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Issue Number 20 April 18, 2007

New E­mail/Calendaring System Coming Soon! With summer just around the corner, change is in the air. This summer the university will move its aging e­mail system to a new, robust Exchange e­mail and calendaring system we are calling muConnect. What does that mean for you? Students Each e­mail account will be moved from the current e­mail server to the new muConnect Exchange server, according to a migration schedule currently under development. Currently we anticipate that student accounts will move in early July. Specific dates will be announced on myMiami as soon as they are finalized. When your account is moved, your Miami e­mail will appear in Outlook Web Access (OWA) via a link on the myMiami portal. If you have any questions about your e­mail over the summer after the migration occurs, please contact the IT Services Support Desk at 513­529­7900 or [email protected]. If you choose to use a desktop e­mail client, we recommend you use Outlook 2007 for Windows or Entourage for Mac. Outlook is a part of Microsoft Office for Windows; Entourage is a part of Microsoft Office for the Mac. If you don’t already have Microsoft Office, you can purchase it at a greatly discounted rate through Miami’s Microsoft agreement (see related article). You will need to configure Outlook or Entourage to access the new Exchange server; instructions will be provided in the Miami Knowledge Base (found at http://kb.muohio.edu or under “Favorite Links” in myMiami). If you are interested in training on Outlook or Entourage, please follow the training link on the muConnect web site (www.muohio.edu/email) to learn about the variety of training resources available. You can also find up­to­date project information on the muConnect web site at www.muohio.edu/email. Faculty and Staff Each e­mail account will be moved from the current e­mail server to the new muConnect Exchange server, according to a migration schedule currently under development. To be able to access e­mail once your account has been moved, we strongly recommend that you move to the Microsoft e­mail desktop applications included in the Microsoft Office suite: Outlook for Windows or Entourage for the Mac. Specific how­to instructions for loading the new software, moving your current e­mail contacts and configuring the new system will be provided prior to the date of your migration. The e­mail/calendaring team has been working diligently to automate many of these processes so the transition is as quick and easy as possible. Should you have questions or need help during the migration, extra support personnel will be readily available to provide on­site assistance.

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New E­mail/Calendaring System Coming Soon! (continued) Faculty and Staff (continued) If you are not on campus when your department or office migrates, never fear­you will not lose access to your e­mail. From the moment your account is transferred, you will be able to use the Exchange web mail client, Outlook Web Access (OWA), from anywhere you have Internet access. You can make the changes to your desktop e­mail application when you return to campus. OWA will be accessible via the myMiami portal. If you cannot or do not choose to use Outlook or Entourage, you may use other e­mail clients with the Exchange server. Keep in mind, you will need to use a new product for your calendar, as Meeting Maker will be discontinued. Outlook and Entourage are designed to work with the Exchange server environment and will provide the best user experience, including an integrated, single sign­on e­mail and calendaring system and a host of other convenient features. One­hour overview sessions introducing Outlook and Entourage as well as hands­on training are currently being offered. The overview sessions provide a short demonstration of the application and can help you determine if you wish to sign up for the hands­on sessions. Please check the TRAIN system ( http://www.admin.muohio.edu/cfapps/train/topicdetails.cfm?id=1103) for the training schedule. For those who use the Meeting Maker calendaring program, all data from that program will be moved to the new Exchange server in late July. The exact date is not yet determined, but it will be after all current MM users have been moved to Exchange. For up­to­date project information, check the project web site at www.muohio.edu/email.

Blackboard Outage May 8­11 to Pave the Way for New Online Learning Tools Faculty, staff and students using Blackboard will enjoy new functions this summer after the system is upgraded from our current version of 6.3 to 7.2 in May. To allow for this upgrade, the Blackboard system will be unavailable from 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8 through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, May 11. During this time, all Blackboard content will be unavailable. Services normally accessed via myMiami, including e­mail, BannerWeb, Kronos and others, will be provided via a special web page that will display when users attempt to access myMiami. Faculty members who keep their grades within Blackboard are reminded that they will be unable to access those grades, or any other course content, during the outage. If you feel you may wish to review your grade book during the outage window, it is suggested that you print a copy prior to the beginning of the outage. Grades are due to the Registrar no later than noon on Tuesday, May 8 and will be available for students to view Friday, May 11. The new version of Blackboard includes updated discussion forums and a range of new assessment features. The Blackboard Visual Textbox editor is now compatible with the Macintosh platform and the Firefox browser and includes an integrated spell check. For detailed information on the new features, go to the Blackboard support site, www.muohio.edu/blackboard, or contact Advanced Learning Technologies at 513 529­6068 or [email protected].

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Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista for University Computers: Coming Soon? Microsoft Office 2007 and Vista project teams (consisting of IT Services and divisional/departmental technology support staff) have been carefully evaluating Microsoft’s latest products and how they work within Miami’s computing environment. Now the teams’ recommendations on timing for roll­out to faculty and staff are in: • Microsoft Office 2007: Upgrade this summer! The project team recommends departments and Should I Move to Office 2007? individuals migrate to Office 2007 this summer and IT In most cases, the answer is likely to Services will be ready to support departments and be yes. Please check with your individuals by June 1. Office 2007 sports a totally new departmental technology support staff look and feel and a number of valuable new features. for plans in your area or the IT See “Should I Move to Office 2007?” for upgrade Services Support Desk (513­529­7900) considerations. with concerns. Instructor­led and online training will be available to The project team has outlined a few help you transition from Office 2003 to Office 2007 situations in which an upgrade to quickly and easily. Up­to­date information on training Office 2007 is not appropriate or options can be found at www.muohio.edu/training. requires additional planning. And, if you have any questions as you are working in Reasons to NOT upgrade the new applications, the IT Services Support Desk will be ready to assist you (see related “IT Services • Your computer does not meet the Support Desk offers 15­minute Microsoft Office minimum system requirements to Guarantee” article). run Office 2007 • Microsoft Windows Vista: Hold off until 2008. • You use Access databases Key university­wide applications and services have developed in Microsoft Access 2002 been tested with Vista and a number of or earlier incompatibilities have been identified. In most cases, • You run macros or third­party these incompatibilities are already being remedied by Office add­ins that have not been the vendors and fixes are anticipated in the June tested in Office 2007. through October timeframe.

The project team recommends that departments and individuals hold off on deploying Windows Vista, except on test machines, until 2008. This will allow time for the known incompatibilities to be addressed and will also allow time for academic areas to test their applications with Vista.

In recognition of the fact that many students will be arriving on campus next fall with computers running Windows Vista, IT Services will offer a “What’s Changed in Vista?” course for faculty this summer. More information on the project teams’ recommendations can be found in the “Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista Roadmaps and Timelines” on the TSR Web site at www.muohio.edu/tsr.

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Preventing Plagiarism and Improving Student Writing — TurnItIn Educational Suite to be added to Blackboard Can technology be used to help instructors prevent plagiarism and improve students’ writing skills? To answer this question, the university Academic Integrity Committee conducted a pilot study, subsequently recommending the TurnItIn Educational Suite for campus­wide adoption. Fully integrated into the Blackboard Learning System and available to all instructors who create a Blackboard course site, the TurnItIn Suite incorporates three key features: • The Plagiarism Prevention application allows instructors to compare student papers against a database composed of millions of articles, books, Internet sites and previously­ submitted student papers. If a match is found, TurnItIn displays the submitted paper and the sources from the TurnItIn database that were used in that paper. Thus, the new software application provides instructors with additional tools to help students revise their papers, cite source material properly, evaluate their work, and reduce plagiarism. • The GradeMark digital markup system enables instructors to mark student work in a unique and paperless environment. • The Peer Review application allows students to review and respond to their classmates' work online. Blackboard/TurnItIn Training & Support TurnItIn is currently available in Blackboard and is being used by faculty who participated in the initial pilot study. Support materials are being developed and Blackboard/TurnItIn training workshops will be offered beginning in August. You may register for these sessions through the TRAIN system, accessible at http://www.muohio.edu/TRAIN. Should you need immediate assistance or have questions, please contact Advanced Learning Technologies in 351 Gaskill Hall at 529­6068 or [email protected].

Before You Leave for the Summer, Tips on Passwords and E­mail Before leaving for the summer, it is important to perform some basic account maintenance. The number one problem that is fielded by the IT Services Support Desk during the summer is that of forgotten passwords. Resolving password problems is much more difficult when you are away from Miami. A little planning can make a big difference. First and foremost, make sure that you know your MUnet password. If you do not use Miami’s services on a regular basis, your password is easy to forget. To check your MUnet password, we suggest that you visit myMiami (http://mymiami.muohio.edu) and log in using your UniqueID and MUnet password. If you receive a login error, it will be important to visit the IT Services Support Desk (or a regional campus computer assistance location) before leaving campus to have your password reset. Please see the Knowledge Base case (1314) on "Resetting Forgotten Passwords" for more information on locations and procedures.

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Before You Leave for the Summer, Tips on Passwords and E­mail (continued) Important! — Create a Secret Question and Answer Pair To assist with resolving password problems, you can create a Secret Question and Answer pair using the MUnet Password Utilities web page at http://muohio.edu/password (access to the password utilities web page is available from myMiami (http://mymiami.muohio.edu) by clicking on the "Need help?" link in the Login section). In the event that you forget your password, you can select a new one online by answering a few questions about yourself, including your Secret Question. We strongly recommend that you create a Secret Question/Answer pair now (https://was.muohio.edu/perl/was/question) if you have not already done so. E­mail Miami is moving to a new e­mail/calendaring system this summer! If you use a desktop e­mail client for your e­mail (like Outlook Express, Outlook, Eudora, Mac OS X Mail, etc.), you'll need to make some changes on your desktop. If you use myMiami e­mail, you'll see a new look to it before you return next fall. For details, please see the "New E­mail/Calendaring System Coming Soon" article. Please be aware that unread e­mail on Miami's e­mail server is deleted after 30 days. There are several e­ mail options that can help you manage your Miami e­mail while you are away from campus: • You can check your Miami e­mail from any computer with an Internet connection using myMiami. Do so at least once every 30 days. • If you use a desktop e­mail client, you can send and receive e­mail from off­campus just as you would from on­campus by using VPN or by configuring your e­mail for authenticated SMTP. More tips on using your Miami accounts while away from Miami can be found in the Knowledge Base case (92563) titled "Using your Miami accounts while away from campus". Enjoy your summer! Questions may be directed to the IT Services Support Desk at [email protected] or (513) 529­ 7900. Answers online in the Knowledge Base: http://kb.muohio.edu

Do You Work With Web Pages? IT Services & University Communications Want to Hear from You! IT Services and University Communications are actively collaborating to enhance the university's web environment and have prepared a brief survey to gather input from those who work with university web pages. By completing this brief survey, you'll help us gain a greater understanding of current web development practices, challenges faced, and support/training needs. You'll also have the opportunity to indicate if you wish to join the newly developed "New Media" community, a myMiami community site that has been initiated to facilitate online information sharing and discussion about web and graphic design topics. Go to the University Web Development Survey To create a comprehensive list of people with web responsibilities, University Communications and IT Services will also be sending an e­mail to Deans, Directors and Department heads asking them to identify individuals with web responsibilities in their units.

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New Confidential Information Policy Emphasizes Faculty/Staff Responsibilities Many faculty and staff work with confidential information on a regular basis. On March 19, 2007, the University Senate endorsed a Confidential Information Policy for inclusion into the next update of the Miami University Policy and Information Manual (www.muohio.edu/mupim) to reinforce the responsibilities of faculty and staff related to protecting confidential data. The Confidential Information Policy informs university personnel that even though a large portion of university information is public, some information is protected by state and federal laws. To comply with these laws and protect the university community, the university has the right and obligation to protect, manage, secure, and control information in its possession. Information protected by federal or state law may not be shared with unauthorized persons. Each faculty and staff member must assume responsibility for protecting confidential information from unauthorized exposure. Some examples of confidential information include: • Social Security Numbers • Disability Status • Health and Medical Information • Student Advising Records • Student Grades • Student Disciplinary Records • Consumer Financial Information • Banner Student Identification Numbers • Trade Secrets If you suspect confidential information was disclosed to unauthorized persons, you must immediately contact the Information Security Office via the IT Services Support Desk (513­529­7900 or [email protected]). The policy as presented to the University Senate is available online at www.muohio.edu/itpolicy. If you have any questions or comments regarding this policy, please contact [email protected].

IT Services Support Desk to Maintain Round­the­Clock Schedule throughout the Summer To better assist faculty, staff, and students with technology problems and questions, the Support Desk will maintain its academic year hours through the summer months: Sunday, 9 am through Friday, 8 pm Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm

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Survey Tool Pilot Now Planned for Summer 2007 As reported in previous issues of TechTalk, the university has purchased and is implementing two survey tools – Prezza and Snap – for faculty/staff use. The project team has made great strides in implementing these tools and is planning a pilot release to interested faculty and staff this summer. Originally planned for April 2007, the pilot has been moved back to the summer to allow additional time to get the technical infrastructure fully in place and tested. Given the positive response of pilot participants to the timing shift, the project team anticipates remaining on schedule for a full release of the tools in early fall 2007. If you would like to participate in the summer pilot or have any questions about the survey tool project, please contact the project manager, Joyce Buttery, at [email protected].

SkillPort Web­based Training Now Available on a Mac ­ Full Course Library Coming Soon You may already be aware that Miami provides a great online learning resource for software, advanced technical topics, and business skills in SkillPort. The good news – it just got even better! • SkillPort now runs on a Mac. Until Miami’s upgrade to SkillPort 6.4 last month, access to SkillPort was available only from a Windows computer. That’s no longer true – you can now access SkillPort from any Mac running Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) using the Safari web browser (version 2.0 or 2.0.4). • The number of courses available is about to increase from 300 to over 2,500. To date, Miami’s SkillPort license has provided access to 300 courses of our choosing from a library of over 2,500 courses. SkillSoft (the company that provides SkillPort) has now agreed to open the entire course library to us: SkillPort Full Course Library 200+ desktop application courses 1500+ advanced technical courses 800+ business skills courses As new courses are released, they will immediately become available on Miami’s SkillPort site – we will no longer need to wait for the annual summer course exchange to get access to new content. The full course library should be available by early May, 2007.

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SkillPort Web­based Training Now Available on a Mac ­ Full Course Library Coming Soon (continued) Getting to SkillPort SkillPort is available through myMiami. To access SkillPort, simply go to myMiami ( http://mymiami.muohio.edu), log in, and click the “Training” link in the Web Page Index. From the training page, you can click “SkillPort” as well as access a number of other university­provided training resources. Want an Instructor­Led Introduction to Miami’s Web­based Training Options? IT Services offers monthly web­based training “open” sessions in 362 Gaskill. These sessions provide an opportunity to learn how to get the most out of Miami’s web­based training options, SkillPort and VTC, with the help of a web­based­training coach. View the schedule in TRAIN at www.muohio.edu/TRAIN. If you have any questions about SkillPort or would like to arrange a group introduction to SkillPort for your department, please contact the IT Services Learning & Information Services group at [email protected].

Computer Big Buy Saves Miami Big Bucks Miami turned 1.6 million dollars into 2.16 million dollars worth of Dell and Apple computers for faculty and staff on the Oxford, Middletown and Hamilton campuses this spring. Through a comprehensive bulk purchase dubbed the "Big Buy," IT Services helped provide much­needed equipment updates while not increasing the total cost to the university. Combining central capital equipment funds with departmental requests, a total of 1,339 computers were purchased – 449 more computers than standard educational pricing would have bought. The "Big Buy" yielded an unexpected bonus with 45 laptop computers donated by Dell and Apple for students with financial need.

Betsy Kreger, IT Services Support Services & Campus Partnerships Administrative Assistant, shows Reid Christenberry, Vice President for Information Technology, how the new bar­coded tracking system for Big Buy computers helps streamline receiving and delivery.

Document Imaging Works Hand­in­Hand with Banner IT Services is pleased to announce that the document imaging service, using the Sungard Xtender product integrated with Banner, has been operating successfully in six pilot offices since the Banner 7.3 upgrade in late January. This new service provides the ability to use digital storage rather than physical storage for important university documents. Scanned documents can be attached to Banner records or stored independently. Each of the six offices in the pilot worked extensively with the project team to define their workflows and document archiving needs. As of April 10, the Alumni office has scanned nearly 13,000 documents. Finance and Business Affairs has scanned more than 5,000 documents. Human Resources, Student Financial Assistance, the Office of the Registrar, and Payroll are also in the initial group of offices.

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Document Imaging Works Hand­in­Hand with Banner (continued) The Office of Student Financial Assistance has been a leader in this effort, developing very comprehensive procedures for scanning, verifying, and indexing scanned documents. The six pilot offices are all working to not only bring document imaging to their area, but also to develop recommendations for university­ wide processes for managing documents. The project team is excited about moving this project out to other campus offices. Three more offices have started to define their document imaging requirements and will begin using document imaging within the next few months. Demand for imaging services is anticipated to be strong, and the project team is preparing by training additional staff to meet that demand. Next Steps Starting with a pilot with Physical Facilities, the Purchasing office will soon allow images to be attached to online requisitions in the native Banner system. Purchasing also intends to use document imaging to scan in contracts and related documents to create a history of purchases and/or contracts. Additionally, a Sungard enhancement allowing imaged documents to be accessed via BannerWeb is anticipated this year. This will allow departments using online requisitioning to attach pertinent documents, enabling document approvers to view these attachments. As we move online requisitioning to other payment types (1099 payments, direct pay invoices), the ability to scan and attach invoices and receipts will be available to all. Future Directions Several offices, notably Human Resources and Student Financial Assistance, have requested a solution to allow for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities. This would allow offices that collect information on printed forms to scan in documents and pick up unique identifying information (i.e. SSN or Banner PLUS number). Documents could be scanned and automatically indexed into Banner without any human intervention, saving time and reducing data entry errors.

Gaskill Hall Computing LabTransformation Underway Students visiting Gaskill Hall this spring might wonder if they’ve wandered into Extreme Makeover: Technology Edition. A redesign and renovation of the Learning Technologies Center, located in 200 Gaskill, is underway to better serve the needs of students by adding collaboration and multimedia resources. Construction is expected to be complete by June 1, 2007. Student input has been a crucial component of this particular makeover. Members of the Student Technology Advisory Committee met several times this academic year to review six possible layouts for the lab, finally selecting a composite design intended to foster greater collaboration and group work and increased use of multimedia. Come into the Gaskill Lab after June 1st and here’s what you’ll find… TeamSpot Group Collaboration Areas The Student Technology Advisory Committee reviewed a software package called TeamSpot ( http://tidebreak.com) and is convinced that this represents the direction they wish to take their fellow classmates for use in their collaborative group work areas. With TeamSpot, there’s no more cabling/recabling to share a common display. The software enables group members to easily move files & objects between computers and create a “take­away” archive of shared documents and information.

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There will be three TeamSpot group space work areas in the Gaskill facility, each equipped with movable tables and chairs, a resident computer to serve as the TeamSpot host, and a large plasma display. The TeamSpot Collaboration area featured below will also serve as a videoconferencing suite.

Podcasting Development Area The new podcasting development area includes new iMacs and Dell computers. A “Snowball” microphone is connected to three units for students to create their own Podcasts (running GarageBand on two iMacs and Audacity on one Dell). Video­Editing Suite Powerful video editing hardware has been purchased and placed in a new video­editing suite. Two Apple Macintosh Pro computers feature iDVD and Final Cut Pro. A Dell will feature Adobe Premiere. Slide/Photo Scanning Area A slide and photo scanning area is being developed as well. High­end Epson scanners can accommodate photos, 35mm slides, and negative scanning. Special multi­function video card adapter drives have been added to most of these units for direct connectivity and editing in PhotoShop. Flexible Work Areas Three individual work areas will feature movable, comfortable chairs and laptop connectivity through electrical and networked migration tables, allowing students to work individually or in small flexible groups. Learning to Use the New Technologies in the Gaskill Lab Thinking this all sounds great, but wondering how you’ll learn to use all this equipment? Rest assured, help will be available. Instructional materials for lab software are being developed by a Technical Writing class during this spring semester. Lab consultants will be available to assist you on an as­needed basis. Hours of Operation During the academic year, the Gaskill Lab will continue to be open round­the­clock from Sunday at noon to Friday at 10 pm and on Saturday from 10 am to 10 pm. Summer hours and hours during breaks vary. Please check the Gaskill Lab web site at www.muohio.edu/ltc for current information. For More Information The complete design and more details are available on the Gaskill Lab web site: www.muohio.edu/ltc. If you have any questions, please contact Tom Montgomery, Gaskill Learning Technologies Center manager, at [email protected].

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FullShot 9.5 Makes Screen Captures a Snap! Windows users, do you need to create a quick, accurate snapshot of a computer screen for your print or online project? How about a small screenshot of a button, command bar or desktop icon? No problem! FullShot makes taking high­quality screenshots a breeze. FullShot is a popular image capture, annotation, and screen printing program from Inbit Inc. Through a university site license, FullShot is available to all Miami students, staff, and faculty free of charge. With the recent upgrade to FullShot Professional 9.5, FullShot is even more powerful – and fully compatible with Windows Vista. New features in FullShot 9.5 include a redesigned interface and an improved ability to capture objects and regions. You can apply effects such as callouts, highlighting, drop shadows and blur for a professional finish to your high resolution screen images—and then save them in a variety of formats. Screen capture images can even be printed directly to a printer. FullShot 9.5 requires Windows 98 or later. Detailed product information is available from the Inbit web site (http://www.inbit.com/fullshot.html). For complete access and download instructions, refer to Miami University Knowledge Base Case 28659, Installing FullShot 9.5 (Windows).

IT Services Support Desk offers 15­minute Microsoft Office Guarantee In anticipation of the roll­out of Office2007 and the conversion to the new e­mail system this summer, the IT Services Support Desk is preparing to assist faculty, staff, and students with questions or problems they might encounter with these new applications. While most faculty, staff, and students are quite familiar with using e­mail and other Microsoft Office products, learning a new interface or application can be frustrating. Countless hours can be spent learning how to do something in Word 2007 that you already knew how to do in Word 2003 – or learning an e­mail feature in Outlook or Entourage that you already knew in Eudora. Beginning June 1st, the Support Desk guarantees they can answer your Microsoft Office question* within 15 minutes of speaking to a support representative. If we are unable to do so, we will enter your name in a raffle for a 30 GB video iPod. The IT Services Support Desk can be reached at 513­529­7900 or [email protected] round­the­ clock from Sunday at 9 am to Friday at 5 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm. We hope that you will not have any questions, but — if you do — we are prepared to provide fast answers to minimize your down time. *All Microsoft Office component questions can be answered by the Support Desk; however, complex programming questions (Microsoft Access and macro code debugging) require in­depth programming expertise that is not best provided via phone support.

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Student Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) – Diverse Responsibilities, High Impact By Marcus Fischer, Student Co­Chair, and Sean Weaston, member, STAC There has been a great deal of technological growth on campus this year. As part of Vice President Reid Christenberry’s initiative to reach out to the student population for insight into IT development, the Student Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) was created last year. This year, the committee of thirteen members has seen tremendous growth and taken on many responsibilities. STAC’s 2006­2007 projects included guiding the re­design of the 24­hour a day Gaskill Technology Lab, developing a Blackboard student usage survey, testing the new Microsoft Exchange e­mail and calendaring solution, and serving as technology advisors to the student committee working on the Howe Digital Writing Center. Gaskill Technology Lab Redesign A need for collaboration areas and high­tech student development on campus led to the renovation of the lab in 201 Gaskill Hall. STAC has taken on a leadership role in designing all aspects of this lab including its uses, technology, and interior design. The renovations, made possible by the Student Technology Fee, will include rooms for small group, interactive collaboration, a video conferencing room, a high­end video editing suite, and several Podcasting stations. STAC also chose the Gaskill Lab to be the first facility on campus to offer TeamSpot, a software package designed to incorporate the best aspects of Smartboard, while allowing each person’s computer to have control of the system. The Gaskill Lab renovation will be completed in June. (See the related “Gaskill Hall Computing LabTransformation Underway” article for more details.) Blackboard Survey Blackboard Survey Drawing – The STAC also created a survey about Blackboard to help gauge Video iPod Winner students’ needs and allow the committee to make further recommendations about Blackboard. The survey was a huge success Katie Blake, a first­year with over 2,300 participants from across all majors and campuses. The chemistry major, won the video survey results will help STAC determine how many active Blackboard iPod that was offered as an sites there are, the tools being used on Blackboard, and the incentive for people to take the components of Blackboard students would like faculty members to survey. utilize more. These results will allow STAC to advise IT administration and university officials on specific areas where further Blackboard training should occur and help encourage further Blackboard adoption. E­mail/Calendaring System and the Howe Digital Writing Center STAC had the opportunity to offer assistance on other campus initiatives this year including the E­ mail/Calendaring system and the Howe Digital Writing Center. Students on STAC were asked to assist in testing Microsoft Exchange, the new e­mail and calendaring system. Members were able to voice concerns and suggestions regarding the usage, deployment, and migration of the new system. The student committee working on the Howe Digital Writing Initiative also asked STAC to work closely with them to provide advice on the various technology tools that will be implemented into this center. The center is expected to open this fall. Interested in Learning More about STAC? If you would like to know more about STAC or become a member next year, please visit www.muohio.edu/stac.

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Laptops Transforming the First Year College Composition Classroom Experience by Kerrie Carsey, Assistant Director, College Composition in 2007­2008 During the 2006­2007 academic year, 15 percent of first year College Composition courses on the Oxford campus were held in a new state­of­ the­art, wireless laptop classroom (Bachelor 256). Nearly 800 students brought their own laptops to class, such as those purchased through the Miami Notebook Program (www.muohio.edu/miaminotebook). Next year, when another classroom is converted into a wireless classroom (BAC 250), nearly 1,600 students will be enrolled in College Composition courses where writing is taught with the advantage of laptop computers, digital display technologies, and access to the Internet. In a study conducted by the College Composition Program, 5 percent of the 400 students enrolled in the course were interviewed about their experiences in the laptop classroom. When asked if they would recommend to others that they enroll in writing classes offered in the laptop classroom, every person responded with some variation of “Yes,” “Absolutely,“ and “Definitely.” The presence of laptops and other technologies in first year composition courses impacted students’ learning in a number of ways. One student commented, “We actually got to write on our computers in the classroom,” creating smoother transitions between writing activities completed in class and then continued for homework. In other words, students did in class what they would normally have to do outside of class on their own, and instructors could assist students more fully throughout the writing process. Using laptops in class also helped students find and critically evaluate online and library sources, important skills for writing in all academic fields. Because students could begin their research in the classroom, they were able to collaborate more fully with their peers and to receive more feedback from their instructors while learning the necessary skills of finding credible sources and documenting them properly. The laptops also allowed for more options in analyzing arguments; besides analyzing traditional print­ based essays, students also analyzed web sites, computer games, advertisements, etc. Thirty­inch plasma screens, file sharing, and class Wikis all provided ways for groups of students to receive immediate feedback on their work and to write collaboratively both inside and outside of the classroom. The use of these technologies also created opportunities for students to write in a wide variety of genres: those traditional in the academy, such as the research essay, and those that are becoming increasingly more common in business and professional writing, such as multimodal presentations that combine text, audio, and visual elements. Audio essays and web composing helped students to explore the ways that sound, color, visual images, and design contribute to a writer’s argument. Another student explained, “I really liked the way that we used different forms of digital media. In our class one of our projects was creating a website—something I’d never done before, and something I always wanted to do.” He added, “You need to put a lot more thought into your audience based on the form of media that you’re using.” Technologies continue to change the ways we read, write, and understand our world. The wireless laptop classrooms at Miami are an important step in preparing Miami students to think critically and write effectively in the twenty­first century. If you are interested in learning more about students’ experiences in the laptop classrooms or if you would like to know the schedule of courses for next year, please contact the College Composition office, [email protected], 513­529­5221.

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Now Available on New Miami Notebook Models! Students looking to purchase a new computer need look no further than the Miami Notebook program for great hardware, new operating systems, and value­added services. The Miami Notebook program, beginning its second year, offers Dell laptops with Microsoft's Vista Ultimate operating system as well as Apple laptops (Apple laptops will begin with Tiger, the current Apple OS, and move to Leopard when released by Apple in October, 2007). New laptop models can be reviewed at the Miami Notebook site: www.muohio.edu/miaminotebook. In addition to the great standard hardware (such as 2GB RAM; DVD R/W drives) Miami Notebooks feature outstanding services: • three­year warranties on all models (plus three­year accidental care on Dell models); • on­campus hardware repair and loaner laptops; • off­campus next­business­day hardware repair when away from campus. New models can be ordered beginning April 16 ­­­ check out the Miami Notebook site for more details: www.muohio.edu/miaminotebook. Graduating students are eligible to purchase as well.

Banner 7 Navigation Workshops for New “Internet­Native” Banner Users Are you just starting to use Internet­Native Banner? IT Services has a workshop to help you master the basics of using Internet­native Banner quickly. Offered monthly, the Banner 7 Navigation workshop introduces you to Banner terminology and general navigation, data entry and query techniques. Sessions have now been scheduled for the summer: view dates/times and a detailed workshop description in TRAIN at www.muohio.edu/TRAIN.

University Adopts “Fixed Camera” Policy to Ensure Appropriate Use The use of digital video recording devices and digital video monitoring at Miami University has increased steadily in recent years. These devices are primarily used to protect resources, enhance safety and assist in the educational mission. The Camera Installation Policy governs the use of authorized cameras on campus and ensures that such cameras are used judiciously. This new policy was endorsed by the University Senate on March 19, 2007 and will be included in the next update to the Miami University Policy and Information Manual (www.muohio.edu/mupim). Full text of the policy can be found on the IT Policy web site at www.muohio.edu/itpolicy. If you have any questions or comments concerning this policy, please contact [email protected].

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