Wednesday, July 25, 2012

SU Students - Do NOT upgrade to Mountain Lion At This Time!!!

Good morning,

Today Apple is releasing the new version of OS X, called Mountain Lion, in the Mac App Store. Please do not purchase the upgrade and install it on your SU issued Mac. Mountain Lion has not been fully tested on the SU network and, more importantly, is not compatible with Blackboard at this time. We will make the new OS available (at no cost if you have a Mac issued by SU) once it has been tested and our classroom tools are ready.

Thank you.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

SIGN UP TODAY FOR CITY OF WINCHESTER NOTIFICATION SYSTEM


On Monday, July 9, the City of Winchester launched a new notification system called DeltAlert for both emergency notices and community outreach. DeltAlert will allow the City to quickly send messages to the public in a variety of ways. The system gives individuals the ability to manage their contact preferences and delivers messages in a variety of formats: landline or cellular phones, TDD/TTY devices, SMS and email. The system can also deliver messages to target audiences such as individuals in certain geographic areas or only to downtown businesses if necessary. 

Having a system such as DeltAlert for emergencies would have been very beneficial during the recent thunderstorms and the unusual 2011 October snowstorm in that left thousands without electricity. Since DeltAlert can send messages to wireless phone numbers, the City could have utilized DeltAlert to send Winchester residents a warning about the storm as well as updates from the power companies concerning their progress with restoring power (if a wireless number was provided). 

The City also plans to utilize the system for community outreach and to send important non-emergency related information to the public, including reminders about public hearings, open houses, Winchester City Council meetings and other public input events. Other messages about upcoming events, street closures, cancellations and programs may be sent in an effort to keep the public informed. 

To sign up, visit http://www.winchesterva.gov/ and click on the DeltAlert icon. Review contact information (landline, mobile, email, etc.) and add additional numbers or email addresses to ensure prompt receipt of messages. You may also make changes to your information and preferences as needed. Another great way to stay informed is to sign up for the CitE-News, the City of Winchester's free, bi-weekly email newsletter. To do this, visit http://www.winchesterva.gov/enews/index.php.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Firefox Addon To Count Words In Bb


Liberty University has created a Firefox add-on that gives you a word counter for Discussion Boards, Blogs, Journals, and Wikis inside Blackboard!

Going to Word and checking the word count then going back to the Bb Discussion Board was cumbersome and time consuming.

Liberty designed the tool to work on with Bb Learn systems. You can find the final beta version at 
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/Word-Counter-Bb

You may send your feedback directly to them at blackboardsupport@liberty.edu so that they can address any issues. Also, if you like it, please leave a review for it on the install page!  

Please share it with other Bb Learn users!  Thanks Liberty for sharing with us!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE OFFERED FOR SHENANDOAH FACULTY AND STUDENTS


Students are encouraged to attend!
 
Shenandoah University is partnering with the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) to sponsor a one-day technology mini-conference titled "iPads in Education. " The conference will be hosted at the university's Northern Virginia Campus on Friday, July 20, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Assistant Professor Biopharmaceutical Sciences Richard Pierce will serve as the keynote speaker for the opening session and will present "Going Mobile with Web 2.0 Tools for Educators." Assistant Professor of Education Diane Painter will conduct a breakout session titled "Using Web-based Interactives to Engage Students in Active Thinking." Shenandoah University faculty and students interested in attending should contact Painter at dpainter@su.edu by Sunday, July 1 in order to register. For more information about other conference sessions, visit http://www.vste.org/index/learn/learning_events/summeroflearning2012/sunv.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Summer Vacation

IC will be working hard over the summer updating the SU Mobile App to include features and to upgrade many of the technology applications available for use. During this time we will be posting to this blog less often.

Please consider subscribing to the blog, so you can receive automatic updates when a post is made. If not, please check back when Fall classes start.