Filed under: Uncategorized
Filed under: tech talk | Tags: alum, email, gmail, google apps, gryphon mail, send, student, students, undo
Every time I tell students about the lab feature Undo Send within seconds they are giddy with excitement about how much this is going to save them. That’s right – going to. Inevitably their thoughts go back to an email they wish they could have unsent but the possibility of never having that worry again is mesmerizing.
At a student club leader presentation two weeks ago I reviewed a number of labs and explained Undo Send. Note – I had approximatley 5-10 minutes to review the entire Google Apps suite so I was going quickly. About 3 seconds after I explained Undo Send and had paused for effect one student literally gasped with jaw agape! You could see the “OMG HFCIT FTW” look across her face. She was elated.
Though not at profound a reaction, possibly because of the brain melt that has affected them, students also smile a the fact that they can change the undo time from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.
Tasks has graduated to become an official part of GMail, when will Undo Send.
Nobody has snubbed the lab feature. Yet. Will someone? I’d be amazed. (more…)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: campus, collaboration, discussion, events, schedule, social-network, students
DormNoise
Students are on the go and want information when they want it where they want it. They use any number of devices and online tools not related to those provided by a school. DormNoise aims to fill that gap and provide a centralized place for students, clubs, and an institution to announce and promote events.
Students can sync with iCal, Outlook, Gmail, etc. and share events – think Facebook events.
DormNoise organizes your college events with a series of interconnected Personal, Student Group, and Campus-Wide Calendars.
DormNoise is for college students only! You need a .edu email address from a college or university to join.
The cost is (presently) $2/student every school year. The CEO has added that he is willing to negotiate a payment plan considering budget cuts and the current economic state.
Check it DormNoise here.
Filed under: tech talk | Tags: application, calendaring, Entourage, free, google apps, help, iCal, schedule, sync
I have read blogs and forums on how to do this but ran into troubles or became frustrated by the instructions.
Background – My primarily calendar is in GMail. All my calendars are caldev’d in iCal. Entourage was recently installed on my work machine meaning I had zero events in its calendar.
Without noting clicks for ‘next’ or other similar buttons Here is the ultra streamlined version…
- Open Entourage
- in Preferences, Sync Services, click Synchronize events and tasks with iCal and MobileMe
- Open iCal and verify that a new calendar called ‘Exchange’ has been created
- Open Calgoo
- create a new connection,
- use the Sync an Apple iCal Calendar with a Google Calendar option,
- name the connection — I used: ical 2 gmail,
- click iCal, click the box next to Entourage,
- enter your GMail user|pass,
- select a GMail calendar,
- and finish up
- Optional – In the Calgoo settings change the Synchronization frequency; it is set to 1 hour by default.
- In iCal, un-check the Entourage calendar so it is not displayed
If you run into any troubles with these steps please post a comment below.
Voila. Your GMail, caldev’d iCal, and Entourage calendars will sync every xx minutes. Add events in any of the three calendars noted (GMail, caldev’d iCal, Entourage) and you’ll see the new event in all three applications (web, iCal, Entourage) pending the Calgoo Synchronization frequency – I set mine to 10 minutes.
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Filed under: tech talk | Tags: collaboration, department, google apps, group, hierarchy, instructional technologist, library, nitle, org chart, staff, structure, survey
Recently I wrote to the NITLE Instructional Technologist listserv about naming a department with library and technical staff members. I have received a number of replies and want to share the results and elicit additional contributions. Below is the original email sent along with a link to the open spreadsheet.
Please pass along this blog or the link.
Good day all.
This email is geared toward understanding the naming conventions of groups/departments that consist of reference librarians, instructional technologists, and/or other technical or library staff. Here at Sarah Lawrence we have recently begun the process of merging reference librarians, instructional technologists, and a web developer into a group called – Research Instructional Group.
Previously Academic Computing was the name of the department for our instructional technologists and the web developer.
I have made a Google Spreadsheet editable by anyone with the hope that I, and others in process or interested in this concept, can see what type of name standardization has, is, or is not happening within academe.
Naming a Department with Library and Technical Staff Members
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlmkSVh2igkIdExtM2M3c1pSQkRoRlE0QUs5VzZTdVE&hl=en
Thanks to any and all that are able to contribute.
Filed under: tech talk | Tags: alum, free, google apps, gryphon mail, help, student, students
As graduation approaches Sarah Lawrence students begin asking the question “When will my Gryphon Mail account be deleted?” There are two ways to answer this question.
The short answer is…
Never.
The long answer is…
Sarah Lawrence College students (undergraduate and graduate) that complete their degree keep their SLC @gm.slc.edu email for life. There is no need to use it every week, month, year to keep it active as was necessary in the past. Remember, the address is a great tool to use when applying to jobs, sending out your work (writing, music, etc.), reaching out to SLC alum, etc.
Alums that graduated before Gryphon Mail was implemented can claim their Gryphon Mail account here: https://my.slc.edu/emailforlife/
Your account is waiting for you.
Please refer to the Help Desk page to read the Gryphon Mail FAQs if you have questions.
Filed under: tech talk | Tags: data, google apps, gryphon mail, responses, results, students, survey
While the student body was taking the Tech Survey I noted the response rates daily. Below is the end result.
Of significance is the dates where the data takes a significant upswing. Dates in the graph marked with *’s indicate that the invitation or a reminder was sent to those that had not completed the survey. The graph was created using Gryphon Mail Docs. The spreadsheet can be viewed here.
Filed under: tech talk | Tags: back-up, faculty, gryphon mail, help, myslc, staff, student, students, survey
The first SLC Tech Survey ended yesterday morning. Results are in and a review of the responces and questions are underway. While we sort through the data I thought it might be interesting to post some details from the survey.
The total number of complete responses was 548 (1561 students were invited). This means 34.79% of the student body responded to the survey, a huge success.
This time of year is stressful to students because they are working on multiple conference papers – typically 20-30 pages long though sometimes they are shorter and sometimes they are longer. For the past two years Academic Computing and the Help Desk have been sending out notices to students offering suggestions on how they can back-up their work. At every Committee on Student Life Meeting I attend, near the end of each semester, I remind the student body, faculty, and staff present of the amount of free space available in Gryphon Mail. This year it is over 7 GB. It is something I approach the advisory with slight humor and with substantial importance. Based on our practices – email and in person reminders – the student body has listened and taken advantage of Gryphon Mail in ways we could not have predicted. Please see the graph below:
Click image to enlarge
Your Gryphon Mail account can store over 7GB of emails, documents, and attachments. Do you use your Gryphon email account as a backup of your important files?
Yes, primary backup – 30.02%
Yes, but not my primary backup – 39.23%
No – 28.36%
No answer – 2.39%
Considering the numbers of visits to the Help Desk over the past two years this explains a great deal why fewer and fewer visits have been about lost data due to hard drive failure. Students are using the cloud as a key method to backup their work. More importantly they are using a SLC provided service. Fantastic!
It is often concluded that students are aware of school policies because they have been told and/or they have access to information online, in the student handbook, they can ask a faculty or staff member, etc. We wanted to know if students knew about SLCs email policy regarding official email communication. The numbers obtained were very surprising to some. Please see the graph below:
Click image to enlarge
You are responsible for reading all emais sent to your SLC email account from SLC administrative offices. Were you aware of this policy?
Yes – 41.80%
No – 58.20%
No answer – 0.00%
Since we have only begun a review of the data we have not discussed how, other than presenting the information in a survey, students can be informed/reminded of policies. I’m sure ideas will come about in future discussions.
A full report will be posted on MySLC in the near future.
Filed under: tech talk | Tags: acd, amazon, collaboration, discussion, faculty, gift certificate, listserv, staff, student, students, survey
Back in October 2007 I saw a Technology Survey referenced within a message on a listserv – (Project Pulse/SAREO – UMass Amherst, Office of Information Technologies Survey – Draft Fall 2006). Struck by the idea I began editing the draft to fit within Sarah Lawrence’s scope and use of technology. The possible benefits of the data seemed to opportune to overlook such a great idea.
And so it became a project, a project among many, that took on life but had little support due to the high number of day to day needs staff spent their time on and due to other more pressing projects. Happily, it never died.
During a 2008 summer discussion of projects on tap Brenda Grell (Instructional Technologist in Academic Computing) offered to help me with the survey… And so we began a long and satisfying journey.
The original survey was extensive; though, as we reviewed it we quickly realized we needed to re-write and/or edit many questions. One example was a question that dealt with gender. A number of students commented that the question was problematic to them or that it would be to their friend(s).
Original question:
What is your gender?
Female
Male
Other/Refused
Revised question:
What is your gender?
Female
Male
Other
Prefer not to answer
By changing the question slightly, students were very happy with the options and felt that the it was now inclusive of every student all the while still providing an option to not answer (instead of forcing someone to choose a gender). Things like this were rare but we believed it to be important to comb through every question with this same type of attention.
Brenda and I have been working with Greg (Information Systems) to launch the survey using an in house survey platform – LimeSurvey. Our initial intent was to release it just after spring break but schedules and software bugs delayed the launch. Brenda has been the point person with LimeSurvey inputting the content and building out the logic to the survey. (She has become the go-to person regarding LimeSurvey on campus.) We didn’t want someone to see a question that is not relevant to them. We wanted it to be as fast as possible while still asking every relevant question.
She has also been pro-active with faculty and students testing the survey throughout the development within Lime Survey. We can attest to a number of small issues found thanks to the help of these students and faculty members. I highly recommend testing this type of survey as much as you possibly can before going live.
So, 2 years and one semester later we are launching the survey to the student body for just under 10 days. After the survey is closed we will correct any troubles found, export the data, and then send out the survey to the faculty and staff for the same amount of time. For the student body we offered a number of Amazon.com gift certificates as incentives to complete the survey:
Three (3) gift certificates for undergraduates (due to the large size) – $50, $25, $25
Two (2) gift certificates for graduate and CCE students – $25, $25
After the survey is complete I will post details on how the survey was received.
I would like to thank the unknown person that sent the survey to the listserv, Greg, Sha, Tom B., ACD, HD, IS staff, everyone that supported the idea and tested the survey, and most importantly Brenda. Without everyone’s efforts this survey would not have become what it is today.
Update One
- The survey was initiated at 4:00 pm (04/27/09) with small batches of emails going out to the 1561 students. In less than one hour the statistics are wonderful! As of 5:00 pm here are the survey statistics: 108 responses for this survey (76 full responses, 32 responses not completely filled out)
Update Two
- Survey statistics as of 9:15 am (04/28/09): 292 responses for this survey (266 full responses, 26 responses not completely filled out)
Update Three
- Survey statistics as of 9:00 am (04/29/09): 321 responses for this survey (293 full responses, 28 responses not completely filled out)
Update Four
- Survey statistics as of 9:00 am (04/30/09): 331 responses for this survey (302 full responses, 29 responses not completely filled out)
Update Five
- Survey statistics as of 9:00 am (05/01/09): 335 responses for this survey (306 full responses, 29 responses not completely filled out)
- Reminder email sent at 9:53 am to students that did not take/complete the survey.
- Survey statistics as of 5:00 pm (05/01/09): 401 responses for this survey (367 full responses, 34 responses not completely filled out)
Update Six
- Survey statistics as of 10:00 am (05/04/09): 429 responses for this survey (393 full responses, 36 responses not completely filled out)
Update Seven
- Survey statistics as of 10:00 am (05/05/09): 431 responses for this survey (395 full responses, 36 responses not completely filled out)
- A reminder was sent out between 10 am and 1 pm to remind student there are only two days left to complete the survey.
- Survey statistics as of 5:00 pm (05/05/09): 508 responses for this survey (462 full responses, 46 responses not completely filled out)
Update Eight (final day)
- Survey statistics as of 9:00 am (05/06/09): 528 responses for this survey (481 full responses, 47 responses not completely filled out)
- A final reminder was sent out between 10 am and 11 am.
- Survey statistics as of 5:00 pm (05/06/09): 582 responses for this survey (531 full responses, 51 responses not completely filled out)
- Upon arriving to work on 05/07/09 I will close the survey.
Update Nine (Survey Closed)
- Survey statistics as of 9:00 am (05/07/09): 591 responses for this survey (543 full responses, 48 responses not completely filled out)
- Survey will be closed by Greg in IS this morning. Winners of the raffle will be determined and contacted and the survey will receive minor tweaks to improve user experience.
