• Oct. 16, 2007

ibiblio.org director to discuss information sharing Oct. 17

by Tom Gould, School of Journalism and Mass Communications
published Oct. 16, 2007

Paul Jones, director of ibiblio.org and advocate for open source, will discuss information gathering, sharing, and preservation 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, in Room 501 (Hemisphere Room) of Hale Library. The University Distinguished Lecturer created ibiblio.org -- an online collection of information maintained by the public for the public -- that averages more than 12 million information requests per day. For more about Jones and ibiblio.org, see Media Relations's Sept. 7 press release, Paul Jones to be University Distinguished Lecturer at K-State.

K-State's VPN service updated today

by Richard Becker, Computing and Telecommunications Services
published Oct. 16, 2007

For users of K-State's Virtual Private Network (VPN service), updated VPN client software has been placed on the networks website at www.k-state.edu/infotech/networks/vpn. This should improve compatibility with Windows Vista and resolve issues with older VPN clients that were causing problems.

K-Staters connecting to the VPN service on and after Tuesday, Oct. 16, will be prompted to upgrade their VPN client if they are running an older version. Click on the link to download the new version. After the download, you'll need to install the new client software. If an older version of the VPN client is installed, you'll need to uninstall it before installing the new client. During the removal of the old client, when prompted to "keep existing profiles", be sure to click the "Yes" button.

VPN technology provides a secure "tunnel" between a remote client and the VPN server. It ensures data integrity and confidentiality over the Internet, allows access to services such as Samba from remote networks, and gives the remote client a presence on the K-State network. Questions about K-State's VPN service should be sent to the IT Help Desk, 785-532-7722, helpdesk@k-state.edu.

Seaton 22-23 computing lab closed for upgrades

by Ernie Perez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Oct. 16, 2007

Work is forging ahead on the Seaton 22-23 computing-lab project. Both Seaton 22 and Seaton 23 are closed this week (Oct.  15-19), but will be reopened as soon as possible. A newly renovated Seaton 22 computing lab is anticipated to be back in operation by next Monday, Oct. 22.

Reminder: Second Life preliminary meeting set Oct. 23

by Larry Jackson, Information and Educational Technology
published Oct. 16, 2007

K-State is considering the purchase of an island in Second Life, the popular virtual reality world. Before making such an investment, it is desirable to determine if there is sufficient interest from K-State students, faculty, and staff. All current or potential SL users are invited to attend a meeting at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, Room 213 of the K-State Student Union, to discuss the possibility of a purchase, and to explore potential project ideas for a K-State island. Anyone who cannot attend but would like to be involved can e-mail Larry Jackson, ljackson@k-state.edu.

TechBytes Oct. 18: Case Study: Using Technology in KSU Classroom

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Oct. 16, 2007

Arlo Biere will present "Case Study: Using Technology in the K-State Classroom" at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, in 301A Hale Library. Professor Biere first used technology in undergraduate teaching in 1973, in a commodity-futures trading game using punch cards on the mainframe. He was instrumental in the design of K-State's first "Harvard style classroom" with technology. As the teacher for Applied Agribusiness Logistics, a distance Master of Agribusiness course, he has used K-State Online every winter since 1998. Two years ago he participated in a College of Agriculture seminar series studying the book Brain-Based Learning by Eric Jensen.

This presentation will review his technology-in-the-classroom experience, discuss what worked and what did not work and why, and explore his current thought on technology for instruction with millennial students that addresses long-term learning outcomes. Of specific concern is the role of technology in today's learning environment that stresses active learning.

TechBytes seminars are free and open to the K-State community. The series is also video streamed live for off-campus viewers and those who wish to view it from their desktop. See the TechBytes site for handouts, videos, and resources from previous seminars, plus a link to the next live video.

K-State Online/Axio conference materials available Oct. 17

by Amanda Tross and Scott Finkeldei, Office of Mediated Education
published Oct. 16, 2007

The second annual Axio Learning / K-State Online Community Meeting and Conference on Sept. 27-28 was a hit! More than 80 members from the Axio Learning community participated in the two-day event, including Manhattan Christian College (MCC), Wichita Area Technical College (WATC), Gamma Phi Beta national sorority, Manhattan Area Technical College (MATC), and K-State, plus prospective community members from institutions across the state of Kansas.

Comments from conference attendees included "I had a great time -- very stimulating" and "It was certainly good to be there; I always benefit greatly by attending".

Go to www.axioconference.org beginning Wednesday, Oct. 17, to download and view presentation materials and movies. Presenters included Fred Darkow, Joye Gordon, Roger McHaney, Michael Wesch, and Office of Mediated Education staff (K-State); Gail Simmonds, David Swisher (K-State at Salina); Jeff Davis (MCC); Sherry Parsons, Barb Wenger (WATC).

For more information about the conference or K-State Online, contact Scott Finkeldei, curtain@k-state.edu.

eTips Oct. 24: Learn to make better Acrobat files in 15 minutes!

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Oct. 16, 2007

The next eTip session, presented by Amy Hartman, will be "Learn to make better Acrobat files in 15 minutes!" at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24. The session will be presented via K-State Online's Wimba tool, which allows online collaboration and sharing through any networked or wireless computer. Topics covered in this eTip include:

  • Creating PDF files
  • Making PDF files easier to find in a web search
  • Making PDF files that download faster
  • Filling out PDF forms
  • Putting documents online
  • Fixing typos

eTips registration is required at least 24 hours in advance to allow time to add you to the session and ensure your workstation is configured properly for accessing the session.

Autodesk representative to be on campus Oct. 25

by Kathy Leonard, Computing and Telecommunications Services
published Oct. 16, 2007

John Olson, Avatech Solutions, K-State's representative for Autodesk products, will be on campus Thursday, Oct. 25. Those interested in meeting with him should contact Kathy Leonard, 785-532-4926, kantink@k-state.edu.

Security tip of the week

Registration open for IT security training event

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published Oct. 16, 2007. updated 5:47 p.m. Oct. 22, 2007

IT security is scary, but don't be afraid to register for SIRT's annual IT Security Training Event scheduled Oct. 31 in the K-State Student Union. The program schedule is now available and registration is open. There's no cost to attend, but we need people to register so we have a count for lunch.

This event is open to anyone at K-State who wants to be better equipped to ward off the demon hackers and evil goblins that wander the dark reaches of the Internet looking for victims. What better way to spend your Halloween morning? Feel free to come in costume!

There will be two general sessions, plus two sets of breakout sessions with more technical and less technical options during each. Lunch will also be provided, so now you have no excuse not to sign up! Questions about the event can be sent to Harvard Townsend, harv@k-state.edu, 785-532-2985.

K-State Online

Instructors can share the work

by K-State IT staff
published Oct. 16, 2007

Promote your students becoming more responsible for their own learning by having them lead discussions on the K-State Online message board. Begin by clearly detailing your expectations and modeling for them how to facilitate a discussion. Then randomly assign the remaining discussions to your students. Make sure to give your students a chance to find their own way, but don’t hesitate to step in if things get out of hand.

USB virus; missing grades after Scantron scoring

by Sarah Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Oct. 16, 2007

What should I do if my computer has the USB virus?

Read last week's USB virus article and visit the IT Help Desk for assistance.

Why didn't some students in my class get a grade after I imported the Scantron assignment test scores into my K-State Online class?

There are at least two reasons this could happen: 1) Sometimes the filled-in circles below a student's WID number don't match the penciled-in number, or 2) The student provided a wrong ID number on the test form. When this happens, K-State Online cannot match the test score to the student in the Gradebook.

Instructors can correct these types of errors on the Resolve Conflicts page in K-State Online, but they may need to refer to the scanned forms to match scores. To reduce these types of errors, remind students to be sure the written WID and filled-in circles match exactly when they fill out their test forms.

Spotlight

Using Facebook basic flyers to reach students

by Aimee Hagedorn, Information Technology Assistance Center,
published Oct. 16, 2007

A recent blog entry on collegewebeditor.com describes how one university saved money on advertising and still received a 1 percent response rate from their student body. For a total of $50, Butler University ran an ad on Facebook.com for "10 days at 2,500 impressions per day (25,000 total) for a cost of $5/day." Their goal was to find students interested in their Butler Blogging program.

A similar ad also ran in Butler University's student employment database. The result? The employment database ad yielded eight applications, while the Facebook.com ad brought in close to 40. For more details and instructions on how to place a Facebook.com ad, check out the complete blog entry.