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Category: Communications

Registration Open for the Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference

Posted on by Amanda Tross

Hosted by K-State’s Information Technology Services, the Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference (ITL) is now open for registration! This two-day conference, held on March 4 and 5 in the K-State Student Union, offers:

  • A showcase of more than 40 of your peers demonstrating their use of technology in the classroom
  • Two mini-presentations you don’t want to missITL Logo
  • Seven hands-on workshops about popular tools used at K-State
  • Keynote and digital photography workshop presented by the Emmy-award winning New York Times columnist, David Pogue

To learn more and register for free, go to http://theitl.org.

Questions? Contact Swasati Mukherjee at swasatim@k-state.edu or 785-532-2499.

Report from Email Upgrade Committee is available online

Posted on by Betsy Edwards

from Rebecca Gould

The Email Upgrade Committee submitted its report to Ken Stafford, CIO, in late December. The report (PDF format) is available online for review by K-Staters. The committee decided to collect more in-depth information about calendar functionality from users. This information was used to determine if necessary and critical features were available in Google Apps for Education and Microsoft Office 365. Committee members are in the process of comparing the functionality to both solutions and will meet with university administration soon to discuss their findings.

Digital Signage Open House Today

Posted on by Cathy Rodriguez

Information Technology Services will be hosting a Digital Signage Open House today at 10:30 a.m.-noon in the Hale Library Hemisphere Room to demonstrate K-State’s digital-sign software system available to K-State departments at no charge.

This is an opportunity to meet with digital-sign staff and have your questions answered as well as share ideas for digital signage on campus. The planned topics to be discussed are:

  • Introduction to the Four Winds digital sign system
  • Process to request digital signs
  • Hardware needs
  • A look at the default templates available for customization
  • Demo of the sign system including editing content and updating a sign

K-State’s digital signage initiative started over a year ago to provide a campuswide solution for digital signage needs. For information on how to start a digital-sign project in your department, visit the Division of Communications and Marketing’s Digital Signage page.

K-State Online: Now with wikis and blogs

Posted on by Betsy Edwards

By Laurie Stewart

K-State Online now has wikis and blogs.

Click for more information and a video.

After a successful pilot with faculty and students in real courses at K-State, beginning this month K-State Online will offer a wiki and blogging tool powered by Campus Pack. This wiki and blog system has several features of interest to K-State Online users:   Continue reading “K-State Online: Now with wikis and blogs” →

Exporting publishable files from FreeMind, a brainstorming tool (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on by Shalin Hai-Jew

(Editor’s note: This is Part 3 of a three-part series on the FreeMind software tool for creating “mind maps” of data.)

Now that the FreeMind mind map has been finalized, you may want to start thinking about how to deliver the contents.  The FreeMind mind maps may be exported in both static and dynamic file types.   Continue reading “Exporting publishable files from FreeMind, a brainstorming tool (Part 3 of 3)” →

eID password change starts Jan. 1; new feature allows password recovery via text message

Posted on by Betsy Edwards

Long-term use of the same password is a known security risk, which is why K-State requires all K-State eID passwords to be changed every spring and fall semester.  For the Spring 2013 semester, Jan. 1-Feb. 13 is the timeframe for changing K-State eID passwords. This mandatory password change applies to both individual eIDs and group eIDs.

  • To change your password:  Use the connect.k-state.edu webpage to sign in with your eID and current password.  Click “Change your eID password” and follow the steps.
  • Forgot your password? Call the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722 (800-865-6143 toll-free) and verify your identity. Staff can set a temporary password for you to sign in.
screenshot of eProfile page to request password reset via text message
Text-message verification is now an option to request a password reset.

As shown above, a new feature this semester allows K-Staters to request a text-message verification to reset their eID password if they forget it or miss the deadline.   Continue reading “eID password change starts Jan. 1; new feature allows password recovery via text message” →

Working in FreeMind, a brainstorming tool (Part 2 of 3)

Posted on by Shalin Hai-Jew

(Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a three-part series on the FreeMind software tool for creating “mind maps” of data.)

After a FreeMind mind-mapping (.mm) native file has been properly saved, it may be opened again for updating.

To see what the working interface looks like in FreeMind, a branch from an existing mind map is captured here.  This branch shows some of the tools introduced in the E-Learning and Teaching Exchange wiki (ELATEwiki) that originated at K-State.  Below is the opening screen of this mind map, which leaves the text highly readable but with some content flowing off the top and bottom of the screen.   Continue reading “Working in FreeMind, a brainstorming tool (Part 2 of 3)” →

Email upgrade committee analyzing survey results and finalizing report

Posted on by Betsy Edwards

By Melissa Morris

The email upgrade committee is finalizing its report. The committee has received positive and negative feedback about the survey of email options sent to all Kansas State University faculty, staff and students. One of the purposes of the survey was to educate the campus about the available options. While the timing for the survey was not ideal, the committee’s report is due on Dec. 20. The committee members wanted feedback to be as inclusive as possible of the K-State community.   Continue reading “Email upgrade committee analyzing survey results and finalizing report” →

FreeMind brainstorming tool: Getting started (Part 1 of 3)

Posted on by Shalin Hai-Jew

(Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series on the FreeMind software tool for creating “mind maps” of data.)

There are a number of open-source and freeware software tools that enable individuals or groups to brainstorm ideas in a spatialized way.  This is useful for identifying  concepts, interrelationships, and knowledge structures.

FreeMind is one tool that is easy to use, has a clear layout, and enables online interactivity (all its branches may be activated as HTML links).  Continue reading “FreeMind brainstorming tool: Getting started (Part 1 of 3)” →

Mapping the Twitterverse of K-State President Kirk Schulz

Posted on by Shalin Hai-Jew

With the popularization of online social networks (OSNs), various software tools have been created to extract social data for research.  One open-source freeware tool is NodeXL, which is a plug-in to more recent versions of Microsoft Excel (Office 2008 and 2010 on PCs, and Office 2011 on Macs).

"Tweeting K-State University President"

Continue reading “Mapping the Twitterverse of K-State President Kirk Schulz” →