New Technologies Provide More Access, Connections for UC Community

As a new school year begins, a spate of cutting-edge technology services is helping UC faculty, staff and students connect with each other, reach joint goals and share information like never before.

High-Tech Faculty Orientation Offers Personalized, Convenient Service

Beginning Sept. 1, new faculty hired at the University of Cincinnati have the ability to participate, at their own convenience, in an employee orientation through the Human Resources Department’s new online program designed specifically for them.

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E-Classrooms, Cloud Computing and Lecture Podcasts

Students and instructors will find even more state-of-the-art classrooms available to them this year, as UC continues its effort to convert all of its centrally scheduled classrooms to full electronic status. In addition, UCit is currently exploring ways to extend cloud computing, which consists of Internet-based and shared resources, software and information, beyond the network file storage already provided by UCFileSpace.

Also new this year is the UC Lecture Capture Service (UCLCS), available in 28 classrooms across campus. Using Apple's Podcast Producer server software, this new service automatically records a classroom's projector video and instructor audio, based on the class schedule for the course. At the end of the class, the recording is submitted to the UCLCS servers for processing and delivery as a podcast, available for students to download from Blackboard or iTunes.

Learn more about these services

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Blackboard 9.0 Offers Options for Students and Faculty to Connect

Blackboard is the primary online connection between UC faculty and students for course information. With the recent update to version 9.0, not only does Blackboard have a new look, it also has added functions, including student blogs, enhanced workspace for collaboration and a notifications dashboard with new content information and other alerts.

For more information about Blackboard, please visit the Help site at

http://blackboard.uc.edu/help

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E-Collaborate with SharePoint 2010

UC employees can collaborate in whole new ways through SharePoint, a Web-based solution for groups to post, share and collaborate on documents from anywhere they have access to the Internet and the UC system. Built-in features include the following: A version history that allows the user to revert to a previous version if undesired changes were made; a central, easy-to-use and customizable homepage that allows users to share information such as calendar events, links and discussion boards; the ability to set permission levels for users and a powerful search that finds documents quickly.

UCit began offering hosting services for SharePoint five years ago. In May, UC upgraded to SharePoint 2007, which features an improved search function, better interaction with Microsoft Office products and social networking functionality for users to interact with one another. In September, SharePoint 2010 will be available, which promises to offer sounder records management capabilities and improved interaction with non-Microsoft browsers, such as Safari and Firefox.

To learn more about SharePoint 2010, contact Gary.Grafe@uc.edu.