Information Technology Services

by Jennifer Albat

Faculty and staff are invited to attend this workshop to explore TechSmith Relay, the University’s video platform that includes features such as captioning, editing, quizzing, conversations, and analytics. Starting in January, the first hour will focus on best practices and a demonstration of TechSmith Relay. Participants may stay the second hour to ask questions, get one-on-one guidance, and begin organizing videos. Please use this form to register.

By: Niki Glick

You need to schedule a meeting with multiple people. Maybe you try to use the Outlook Scheduling Assistant to see when everyone is available, but depending on how many schedules you need to align and how busy everyone is, this task can be time-consuming and frustrating. A lot of us have used Doodle to accomplish this task, but unfortunately, it’s no longer free. Introducing FindTime, a free, easy to use, Outlook scheduling assistant tool. FindTime connects to your Outlook a...

By Emily Macios

Need help adding your SIUE email account to your iPhone? Look no further....here are detailed instructions (including screenshots!).

Go to Settings, then go to Passwords & Accounts

Under Accounts, choose Add Account

Choose Microsoft Exchange

Type your SIUE email address and a description (i.e. SIUE)

Tap Sign In

Enter your password and tap Sign In

Choose if you want to sync mail, contacts, calendars, reminders, and notes. Tap Save

Now open your Mail ...

By: Niki Glick

You need to schedule a meeting with multiple people. Maybe you try to use the Outlook Scheduling Assistant to see when everyone is available, but depending on how many schedules you need to align and how busy everyone is, this task can be time-consuming and frustrating. A lot of us have used Doodle to accomplish this task, but unfortunately, it’s no longer free. Introducing FindTime, a free, easy to use, Outlook scheduling assistant tool. FindTime connects to your Outlook a...

By Emily Macios

Windows 10 has been around for a few years, but with the ever-evolving and routine updates, there are so many hidden features packed into the current OS. Here are a few useful tips and tricks you might be unaware of.

Right click the Start Menu

The Windows 10 Start Menu has a slightly different look than previous versions. For quick access to Apps, the Task Manager, Control Panel, Device Manager, and Command Prompt, right click the Windows Start icon. This can also be acce...

By Emily Macios

There are a plethora of media players out there but I've always found VLC to be the best of the bunch. A free and open-source cross-platform multimedia player, VLC is free, fast, powerful, simple to use, ad-free, and most importantly can play nearly any media file.

From multimedia audio and video files to DVD's, CD's, streams, and devices, VLC supports almost all file formats without needing to download any additional codecs.

Download VLC for Windows or Mac:
https://www.video...

By Curt Price

Podcasting has taken off in recent years. It seems like everyone has at least 1 or 2 pocasts that they are listening to. And if you listen to podcasts, you probably have a podast app that you like. I mean, there are a lot of them out there that work just fine.

But if you are one of those folks who hasn't yet dove into the wonderful world of podcasts, then this article may be for you.

Podcasts are essentially just recorded audio files that are put online that you have the option ...

By Curt Price

There are a lot of screen capture utilities out there. Many of which are lacking in features and leave you feeling...meh.

But not ShareX.

It probably has too many features. But if you love choice, both in how to take a shot (like a scrolling capture or OCRing text) and what to do with it after (it supports 80 different destinations and plenty of annotation options), this is the capture utility you need for your Windows PC.

https://getsharex.com/

Have you ever wondered on that rare occassion, "Is Blackboard down?" Or "Is there an issue with Banner?" Or are you having WIFI/Network issues?

Well, before calling the helpful ITS Help Desk, maybe consider checking out the SIUE System Status page first.

status.siue.edu

This page was set up to inform users of the status of all of our University systems. You can see if a system is operating normally, if there is a partial or a major outage, as well as reference a list of past i...

By Emily Macios

The newest macOS, Catalina, was released on Monday, October 7th. Catalina brings several new and exciting features to the Mac world. Here are some of the highlights.

Sidecar

This is definitely one of the coolest new features. With the Sidecar app, your iPad can be used as a second display. The ability to expand your Mac's workspace can be especially useful when using creative apps for drawing and writing with the Apple Pencil.

iTunes eliminated

iTunes is no more. Apple has g...

By Jennifer Albat

John Scott from Blackboard will be visiting campus on October 10 & 11 to increase awareness of Blackboard Ally and Universal Design for Learning. Students and faculty are invited to stop by the table in the MUC on Thursday, October 10 between 8:30 am and 10:30 am to learn more about Ally, try it out, and pick up some cool swag. On Friday, October 11 from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm, John will host the workshop for faculty and staff, Supporting Diverse Needs through Inclusive Desig...

By Curt Price

Do you consider yourself a creative person? Do you enjoy Adobe Photoshop? Illustrator? Dreamweaver? Audition? Premiere? Acrobat? Or... have you ever wanted to learn how to use/play with any Adobe application? Or... have you heard other people talk about these applications and just want to be one of the "cool kids"?

Well...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Wait for it a little more...

You can now.

<announcement>The entire Adobe Creative Cloud Suite is now available to ...

By Jennifer Albat

The offices of Educational Outreach, Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support (ACCESS), and Information Technology Services are collaborating to bring you a new audio/video hosting platform called TechSmith Relay.

TechSmith Relay will serve as the primary platform for storing media content across campus, giving faculty, students, and staff the ability to create, upload, and share videos from one location. In addition to its storing and sharing capabilities, Tec...

By Emily Macios

As you've probably heard by now, yesterday Apple announced its new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models coming out this fall. While battery life is improved, and the camera gets a new wide angle and zoom lens, there are not many other substantial upgrades from last year's iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max models.

While a device upgrade may not be worth your money, the latest software upgrade is free and should bring some notable improvements to your current iPhone. Available later next w...

By Emily Macios

Have a list, note, recipe, or any type of table information that you'd like to convert into an Excel spreadsheet? It's as easy and simple as taking a photo of it.

Microsoft Excel, included in the Office 365 suite, makes it simple to turn nearly any data into an Excel spreadsheet with the snap of a photo. Available for Android and iPhone, Excel's Insert Data from Picture Tool lets you take a photo of the data, and automatically converts the photo into editable table data.

• Ope...

by Curt Price

If you're an Android user, you may already be using Google Messages as your texting app. If you don't use it, you should consider doing so. It's a fantastic texting app and is the default texting app on many Android phones.

Now...with that said...

Wouldn't it be great if you could read, send & receive texts through a web browser on your desktop computer? And wouldn't it be great if that service would sync with the Google Messages texting app on your phone?

Well...you can. ...

by Curt Price

I may be one of the last people that should be giving financial advice.

So I won't REALLy do that here.

However... with all of the security breaches going on and the looming threat that is identity theft, I'm going to suggest an online service you may want to check out. And seeing as how this is an onling service with an accompanying smart phone app, this easily fits into the "Tech News" theme we've got going on here.

Credit Karma is a site that will allow you to view your cred...

By Emily Macios

Similar to our computers, our phones can get sluggish as well. Here are a few simple tips for how to speed up and improve the overall performance of your phone.

Restart your phone

This may seem like a no brainer but restarting your phone can really help by freeing up some RAM. Sometimes I forget to restart my phone for weeks...then when I finally do, I notice a big improvement in the speed and overall performance.

Close your apps

After a few weeks, I can have up to 20+ apps ...

By Emily Macios

Communicating effectively and clearly using a keyboard is not always easy. The Grammarly keyboard app can be your personal editor, with you at all times, to make sure your writing is correct and precise.

As you type, Grammarly will catch and flag all spelling and grammar mistakes. It will catch the misuse of homophones, other commonly confused words, and complex grammatical errors including subject-verb agreement, etc. Not only will it catch spelling and grammar mistakes, but G...

by Curt Price

Have you ever copied some text to use elsewhere, then copied something else and then realized you've lost your original clip??

I've done that.

A lot.

A clipboard manager can resolve that issue.

There are lots of clipboard managers out there. And they say that if you use them, it can increase productivity.

ClipCube (http://zodcode.com/clipcube) is one I just started using and I like it quite a bit. It's crazy simple, the interface is clean, it can also be used as a notepad, yo...

by Jennifer Albat

The offices of Educational Outreach, Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support (ACCESS), and Information Technology Services are collaborating to bring you a new audio/video hosting platform called TechSmith Relay.

TechSmith Relay will serve as the primary platform for storing media content across campus, giving faculty and staff the ability to create, upload, and share videos from one location. In addition to its storing and sharing capabilities, TechSmith Rela...

by Curt Price

Here are some quick and useful tips for computer users (which you probably are...seeing as how you're likely reading this on some sort of computer).

Use these now...thank us later.

Open a Recently Closed Tab

• If you want to get back a tab you closed, just press "Control" (or "Command" on Mac), plus "Shift," plus "T," and it will magically reappear.

Window Snapping

• If you click the "Windows" key, plus one of the arrows (right, left, up, down), your current window will mov...

By Curt Price

The "kids" might not be using Facebook as much as the "adults" anymore, so this info may be more for the adults in the room.

Facebook knows A LOT about you. Way more than I'm sure you realize. So if you are a Facebook user, and not one of those "I'm not on Facebook" weirdos 😉, it's probably more important than ever to make sure your Facebook account is as secure as can be...and we'll give you a quick rundown on how to do it. More detailed information can also be found her...

By Emily Macios

In a previous article, I wrote "Can the iPad Replace your desktop computer?" Given the limitations of Apple's mobile iOS, the conclusion was no, the iPad is not a complete replacement for a desktop. However, with the latest announcement from Apple about the iPad getting its own OS, IpadOS, perhaps we are inching closer than ever. 

Multitasking

Multitasking allows you to view two apps side by side at once. And it doesn't have to be two different apps...multiple instan...

By Emily Macios

The native mail apps on the iPhone and Android may work perfectly fine, but I find the Microsoft Outlook app to be a much better alternative. A clean and minimal design, great organization, and some unique features make it a great option for your email app.

Swiping gestures

Swiping gestures allow you to quickly delete, archive, flag, etc. These swipe gestures can be customized to your preference.

Focused inbox

Outlook implements a "Focused" inbox option which automatically s...

By Curt Price

Snapseed, Prisma & Photoshop Express are just a few of the many fun photo editing apps you can play around with.

I tried Photosh...

by Matthew Schmitz

The Cougar Store, SIUe Textbook Services, and Information Technology Services have collaborated to bring RedShelf to your Blackboard courses.

RedShelf is the Content Delivery System used on campus for all digital course materials. RedShelf grants students access to their digital course materials on the first day of class through the link installed in Blackboard. The program originally started with all publisher courseware and is now moving towards transitioning print adoptio...

by Curt Price

If you take your laptop to places where an outlet might not be available, a high-wattage USB-C battery can be used to keep your laptop powered while on the go and while you use it.

Everyone is likely to be familiar with smaller battery packs that charge your phone or tablet when you aren't around a wall charger. They're small, convenient, affordable, and invaluable when your battery is low. But what about your laptop? Laptops require a lot more power & juice than the small wattag...

by Curt Price

Security should probably be a bigger priority than it is for most people. Protect your passwords and secure your accounts....at all costs.

Why? (Really? Someone would ask why? I mean...really?)

Because there is always someone out there who, given the chance, would LOVE the chance to hack into your stuff, steal your identity, siphon money out of your bank account, etc.

With Google's new physical security key feature (which is an advanced form of 2-factor authentication), any And...

by Curt Price

Robocalls are a growing problem. 48 billion robocalls were placed in the US last year, which is 46% more than the year before. And while major phone providers are working on new technology as a fix for the robocalls, it isn't out yet and it likely won't be enough to completely solve the problem, at least not right away. Experts agree that a multi-pronged attack against robocallers is what needs to be done, and consumers can take action as part of the attack.

1) If you haven't alr...

By Emily Macios

Our computers contain a lot of important documents and files that we use and rely on everyday. Whether it's work documents, family vacation photos, tax documents, etc., your data is usually invaluable. What would you do if you were to lose it?

Data loss can happen at any time. With the constant reading and writing of data, hard drives are prone to failure over time. And this usually happens at the worst time, and without warning. The blue screen of death is never a welcome sigh...

By: Curt Price

Your internet router uses a specific channel to send data wirelessly. WIFI is convenient and generally and generally fantastic, but a couple problems are:

• There are a limited number of channels available on each router band.
• Most routers default to the same channel.

If you live in a building or dense neighborhood with a lot of access points (wireless connection points, or hotspots), there is therefore, a fairly decent chance that another wifi network in range is using the ...

By: Jodie Nehrt

It’s a common recommendation from ITS to faculty: “Save your files on OneDrive and link them in your course.” Until a few weeks ago, that recommendation was followed by a set of instructions to change the share setting to limit student access so they could see and download but couldn’t alter your original documents and files.

Now, you can link content to Blackboard with fewer clicks! This updated Knowledge Base article, Share a File or Folder from OneDri...

By: Emily Macios

NOTE: Ccleaner is for HOME USE ONLY and is not free for corporate use. Ccleaner could also cause conflicts with enterprise level software currently installed on your machine. This is not to be installed on SIUE machines.

Computer getting bogged down? Just as we accumulate junk in our everyday lives, our computers also accumulate junk. Over time, Windows can get slowed down by these junk files and performance can be negatively impacted. When this happens, your computer is in ne...

By: Emily Macios

If you're new to online learning platforms, the Quizlet app is an interesting option. With an easy-to-use and simple user interface, Quizlet is a mobile app for creating your own study content or searching existing user-generated content. Already used by one third of college students, and half of high school students in the US, the app aims to reach 1.5 billion worldwide.

The Quizlet app lets you create your own study content by using flashcards, diagrams, etc. It will sync yo...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey&hl=en_US

by Curt Price

This one is primarily for Android phone users due to the locked down nature of Apple's iOS, many of Swiftkey's cool & useful features aren't allowed because it's a 3rd party app in the iOS ecosystem.

Swiftkey is a 3rd party keyboard app that can replace your stock Android keyboard. I've been a Swiftkey user for years and whenever I get a new phone, Swiftkey is one of the first apps I stick back on ther...

by Curt Price

This is another app I have been using for years, and it's quite simply a joy to use.

There are a LOT of to-do apps on the Apple App Store or Google Play, and you may have one that you LOVE, and that's great. But I feel Wunderlist might be the best one out there and I suggest you give it a shot...after checking it out you may feel the same way (or you may not...I'm not a mind reader).

Wunderlist can be a fantastic group collaboration tool for that big project, or it can be a simp...

By: Emily Macios

Everyone needs organization in their life. Luckily, the powerful Microsoft OneNote app makes it easy to organize all of your thoughts and ideas in one place. Instead of handwriting your notes in a classroom or meeting, use OneNote to create your notes. Your notes will be stored in the cloud and kept safe at no risk of being lost or ruined.

OneNote allows you to create multiple notebooks for different subjects. Create notebooks with different colored sections and tag your notes...

By: Emily Macios

While you've probably heard the term 'Web Accessibility' before, you may not know exactly what it means. Web Accessibility is the act of creating digital content that is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. Visual, physical, speech, hearing, and other types of disabilities may impact how people use and interact with the web. This makes it very important to always follow the web accessibility standards and guidelines when creating content for the web.

Not ...

By: Curt Price

You're probably already using Office365 for your SIUE email and maybe Word, Excel & Powerpoint, but are you using the service to it's full potential? Chances are that you are not, and you have only scratched the surface.

OneDrive

Lots of storage space to save your documents and files. DON'T SAVE YOUR IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ON A JUMP DRIVE with that being it's only location! Save your treasures in multiple places, one of which should be in a cloud-based system like OneDrive, which ...

By: Jennifer Albat

Here are some reminders and updates from the ITS Instructional Design & Learning Technologies (IDLT) group. For questions on these, or other learning technologies, please contact 618-650-5500 or help@siue.edu.

Turnitin Issue

Recent calls have revealed that students are experiencing issues uploading their paper to Turnitin using the Safari browser. This is a temporary issue, but in the meantime, please try another browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Respondus ...

By: Emily Macios

The iPad is a very powerful and convenient tool. The large and beautiful screen is a joy to use for everyday tasks from checking email, surfing the web, using Facebook and other social media apps, watching YouTube and Netflix, and performing productivity related tasks using Mirosoft Office, etc. The convenience factor is unparalled as the form factor of the iPad allows you to perform all of these tasks while sitting on the couch. The size and portability allow you to take it wi...

By: Emily Macios

As an IT support specialist, one of the most frequent things I ask people is "Have you tried clearing your cache?” Whenever someone is having issues with a web page, that is usually the first thing I'll have them do.

So what exactly is a browser cache? Basically, it is a saved copy of the elements of a web page (such as an image) downloaded to your local hard disk to be used for future use when viewing that page again. Since it's faster and more efficient to render an im...

By: Curt Price

Today you don't need a flatbed scanner to scan documents & images to send via email, text attachment, or to archive and keep.

All you need is a smartphone (which is more expensive than a flatbed scanner, but let's not dwell on details...besides, most people already own a smart phone) and a scanning app which uses your phones camera as the scanner.

CamScanner is an excellent app for scanning documents, ID Cards, QR Codes, etc. It allows you to scan a document, name it and send a...

By: Curt Price

Secure passwords are extremely important in today's online world. There is a username and password for everything. Online banking, email, cloud storage, ebay, photo banks, your dog groomer's website, PayPal... everything.

It should be obvious why you want a secure password. The more secure the password, the harder it will be for "the bad guys" to break into your stuff, steal your identity, your money, your data, pretty much really mess up your life.

It should go without saying ...

By: Emily Macios

At the CES tradeshow, Google has announced plans to expand their Google Assistant platform by adding a new real-time interpreter mode. Supporting 27 different languages, the new interpreter mode will provide a more smooth translation between languages. The new translation feature will be an advanced version of the current Google Translate app. While the Translate app translates words and phrases, the interpreter mode will provide a much more fluid way to have a natural real-tim...

By: LaShonda Walker

Sending money to friends and family using your phone is not only fast, but it's extremely convenient. Not having enough cash to pay someone back after they picked up Subway for you, causing you to say "I'll pay you back later when I have some cash.", should be a thing of the past.

Cash App is a mobile enabled app that allows a person to send and/or receive funds from family and friends, electonically, from an iPhone or android phone.

In order to send/receive money, you mus...