ONLINE EDITION September 25, 2008
The Discovery Channel "Discovers" a virtual world at UITS
Marvin Landis, a research specialist with UITS' Arizona Laboratory for Immersive Visualization Environments (AZ-LIVE), is something of a TV star, albeit one who acts behind the scenes.
The Discovery Channel was recently on campus to film a half-hour segment for their series Future Life. The segment featured ongoing research in emergency management, and Marvin lent his considerable talents to creating the main attraction: an immersive, three-dimensional, computer-generated space for observing how participants react in urban environments when confronted with a sudden and immediate threat.
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UITS becomes College of Education IT support
Late last fall when the College of Education (COE) was looking for high-quality IT support and services, they found them at University Information Technology Services (UITS). UITS has been providing technical assistance for COE students, faculty and staff, supporting faculty with instructional technology and managing the electronic classroom since Spring 2008 semester.
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Drupal content management now available for UA Web sites
The Drupal Content Management System offers UA departments an easy way to manage their Web site content, providing a usable, maintainable and secure content management solution for UA Web sites by making it easy to add and edit content on a Web site.
And all this without needing to know HTML or other coding skills.
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A Second Life on Arizona Island
UITS is pleased to welcome the university community to the virtual UA campus in Second Life.
Second Life is an online virtual world. The UA's Second Life campus is still very much in development and is being built out to meet the usage requirements generated by UA faculty and students. The island currently has several different class meeting/discussion areas, presentation/lecture areas, exhibit space, sandboxes and a holodeck. (A holodeck is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases in the fictional Star Trek universe--Wikipedia)
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LTC, OSCR making community connections
LTC and OSCR are involved with some exciting outreach with community partners as we continue to expand and develop programs with our neighbors in Southern Arizona.
This summer, LTC staffers Gretchen Gibbs, Garry Forger and Bruce Kaplan held a podcasting workshop for high school students and their adult partners. The students were part of Arizona 4-H Youth Development program, Engaging Youth Serving Community (EYSC) and Operation Military Kids (OMK). The all-day workshop was held in the ELEC (computer lab off the library info commons).
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LTS changes name back to LTC
Sometimes the best-laid plans ...
After several months using the name Learning Technology Services, our organization has reverted to being called the Learning Technologies Center. We still offer the same great services for the use of instructional technology here at The University of Arizona.
We apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding caused by the name changes and we appreciate your patience as we reshuffle our services to better serve the UA community.
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Green ICE discovered in the desert!
While it doesn't do much for the sweltering southwestern summer heat outside, The University of Arizona's high performance computer system is not only highly ranked internationally, but very cool. And green.
Among supercomputing facilities worldwide -- including corporations, private research centers and universities -- the SGI Altix ICE system operated by The University of Arizona's Research Computing is the 237th most powerful computer in the world and the 50th greenest in the world in electrical usage. The June 2008 rankings are by Top500 and Green500.
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New UITS organizational structure announced
University Information Technology Services (UITS) has announced a new organizational structure, developed as a step to better serve the campus community.
The names of the UITS units have changed, as have the names of those heading them.
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From Bench-Sitting to the Razor’s Edge
Creating YouTube Debates in a Large-Enrollment Freshman Gen-Ed Class
“We may not need to create ‘creativity’ so much as generate conditions in which it can flourish.” (Tosey, 30)
By Romy Taylor
visiting assistant professor, Russian & Slavic studies
The University of Arizona
Cultural anthropologist Kevin Birth finds that college students “describe[e] themselves repeatedly as 'just sitting there.'” (Summerfield, 10) In contrast, a jazz performance for Toni Morrison embodies “the excitement, the razor’s edge…” (Morrison, 41-2) This, for me, was the difference between students “just sitting” on the first day of my 150-student TRAD 103 class, and students huddling, exchanging phone numbers and whispering urgently, once we had begun a group-based interactive project, Russian presidential election YouTube debates.
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Save the Date: 13th Learning Technologies Showcase
The thirteenth annual Learning Technologies Showcase will take place May 8, 2008 in the Integrated Learning Center (ILC). This year’s theme is Hands-On Instructional Technology and will focus on having attendees actively participate in sessions about YouTube, Podcasting, Second Life, D2L and more. Poster sessions will be available for informal browsing between sessions.
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Single sign on coming to UA Libraries
From The University of Arizona Libraries
Off-campus access to online resources at the UA Libraries will get easier and more convenient in October when the library starts using NetID through WebAuth to access databases and journals from off-campus.
Beginning 8 a.m. on Monday October 6, you will simply use your NetID through WebAuth (as you do for many other UA services such as Web mail and D2L) to use the library's journals and databases when you are off-campus.
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Trash Day contest out of the can
Here's an interesting opportunity available to all students of the U of A.
Have you ever thought about making one of those cool Internet videos that countless people around the world talk about and share? Well now you have that chance through The University of Arizona's new Don't Trash AZ Video Awards Competition.
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24/7 IT Support Center to open for Fall 2008!
It's the middle of the night and your printer won't print out the report you need at 8:00 a.m.
But there's more. You can't log in to your email. Your office computer has suddenly lost the network connection. Your computer is acting like it has a virus. D2L won't let you access the quiz you need to finish before class tomorrow. You can't get Word to install and you need it right now!
Any one of these problems can cause a nightmare that interrupts what you're doing at just the wrong time. Well, help is now available when you need it--whether it's 9 a.m. or 2 a.m., there is now support for you!
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Hello workshop lovers
We are almost through the first week of school and I feel fine. I hope the rest of you are surviving as well.
This semester we are starting out with a skeleton schedule of workshops through second week of December.
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OSCR's new computing lab at McClelland Park opening soon
Thanks to a collaboration with the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, OSCR will soon have the opportunity to better serve the western part of campus and its undergraduate residential areas.
Norton's new building, the 70,000 square foot McClelland Park across from the Park Student Union, will be home to an OSCR-managed, open-access instructional computer lab capable of accommodating 30 students, an instructor and a lab monitor. The 1,200 square foot lab will include presentation equipment, a projection wall and a printer station.
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OSCR helps you save a tree
You know those big projects you print out with pay-for-print in the OSCR labs? You can now use half the paper by printing on both sides. For Fall 2008, the Office of Student Computing Resources is introducing duplex printing on all the pay-for-print stations in OSCR labs.
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OSCRtv starts its third season
OSCRtv is bigger and better than ever before and gearing up to start its third season!
OSCRtv has only been in existence since Fall 2007 when UATV's then-general manager Tom Erickson offered the Office of Student Computing Resources then-director Limell' Lawson the opportunity to air a bi-weekly television program.
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New D2L course introduces students to campus computing resources
Students now have a new way to learn about all of UA's campus computing resources--through D2L!
By clicking the "Self Registration" button on their D2L home page, students can add a course titled Computing on Campus, which contains an interactive presentation of technology resources and information, plus convenient links and downloadable PDFs on topics such as computer basics, email, WiFi, D2L and a few fun things like accessing UA on iTunes U and exploring Arizona Island in Second Life.
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Computer lab available in Old Main
Students visiting Old Main who discover they have an online application to fill out or need to access their email, have a new resource--a small computer lab.
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OSCR orients new students
Approximately 7,000 new and transferring students came through campus this summer, getting oriented for the Fall semester.
As more campus resources have gone online, it has become increasingly important for students to know about those resources and know where to get help with them.
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Recent Post
- Single sign on coming to UA Libraries
- Trash Day contest out of the can
- 24/7 IT Support Center to open for Fall 2008!
- Hello workshop lovers
- The Discovery Channel "Discovers" a virtual world at UITS
- OSCR's new computing lab at McClelland Park opening soon
- OSCR helps you save a tree
- UITS becomes College of Education IT support
- OSCRtv starts its third season
- New D2L course introduces students to campus computing resources
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