ITSpotlight is designed to keep the campus up to date on ITS activities and services.
Cascade Is Migrating From Local Hosting To Cloud Hosting
Posted June 19, 2024
by Curt Price
Information Technology Services (ITS) administers and maintains the Cascade CMS, which is Southern Illinois University's website content management system. Cascade allows for departments to maintain the content on their departmental websites without needing to know how to code a web page.
Since SIUE started using Cascade years ago, it has been hosted locally within ITS on it's servers that it owns and maintains, but that is about to change.
Starting on June 28th, ITS and Hannon ...
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Maximize the Impact of Your YuJa Video
Posted June 19, 2024
by IDLT
Maximize the Impact of Your YuJa Video
Video content is a powerful educational tool in your course or training resource. To ensure your videos reach their intended audience effectively and make the desired impact, it's essential to follow some best practices.
Consider the following best practices when sharing your YuJa videos to ensure a smooth learning experience for your students.
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Share direct links. Direct links to videos in emails, training resources, discussion...
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Microsoft Teams: SIUE's Excellent Collaboration Suite
Posted June 19, 2024
by Curt Price
Microsoft Teams is a collaboration platform available to SIUE Faculty, Staff and Students that can help you and your department improve communication, productivity, and more.
Since its launch, Microsoft Teams has become the fastest growing app in Microsoft’s history with more than 330,000 companies worldwide using it.
Collaboration
Teams allows users to share files, work on them simultaneously, and collaborate in real time. It also integrates with oth...
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Tech Tips & Tricks for May
Posted May 08, 2024
by Curt Price
Have you ever gotten frustrated searching for a password you swore you wrote down somewhere? How about frustratingly trying to resize windows so you can view two of them on the same screen? In some cases, technology doesn’t feel like a helpful tool but more like an annoying hassle. Here are 17 (because I had to stop somewhere) shortcuts to help make your daily SIUE life a little easier.
1. When All Else Fails, Reboot
It may be a rule as old as Windows 3.1, but it still wor...
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YuJa - Recovering a Deleted Video
Posted May 08, 2024
by IDLT
Did you accidentally delete a video from your YuJa library? It happens to all of us, but don’t despair. Deleted video files remain in your recycling bin for 60 days and can be recovered by following the steps below. After 60 days, however, those files will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored, so act promptly!
Here’s how you can recover that deleted video:
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Log in to YuJa and access the My Account option in the top right corner of your screen. From th...
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Cascade Support Options
Posted April 10, 2024
by Curt Price
Cascade is the website content management system used by SIUE. It allows users to make simple changes to their department's website without having to know HTML or CSS or any of the programming languages we use.
In the event that users have a question on how to do something basic within Cascade, they have the option of referencing ITS' Web Management site where some self-help options are available.
These options include, Tips & Tricks, FAQ's, Cascade & Accessibility Tutorials, a ...
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Reduce Student Mental Load and Course Bloat
Posted April 10, 2024
by IDLT
A common refrain by instructors is that information must be repeated for students to know of said information. In solving for this lack of discipline or awareness, this “information must be repeated…” phrase can become a mantra for some, who then employ due dates and other notices ad nauseum. I posit that repeated information encourages students to “check out”, and that when due dates and notices are employed ad nauseum it becomes a nightmare of upkeep fo...
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A Few Ways To Improve Your Privacy
Posted March 13, 2024
Private Information Shared In Photos
Most people don’t realize all they share when sending a picture in a text. Nearly every social media site strips out the metadata that reveals a photo’s little details, like when, where and how it was taken. But that information is not protected if you text a photo. Here's how to prevent that.
To stop location sharing on iPhone:
- Open the image you want to send and tap the share button.
- Select Options a...
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Proctoring Options for Online Assessments
Posted March 13, 2024
by IDLT
Proctoring Options and Features
As more courses move to the online learning environment, assessments can be more challenging to maintain security. If learning in your courses cannot be assessed using alternative formats, consider some of the proctoring options and features that have been added to Respondus Monitor.
Show Your Work
Some online assessments require work to be done the old-fashioned way with paper and pencil. You can enable Respondus Monitor to allow students to...
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Recover Lost Or Deleted Data On A USB Drive
Posted March 13, 2024
by Curt Price
Did you know that when you delete files, they're actually just hidden and still on the drive and not really deleted?
In the video below, Matty McTech explains how to recover/restore deleted files from a USB drive. He also shows you how to actually delete files for good so they can not be recovered.
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Subscribe to a Discussion Board Forum
Posted February 14, 2024
by IDLT
Did you know you can be notified via email if someone posts to a Blackboard discussion forum? It’s true. Logging in and having to check each thread can be cumbersome. If you subscribe to the forum, Blackboard will send you an email when there is a new thread. Follow the instructions in this ITS KnowledgeBase article for how to subscribe to a forum. Remember you can see the message in your email, but you cannot reply from there. You must log in to Blackboard to respond.
A ...
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Blackboard Course Shell Retention Practice Changes
Posted February 14, 2024
by IDLT
As previously announced, there will be an upcoming change to the retention practice for Blackboard course shells.
The current retention practice for SIUE's learning management system is:
- Course shells will be kept in Blackboard for 5 semesters plus the current semester (https://kb.siue.edu/128959).
- Course shells that are outside of the 5 + 1 retention window will be removed from Blackboard each fall, spring, and summer semester and retained for one year.
Beginning in the SP24 se...
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TechSmith Knowmia Video File Archive Maintenance
Posted February 14, 2024
by IDLT
YuJa is SIUE's video storage and management solution. SIUE previously licensed TechSmith Knowmia for video capture, editing, and storage. All videos from TechSmith Knowmia were migrated to YuJa in 2022. Some Knowmia videos were unable to be matched with users in YuJa, most commonly because the faculty, student, or staff user with content in Knowmia had left the University prior to the migration. ITS has retained the Knowmia videos in case the users needed them after Knowmia was sunset i...
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Ways to Use the Grade Center to Help with Student Retention
Posted January 17, 2024
by IDLT
Track student progress and early intervention allows faculty to help at-risk students. This in turn may help with students successfully completing courses and student retention. Blackboard’s Grade Center has several ways to assist in determining at-risk students.
Color Coding
Color Coding in the Grade Center allows faculty to select criteria, when met, will color code the student grade and identify an at-risk student. For example, yellow can be selected to identify any...
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Complete These Start-of-Semester Activities for Course Management
Posted January 10, 2024
by IDLT
As a new semester approaches, the following tips may be useful for faculty.
Blackboard and Course Management:
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If you are teaching multiple sections of the same course and want them to be in one Blackboard shell, please request that your sections be merged prior to starting work in your Blackboard courses.
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If you want to copy a course from the previous semester, please follow these export/import instructions .
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For assistance with building you...
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Importing Data Into Excel
Posted December 13, 2023
by Curt Price
Have you ever had printed (on old school paper) data in a table that you needed to get into Excel? And did you dread adding it manually by typing it in?
Well, Matty McTech has found a quick and easy way to do it that could save you a ton of time. And I'm sure the University will be happy to hear you are getting more done in less time. That's solid gold resume material if you ask me.
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Syllabus Template Update
Posted December 13, 2023
by IDLT
Based on input from faculty members, the ITS Accessible Syllabus Template , part of the IDLT Teaching Toolkit , was recently updated for the spring 2024 semester.
Among the changes are the option for the syllabus template, previously configured for online classes, to be utilized for any course modality (face-to-face, blended/hybrid, or online). Another major update is the removal of the University policies, guidance language, and student support information from the syllabus ...
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Complete These End-of-Semester Activities for Course Management
Posted December 06, 2023
by IDLT
As the term nears completion, the following tips will be useful for faculty in wrapping up their courses.
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Check your Grade Center Total and/or Weighted Total column(s) to be sure they are set up to calculate correctly. The Mercer University Online Weighted Average Grade Calculatoris a useful tool for checking your Weighted Total calculations. If you find errors, contact ITS at 618-650-5500 or at bbhelp@siue.edu for assistance.
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Make sure your final ...
