SIS DE Tech Tips

Thanks to Maryke Barber for compiling these tips!

 

HARDWARE:

 

·           Max out on technologies that improves speed/performance (RAM memory, hard drive capacity): you will want to multitask

    Remember that technologies that you may be using by the end of your program may be bigger memory hogs than the ones you use now. 2GB RAM minimum if you're buying now.

 

·           Laptop vs. desktop: if you travel at all – work, conferences, family - consider that the ability to do homework elsewhere is really, really great.

    And if your in-laws visit at Thanksgiving you can go to Panera and take your class in peace :)

 

 ·           Consider ergonomics in your workspace, and your computer setup. Especially if your day job involves a computer, you want school to be as little of an added strain as possible. It also just helps        you feel better at the end of a long day.

 

SOFTWARE:

 

·           Get to know MicroSoft IE, Word, PowerPoint. A strong majority of faculty and classmates are using this software, so time and compatibility will often trump the fun factor of using a different program.

    But don't be afraid to try other programs also since Open Source is a big issue in academia. I love Mozilla for my browser; I know other students use Google Open Office for productivity applications.

 

 ·           Get a good virus protection software, and back up your work often to disk, to a network drive, flash drive or external hard drive. Don’t fudge on this – you don’t want to do projects twice.

       As a UT-K student you are eligible for free Norton antivirus software. Go to UT's antivirus download page for more information. I also use Spybot-Search and Destroy to deter spyware.

 

    Using social bookmarking sites such as http://del.icio.us will ensure that you don’t lose your bookmarks if something happens to your local machine.

  

·           Don’t forget to check your UT-K email. If you want to have all your email in one place, you can set it up so that everything downloads into Outlook or another mail program. Instructions are located at: http://oit.utk.edu/exchange/setup/setup_clients.php. If you do this, consider filtering your mail, so it’s pre-sorted into school, work, listserv and other mailboxes.

 

CENTRA

 

·           Beware of Centra upgrades. If an upgrade is announced, try to download it long before class starts. Get into the habit of logging in 10-15 min. before class starts, so you’re not caught by surprise upgrades, or by slide sets that take a long time to load (Dr. Bill…). Click the “away” button if you’re doing something else and don’t wish to chat.

 

·           Know your T.A. for Centra and don’t be afraid to ask for help during class, either via Text Chat or by telephone.

 

·           Logging out and logging back in will take care of a lot of problems, as will re-running the audio wizard. Don’t assume it’s you; it could be the system.

 

·           Sometimes Firewalls/Anti-Virus software can block Centra and cause you not to log in. Reconfigure your settings to either accept Centra or lower the threshold of security!

 

·           Chat can be nice, but it isn’t essential. Ask your teacher if he/she reads and/or participates in the in-class chat. If yes, that makes the chat much more on-topic and worthwhile. If she/he doesn’t, you can choose to ignore it if you’re having trouble concentrating. And remember to keep it clean: even when the teacher isn’t monitoring, DE tech support is. And so are your classmates, who might also be future colleagues, bosses, hiring committees…

 

·            Consider doing something with your hands – embroidery, knitting – that will prevent you from doing so much multitasking that you lose track of the lecture.

 

·           Use Centra to set up meetings for projects, study groups etc. You don’t need permission; you can do this. The online instructions (in Centra) are pretty clear; for groups over five, you may have to ask tech support to give you permission to sign in a larger number.

o       Need a quick meeting after class? Stay in the current Centra session or, if that’s not an option, you can all enter a previous lecture as long as it’s still on all of your “past lectures” lists.

·           If you have to present:

o       When you submit your slides, ask for them to be loaded at 800 x 600. The default is sometimes smaller.

o       Log into class early and run the audio wizard. Even if you know your audio worked yesterday, it will make you feel better about your sound quality, volume levels, etc.

 

·           Load Centra at work if it’s allowed. You may want to use your work computer to attend class in a pinch; this also allows you to listen to last night’s lecture while having lunch or doing something simple.

 

BLACKBOARD

 

·           Get to know BB early. It has lots of features – discussion boards, grades, tests etc. In your course BB site, check every folder available: different professors will use different ways of organizing their materials.

 

·           Taking online quizzes: save your answers frequently! You can even take and save screen shots as a precaution.

 

·           Digital drop box: make certain your document has been sent, not just loaded. This is a 2-stop process, and you can go back to make sure it has gone through.

 

·           Some professors will use the digital drop box to send graded work back to you. If you haven’t seen an assignment you were expecting, check there.

 

CONNECTIVITY:

 

·           Budget for DSL: it’s worth it for the worry-free factor of a good connection, and for the ability to get online and check something that just came up in class.

 

·           Log in early; if you have connectivity problems there may be time to troubleshoot them, or make it to the nearest Starbucks.

 

·           Have an alternate location ready. A coffee shop or public library with wifi will do if you’ve a laptop; if not, find a nearby friend or relative who’ll let you use their computer.

 

·           Have your phone # for connection troubleshooting ready, and the phone # for Centra tech support. When your power goes out, you want to call tech support so they can tell your teacher & classmates that you didn’t just bail out of your group presentation.

 

·           Check the weather forecast for evenings you have an in-class presentation, and if you have any worries about power interruptions ask to go first.

 

·           When all else fails – DON’T WORRY. Stuff happens! All lectures are being recorded, and you can listen to them later. Presentations can be rescheduled, or recorded.

 

TECH-RELATED ORGANIZATION:

 

·           Set up desktop folders and email folders for each class before the semester starts. The more you can organize in advance, the easier it gets.

 

·           Save drafts of group projects with your initials and the date – avoid MDD, multiple draft disorder.

 

·           Remember that UT-Knoxville is in the Eastern time zone. If you live in a different time zone, remember to mentally adjust times for class, papers due, meetings, etc.

 

BEFORE CLASS:

 

·           Check your email and BlackBoard, once at lunchtime and once 15 min. before class. Professors sometimes post stuff at the last minute.

 

LISTSERVS:

 

·           Are a great way to get information on what’s happening in a certain field. If you’re unsure of whether there is a listserv in an area you’re interested in, check the UT course listings and ask whoever teaches a class on that subject.

 

·           Yahoo group: informal, no official representation. Straight poop.

 

·           SIS Facebook group. Another way to connect.

 

ONLINE BEHAVIOR:

 

·           Email and chat are different from f2f. If you want an answer or an acknowledgement, ask for one, clearly and up front; otherwise you have to sit and wonder whether you need to send that email again, whether you said the wrong thing, etc.