least twice a year. It has been almost six months since the college community was asked to change passwords for the first...

Ways to Stay Informed About Google Apps

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:28:20 -0700

We are all learning a great deal through the adoption of Google Apps as the suite is evolving providing use with ever increasing functionality thanks to the perpetual design cycle that Google is committed to. A common question we hear...

Fall Break Updates

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:05:59 -0700

A few updates regarding Fall Break * Coppola Enterprise will not be holding office hours today or Tuesday. They are available by phone at 814-332-6225 and will resume office hours on Wednesday. * User Services Staff is taking advantage of...

Caflisch Network Issue Resolved

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:41:13 -0700

There was a problem with some of the network connections in Caflisch mid-morning due to an rogue network device. The unconfigured device caused a network disruption for some users. The issue has been resolved. Users may have to reboot their...

Reminder That Your Allegheny Password Needs To Be Changed Twices a Year

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:00:41 -0700

It has been six months since the implementation of the password change policy. Thus, several users have received a message from the Systems Administrator saying: Your computer and network accounts are set to expire this month. To continue accessing college...

Colleague Advancement is Ready for Its Close-Up

Susan Fenton — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:00:00 -0700

We are live on Colleague Advancement! Access to Colleague is now open to all users, with Benefactor users now using the new Colleague Advancement module. Everyone should be sure to log in to the R18-production environment from now on. You will see a blue background in the header area -if your header background is red, you are in a test or training account and should log out. Benefactor is dead. Long live CA!

Live Conversion Starts Today!

Susan Fenton — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:54:43 -0700

At noon today Benefactor will be closed to users - forever! At 5 pm, Colleague will be closed to users until Tuesday August 11th at 8 am when it will re-open for all users and Colleague Advancement will debut! Starting 8 am Friday August 7th, Colleague users will be able to access the Colleague test account to view data, which will be current as of 5 pm 8/5/09. They should not make any updates to data in the test account, as these updates will not be in production when they log in on Tuesday and will need to be re-entered. Note that there will be no test account access for Benefactor users during the conversion period. Benefactor users will have no data access for the period from noon on August 8th to 8 am August 11th.

Getting Closer

Susan Fenton — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:16:46 -0700

We've been very busy as live conversion approaches. Too busy for postings to the blog, it seems! Here's what we've been up to.

Mimic of Live Conversion Our mimic of live went well, with one fairly significant glitch. Timing went very well. Todd and I were able to complete the pre-conversions, conversions, and post-conversions easily in the time alloted. We even had time to eat and sleep! The glitch - that the N10 Correspondence History conversion failed - seems to be related to a fluke event on the server during this conversion, and shouldn't rear its ugly head again.
Another Conversion Test Given the N10 glitch during the mimic of live we thought it prudent to do another conversion test last week. This time it went off without a hitch - though holding my breath for the hour it took the N10 update to complete nearly killed me!
Computed Columns Todd and I have been creating computed columns for some time. We have over 300 in CONSTITUENT alone, with many more in the other CA files.
Communications Management We've been putting the finishing touches on documents, paragraphs and rules for acknowledgements and receipts. This has been an ongoing process, beginning last April when a representative from Datatel was here to help us get started.
Reports Todd has been using all these computed columns to get some of her drop-dead reports ready for Day One.
Security CA won't be of much use to anyone if nobody has the security needed to use it! So Todd has been working out what's needed so that I can create the security classes we need and assign then to the right people. We want everyone to be able to log into CA on Day One so they can get their work done!
Training Matt has been training people on CA and letting them get their feet wet in the second conversion environment.

Live conversion begins in just over a week. We'll be ready, and hope you are all looking forward to it as much as we are!

Mimic of Live Conversion This Week

Susan Fenton — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:01:49 -0700

This week Todd and I are running our mimic of live conversion. Beginning on noon Monday we will run the pre-processes, the conversions, and the post-processes in the same time frame we will be running the live conversion. For those interested, our plan for this week is attached. Wish us luck! Conversion 4 Plan

Progress Report

Susan Fenton — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:24:02 -0700

We are making good progress on our to-do list highlighted in our last post. Todd and I are whipping through the computed columns and subroutines needed for reports and downloads, while Matt is working on creating and testing the documents needed for acknowledgments, receipts, etc. In "quiet" moments, we're all working on data cleanup and testing the converted data. Last week I took a break from computed columns to run a mini-conversion. I focused on just the conversions which still reported a number of errors in conversion 3, and on making sure we had solutions for all of those errors. This should put us in good shape for conversion 4, which begins June 29th and is going to be our mimic of live conversion. Todd and I will be working through the night to get everything converted properly in the equivalent of a long weekend. We'll let you know how that goes!

What Next?

Susan Fenton — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:00:04 -0700

We've completed three conversions and all of our Datatel-led training. So what's left to do in the 2-1/2 months between now and live conversion? Plenty! Here are some of the things we're working on now, or about to start.

Reporting. Datatel delivers many good custom reports in CA, which we will be using. Todd has been identifying the reports we will still need to write, and prioritizing these. Our goal is to have the drop-dead reports ready to go on August 11th, and work on reports that aren't needed until later in the year after conversion is completed.
Writing Computed Columns. To support these reports, many computed columns need to be written. Todd already has a start on that, but there's lots more to be done.
Communications. We are beginning to create the documents needed for communications - receipts, acknowledgements, etc. A list was created of what we needed when Amy Huoy from Datatel was here last month, but the documents themselves still need to be created.
Security. Security classes need to be defined and set up so that end users can access the parts of CA they need.
Reviewing the Converted Data. We have reviewed much of the data that was brought over to CA in the test conversions. But we need the people who work with the data every day to get in there and take a look, too. If there are problems, they are the ones most likely to find them. Once found, we can address the issue before the next conversion, to avoid problems in the final product.
End User Training. We are using the second conversion environment for training and testing. Some of this has begun, with more on the horizon.
Data Cleanup. This is an ongoing process. While we have a good handle on dealing with address ambiguities, we'd rather not encounter them at all. While it may not be realistic to think we can eliminate all of them, we are using quiet moments to do as much clean up as we can. Every little bit helps!

The End of the (CA Training) Road

Susan Fenton — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:49:59 -0700

Today Todd, Matt and I have our last CA training session - Planned Giving. This last training, like many others, takes place online. The three of us will gather in Murray 116 with a telephone nearby for this virtual classroom training. For those counting, this marks the 14th CA training session or workshop we have participated in since Cohort F began in October:

Three two-day sessions at Datatel in Fairfax, Virginia
Two Collaboration and Custodianship telephone workshops
Three webinars
Four virtual classroom courses
Two two-day on-site visits from Datatel

While our Datatel-led training is just about over, the real training is just beginning - getting those who will use CA in the Development Office up to speed on the new software. Todd and Matt have been preparing for this all along and have already started on training sessions with some of the staff.

Conversion 3 Complete

Susan Fenton — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:47:33 -0700

Conversion 3 was completed in 4 working days, plus about a half day to run post-conversion processes. We had expected it to take about a week, so it looks like we are right on track. Our goal for this conversion was to convert all valid data, and that goal was met. We were somewhat surprised by the number of errors that we encountered along the way - some errors that we had seen before but hadn't been fixed, but most new errors since the last conversion two months ago. We fixed these errors as we were converting, in order to meet our goal of leaving no data behind, which slowed us down a bit. For the July test conversion and also the August live conversion, we plan to run a mini-conversion a week or two ahead of conversion, in order to find these errors and get them fixed when we aren't under pressure to get the conversion completely quickly. Our computed columns for solving address ambiguities worked well in this conversion. For N1 (Other addresses) the modification to the computed columns that would map former addresses to former addresses and current to current worked better than expected. We were able to resolve all but 115 addresses at N1 with this technique.

Major Donors

Susan Fenton — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:42:38 -0700

Our penultimate CA training session takes place this afternoon - Major Donors. Todd, Matt and I will once again convene in Murray 116 with our instructor on the telephone for this virtual classroom training. We have a workbook the size of a dictionary, but only 4 hours of online training scheduled. Something tells me we won't be getting through the entire book in one afternoon! In just under two weeks we will have our last training session, Planned Giving. After that, we should know all there is to know about Colleague Advancement!

All Set for Conversion 3

Susan Fenton — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:47:16 -0700

Everything is in place to begin Conversion #3 on Wednesday. Over the weekend Pete created a new conversion environment, leaving the conversion 2 environment around so that we can continue testing, training, and report writing there. Also over the weekend, we refreshed the data in bentest. Today all the pre-processes were completed - doing any file manipulations we've learned are needed to get some old records to convert, creating all the BENCA files in the new bentest, and setting up the L1 groups. While we aren't running this conversion as a mimic of live, we are using it to help us figure out timings and division of labor for the fourth - and thus, live - conversion. Todd is going to move her computer into my office for this run to reduce the time we spend wearing out the carpet between our offices and aid communication. If you happen to pass by Murray 105 in the next week or so, don't be surprised to see Todd and I feverishly running conversions with a stopwatch running in the background!

Planning for Conversion Test 3

Susan Fenton — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:08:45 -0700

With data cleanup progressing nicely, we've picked a date to begin our third conversion test. We will start on May 6 and hope to be finished in a week or so. Our number one goal for conversion 3 is to bring every bit of Benefactor data over. "No record left behind" is our new motto! This means that any errors encountered will need to be fixed in bentest as well as in benlive, and possibly also in production and the conversion environment. We don't expect to receive many errors, but if we do this could slow us down some. Our second goal is to bring the demographic data over properly. Some of the addresses - particularly the N1 (Other Addresses) - came over in conversion 2, but not the way we had planned. This was due to our solution for address ambiguities. We've been studying the converted data and re-evaluating our method of dealing with address ambiguities at L1, N1, and N2. Combined with this work and the data cleanup we've been doing we expect both fewer address ambiguities and better results from our computed columns in the third conversion. And our final goal is to develop a plan for running the live conversion. We won't run it as a mimic of the live conversion - that is, we won't be doing it over a weekend on a quiet system, working through nights - but we will try to determine the best way to split up the conversions for maximum efficiency.

Another Busy Month!

Susan Fenton — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:50:19 -0700

We've been very busy since our last few posts. Here's some of what we've been up to:

Conferences and Training
More Training and Consulting
Data Cleanup
Testing the Second Conversion

Drop-Dead Reports

Todd Fox — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:11:02 -0700

We are in the process of identifying and creating the top 10 drop-dead reports needed when we go live. So far, these are: CashRpts, YTD Progress, 5YR Cashflow, Trustee CYR Giving, Performance Rpt, Annual Fund Comparison, Monthly Moves Rpt, Monthly Asks Rpt (that's only 8, I know, but we are still reviewing!). We also will need to build our solicitation paragraphs for the Annual Fund which will begin their mailings and phonathons in September. Then there is the On-line Community and Ruffalo-Cody downloads that need to be in production right away! Phew...we'll get it done. One success story to report here. We created the Monthly Cash Report in conversion and it matches up beautifully with the same report from Benefactor Test! Hurrah! Now turning attention to the YTD reports which are a little more complex. Also identified another BUG but have a workaround for it from Datatel. Apparently the subroutine for XLAT.VALCODES does not work properly in the unidata environment! But we got it figured out with Hemma's help, and moved on.

Next Steps

Susan Fenton — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:08:03 -0700

With the second conversion completed, it's a good time to grab a breath and consider our next steps. Here are some of the things on our short-term to-do list.

Fix errors found in the second conversion. We don't have too much to do here. Most conversions had a small number of errors and we were able to fix them as we went along. Exceptions are N4 (relations) and L1 (address ambiguities). These will take a little more time to fix, but we'd like them done before Conversion 3.
Work on Report Writing. Todd and I started this towards the end of the first conversion, but then had to put this aside when we wiped out the first conversion environment, leaving us no data for testing our reports. Now that we have data in CA again, we are back at work on this. Our goal is to have at least a few tricky reports and computed columns identified before our pre-DUG Advanced Computed Columns workshop.
Plan for Conversions 3 and 4. That's right, we expect 4 conversions. The third will start as soon as we have the errors identified in conversion 2 fixed, and the fourth will be about a month before our live date. The third will be to verify that we have fixed all the errors, and the fourth will be to simulate the live conversion - only during the week instead of on a weekend!

It's a Date!

Susan Fenton — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:50:08 -0700

After much discussion, a final date for conversion has been set. We will begin at 5 pm Thursday August 6th and be up and running by 8 am Tuesday August 11th. Benefactor will go down at noon Thursday August 6th, so that we can run the pre-processes that need to be run before starting the conversions. The following weekend will be a backup weekend, though we don't expect we'll need to use it.

A Post On The Potential Sakai 3.0 From Michael Feldstein

James Fadden — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:00:26 -0700

One of the exciting things about choosing Sakai as Allegheny's LMS system is the role that the user community can play in its evolution. I was reminded of this fact as I read a recent post on Michael Feldstein's e-Literate blog.

In his post he weaves concepts shared in Michael Korcuska’s screencast of Sakai 3.0 with ideas of his what a read write learning environment should be in his opinion. It will be interesting to see how much of the ideas are merged together as Sakai 3 moves from prototype to release.

Sakai Online at Allegheny

James Fadden — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:48:20 -0700

The Allegheny Community can access Sakai at http://sakai.allegheny.edu.

User integration information is being finalized. Stay tuned as more updates will be coming soon.

NITLE Announces - Sakai Listserv

James Fadden — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:13:27 -0700

NITLE announced this morning the creation of a listserv in support of teaching, learning and technical discussions related to Sakai at liberal arts colleges. The list is open to faculty, technologists, and librarians using and supporting the use of the learning management system.

The list is primarily intended to be a place for participants to discuss, ask questions, make announcements, etc., about topics important to them, so please use this list in ways that help your campus connect with others in the NITLE Network actively using or trying out Sakai.

It is NITLE's hope that participants share materials, offer teaching strategies, announce Sakai-related events, and discuss Sakai-assisted pedagogies, and collaborative teaching and learning within the context of undergraduate liberal arts education.

If you are interested in joining the list send a message to participate@nitle.org. Questions or inquiries about this peer community should be directed to Karen.Davis@nitle.org.

Contact Instructional Technologists For Help With Migrating Content

James Fadden — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:24:43 -0700

As you know, at the end of the Spring 08 semester, Allegheny is migrating to Sakai, our new learning management system. If you have course material in WebCT that you want to re-use in Sakai, it is now time to make plans for the transfer.

All migration from WebCT must be completed this summer while we still have access to WebCT, whether you plan to use the migrated materials in the Fall 08 semester or at some future date.

To help us plan your course material migration to Sakai we need to know the kind and volume of content you would like help transferring. It will help in our planning process to hear back from all of you by May 10, 2008.

Please go to the formbuilder form - http://www.allegheny.edu/forms/form.php?id=514 - and respond to the five questions. It should take less than 5 minutes to complete and will allow the instructional technologist to better assist you.

If you have any questions about the move from WebCT to Sakai, please contact Susan Fenton (sfenton@allegheny.edu), James Fadden (jfadden@allegheny.edu) or Helen McCullough (hmccull@allegheny.edu).

Getting Closer

James Fadden — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:47:18 -0700

The Longsight Group has our instance of Sakai created and is working with Allegheny's Technical and Network Services group on user account management process.

As the background work continues, I encourage faculty that rely on WebCT and eRes to deliver their courses to register for the Sakai workshops offered this summer. These workshops will provide faculty an overview of Sakai and the skills required to deliver online quizzes, course resources and online discussions. Workshop descriptions are available on the online registration form. Space is limited in each workshop so register today.

Scheduled Outage of NITLE Sakai Instance

James Fadden — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:00:03 -0700

NITLE is planning to bring our instance of Sakai down briefly on Friday, 25 April, at 10:00pm Eastern US time. When it comes up again we should be able to "push" email from our instance.

sakai and library

James Fadden — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:04:26 -0700

Whitman College is hosting a special workshop on Integrating Library Resources in Sakai, featuring Jezmynne Westcott of the Claremont University Consortium. The workshop is being jointly organized by the Claremont University Consortium, Willamette University and Whitman College.

The event will take place on Friday, April 25, on the Whitman College campus in Walla Walla, WA.

Their is funding to cover travel expenses for 10 participants thanks to NITLE funds.

For more information and to register, please visit:

http://wcts.whitman.edu/libsakai/

If you are interested you contact your NITLE Liaison. Members of the Allegheny Community should contact Rick Holmgren about attending this event.

Longsight Working On Instance

James Fadden — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:57:49 -0700

Received notice from Longsight that they are working on setting up our instance.

Sakai Project on Twitter

James Fadden — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:50:32 -0800

If you use Twitter, you can now follow the sakaiproject.

Interesting...

If You Missed the WebCT -> Sakai Lunch

James Fadden — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:29:07 -0800

Allegheny College moves to Sakai as its Learning Management System. Starting in fall 2008 Sakai will replace WebCT as the college's online course tool suite.

Our instance will be hosted by a third party with a solid track record for supporting Sakai and other open source projects for liberal arts colleges. The final details of the partnership are being worked out now. It is our plan to have our instance available in early May so that we have the summer for training and course creation.

It is our intention to provide faculty help converting content from WebCT to Sakai. The instructional technologists are still working out the details of a process to help faculty transfer content to Sakai and will work with faculty once the plans crystallize. Faculty can start to prepare by making sure they have backups for any WebCT course they want to move to Sakai.

Assistance with creating a WebCT course backup is available online at http://help.allegheny.edu/tutorials/webct/create_backup.php or by contacting your instructional technologist.

Helen McCullough, Humanities: ext 3364
Susan Fenton, Natural and Social Sciences: ext 2766

Sakai workshops are scheduled to provide faculty assistance learning the ins and outs of Sakai.

June 3 - Teaching With Sakai - (All Day NITLE Workshop to Go) .

June 4 - Sakai Overview and Logistics (AM)
June 4 - Sakai Resources Tool in Sakai (PM)

June 5 - Online Quizzes in Sakai (AM)
June 5 - That Wasn't in WebCT (PM)

Aug 13 - Sakai Overview and Logistics (AM)
Aug 13 - Sakai Resources Tool in Sakai (PM)

Aug 14 - Online Quizzes in Sakai (AM)
Aug 14 - That Wasn't in WebCT (PM)

Registration for these workshops is now open. Register today space is limited.

Blackboard - D2L Verdit from Sakai Foundation's Executive Director' Perspective

James Fadden — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:51:54 -0800

Michael Korcuska posts in his Sakai Blog his reactions to the jury's decision in the Blackboard -D2L patent suite.

Discussions with WebCT Users

James Fadden — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:14:44 -0800

This discussion format meeting is to provide a forum for WebCT veterans and novices to discuss timely WebCT issues as well as to share ideas, celebrate successes, and seek solutions.

In this session we will be discussing the learning management system which will be replacing WebCT beginning Fall 2008 and how we will transition from WebCT to this new system.

News from the Sakai Pilot Lunch

James Fadden — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:47:15 -0800

Suspicions were confirmed the pilot faculty are happy with Sakai and believe we are on the right track.

Also discussed at the meeting were two opportunities from NITLE regarding Sakai.

The Sakai Users Group being held at the University of Pudget Sound in June.
A Workshop To Go from NITLE on Sakai.

Details about both of these opportunities are being investigated. As details are gathered they will be posted.

Progress Continues With Sakai

James Fadden — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:15:01 -0800

LITS continues to make progress on confirming that Sakai provides Allegheny with the necessary tools for teaching and learning to meet current and future needs.

The faculty participants in the Sakai Pilot will meet over lunch on Friday January 25th to discuss current experiences with Sakai. If all goes as expected this will put Allegheny once step closer to adopting Sakai as our Learning Management Software (LMS). A summary of that meeting will be posted at that point.

As the instructional technologists continue to work with the pilot faculty, they and others on the LMS group are investigating hosting options and developing tentative plans for transitioning from WebCT to Sakai.

As events unfold more will be posted to this site.

Sakai Foundation Continues to Grow

James Fadden — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:03:21 -0800

Michael Korcuska announced on his blog today that two international universities have joined the Sakai foundation.

Making the Grade in Sakai: Gradebook or Post 'Em? Which would work best for you?

James Fadden — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:02:04 -0800

Sakai contains two tools for reporting grades to students, 'Gradebook' and 'Post 'Em'. They both offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. During this lunchtime discussion Adele Poynor and Tricia Humphreys will discuss why they chose to use these tools, and will provide some tips and tricks for their successful use. This workshop will be held on Thursday, November 19 from 12:00 to 1:00 in Campus Center room 302, lunch will begin at 12:00 and presentations will begin at 12:20. Because of space limitations attendance will be limited to the first 20 who register. Please click here to register.

Online Interactive Tutorials for Office 2007

James Fadden — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:09:35 -0700

As the campus is shifting to Office 2007, I would like to bring to your attention four useful interactive videos the show you how to complete the tasks in Office 2007 based on how you did it in Office 2003.

Additional resources are available on the Software Tutorials page. Should you have questions please contact Computing Services by phone at 814-332-2755, computing@allegheny.edu, or Web Help Desk.

Registration Open for Summer 2009 Workshops

James Fadden — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:02:29 -0700

Computing Services invites members of the campus community to register for this summer's technology workshops. Registration information and a calendar of the scheduled sessions are available at http://computing.allegheny.edu/training. The bulk of sessions will focus on Microsoft Office 2007 applications and the Google Apps for Education suite. The training sessions will be led by members of the Allegheny Community, LITS Staff and CS Technology Plus. In our effort to support campus wide efforts in environmental sustainability we will not be sending out a paper invitation this year. Should you have questions please contact Computing Services at extension 2755 or by emailing computing@allegheny.edu.

Hold the Dates for Instructional Technology Workshops

James Fadden — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The instructional technologists are putting the finishing touches on their announcement and registration information for this year's faculty workshops. The announcement will be circulated to all faculty in the coming week but in the mean time mark your calendar for the follow

Wireless in the Classroom - May 12 at noon in the Campus Center
Grassroots Multimedia Production - May 27 from 9:00-4:00pm in Murray Hall
Teaching with Sakai - May 28 from 9:00 - 4:30pm in Murray Hall
Collaborative Writing and Research Tools - June 1 from 1:00 - 4:00pm in Murray Hall
Overview and Logistics of Sakai - August 10 from 9:00 - Noon in Murray Hall

Please keep an eye out for more information.

Overview of Web Help Desk

James Fadden — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:44:49 -0700

Last week, Computing Services hosted a few members of the community for two sessions providing an overview of Web Help Desk. As we know in person sessions are not a possibility for everyone during the course of a week. We created this one page overview of Web Help Desk on our tutorial site.

View page: Allegheny Help Desk: Web Help Desk

If you have questions please direct them to the User Services Staff at ext. 2755.

Planning Update: Instructional Technology Workshops

James Fadden — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:29:55 -0700

The dates for this summer's instructional technology workshops are being finalized over the next week. There are two workshops with confirmed dates. On May 12th, from noon until 2:00(ish) a lunch discussion will focus on the expansion of the wireless network to include several classroom buildings for the fall. On May 28th, from 9:00am - 4:00pm Martin Ramsey of the ACA LAMP project will be facilitating a workshops focus on impacting student learning through the use of Sakai. Mark your calendars and keep an eye out for the registration information that will be coming out in the near future.

iClicker Lunch on 4/10

James Fadden — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:45:10 -0700

To help keep you up to date on the switch from PRS to iClicker, LITS will host a technology lunch on Friday, April 10, in Schultz East Alcove from noon until 1:15. David Statman and Adele Poynor, who have been piloting the use of iClickers this semester, will discuss their experiences--both positive and negative. Lunch will be provided. RSVP online. Contact Helen McCullough (hmccull@allegheny.edu) for additional information.

Basic Dreamweaver Class Full

James Fadden — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:37:01 -0800

Registration for the basic Dreamweaver class being offered the first week of January 2009 is closed as there are no spaces left.

Workshop on Beginning Dreamweaver

James Fadden — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:41:21 -0800

LITS will offer a two-part workshop on beginning Dreamweaver. The workshop will provide an introduction to Dreamweaver and web basics. Topics will include setting document properties, adding text content, creating a consistent look across multiple pages, placing images on your pages, and adding and customizing links. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 7th and Friday, January 9th from 9:00 to 11:30 AM in Murray 117. This is a beginner's level workshop, no previous Dreamweaver experience required. Please register online at http://www.allegheny.edu/forms/form.php?id=619. For more information, contact Helen McCullough (hmccull@allegheny.edu or 332-3364).

Computing Services Announces the Technology Workshops for Summer 2008

James Fadden — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:52:48 -0700

For the fourth year, Allegheny College Computing Services is offers workshop on various aspects of technology available at the College. This year eleven workshops will be offered in June and July thanks to the expertise of many folks around campus that incorporate technology in creative yet practical ways in their daily work. A complete list of this year's workshops are available on the workshop registration page.

Working on Summer Workshops for College Employees

James Fadden — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:51:01 -0700

After a few really productive brainstorming sessions, the field of possible topics for this year's employee training sessions narrows into an exciting mix of topics that range from desktop publishing to tips on greener computing. Topics still under consideration are:

Facebook More Than A Waste of Time
Staying Sane - Tips on Organizing Your Digital Life
Office 2007 Overview
Informer
Tabletents, Tri-folds and Flyers - Publisher 2003
Publicity 2.0 More than Tabletents, Tri-folds and Flyers
Get the Picture, Tips For Working with Images
Green Computing - Computer Habits That are Environment Friendly
Twitter Me This, Relevant Tools of Web2.0
Effective Writing Techniques
Charting Your Way Through Excel

We chose the topics based on questions received through User Services, surveys conducted by AAC and general direction that Computing Services and technology are heading. Over the coming weeks the list of topics will be finalized and a schedule created. There is still planning to do so ideas are welcome. You are invited to share your ideas by commenting on this post or by contacting Computer Services at ext. 2755 or computing@allegheny.edu.

NITLE Instructional Technology Workshop Registration Deadline

James Fadden — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:33:53 -0700

Friday, April 4th is the registration deadline for the NITLE workshops on teaching students who grew up in the digital age. The workshops Teaching Digital Immigrants and Visual Literacy: Tools for Teaching and Learning with Images still have spaces available. Both workshops are full-day sessions that will be offered on May 15 and 16 respectively. Participation in these workshop is open to members of the Allegheny community and faculty, librarians, and technologists from peer colleges of the NITLE network. Visit the online registration form before Friday April 4 to reserve your place in these workshops. The registration period for the remaining instructional technology workshop remains open until a week prior to the workshop.

Twitter me this...

James Fadden — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:41:48 -0700

Workshop News, Notes, and Sounds updates is now available on twitter as acworkshops. Learn what Twitter is in plain English thanks to the Commoncraft Show.

NITLE Workshop on Technologies for Teaching Writing

James Fadden — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:25:05 -0700

I want to bring to your attention an opportunity provided by NITLE on Technologies for Teaching Writing. The day long workshop will examine the impact digital tools have on the teaching of writing and provide an overview of tools that facilitate:

the draft and and revision writing process;
faculty and peer review;
public and private writing;
and new forms of communication, such as multimedia.

This workshop is being host by Southwestern University on May 3, 2008. Contact James Fadden for more details and registration information.

Instructional Technology Workshop Registration is Now Open

James Fadden — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:35:20 -0700

Faculty are invited to register for this summer's instructional technology workshops.