Welcome Back Students! Fall 2022 Edition

Good morning from the Information Technologies Office. Welcome back! Here are some tech items that may be of interest to you. In this edition:

• Changes to Xpress (student edition)
• Themes in Gmail
• Connecting to Wifi
• Microsoft Office is free
• Update your Q&A pairs
• How to get help

Changes to Xpress

Xpress is the place you go when you don't know where to find stuff. It is the launchpad from which students, faculty, and staff can get to all-things-Malone which are online. Mid-July saw a major revamp of the way that Xpress is structured. Here is a summary of those changes. 

Quicklinks and Launchpad

• Note the Quick Links portlet (box #1) located on the left navigation bar (this is hidden by the arrow when viewing on a mobile device). Links in this section show the same for ALL Xpress users including the public who have not signed into Xpress.

• The Launchpad portlet (box #2) has been revised to better describe what you are clicking. The icons and links in this section change depending on what roles you are assigned on campus. The view for faculty is different than the view for staff is different than the view for students. Be sure to explore the different features in launchpad including the computer lab availability maps and the "Phiz" (campus people directory)

• Search (arrow #3). Users may now click the Magnifying Glass icon at the top-right corner of the screen to conduct a site-wide search for a specific phrase.

• Announcements (arrow #4) can be scheduled to show up and expire and can also be targeted at specific groups on campus. Announcements show up based on a person's role/group and will show up for them on any tabs where there is an announcement portlet.

For Students

• Students may now view their course schedule, ePioneer account information, and advisor information from the homepage of the Student tab.
• All handouts intended for students have been moved to the Student Resources page found in the Student tab.
• The former Student Accounts and Financial Aid pages have been combined into a single page called Student Accounts and Billing found in the Student tab.

Tab owners

Do you see a discrepency on a tab or page or want to add something or make changes? Each tab has an "owner" which is designated on the bottom right column of each tab. The tab owner is empowered to make changes to the tab and any pages found on the tab. 

Gmail Themes enabled

Not a huge deal, but you can now pick a theme in your gmail interface. 1) Click the Settings "Gear" icon and 2) choose from a variety of themes for your gmail screen.

Connecting to Wifi

Your fastest and most reliable connection on campus is through the EDUROAM network. The EDUROAM network is available at other Universities, airports, and even some businesses all over the world and you, Malone student/faculty/staff member, will be able to connect to those WIFI locations automatically. 

Sign into EDUROAM with your full email address and Malone password. For more detailed instructions, click through to FAQ188

Microsoft Office is free

As long as you are actively enrolled in classes in a current or future term, you will have access to Office365 for free. Instructions for accessing and downloading your copy of office are in FAQ313 for windows and FAQ314 for Mac.

Update your Q&A pairs and SSO changes

A new year and a new semester, it might be wise to doublecheck and update your Q&A pairs in the password self-service portal. Click on the Gear icon in the Launchpad on XPress:

and then select the "I want to view or change my security questions" option. 

Changes to Single Sign On. We do want to let you know that sometime in the next few months we will be switching our single sign on platform to Microsoft Azure AD. Several things will happen when this is completed.

• You will need to set up your self-service question and answer pairs again
• Multifactor authentication will be turned on making your accounts and information more secure.
• The web page for single sign on will look and operate differently than the current white page with Malone logo.

How to get help

You can sign into the IT Help Desk system from the Launchpad:

Once you are logged in, you can search our FAQs [Frequently Asked Questions], view any open or historical requests you have made, or ask us for help with a new question/issue. Remember that we cannot fix a problem if we do not know about it! You can also email us at helpdesk@malone.edu or call us at 330.471.8428.

Blessings on the new semester!

Welcome Back Faculty and Staff! Fall 2022 Edition

Good morning from the Information Technologies Office. This post is targeted towards faculty and staff, though students might glean some good information too! In a week or so, there will be a student version titled [rather uncreatively I might add] "Welcome back students!" 

In this edition:

• Changes to Xpress (staff and faculty edition)
• Tips for Moodle Use
• Tools for Teaching and Your First Day of Class

Changes to Xpress

Xpress is the place you go when you don't know where to find stuff. It is the launchpad from which students, faculty, and staff can get to all-things-Malone which are online. Mid-July saw a major revamp of the way that Xpress is structured. Here is a summary of those changes. 

Quicklinks and Launchpad

• Note the Quick Links portlet (box #1) located on the left navigation bar (this is hidden by the arrow when viewing on a mobile device). Links in this section show the same for ALL Xpress users including the public who have not signed into Xpress.

• The Launchpad portlet (box #2) has been revised to better describe what you are clicking. The icons and links in this section change depending on what roles you are assigned on campus. The view for faculty is different than the view for staff is different than the view for students.

• Search (arrow #3). Users may now click the Magnifying Glass icon at the top-right corner of the screen to conduct a site-wide search for a specific phrase.

• Announcements (arrow #4) can be scheduled to show up and expire and can also be targeted at specific groups on campus. Announcements show up based on a person's role/group and will show up for them on any tabs where there is an announcement portlet.

Changes to tabs

• The "Faculty" tab has been renamed to Teaching. The Teaching tab has had everything not relevant to working with the courses you are teaching and your advisees removed.

• The Employee tab was previously called "Staff." All information pertaining to employment for faculty and staff, such as the Human Resources page, can now be found under the Employee tab.

Tab owners

Do you see a discrepency on a tab or page or want to add something or make changes? Each tab has an "owner" which is designated on the bottom right column of each tab. The tab owner is empowered to make changes to the tab and any pages found on the tab. 

Tips for Moodle Use

Faculty and instructors are reminded that each class you teach - whether online, ground, or hybrid - should have a course shell where you have at least the following elements included:

• Course syllabus
• A News Forum (a regularly updated, one-stop shop for general announcements to the class)
• Student Question Forum (a threaded discussion where students can ask questions of the instructor and of each other)
• Course Calendar (listing all assignment and evaluation due dates) which works in conjunction with...
• the Moodle Gradebook (grades entered and updated regularly so that students can track their course progress in real time)

Using Moodle creates a consistent user experience for our students. Request that your course shell be activated through the Distance Learning Office's Lexie Filla. The link to request a course shell is here.

Tools for Teaching and Your First Day of Class

The Chronicle email in my inbox this am links to an article titled, "How to Teach a Good First Day of Class: Advice Guide" by James M. Lang. It frames several ideas about the first day of class with the following four principles:

• Curiosity
• Community
• Learning
• Expectations

We thought it might be useful to give you links on how to use some of the tools at Malone to do some of the things that Dr. Lang refers to:

• Picture Directories of the students enrolled in your courses are automatically generated for you for all current and future courses which you are the primary instructor. These are accessible using our campus directory which is called "The Phiz". Instructions on creating custom groups can be found in FAQ241 in our Help Desk system.
  
  I know more than one of you download these and pray for your students by name ahead of the start of class. It also affords you the opportunity to be able to greet your students by name when they walk into the learning space.
  
  
• The learning space and tech. We try to maintain a standard compliment of technology in each classroom, but there are some variations in each room. You can view standard configurations in Help Desk FAQ362. We recommend that you visit each of your classrooms ahead of time, sign into the computer in the room, and try out the equipment. The Information Technologies staff is available to meet with you to go over the tech in the classrooms if you choose. Finally, remember that there is the "Help" button on the classroom control panel. This pages IT staff and we will show up in the classroom to help you with any problems you might be encountering either in class or even when you are visiting the classroom ahead of time.
  
  
  Synchronous online meetings are still available in both Google Meet as well as Zoom. Take a look at the Moodle guidelines in the previous section to create a consistent user experience for your students in the Learning Management System or take some time to complete the orientation course for faculty in Moodle.

Other teaching technology tools available on campus (a non-exhaustive list)

1. The Virtual Reality Lab in the Library.
2. Equipment checkout is available from the IT Help Desk in Haviland Hall for students, faculty, and staff. The list of available equipment is in FAQ77.
3. Computer labs are available throughout campus. If you are on campus, you can view a map of all computer lab spaces:
   
   
   

   or read through FAQ169. Labs are reserveable like classrooms through the Office of the Registrar.
4. Other services that the IT Help Desk provides.

Blessings on the new semester!