At the close of this week the Office of Information Technology at Central Office will be migrating our email system. Over the holiday weekend we will be moving from the old OWA to Exchange Online.
What you need to know:
No service interruptions are expected
Microsoft Outlook access on your desktop computer will not change
No changes will need to be made on your mobile devices
When accessing your email online through your web browser in the past we have gone to: https://owa.ivytech.edu
After migration we will be accessing our email through the web browser by going to: https://outlook.office.com/ivytech.edu Migration will begin at 6 pm EDT on Friday, May 27th.
Tips for Between Semesters
Next week we'll take a look at some things faculty can do to help get the semester off on the right foot. This week, here are some ideas for things you might consider doing between semesters to help refresh and re-energize:
Do something every day that's just for fun (especially those things you find you don't have time for during the semester)
Finish a project you've been putting off
Read something for enjoyment
Take a day trip (did you know there are 25 state and 3 national park sites in Indiana?)
Spend time with family and friends
Learn something new (YouTube has many instructional videos on everything from fixing a leaky faucet to making an origami elephant from a dollar bill)
Interested in teaching online classes in the fall? The certification process has changed!
If you have taken
IVYC101 in the past, you are still certified to teach online and you need not do any further training or certification. If you
have not yet been certified there are now four steps in the process:
Successfully complete BBRD101 (must pass all activities with a 90% or better)
Sign up for IVYC110-SP, four self-paced modules (must pass all activities with a 90% or better)
After successfully completing IVYC110-SP you'll be placed into IVYC110-IL, two instructor-led modules (must pass all activities with a 90% or better)
Finally,
after successfully completing the first three steps you'll be placed
into IVYC112, Online Faculty Mentoring, the next semester during which
you teach
Successful completion of the four steps listed above will certify you to teach online at Ivy Tech.
All program chairs, department chairs, and deans who are currently enrolled in courses with the role of Program Chair Observer will have the role removed effective today. Access to the Temporary Course Access Module will be retained, so you may re-enroll yourselves into the courses to which you need access.
Should you find that you do not have access to the Temporary Course Access Module, please let us know!
New Tool Available Soon
Due to issues experienced with the Wimba tools and the integrated YouTube tool in Blackboard, we are switching to a tool called VoiceThead. Contrary to the name, VoiceThread is actually a lot more than a voice recording tool. VoiceThread provides a video tool that can be used on any computer as well as iPads and iPhones. It provides easy accessibility for collaboration, analytical tools for monitoring use, as well as a curated digital library of VoiceThreads created by other instructors and students. Because VoiceThread is integrated with Blackboard it does not require additional log-in and can be seamlessly integrated with your course in Blackboard. For more information about VoiceThread, visit the website: https://voicethread.com/about/features/ Workshops are available for training. Register on the VoiceThread website: https://voicethread.com/workshops
As the semester nears an end, it is time for us all to close out our courses. There are a number of records that may need to be created, depending on the needs of your course and your school. It's easy to forget how to do these things since we only do them a few times per year! Fortunately the Finalizing Your Course website has more information!
How to archive Outlook e-mail (archiving cannot be done from OWA web e-mail)
Exporting grades from Blackboard
How to save documents as PDF
Your school will distribute additional information regarding specific things they may request that you do while finalizing your course for the semester.
Rather than printing a document and scanning to PDF on your office copier, refer to the website above for instructions on saving Microsoft Office documents directly to PDF format
Grades are due Tuesday, May 10th at midnight; you will not be able to submit grades via Campus Connect after that time, though you may submit them at any time prior to the deadline
Post a closing announcement letting your students know that the class is over and you will no longer be monitoring the course in Blackboard; restate your contact information so your students can easily reach you outside of Blackboard
Tutor.com Statistics
Once again Lafayette recorded the second highest usage of Tutor.com in the state with 286 students logging in to use the service. Kokomo had an additional 38 students log in to use Tutor.com. Please keep up the great work encouraging students to use this wonderful free service! Also let students know that although there is a 15 hour time limit, arrangements can be made for students to have additional hours of tutoring if needed.
