Technology Advisory Council (TAC) Notes

April 9, 2009 Meeting Notes

Members Present: Warren Ashley, Alisa Banks for Sandra Parham, Ron Bergmann, Farah Fisher, Nathlyn Hirohama, Kazimierz Kowalski, Marion Smith

Guests: Linda Goldman, Sabrina Warrington

The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ron Bergmann, CSUDH CIO and Acting Associate Vice President, Information Technology.

Announcing the Blackboard Task Force

The Academic Senate is currently working on a resolution regarding online learning. The timing is perfect with the announcement of the TAC Blackboard Task Force. Warren Ashley, Kim Clark, Mohammad Eyadat, Farah Fisher, Linda Goldman, and Ron Bergmann comprise the task force, which will have a kickoff meeting next week. Doug Borcoman, Jim Strong, and Steve Williams will serve as ex officio members.
The task force will study available learning management systems (LMSs). Blackboard V9 is coming. V9 will act as a portal, providing links to social networking and other applications. The Chancellor's Office will offer the upgrade free. The task force will report back to TAC in the fall. Warren points out that our next 3-year contract with Blackboard begins July 1, 2009. One issue will be how to fund two systems concurrently.
The Blackboard contract includes limits on the number of users, the bandwidth, and the space used on servers. The basic contract allows 7,500 users. Each additional set of 7,500 users comprise a "band." Regarding the space: Our contract allows 5 gig, and we're currently using 50 gig. However, the only way to reduce the size is to export the data, at which point the used space will go to zero, and then to import the smaller set of data. If we reduced the stored data from 50 gig to 5 gig without the export, our size would remain 50 gig. Linda Goldman indicates that the School of Nursing runs 6-week classes with part-time instructors throughout the summer. She recommends the export-import transactions occur in January, the school's downtime, to minimize impact to her students.
Blackboard appears to be running well following the addition of a second server and load balancing software.
With the next upgrade, Blackboard users will invoke a secure connection by replacing http:// with the https:// protocol.
By the way, Jeremiah Woolsey wrote a grant request to the ASI Technology Fee Committee for a streaming server .

Office 2007 Rollout - Ron Bergmann/Sabrina Warrington

The campus standard continues to be Office 2003. By request, campus Windows machines can be upgraded to Office 2007 or receive the patch that allows Office 2003 machines to open documents created by 2007. (Macintosh users are upgraded to Office 2008.)
Office 2007 is very different from Office 2003. Training needs to be offered if a mass upgrade is offered to the campus. Nathlyn suggests a "quick and dirty" user guide, and maybe Doug Borcoman could create video training.
Nathlyn suggested two upgrade options: It can be pushed via SMS, or help desk technicians can go to offices to install it. Most campus domains have SMS. Perhaps the upgrade could be offered as a push, and the user could accept or decline the download. Another option is to provide an installation point, where a user would go to download (pull) the upgrade. How could we control this so that the software isn't downloaded onto private computers?
The patch will be pushed during the summer. Perhaps a push of 2007 could also occur in the summer, making those around during the summer serve as a pilot group for 2007.
The smart classrooms have the patches installed. One issue that comes up in lab upgrades is the version of the textbook that is being used. If a professor orders a 2003 textbook, Lab Manager Anh Lam doesn't want to confuse students with the 2007 version on lab machines.
This is an important issue because the help desk is receiving many requests for upgrades, and new Windows computers come with 2007 installed.

Student e-Portfolio Solutions - Linda Goldman

Credential and grad students prepare portfolios of their work as part of their "culminating experiences." TED candidates use TaskStream to prepare digital portfolios, which are then copied to CD. They have to provide artifacts to support 32 standards.
Linda says that this is the first year that the School of Nursing is offering e-portfolios as alternatives to thick notebooks of paper portfolios. Do we want to look at e-portfolio software as a campuswide purchase?
Linda indicates that it costs a student about $50 to use the software for two years. Warren points out that the $50 cost is less onerous for graduate and post-bacalaureate students than it is for undergraduates.
Warren notes that Blackboard offers an e-portfolio module. Farah says the problem with it is that the student can't log into Blackboard to get it after leaving the university.
Warren says that Lisa Ayres of the HUX program is investigating a package that would cost a student $25 for 5-month's use.
Portfolios need to be kept for 9-12 years, for accreditation purposes. Linda then demoed e-portfolio Web pages at other universities for attendees.
Warren favors a university-wide solution, noting that WASC will probably look for e-portfolios when they return in nine years.
Something to think about: Kaz suggests that the emergence of social networking software might deemphasize the importance of e-portfolios in the future.
Read about the CSU's ePortfolio Project.

Open Forum

Ron indicates that the campus is going fully wireless. A vendor is here now, doing some of the work. A large-scale conversion will start in June. The upgrade will take place in state-owned buildings. The campus will offer wireless parking passes, though the parking lots will not provide wireless access points for now.
Ron says that the next computer rollout may be laptops, not desktops. Docking stations and Lo-Jacks will be provided with laptops.
Ron announced that security awareness training will be coming from the Chancellor's Office soon.
Linda notes that Elluminate--very handy for virtual office hours--is no longer available in Blackboard. Warren will check on this.
Ron asks if anyone is using Respondus.

Next meeting: Thursday, May 7, 2009