Office Mac 2008 Update

Microsoft has just released a second major update to Office Mac 2008. The new Service Pack 1 update includes a number of bug fixes and performance improvements and is critical to all Office Mac 2008 users. To find the update:

1. Open an Office Mac 2008 application, like Word
2. Choose Help > Check for Updates

3. In the resulting Microsoft AutoUpdate window, click the Check for Updates button
4. You should see any Microsoft Office Mac 2008 updates that have not been installed appear in the next window's list, including Service Pack 1
5. Click Install

If you have any problems running the Office Mac 2008 Service Pack 1 update, contact the HelpDesk at 410-778-7777.

New Learning Ideas

A wide and varied crowd turned out today for Dr. Barry Adams and his presentation "21st Century Learning." From new language faculty to retiring education professors, the liberal arts education community was well represented and eager to learn about the changes afoot in higher learning.

Dr. Adams presented on behalf of Apple - and with support from OIT - and covered topics ranging from the media ecosystem to faculty adoption of new technologies. Dr. Adams has traveled the country speaking with the digital educators at numerous colleges and universities. His unique survey perspective on the state of the change pedagogy was both insightful and inspiring.

We hope that Dr. Adams and Apple have created a drive in you to explore the new technologies and techniques that will shape the classroom of tomorrow. Know that OIT is here to support you as you begin to take steps in this direction!

Don't Forget!

Tomorrow from 10:30 - 11:30 am, Apple & OIT are partnering to bring you a presentation by Dr. Barry Adams entitled "21st Century Learning: New Communities, New Content, New Conversations." This evocative session will take place in Litrenta (Toll SG-10) and is free to all faculty and staff.

To learn more and register, visit:

oit.washcoll.edu/trainingandtutorials.php

Restricted IT Services for Summer

All network and cable television services for the Western Shore and Harford residence halls and for the Schottland Tennis Center will be turned off effective May 19th, the day after commencement. The reason is that the entire fiber optic and cable television system in that area will be replaced during the summer period. There will be major configuration changes that require a significant amount of time to configure to go along with the physical cable changes.

We anticipate that the telephone system for the area will also be terminated shortly after May 19th. When the telephone system is terminated, elevators in Harford and in Kirby Stadium will also be out of service because there will be no elevator telephone service.

The outages will continue throughout the summer until shortly before the students return for the fall semester.

During the same summer period there will be intermittent interruptions of the entire campus wireless network as that network is reconfigured to accommodate a significant increase in the number of wireless access points and users.

Cable TV & Daly Hall Outage Today

As a result of additional electrical work at Daly Hall this afternoon cable television will be out of service beginning at 3:15 PM today. There will be no power in Daly Hall, therefore there will be no IT services at all in Daly from the same time.

The outage is expected to last between 45 minutes and one hour.

The outage is not an OIT project. Please contact the Maintenance Department for further information

21st Century Learning

21st Century Learning: New Communities, New Content, New Conversations is an evocative session that will examine some of the trends in teaching and learning in active education environments - and look to understand how we can offer new, exciting information transfer systems to our students.

This session will be offered on Wednesday, May 14th from 10:30 am - 11:30 am and will take place in Litrenta (Toll SG-10.)

All faculty and staff are welcome to attend this unique opportunity brought to you by OIT and Apple. To learn more and sign up, visit: oit.washcoll.edu/trainingandtutorials.php

More about Dr. Adams:

Barry has worked for Apple since 1987 in a variety of positions but always within the company's education division. After serving as a field sales executive he quickly moved into a newly created position as an Education Technology Consultant. This industry-first position afforded Barry an opportunity to use his extensive training in education with education policy makers throughout the nation. After holding this post for a number of years, he was again promoted to another industry-first job, Director of Strategic Alliances working under the tutelage of Dr. David Dwyer, Apple!s noted education researcher and author of the ACOT program (Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow) Barry's stimulating presentations and workshops have been chosen by state conferences, national and international organizations as models for understanding the changing nature of education. Dr. Adams holds academic titles through the doctorate in Psychology, Counseling and Educational Administration. He was a member of several university and college faculties in Iowa, North Carolina, and Georgia. He culminated his academic growth as a Dean at two colleges where he authored two books on future trends in education. After leaving education in the early eighties, he formed a small company in the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina to build and distribute interactive laser discs for business and industry clients.

He lives in Roxboro NC with his wife of thirty years (also an Apple employee) and is now “empty-nested” with two college graduated children.

OIT Homepage Renovations Complete

The OIT website homepage has just finished transitioning into the exact resources you wish to see. Following our OIT Wesbite Usability Survey, we began work on maximizing the usefulness of the OIT wesbite according to your feedback. Already detailed in a previous News Blog post, the search, navigation, Express Menu and News Blog widgets have all been updated.

Today, though, we are pleased to announce the completion of a renovated homepage. We have broken down the mini-site navigation into four boxes, one for featured content and one each for faculty, staff and students. This organization of crucial content will ensure that each type of site visitor has easy, direct access to the most applicable information on the OIT website.

To experience this new homepage, visit:

oit.washcoll.edu

New MPC Website Launches

The MPC is proud to announce the launch of a new look for its website! The brand new interface ties the MPC in with the look of Instructional Technology and provides a unified navigation style for all IT services.

The changes are not just aesthetic, though. The MPC front page features a widget from a tips, tricks and tutorial blog - The MPC Feed - to show you all that the MPC is exploring. An updated equipment list gives a better overview of what the MPC has to offer while Programs, Services and Portfolio sections tell about all of the MPC sponsored activity at Washington College.

If you haven’t visited the MPC website recently, take a few minutes to check it out today:

mpc.washcoll.edu

Instructional Technology Happenings for 4/16 - 5/1

Introduction to Photoshop - Friday, April 18th

The Introduction to Photoshop workshop is designed a little differently than how many other organizations are approaching it. Photoshop’s interface has an exhaustive number of palettes, tools, filters, and features. Rather than go through every tool’s use, this workshop addresses a subset of the most commonly used tools, and some of the more advanced tools. Users will learn how to recreate the poster used to advertise for the workshop.

To learn more and sign up, visit http://oit.washcoll.edu/trainingandtutorials.php

Green Business Panel, Green Drinks & Eco-movies - Friday, April 25th

Immediately following the Green Business Panel, the College will host “Green Drinks & Eco-movies” to celebrate “George Goes Green” and the power of film as forces of environmental change. Network with eco-minded professionals, students, faculty, staff and alumni who support the integration of ecological and social values. Catch the premiere of “Driving Greener” by OIT’s Brian Palmer - see the car and meet the star - then enjoy the best of the “60 Seconds or Less” student videos on water conservation, energy conservation, waste reduction, and more.

TechTidbits for April

Tech Tidbits offers you the chance to learn about very specific technologies and skills in a very short period of time. 30 minute sessions will give you step by step instructions and personal support with the tasks that you want to learn about.

All sessions run from 12:15 - 12:45. Coffee, tea & snacks will be available, in case you skip lunch!

• Crash Course on Facebook - Tuesday, April 29th
• Digital Storytelling - Wednesday, April 30th
• Mac Open Q&A - Thursday, May 1st

To learn more and sign up, visit http://oit.washcoll.edu/trainingandtutorials.php

Network Emergency Reboot At Noon

OIT must shut down the network to perform emergency maintenance today. Please try to be off of the network by 12:00 Noon today, Tuesday, April 15th. The maintenance will begin at 12:05.

The outage should be only 10-15 minutes. Once the maintenance is completed, users will need to log on to the network again.

Users in Bunting, Public Safety, B&G, and HR should not be impacted.