Week's End Report - April 24, 2015

Tip of the Week!

Did you know that Ivy Tech’s Blackboard system is hosted by Blackboard? Blackboard has four dedicated servers for Ivy Tech and they are located in the state of Virginia. Occasionally one of the Blackboard servers will experience an issue that will cause you or your students to have difficulties accessing or using the system. When you report an issue to us, it’s helpful for us to know which Blackboard server you’re logged in to.

To learn which Blackboard server you’re logged into, go to the following link: https://online.ivytech.edu/webapps/blackboard/amiup.jsp

You’ll get something that looks like this:

At the very end of this text string you’ll see the letters “app” followed by a two-digit number. That two-digit number is your server number (in the image above we see “app03,” meaning we’re logged in to server 3).

When you’re submitting a helpdesk ticket or calling the helpdesk for assistance, here’s information that you and your students can provide us that will help us resolve the issues you’re experiencing more quickly:

• Your name and username
• Your course ID (ex. ACCT101-00X-X1-201430)
• The exact location of the issue (ex. Grade Center > Test 3 column > Ivy Student or Class Sessions > Session 3 > Quiz 2)
• The exact nature of the issue- there’s no such thing as too much detail!
• The Blackboard server you’re on (as described above)

GoToMeeting Training Opportunity

• GoToMeeting is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 12th from 2:00 - 3:00 pm
• Topic: GoToMeeting 101: The Basics
• Cost: Free but attendance is limited so sign up soon!
• Register: http://learn.citrix.com/051215-NA-G2M-WBR-C?ID=701500000018lI5

McGraw-Hill Security Update

• If you or your students receive an e-mail from networkedumcgrawhill@gmail.com requesting personal information, do NOT reply
• This is a third-party communication and is not affiliated with McGraw-Hill
• McGraw-Hill never requests social security numbers and under no circumstances should anyone provide this information
• For more information about McGraw-Hill’s privacy practices, visit www.mheducation.com/privacy

E-mail Maintenance/Downtime

• Exchange e-mail for faculty and staff was down for maintenance from 11:00-11:30 pm on Wednesday, April 22nd

Helpdesk Updates

• Muncie/Fisher location was without internet from approximately 9:20 am - 12:22 pm on Monday, April 20th

Pearson

• Pearson MyLabs and Mastering products experienced issues on Monday April 20th that may have caused users to experience issues accessing courses between 7:30 pm and 2:00 am on Tuesday, April 21st
• Pearson MyLabs and Mastering products experienced issues on Tuesday April 21st that may have caused users to experience issues accessing courses between 10:30 pm and 2:00 am on Wednesday, April 22nd
• Pearson will be performing maintenance on Saturday, April 25th from 1:00 am - 3:30 am., during this time new users will be unable to register and new courses cannot be created
• Pearson will be performing maintenance on Saturday, May 23rd from 1:00 am - 7:30 am., during this time users will be unable to access any course (alternative access will be available, for list of alternatives see: http://pearsonmylabandmastering.com/altsignins/)

Blackboard Upgrade/Notification

• Effective Saturday, May 16th, Blackboard will contain only courses that are two years old or newer. This means that courses from Summer 2011 (201110) through Spring 2013 (201230) will no longer be available on Blackboard.
• Prior to this switch, please make sure you archive, export, copy or download any materials you need from courses from these semesters.

For more information about archiving and exporting, see the website: http://bit.ly/idcbbexportarchive

Week's End Report - April 17, 2015

Tip of the Week!

In addition to the default Total column that appears in each of your courses, you can also add a new column to display the score the student has earned in the course as a whole.

Take, for example, a course that has 1000 points possible. The students have completed activities worth 500 points and Ivy Student has earned 450 points, the default Total column will show that Ivy has earned 450 points, or 90%. You can add a second column that would show that Ivy has earned 45% (450/1000) towards her final course grade.

When added towards the end of the semester, a Final Grade column can help students to see the grade they’ve currently earned and how well they’ll need to do throughout the remainder of the semester in order to finish the course with the grade they’d like to earn.

To learn more, see the website:

Final Grade Column

For more information about calculated grade columns and how they work, click the link below:

Calculated Grade Columns

Just In Time Job Fair

• 

  On Monday, April 20th, Lafayette will be hosting the Just in Time Job Fair beginning at 10 am and ending at 2 pm. 35 employers will be attending. Please encourage students to attend this event to network with employers. From 10 am - noon students may have a free professional head shot taken, so remind students to dress professionally and have plenty of resumes ready to hand out!

Blackboard Information

• Blackboard will be unavailable from 12:30 am - 6:30 am Friday, April 17
• Blackboard Profile Verification
• Some of you may have received or may receive an email from “Blackboard Profile Verification” stating that your profile has not been used in almost a year and will be permanently deleted in 30 days if not updated
• This email IS legit!
• To keep your profile from being deleted, log in to Blackboard, click on the Global Navigation in the upper right corner (next to the log off button)
• Click on the top icon on the left side of the drop down (if you set up your profile, this may be your profile picture or may be the standard image of a gray silhouette)
• Go through your profile and make any necessary updates
• Wednesday, April 15th issues were experienced with the network that caused Blackboard to be slow or unavailable. These issues were reported beginning around 6:00 pm, resolved at 8:40 pm.

MindTap

• MindTap connectivity issues were reported Monday evening and issues were still being reported Tuesday morning at 11:40
• No information is currently available regarding issue resolution

Email/Exchange & More

• Exchange (including OWA) connectivity issues were reported at 5:55 pm Tuesday, April 14th. Issues were resolved at 6:24 pm. These issues impacted only faculty and staff.
• Internet connectivity issues were reported from campus locations on Wednesday, April 15th from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
• Exchange, Evisions, CollegeNet, Fundware, Sharepoint and IvyNews will be unavailable from 7:30 am - 9:00 am, Sunday, April 19th

Week's End Report - April 10, 2015

Tip of the Week!

Instructors often like to post links in their courses to websites where students can get more information about a topic you’re covering. Unfortunately Blackboard blocks any websites that attempt to open inside the same window. To work around this you will need to set your links to open in a new window.

First, type in your text and select the text that you want to change to a hyperlink. Then click the button that looks like a chain (in the screenshot above it’s where the hand icon is pointing roughly in the middle of the second toolbar).

After you’ve clicked the link button, a pop-up window will open, as shown below (so make sure you have your pop-up blockers turned off or set an exception for Blackboard).

The window will have an option for your link path (this is the URL you want the link to go to, in this example we want them to go to Google at www.google.com).

Below will be a drop-down menu titled “Target.” Click that drop-down and change the setting to “Open in New Window (_blank).”

Blackboard Upgrade/Notification

• Blackboard will be unavailable from 12:30 am - 6:30 am Friday, April 10
• Blackboard will be unavailable from 12:30 am - 6:30 am Friday, April 17
• Effective Saturday, May 16th, Blackboard will contain only courses that are two years old or newer. This means that courses from Summer 2011 (201110) through Spring 2013 (201230) will no longer be available on Blackboard.
• Prior to this switch, please make sure you archive, export, copy or download any materials you need from courses from these semesters.
• For more information about archiving and exporting, see the website: http://bit.ly/idcbbexportarchive

Blackboard Issue

• An issue was reported on Friday, April 3rd regarding Blackboard Wikis
• This bug prevents students from viewing or posting comments on Wiki posts in Blackboard
• The fix for this issue will be implemented during the April 17th update
• Until the bug is fixed please either work with your program chairs to identify an alternative assessment or hold off on further use of this feature until after the update

Tutor.com

• 24/7 tutoring now available online through the Tutor.com module in Blackboard!
• Tutoring is currently available for the following courses:
• ACCT101
• APHY101
• BIOL101
• ENGL111 and remedial courses
• HLHS101
• MATH023, 080, 100, 122, 123, 127, 128, 129, 136
• Some tutoring options are available for ALL courses!
• To access this service, look for the Tools module on the left side of the home screen in Blackboard and click on the Free Online Tutoring from Tutor.Com link
• The tool allows students to upload files, they can use the whiteboard and chat features to work with the tutor. At the end of the session they can get an e-mailed transcript of the session, they can print their session and they can replay the session.
• There is also an option for students to submit an essay and have it reviewed by a tutor
• Please share this tool with your students!

E-mail and Voicemail Delivery and Access Issues

• On Monday, April 6th, issues were experienced with the Exchange servers that affected e-mail delivery and access across the state. Issues began in the morning and were fully resolved around 5:50 pm.
• On Monday, April 6th, there were delays experienced with the access of voicemail through the I3 telephone system.
• Exchange, Evisions, CollegeNet, Fundware, Sharepoint and IvyNews will be unavailable on Sunday, April 19th from 7:30-9:00 am.

IVYC101 Online Instructor Certification

Due to budget cuts, there will be no additional sections of IVYC101 added for the fiscal year. If you would like to take the course this summer, please sign up through the Training Portal. There are only a few seats remaining!

Training Opportunity

• Kokomo will be finishing the transition to the VOIP phone system on Weds. April 22nd after 5 pm.
• Training sessions will be held at Kokomo Main room M201 on Tues., April 21st and Weds. April 22nd at 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm
• Only 12 seats are available for each time, so sign up to ensure you get into the session you want to attend!
• Please sign up for training by e-mailing Jean at eheflin1@ivytech.edu

Week's End Report - April 3, 2015

Tip of the Week!

The most widely requested and much anticipated Blackboard feature of all time has now been made available!

You may now set up Blackboard to send you an e-mail notification any time you receive a Course Message in Blackboard!

Click here for instructions: http://bit.ly/idcmsgnotification

Blackboard Upgrade/Notification

• Blackboard will be unavailable from 12:30 am - 6:30 am Friday, April 17
• Effective Saturday, May 16th, Blackboard will contain only courses that are two years old or newer. This means that courses from Summer 2011 (201110) through Spring 2013 (201230) will no longer be available on Blackboard.
• Prior to this switch, please make sure you archive, export, copy or download any materials you need from courses from these semesters.
• For more information about archiving and exporting, see the website: http://bit.ly/idcbbexportarchive

Training Opportunity

• Kokomo will be finishing the transition to the VOIP phone system on Weds. April 22nd after 5 pm.
• Training sessions will be held at Kokomo Main room M201 on Tues., April 21st and Weds. April 22nd at 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm
• Only 12 seats are available for each time, so sign up to ensure you get into the session you want to attend!
• Please sign up for training by e-mailing Jean at eheflin1@ivytech.edu
• If you missed the ePortfolios training session on March 18th, you can view the archive of the presentation here: http://tinyurl.com/ePortfolios2015

Training Update

• All Ivy Tech employees are required to complete the “Information Security User Awareness Training.” To access this session:
• Log on the Campus Connect
• Select the Employee Services tab
• Click on the Ivy Tech Training Portal link located in the Training section
• Select the My Training tab (this is the default tab but will initially be blank, click on the tab to refresh the display)
• Click on the CBTs & Webinars tab
• Look for CBT - Information Security User Awareness Training
• Click the Launch link to start the training
• At the end of the session, click the Information Security User Awareness Confirmation button
• Scroll down to Information Security User Awareness Confirmation 2015
• Click Execute
• Complete the confirmation and click Submit Test
• After you’ve completed the confirmation you can click the Result button and download a PDF of your record