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K-State Online to be unavailable July 18 for annual upgrade

K-State Online will be unavailable during the scheduled upgrade to version 9.0 from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 18. Service will be restored sooner, if possible.

Feedback received from faculty members, staff, and students has been used to create many improvements to K-State Online in this release. K-State Online 9.0 provides improved efficiency and load time of Course Content and Message Board, a complete redesign of Course Content, a simplified method for granting assignment extensions and much more.

For the complete list of new features, improvements and updates, see What’s New in K-State Online 9.0. You may also download a PDF of the information for easy printing and distribution to other interested faculty.

Course owners and instructors will not need to complete any additional steps following the upgrade. Courses will appear as before, but will include the version 9.0 improvements. Training will be available from iTAC following the upgrade.

Winter-break projects in university computing labs, InfoCommons, tech classrooms

The Information Technology Assistance Center (iTAC) will be working over the winter break refreshing technology in K-State’s technology classrooms, and updating software and computers in the university computing labs and K-State InfoCommons. Here’s a list of some ugrades and projects that will be undertaken over the break:

  • Install 22 iMacs in the InfoCommons and university computing labs
  • Upgrade 11 projectors in technology classrooms
  • Install a new course-capturing system in Justin 109
  • Upgrade media link technology in 15 technology classrooms, bringing mobile media player compatibility to these rooms
  • Install a new software image on all computers in the university computing labs and InfoCommons
  • Install technology in the Quantitative Center (Q Center) studio classroom in Cardwell Hall (estimated completion is early February 2009)
  • Install new computers in several locations:
    • the Cardwell Physics Studios
    • both of the Union computing labs
    • the Math/Physics and Architecture libraries

Q/A: Time required to install Vista service pack?

How much time does it take to install Microsoft’s Vista Service Pack on my PC?

Installing the Microsoft Vista Service Pack is a task best approached with planning and 1.5 hours of time. The Vista service pack provides critical protection for your computer from unwanted security risks and improves performance.

Users often come to the IT Help Desk asking for assistance installing the Vista service pack. Read on for a checklist to follow for installation. Continue reading “Q/A: Time required to install Vista service pack?”

InfoTech Tuesday overhaul

In an effort to enhance all aspects of InfoTech Tuesday, the iTAC Communications and Training group worked over the summer to bring a new vision to the IT newsletter. The new format, mimicking a blog layout, is a departure from a once-a-week static newsletter webpage towards an always on, always changing dynamic news environment.

In the new website, each article has its own page and its own discussion section where anyone can post comments or vote. Articles are both categorized and tagged and easily printed, e-mailed, and shared to social news and bookmarking sites. The new feature-rich format is tailored for interaction with polls, a tag cloud, lists of most voted for and most viewed articles, and multiple ways to view and share the news the way you want it. Not sure about the new look? Don’t worry, it’s still called InfoTech Tuesday and we’ll still be sending out a weekly e-mail newsletter lineup!

Before you leave, be sure to:

  • vote for an article
  • subscribe to the RSS feed
  • subscribe to the events and deadlines calendar
  • answer the poll question
  • sign up for the weekly e-mail newsletter (all faculty are automatically subscribed)

Upgrade to Internet Explorer version 7 recommended

K-State recommends upgrading Internet Explorer 6 to version 7 because the latter provides substantial security improvements. Internet Explorer web browser versions below 7 are becoming more difficult to support for current web-based applications in use at K-State. In particular, K-State Online no longer supports versions of Internet Explorer below version 7.

K-Staters who have problems with K-State Online using Internet Explorer 6 are advised to update to version 7 or switch to Firefox. Internet Explorer 7 and other compatible browsers are available at http://public.online.ksu.edu/support/downloads. If you have any questions, contact the Help Desk, helpdesk@k-state.edu, 785-532-7722.