Mobile Apps Group update

13 11 2012

Updated 2012-11-26: Meeting minutes are available.

The University-wide Mobile Apps Group (chaired by Connie Wisdo from IR, with Ben Bishop and me as faculty participants) met yesterday. A few updates:

Blackboard Learn Mobile App for Angel

  • Now available for students and faculty.
  • Available for iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices in their respective app stores.
  • Once you install the app, search for University of Scranton and log in with your my.scranton credentials.

Student Services Mobile Page

  • A mobile web page for student services (m.scranton.edu/studentservices) went up in September.
  • Feedback from students seems to be positive, although we did not have any analytics to review.
  • One of the student representatives in the work group mentioned that the tools currently available on the web page (grades, schedule, channel guide, Library, Aquinas) aren’t compelling at this time of the semester. Grades will be more important as the semester ends.

University App (Straxis)

  • Straxis has scaled back/slowed down their plans to include a Dining Services module in the University app.
  • The next modules Straxis plans to release are Faith & Service module, Enhanced Twitter, and GPA Calculator.
  • Straxis will soon be sending out an update with iPhone 5 graphics and iOS6 enhancements.

Luminis Upgrade

  • We will be upgrading to Luminis 5 over spring break 2013, which will be a major update to the my.scranton portal.
  • Mobile access to my.scranton will likely be improved – testing will begin in January.

Next Steps for Mobile

  • We reviewed the results of last spring’s mobile survey to consider what other mobile functionality should be developed.
  • Ben suggested that mobile access to a list of faculty office hours or faculty schedules would be useful — it doesn’t seem like this data is available via an API, though.
  • Student suggestions (via CTLE) included a GPA calculator and easy access to financial aid information.
  • Students also asked if campus event feeds on mobile web pages could be iCal feeds (i.e., so you could easily add an event to your calendar on your phone.
  • Students were interested in mobile access to course registration, but this is not supported at this time.
  • Computer lab availability is a possibility due to the switch to thin clients in the Library and in Brennan.
  • When the Royal Card system is upgraded, students will be able to use a free (to them) app from Blackboard Transact to add funds and check their balance. There is a university subscription fee, so ITDA has requested funding to support that feature. Transact would interact with Royal Card funds, not Flex or meals.
  • No progress has been made on a LaundryView app.
  • A graduate student in Computing Sciences is doing a project to track usage of the Pilarz Hall gym — so that students could check their phone to see approximately how crowded the gym would be.
  • ITDA staff members met with Aramark to discuss mobile access to dining hall menus. Information from CampusDish (the web service Aramark uses) is not accessible to us via API. Aramark may be working on their own mobile app.
  • The Library is experimenting with a mobile study room reservation system. There will likely be a pilot in January and February using two group study rooms on the 2nd floor. The Student Services mobile page could simply link to this system.

I’ll post full meeting minutes when they come out. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!


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Categories : Angel and Desire2Learn, Announcements, Mobile

TAG Summer Synopsis

29 08 2012

Welcome back, all! In case you didn’t spend your summer break thinking about campus technology, here’s a quick recap of what’s been going on over the past few months and what we’ll be talking about in fall semester.

What Happened:

  • Campus wireless upgrade. We’re seeing huge improvements in connection speed and strength – thank you, Network Infrastructure!
  • Classroom upgrades. Over the summer, IT Services remediated all of Brennan’s teaching spaces. Other classrooms were upgraded as well – including CLP223, 224, 225, JOH 150, 152, MGH 017, 209, 336, 402, and 406.
  • Lecture Capture. Lecture capture capability has been installed in LSC133 and LSC333. TAG members Jeremy Sepinsky and Tara Fay are doing pilot projects this fall to test out the new technology before extending it to other classrooms. Nursing and Counseling departments are next on the list.
  • Mobile access to Angel. We now have a license for Blackboard Mobile Learn for Angel, so you can download the free app for use on your iPhone, iPad, Android, or Blackberry device.
  • R-ID authentication. Instructor stations and computer labs now require your R number as your user name. Your password is the same.
  • Virtual desktops. 203 computers in Brennan and Library computer labs are now thin client machines.  At these terminals, students access virtual desktops and save files to SkyDrive.

What’s Coming:

  • Standard user accounts. As Windows 7 is rolled out for new faculty computers, our roles will change from administrative to standard user accounts. This is a security measure to try to prevent users from downloading and installing malicious software. By default, standard users can’t install or delete applications. This would be a major issue for many faculty members, but IR has been working on a solution for faculty, using Viewfinity privilege management software. The plan so far: when you need to install an application, you’re prompted to enter a brief description/justification, and then your permissions are temporarily elevated so that you can install what you need. Commonly used software is whitelisted to speed things up. I’ve been piloting it this summer from a faculty perspective, with good results. Mac and Linux users will not be affected. More details on this later.
  • Code of Responsible Computing. This policy is up for review. As a representative from TAG and the Faculty Senate, Dave Dzurec has bravely agreed to co-chair the effort. We’ll post updates here.
  • The academic server is scheduled for final retirement this year. Several faculty members still have web content on the server – so CTLE (probably with some help from TAG) will be reaching out to those folks this semester to help them move any content they want to keep.
  • Luminis upgrade. An update to the my.scranton portal is currently scheduled for December 2012. TAG is contributing suggestions for the new faculty tab – let me know if you’re interested in giving ideas or feedback.
  • Software licensing for virtualized environments.  The idea is that faculty, staff, and students could log into their virtual desktop from any computer and access the specialized software they need (SPSS, etc). Unfortunately, this is really expensive. IR is looking into it.
  • Royal Card. The system will get a full upgrade this year. This won’t have much effect on faculty from what we can tell.

What’s Stalled:

  • Academic Technology Plan. Sigh. That said, TAG is still looking for faculty input on future technology needs. What kind of teaching spaces do we want? What technology funding is most important? We’re hoping to get more conversations started on these topics this year.

 

——————
*Thanks to Jim Franceschelli, Lorraine Mancuso, Jerry DeSanto, and Robyn Dickinson for talking us through this year’s road map.

**IR staff, please let me know if I got anything wrong. Thank you!


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Categories : Announcements

LMS Working Group – Final Report

25 05 2012

The final report of the Learning Management System (LMS) Work Group is now available on the University’s web site at www.scranton.edu/lmssearch.

As a reminder, the Group’s recommendation was that the University stay with ANGEL for two more years, but revisit the LMS market in Spring 2013.

The Group also recommended that the University purchase Blackboard Mobile Learn for ANGEL.**

Thanks so much to the Work Group and especially our faculty representatives for their work!

**I believe there’s a budget request in for this, but I’m not sure if it’s been approved yet.


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Categories : Angel and Desire2Learn, Announcements

Angel it is, through 2014

9 05 2012

The Learning Management System (LMS) Work Group made its recommendation this morning – we’ll be sticking with ANGEL through Spring 2014.

A full report is on the way, but in the meantime, here’s the announcement from Work Group leader Connie Wisdo:

Hello all,

The LMS Evaluation Working group had its final two meetings over the last three weeks and concluded its work.  Below is a synopsis of the meeting minutes and the final recommendation made by the group.  (A full report will be compiled and made available in the coming weeks.)

Group members discussed their findings and observations from testing the three LMS products chosen as finalists – Blackboard Learn, Desire2Learn and Moodlerooms.  It was recommended unanimously by group members that Moodlerooms should be dropped from consideration due primarily to its lack of internal email.  We concluded that the messaging features of Moodlerooms did not adequately substitute for an internal email system.  Of the remaining two finalists, Desire2Learn was deemed a slightly better choice for us than Blackboard, overall.  Many factors were taken into consideration in the analysis, but it really came down to (1) course conversion capabilities in Desire2Learn were better than those in Blackboard; and (2) the students who evaluated the products overwhelmingly chose Desire2Learn over Blackboard.  Overall there were many issues with converting courses from ANGEL to each of the LMS products evaluated.

Since we are now not being forced to move away from ANGEL, the group considered the possibility of the University staying with ANGEL, for at least two more years. CTLE and ITDA did some background research for the group, by conducting a conference call with Blackboard reps.  They gave us assurances that ANGEL development will continue, but the majority of Blackboard’s resources will be put towards the Blackboard Learn product. Blackboard said it will be putting more development into ANGEL mobile than ANGEL desktop.  Therefore, the group concluded that any changes to ANGEL desktop will be minor over the next several years.  The group was asked to identify any shortcomings in ANGEL which, if not addressed in the next two years, would significantly hamper our institution’s teaching and learning practices.  None were identified, except for the lack of a good mobile interface.  Otherwise, ANGEL seems to be adequately meeting faculty and students’ needs.

Due primarily to the experiences encountered in the LMS sandboxes with course conversion, and the significant cost, time and energy associated with transitioning to Desire2Learn at this time, the group members unanimously recommended that we stay with ANGEL for two more years (through Spring, 2014), and re-look the LMS market in Spring 2013.  Doing so will allow us (1) to see if LMS products’ course conversion capabilities improve to the point of being acceptable to our faculty; and (2) to determine if any of the newer LMS products (such as Canvas by Instructure) evolve to a point where they could be considered as possible replacements to ANGEL at that time.

The group also unanimously recommended that if we stay with ANGEL we purchase Blackboard Mobile Learn for ANGEL.  Respondents to a recent mobile app survey conducted by Public Relations and ITDA overwhelmingly named mobile access to the LMS as their top priority for mobile functionality on our campus.  We have had the free version of Blackboard Mobile Learn for ANGEL for approximately 18 months, usable only on iOS devices (iPad / IPhone), with connectivity available only via Wi-Fi, or via the Sprint network.  However, the full version of Blackboard Mobile Learn can be used on both iOS and Android devices, and with any cellular network.  A significant portion of our students have Android smartphones and/or tablets, and are therefore incapable of using the free version of Mobile Learn for ANGEL.  I negotiated with Blackboard to get a free trial of the full version of Mobile Learn for ANGEL, from mid-April, through the end of the Spring semester.  The app was demonstrated at the working group’s April meeting and members of the group were encouraged to download the app.  Several CTLE TechCons downloaded and evaluated the app, and concluded it was quite adequate for students’ needs.

As I said earlier, a detailed summary of the group’s overall evaluation process, conclusions and recommendations is forthcoming.  I expect to have it finalized and made available to the campus community by May 18th.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me.

Thank you,

Connie Wisdo
Director, IT Development & Applications
x4123
constance.wisdo@scranton.edu

 

Many thanks from TAG to the faculty representatives who served on the Work Group:  Maureen Carroll (math), TAG member Teresa Conte (nursing), Tara Fay (biology),  Julie Nastasi (OT), Wesley Wang (economics/finance), and Keith Yurgosky (communications, part time).


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Mobile Apps Group update

24 04 2012

Updated 5/10/12: Minutes from this meeting

——————————————————–

The University-wide Mobile Apps Group met last week for the first time since February 8.  A few updates that are relevant to faculty:

Blackboard Learn Mobile App for ANGEL

  • Since the Learning Management System (LMS) Work Group is now considering staying with Angel as an option, the University is doing a full-blown trial of Blackboard Mobile Learn for Angel to see if it can meet student/faculty mobile needs.
  • The mobile version does not have all of the features that the standard Angel interface does – most notably, the gradebook and assignment dropbox are not fully accessible from the mobile app.
  • Faculty can try it out by downloading the app (the “New” version with the red ribbon on the icon) to their mobile device.

Review of Mobile App Survey Results

  • Lori Nidoh shared results from the Spring 2012 Mobile App and Services Survey that they ran on campus. Lori’s presentation (pptx) is here: 2012 Mobile Survey Findings
  • Most of the survey respondents were current undergraduate students – only about 3% were faculty.
  • Survey respondents were very interested in getting mobile access to Angel. Mobile access to Angel was ranked most highly (average of 3.9 out of 5) of a list of suggested future features, and more than 60% of respondents ranked it as the University resource they’re most interested in accessing from their phone.

Android access to the my.scranton portal


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A Mobile UofS

27 09 2010

One of the new initiatives in IR is a mobile application for the University.  In collaboration with PR, IR will be planning and implementing a mobile presence for the University in the near future.

Over the summer, an IR Mobile Applications Team, led by Tim Meade, did some research on mobile applications in higher education and discussed implementation with two sister institutions.  As a result of this report, IR is looking for a middleware solution for the University’s mobile presence.  Blackboard Mobile has already been on campus to demo, and other vendors under consideration will be on campus to talk with the Mobile Applications Team in October.

I’ve asked to sit in on the demos to represent the Library and TAG – updates forthcoming.


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