Increased Support for Instructional Multimedia
John Farquhar

Continuing our efforts to increase support for instructional multimedia, ATUS is pleased to announce the hiring of our first full-time instructional designer. Patricia LeClaire started her employment with us on October 12th. Patricia is an experienced faculty consultant for the integration of technology into instruction. She will be providing expert assistance with regard to the online delivery of instruction as well as the design of multimedia instructional materials.

Patricia will begin her role by interviewing a wide range of faculty members concerning their needs for instructional technology training and support. These faculty interviews follow a recent survey by Institutional Research which showed that Western faculty have a very high interest in receiving additional training and support in the use of instructional technology. The interviews will ensure that ATUS responds to this interest in ways that will be most beneficial to our faculty.

Patricia was formerly an instructional designer for Appalachian State University where she was instrumental in developing guidelines for effective online teaching, both on- and off-campus. Additionally, Patricia developed and delivered faculty workshops with titles such as “Preparing to Teach Online.” We look forward to her working closely with our team of multimedia developers, including Web Services, Training, Graphics, and Video Services.

Patricia LeClaire can be reached at 650-2557 or email Patricia.LeClaire@wwu.edu.

Cable TV Upgrade in Academic Sites
Terry Dayton

A recent upgrade of Western’s TV cable signal processing equipment has made it possible to increase the number of channels available to our classrooms from 36 to more than 80. All of the standard programming delivered to our campus by the local cable company is now available in all of our classrooms. This means that the campus TV channel numbers now match those available throughout Bellingham. For information on the new program channel numbers, see the new channel line-up lists posted in each classroom, or online at http://west.wwu.edu/atus/classrooms/campuscable.pdf or contact Classrooms Services at 650-3300.

To facilitate easy numeric channel selection in the expanded channel lineup, ATUS Classroom Services has added handheld VCR remote controls with numeric keypads in Level 3 and Level 4 classrooms.

Special programming from satellite broadcasts is still available in classrooms on request. Video tape programs and local campus events can also be broadcast on ‘local insert channels’ 81 through 88. ATUS Video Services handles this local programming, and can be contacted at 650-3302.

Blackboard Utilization and Support Continue to Grow
Andrew McGlone

Growing use of Blackboard at Western over the past three years has exceeded our loftiest expectations. Last spring 451 course sites were active. This fall saw the creation of 496 course sites compared to 362 last fall.

Since 2002, we have gone through five significant upgrades and continue to research and develop effective strategies to strengthen services that support faculty and students using Blackboard. We’ve grown from three support personnel to a team of 10 part- and full-time employees, and we are charging forth with a dedicated purpose of fine-tuning the product and optimizing the educational value in all respects.

Blackboard Support Site
A new enhanced support site assists faculty with creating courses and learning how to use both basic and advanced features of Blackboard. Included in the site are forms for both creating and re-using course sites. Also included are animated “How To’s” on subjects such as:

• Managing groups
• Using the digital drop box
• Archiving discussions

Visit the site for more information at http://west.wwu.edu/blackboard/

New Report Card Feature
Students will soon see a new channel on their Blackboard home pages. The Report Card channel is a tool developed by Blackboard so students can easily look at all grades available for them in Blackboard. The grades are sorted by Class and Assignment. If you have questions regarding this feature or would like a demonstration, please stop by Web Services in Miller Hall 182, or give us a call at 650-3096.

WWU Accounts Provide Space for Personal Web Publishing
Linc Nesheim

If you have a standard WWU computer account, you have the ability to quickly and easily publish a web page on your personal network drive (the U:drive).

To get started, all you need to do is create a folder called myweb at the top-level of your U: drive for storage of your web files. To do this, simply:

• Open the “My Computer” icon at your desktop
• Click on the U: drive item to open it
• Right click on the window that opens and select “New” then “Folder”
• When “New Folder” appears in your directory, change the name to myweb

Now any properly formatted web information you put in your myweb folder will be accessible via the web.

Your personal web address will be http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/username/. The default home page file should be named index.html.

A Word document with more detailed
instructions can be downloaded at:
http://west.wwu.edu/atus/web/publishing.asp

As always, you can also contact the ATUS Help Desk at 650-3333 for further assistance.

Desktop Security
Linc Nesheim

Critical updates of the security of your desktop computer occur regularly as part of our automatic updates of your Windows operating system and anti-virus software. In most cases, these security updates occur without any need for you to intervene. The latest upgrade to the Windows XP operating system (Service Pack 2 or SP 2) has, on the other hand, been much in the news as an upgrade that might prevent certain functions on your computer from running. Released just before the start of fall quarter, this WindowsXP Service Pack 2 is a very important security update that is the result of a continuing effort by Microsoft to ensure secure computing on their operating systems. This update is much larger than typical security updates, takes longer than usual to install, and requires users to re-boot their computers.

ATUS technical staff spent a considerable amount of time testing this Windows XP update in our environment here on campus to ensure that it would not interfere with your day-to-day computer use. As a result of that testing, we made a slight change in how the update is configured in order to eliminate possible problems in our environment. Since that change was made, well over 1000 computer desktop systems on campus have been automatically updated with Service Pack 2, with more being updated every week. We expect automatic downloads and installs on our desktops to continue throughout October, November, and December. Thus, some of you may already have it installed, while others are still waiting for the download to complete. Rest assured that the download of Windows XP Service Pack 2 is a plus for the operation of your computer and has already occurred successfully on many of your colleagues’ desktops. Be patient if the process occurs on your desktop when you are present — it does take a few minutes, but is worth the wait.

Along with the automatic Windows updates mentioned, we have also configured our standard anti-virus software to update daily on all campus workstations. Our Exchange/Outlook e-mail system is configured to update its anti-virus software every 4 hours. These updates are part of a larger campus-wide effort to increase the security of your desktop and our shared network. We will continue to communicate to campus as we move forward with these efforts.

If you have questions about computer system security, automatic updates, or virus protection, please call the ATUS Help Desk, 650-3333,or visit the Help Desk website http://west.wwu.edu/atus/helpdesk/

Training Registration Website Now Available
John Farquhar

Faculty and staff can now register online for a wide variety of Western-related training opportunities. Working with Human Resources and other campus training offices, ATUS has developed a web application for the registration and management of training classes. At this new website, Western faculty and staff can search for upcoming workshops, view course descriptions, enroll in classes, or make training requests. In addition, you have the ability to view your own training profile to include training classes completed, upcoming scheduled classes, classes for which you are wait-listed, and classes that you have requested.

Departmental training managers are very excited to be using this tool, as it will serve as a centralized site for class registration and management. Several features will help us effectively manage the enrollment process and analyze the training services that we offer. Email notifications to students and instructors are an embedded component of the system. And instructors can prepare and distribute class materials specifically for the enrolled members of a class. To assist us with assessment, we can distribute online course and instructor evaluations. Furthermore, administrators will be able to report and analyze enrollment statistics.

Go to http://training.wwu.edu for the current listing of ATUS workshops. Enroll online, make training requests, and view your complete training transcript.

While ATUS and Human Resources plan to make use of this system immediately, other offices that provide campus training will soon be joining the list. Please contact us at Web Services, 650-3096, if you wish to use this tool for your own workshop management.

Video Recording Formats are Changing

For those who use video camcorders for either class recording or for student assignments, Classroom Services is now recommending a move to digital video camcorders. The VHS format is still widely available for viewing, but the camcorders and parts to repair them are no longer manufactured. One by one, our older VHS camcorders have become obsolete, and we have just a few remaining. We do have a good supply of Sony digital camcorders using Mini DV tape. Students can convert digital footage to VHS at the Student Technology Center in Haggard Hall 121 for display in classrooms or for home viewing. Faculty members can request tape conversion by contacting ATUS Video Services at 650-3302.

Woodring & ATUS Collaborate On Digital Learning Commons
Larry Gilbert

The Woodring College of Education and ATUS are collaborating on a special project to improve access to educational opportunities and learning resources for high school students and teachers in Washington State. Under the auspices of the non-profit Digital Learning Commons organization based in Seattle, Woodring and ATUS are working together to offer high quality educational materials, access to appropriate online courses, and technology tools for high school students at all four Bellingham high schools.

Stephanie Salzman, Dean of Woodring College, stated that “this collaborative partnership between ATUS, Woodring College of Education, and the Digital Learning Commons provides a wonderful educational opportunity for high school students in our community. The partnership provides the important resources public schools need to integrate technology into learning and teaching.”

Woodring College provides the services of Secondary Education Professor Tim Keiper as liaison between the Bellingham high schools and the DLC, as well as for day-to-day management of training programs offered by DLC student staff hired by ATUS. The Western student staff members providing the training gain valuable real-world experience both in providing technical training and in working with public school students.

Some of the key goals of the Digital Learning Commons training are to:

• Mitigate geographic and socio-economic factors that have historically disadvantaged some Washington students, teachers, and families.
• Empower students and families to access the fullest range of educational experiences available, creating educational opportunity where it has not previously existed.
• Facilitate the development of small schools’ curricula by broadening the range of educational resources available to them.
• Build the Digital Learning Commons to continuously incorporate advances in education and technology.
• Create a “magnet of innovation” that engages eager students, creative teachers, and innovative providers of educational content.

Woodring and ATUS work to achieve these goals in our Bellingham community by serving as a Regional Training Partner for the Digital Learning Commons. Dr. Keiper has already supervised the provision of DLC training by six Western students to hundreds of high school students at Sehome, Bellingham, Squalicum, and Options high schools.

Wireless Networks Demystified
Nancy Grayum

Most of us could understand that a laptop computer is portable because it runs on a battery— that makes sense, since we’re used to battery power. But how many of us will admit that we still find the use of a wireless network a bit mystifying? Surrounded by “access points” and watching our wireless cards light up, we sometimes just go, “huh.”

Using wireless network technology is really not much different than tuning in a radio. Here’s how it works:

• A wireless network card in your laptop converts binary information from the computer into radio waves and sends them through the air in search of a receiver.

• The radio waves are picked up by receivers within range. These small electronic boxes are often called “hotspots” or “access points.” Receivers are hard-wired to an internet system — in our case, the WWU network. The receivers take the radio waves and convert them back into binary information so they can be interpreted by other computers.

• If there is more than one wireless network within range of your wireless laptop signal, you need to choose which network you want to connect to. On campus, you’re likely to “see” only the Western wireless network. You will need to login with username and password in order to keep the campus network secure.

• Access points can receive and process information from as many as 100 network cards simultaneously, changing the radio waves back into binary code and sending the code to the internet addresses specified by you.

• When you move around campus with your wireless computer, the signal gets handed off from one access point to another, just like a cell phone moving from place to place is handled by different towers.

• Like software versions, the numerals associated with network cards and receivers simply represent the version of the developing technology that is currently on the market. 802.11b is one very functional standard in wireless networking, and 802.11g is the emerging standard.

Although it may sometimes seem like magic, wireless networking works well and is quite easy to adapt to. More importantly, wireless networking on campus allows us to use campus computing resources on a truly “anytime, anyplace” basis. We used to say Western was among the “most wired” universities, but now we are well on our way to becoming “most wireless!”