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myCOD
Employee Portal - Allows
faculty and staff to create a personalized website that integrates
college links, application access and information on a single web
page based on their interests.
myCOD Student Portal - All registered students
over the age of 17 have been assigned an account on the MyCOD Student
Portal. The Student Portal provides student email, campus
wide announcements, a college calendar, as well as web based course
tools such as an online syllabus, grade book, assignment submission,
shared file space, and discussion boards.
The feedback from early adopters of the College of DuPage's myCOD
academic portal has exceeded expectations and use continues to grow.
A web page is available outlining usage
statistics for the site.
There are a
variety of resources designed to assist faculty with use of the
myCOD academic portal:
- Two three-hour
classes are being offered throughout each term by the TLC. The
classes feature and in-depth look at all of the system's academic
features.
- Online training
videos and complete system documentation can be found in the "Faculty
Guide to myCOD".
- As always,
the Information Technology Faculty/Staff Help Desk (630-942-4357
or helpdesk@cod.edu)
is available to provide answers to any myCOD question a faculty
member may have.
Students have
a variety of resources as well:
- Students
can request an orientation session held in the Academic Computing
Center.
- In-person
assistance can be requested of a lab aide in any COD open computer
lab.
- Students
may view online training videos and additional documentation in
the "Student
Guide to myCOD".
- Students
may ask questions of the Student Help Desk (630-942-2999 or studenthelp@dupage.edu).
Academic
Computing Center SRC 3607 Updated - The computer lab located
in SRC 3607 has been completely updated for Fall Term. As
part of a generous donation from KI, new computer lab furniture
has been installed and a new layout used.
The new lab
furniture features "Laptop Garages" which allow much
greater flexibility in use of the room. Laptop computers are
stored within the tables. When in use, the laptops sit at
table height and function much as the desktop computers do
now. However, when not in use, the laptops can be closed into
the table, freeing the entire tabletop for students to take notes,
etc. A height adjustable instructor station/lectern is
also being planned for the room. We feel this new design
and layout will offer flexibility not currently available in any other
computer lab on campus. If the new design is well received
we can incorporate some of these design features into new facilities.
This Fall stop up and take a look.
Retirement E-mail Account - All College staff retiring
from the College of DuPage are provided a free e-mail account upon
request. The email account is provided through the MyCOD Student
Portal. The account will remain active as long as there is activity
within the calendar year.
Staff
Technology Award - The
Staff
Technology Award is based on a process improvement that utilizes
technology and saves the college time and/or money. This could include
using technology for any daily activity, learning improvement, or
manual process that will streamline or reduce time and/or cost to
the college. The award will be $300 for each application based on
the value to the college. This award is provided through the donations
of Gateway Computers Corporation and the COD Foundation.
Streaming
Media continues to improve - IT has upgraded the College’s
streaming media server. Windows Media offers instant-on streaming
with no waiting for buffering, better sound and video quality. During
a session, live or on-demand connections are restored automatically
if disconnected during a broadcast. For more information, visit
the Streaming Media
website. For Windows Media Player downloads, go the Microsoft
website (select the download that corresponds with your
operating system).
- Windows Media
9 players are available for Windows 98SE, ME, 2000.
- Windows Media
10 players are available for Windows XP.
- Windows Media,
Mac 9 players are available Mac OSX.
Podcasting
at College of DuPage - Multimedia Services offers a variety
of audio content on the new podcast site. Many college lectures,
some classroom content and features from public radio WDCB-FM are
available for listening or subscription at COD
Podcast Site.
Technology Enhanced Classrooms - Twenty-nine
additional technology enhanced classrooms have been installed this
fiscal year. Ten additional rooms are scheduled to be completed
for the start of Spring term. Always looking to improve our design,
the team has made three significant modifications to improve the
classroom experience. First, the lectern doors have been removed
to allow easier access to equipment and to provide additional leg
room for the faculty member seated behind the lectern. Second, the
remote control has been replaced by a panel on the lectern that
allows for easy operation of the projector. And third, speakers
have been installed in the ceiling ensuring that all areas of the
classroom can hear the audio that accompanies the displayed video.
Digital
Information Displays - Through the College's partnership
with Gateway, we have acquired large plasma displays that will be
used to provide campus information to the faculty, staff, students
and community. These displays will include information on campus
announcements, dates and other information. Current locations for
these displays are the SRC north Entrance by the bookstore, SRC
Cafeteria entrance, and the MAC lobby. Seven additional displays
will be added during the Fall.
Security
- We have implemented additional security
systems on the college network that will improve system reliability.
While transparent to the users, the firewall and intrusion prevention
system will protect the college from hackers and viruses on the
Internet.
College
of DuPage Press - College of DuPage Press has published
and is marketing an extensive line of software, electronic media
and print products in a variety of fields. We welcome inquiries
from all College staffers, full- and part-time, who may be interested
in developing instructional products. Innovative ideas are particularly
important and this year we will produce five national teleconferences
and will release over ten new products including two instructional
games, a poetry CD and new Web-based assessment service. Just give
us a call at ext. 3033 and we would be happy to discuss your ideas
with you. You can take a look at our Web site at http://www.dupagepress.com.
Public
Wireless Access – Over the last year we expanded
our public wireless network throughout the east campus. Wireless
should be available in all classrooms, offices, and public areas.
This includes the BIC, SRC, PE, MAC, and SCC. Additional wireless
will be added to West Campus later this year.
Off
Campus Sites – We are currently upgrading our network
connections to all off campus locations. This will increase the
network speed and make the connections more reliable.
Electronic
Mail for Part-Time Faculty - In order to improve college-wide
communications, the college has assigned a COD email and network
account to all part-time faculty. As new faculty are hired, they
also will receive accounts.
Automatic
windows, anti-virus, and software upgrades -Information Technology
is implementing software to assist in managing the distribution
of operating system updates, virus signature updates, and software
upgrades to college computers. These changes should allow us to
efficiently and quickly distribute security related patches to all
systems. More details will be made available as the system is phased
in.
Software
for Faculty and Staff - College of DuPage and Microsoft
are continuing the agreement that provides Faculty and Staff the
ability to acquire specifically licensed Microsoft products for
home computers at greatly reduced prices. Visit http://www.cod.edu/it/msagree/index.htm
for more information.
Computer
Purchase Discount for Faculty, Staff and Students - We
are continuing agreements with both Gateway and Apple Computer for
the discounted personal purchase of computers and peripherals for
Faculty, Staff, and Students. Visit http://www.cod.edu/it/services/gateway.htm
for information regarding the Gateway purchase program. Visit http://www.apple.com/edu/cod
for information regarding the Apple Store for Education Personal
Purchases.
Looking for information on how to keep your home system
up-to-date? While the IT help desk is unable to assist
you with your home PC due to limited resources, we do have a web
site link that may be of assistance to you. See the three step process
outlined at the Microsoft web site that details how to best protect
your home system. The web page is located at http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/.
Along with the
advisory to update your Windows system using the Windows Update
site, IT is also reminding the College community to practice safe
computing by not opening email attachments from unknown users or
that you weren't’t expecting, to change your passwords regularly,
and to shut off your computers at the end of each day. Shutting
off your computer at the end of the day not only keeps unauthorized
users out of your system when you are not around, but also insures
that your virus protection is updated when you restart your system
in the morning.
Call Pilot, the college's voice mail system, has an add-on
feature that allows you to manage your voice mail from within Microsoft
Outlook on your Windows PC. You can contact the help desk
to have the Integrated Messaging feature of Call Pilot installed
on your PC. You can learn more about Call Pilot Integrated
Messaging, and many other technologies in use here at COD by going
to the IT web site and selecting
the appropriate topic from the "How Do I?" menu at the
left of the screen. |
