Preparations are well underway to roll over QUT Blackboard unit sites to the Semester 2 offering. The following activities have been carried out or are in progress:
Unit shells have been created and are ready for unit coordinators to copy their content from previous offerings. New units have been created and are ready to be populated.
Unit sites can be accessed and worked on by unit coordinators once they have been entered by the faculty in the Academic Teaching Database (ATD) and the Syllabus Plus Timetabling System. Up-to date student enrolments are currently active in Semester 2 units, but units are not available to students yet (i.e. students can see the link to the unit but can’t access it). System wide availability of units will be activated in O-Week. Unit coordinators can make a unit available to students earlier if they wish to do so.
Tailored communication is in preparation for unit coordinators, professional staff and the IT Helpdesk to instruct them in unit copy functionality, other preparations for the new semester, and appropriate support documentation. Communication channels will include an e-mail from the DVC (TILS), information sessions in the faculties and schools (commenced), information on the QUT Blackboard support site and a section in the QUT Blackboard Bulletin June edition.
A support model is in development for implementation in Semester 2 with strengthened second tier support. Additional support for the Science and Business faculties will be provided by the QUT Blackboard support team as these faculties are rolling over to a new semester for the first time.
- Link profiler: This tool will allow unit coordinators to check on the validity of links and help identify any broken links.
- Combined enrolments: This tool will assist with the management of users who need to be enrolled in additional unit or community sites.
- New, improved Quick-Enrol (Version 2): This tool will allow supporting professional staff improved access to units in their domain, including the ability to simulate another role.
- Student view: A model is being developed for unit coordinators to be able to view their units through student eyes (subject to security considerations).
For additional information, go to QUT Blackboard Support or
contact the IT Helpdesk (phone: 3138 4000 | email: ithelpdesk@qut.edu.au | web: www.ithelpdesk.qut.edu.au)
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IT Support Update
The introduction of the BSI IT changes late last year has provided both challenges and opportunities for the provision of central IT support. While Semester 1 this year saw a significant load on the University IT support teams, extra resources have been provided to ensure the focus remains on responding to the day-to-day support demands of the University. Effort has also been focused on introducing service delivery improvements needed for the more effective and efficient provision of IT support. Some examples to date include providing a dedicated support presence at Margaret St., consolidating information across the different support environments, and providing a base level of client service training across all support teams.
We are currently working on a number of new initiatives to further improve our service offerings. By Semester 2 we will have in place a ten minute response time for faculty teaching labs, in the same way that we currently provide support for university teaching spaces. In consultation with faculties, we are also working towards a program of activity to introduce a consistent approach to the provisioning of faculty computer labs in line with the approach used in the central lab environments. While this will bring benefits in the support of these areas, it will also provide a more consistent approach to our services from a student perspective.
A number of other initiatives for improvement have also been identified through recent workshops with divisional staff and the wider IT community. These are in the areas of communication and reporting; clarity of roles and responsibilities; response times and workloads and labs and culture. A number of recommendations have been formulated in each of these areas, and these are currently being progressed.
For further information please contact Mark McCormack, Manager IT Support, Integrated Help Services at m.mccormack@qut.edu.au or phone 3138 5180.
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Outlook Calendar Project Update
Staff transitioning to Calendar, QUT's new meeting scheduling tool, benefit in a number of ways.
The Benefits Include:
- Seamless synchronisations with their mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones or PDAs)
- The ability to invite non-QUT people to meetings
- The ability to easily update their Calendar when they are sent a Calendar or .ics file (e.g. staff flu injections appointment confirmations have an .ics file attached).
The Issues: The majority of issues experienced to date relate to staff failing to respond to meeting invitations or sending meeting updates to all invitees.
Note: Calendar meetings are scheduled by sending an email invitation to all meeting attendees (including rooms) to notify and update the calendars of the meeting invitees. This means you MUST ALWAYS send a meeting response by email so the meeting organiser knows your intentions.
For additional information, go to the new Outlook Calendar website. as it includes frequently asked questions (FAQs), terminology, key calendar practices, and tips and tricks.
Please direct all enquiries to the IT Helpdesk (phone: 3138 4000 | email: ithelpdesk@qut.edu.au | web: www.ithelpdesk.qut.edu.au)
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Using Calendar: Best Practices
Always send a meeting response so the meeting organiser knows whether or not you will be attending.
Never delete meeting requests as this will REMOVE the meeting from your Calendar and the meeting organiser does not receive any notification.
Avoid using Decline as a meeting response unless you will definitely not be attending the meeting, as the entry will be removed from your Calendar.
Respond Tentative if you are interested in a meeting and would still like to view the entry in your Calendar. Tentative respondents will not be included in meeting numbers for catering purposes. You should accept the meeting as soon as your intentions become clear.
If you re-schedule a meeting or change any details for a meeting (e.g. location), you MUST click Send Update so your invitees' calendars are also updated.
Before every meeting, check the Scheduling details for the meeting to ensure other meeting attendees (including the room) have the entry in their Calendars.
For Further Information:
Quick Reference Guides are available for Outlook 2003 and 2007, Entourage 2004 (for Macintoshes) and Outlook Web Access, including a Light version for Linux and dialin users.
The comprehensive Outlook 2003 manual dedicates four chapters to Calendar (Chapters 11-13 & 16). Chapter 16 - Managing Another User's Calendar was developed especially for QUT and includes instructions to create email rules to manage meeting-related email messages.
Calendar Web Site: The site includes Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), Calendar Terminology, and Tips n Tricks.
Training: Additional Calendar training is being scheduled. Watch the staff development notifications for details.
Please direct all enquiries to the IT Helpdesk (phone: 3138 4000 | email: ithelpdesk@qut.edu.au | web: www.ithelpdesk.qut.edu.au)
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New Scanning Software for Multiple Choice Exam Questions
The software used to scan and analyse multiple choice exam questions has recently been replaced by new software - Scan Tools Plus for scanning and Exam System II for the analysis. There are differences between the new and previous system. These are listed at http://www.ithelpdesk.qut.edu.au/staff/scanning/whatsnew.jsp
The previous software was running on an operating system (VMS) which is being phased out as vendor support for it had been withdrawn. Scan Tools Plus and Exam System II are used by Griffith University and the University of Queensland.
Information about the service is available at http://www.ithelpdesk.qut.edu.au/staff/scanning/
For further information please contact Shirley Neill, Scanning and Data Entry Officer, Integrated Help Services on s.neill@qut.edu.au or phone 3138 1211.
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