Time Donut Tool Shows What Really Is Time Consuming New UMBC tool helps manage time for college students
Attending class, doing homework, joining student organizations, and working at internships all have one thing in common; they take up student’s time. Ever wondered if you could better manage your time but didn't have the tool available to find out? Enter the Time Donut, a new tool, mobile friendly tool developed through the STEM Transfer Student Success Initiative. Although initially developed for STEM majors, the tool is available for all to use and can be also found on the advising UMBC website. 

UMBC’s Time Donut tool helps students track what they are doing by visualizing their time through data using emerging web technologies including HTML5 and D3.js. Students simply enter the expected number of hours spent into four categories -- academic, work, health and personal -- while specifying daily or weekly versions of the time donut. 

Bryan Lee, IT Projects Coordinator, said “We see students putting too much on their plate, they have to either withdraw, get an incomplete, or even worse fail the class because they realized they took too big of a bite.” 

The time donut tool can show if that  happening. As you enter in your expected hours, the donut alerts you when you go over and says “Whoops! Adjust your time allotments.” As you get closer to your time allotments, the donut alerts you and says “Doing great! You still have time.” 

Also available is a Weekly Activities Worksheet of the time donut for those who don’t know how much time they spend in each category. The worksheet helps you figure out your totals for the week which you can then enter into the weekly time donut or enter your averages into the daily Time Donut. 
                                
“This is for those who are looking to improve on their time management skills,” says Lee “Time management skills are really important in the professional world and honing in on these skills will really help.” 

Why is it called a time donut?  Lee says “Well, it started with the name of the type of data visualization, 'donut chart'. And since we were using the chart to illustrate total number of hours, we combined the two ideas and came up with Time Donut and it just stuck."

As a student goes through and sees there isn’t that much time in the day, they realize that taking 21 credits with a part time job along with balancing student organizations might not be the best course of action. 

The time donut is a useful tool for anyone who needs help with time management. “Play around with it, see what works and doesn’t work.” says Lee, “You might find that the amount of hours you spend you could actually be doing more.”
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The “UMBC Campus” wireless network will transition to a much more improved network: eduroam. The network provides encrypted traffic for any device you use and features a one time setup process that can be used on any campus that supports eduroam, not just UMBC. UMBC will discontinue the UMBC Campus WiFi SSID name later in calendar year 2015. Eduroam is supported on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. 

1. Availability: Originally developed in Europe, eduroam also supports people in higher education using wireless networks at other higher education institutions. Eduroam has expanded beyond the 1900 institutions using it in Europe to include over 30 countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United States. So any UMBC student, faculty or staff member traveling abroad can use their UMBC email address and password to access WiFi around the world. In Maryland, UMCP, Loyola, University of Baltimore, and JHU have implemented eduroam and you can use their WiFi when visiting those campus.

2. Quick and easy: Damian Doyle, Director of Enterprise Infrastructure and Support, thinks eduroam is great for students. When asked about the main advantages, he said “eduroam can remember your login information allowing your device to automatically connect to the wireless network.” Setup for eduroam usually takes less than 5 minutes and once set up, the network works flawlessly. 

3. Security: Eduroam provides a higher level of security than conventional, unencrypted wireless. When students use eduroam, all traffic between their devices and the wireless access point is encrypted using WPA2 providing another reason students should switch to eduroam sooner rather than later. 

It’s not just Doyle who likes eduroam, UMBC students like it too. Aaron David, a senior computer engineer said “I mainly use eduroam since I only have to log in once on a device and then it will automatically connect and authenticate for me from then on. Also, it is encrypted whereas UMBC Visitor and UMBC Campus aren’t.”

Students who need help during the setup process can consult the UMBC FAQ on eduroam. The process however is relatively simple. “In most of our experience connecting to eduroam is fairly straightforward,” Doyle said. “We have a set of videos and tools available on the DoIT website that help people connect. The main issue is that people have to put in the entire username with domain name, so damian@umbc.edu, not just damian,”


“I honestly didn’t use eduroam at first because I didn’t feel like going through the setup process on all of my devices,” said David “but it really isn’t difficult to set up and once it is, you can just forget it and it works.”

UMBC students can connect to an upgraded network, all for free. The transition should be smooth and seamless as Doyle said “ In general we are planning on working through publications, the department IT staff and the Office of Residential life to try and spread the word to migrate folks to eduroam.”

Thumbnail Photo by Dylan Nathan 
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The new redesigned UMBC app is now available for download in the Apple App Store for free and requires iOS 7.0 or later. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. The Android version of the app will launch later this Summer. 
 
If you have a UMBC account, you can log into the app for personalized content. After logging in once, when you return to the app, you can use Apple’s Touch ID or a 4-digit PIN to quickly log in again. If you don’t have an account, you can still access all the features in the app as a guest.  Note that people using DUO second factor authentication cannot log into the app at this time. This will be corrected in a future update.

Once inside, the app has four distinct tabs -- Home, Search, Places, and Events -- to help you find what you are looking for. Home features the latest updates from both myUMBC and the UMBC homepage. With a simple arrow toggle, you can switch between both sites easily. You can also share any content by tapping the three dots in the top right of the app and then tapping copy link which automatically adds the link to your clipboard.

Search features an adaptive search engine, allowing for results from many UMBC sites such as the UMBC directory, groups, departments, and the UMBC FAQs. Collier Jones, lead architect for myUMBC, said “You don’t have to know what you are looking for, we’ll try to help [with universal searching]” 


When you first open the Search tab, there is a recent section for your past searches and a trending section that shows resources others are looking for. Your favorites are underneath trending, and anything you favorite on the web version of myUMBC automatically appear in the app. Also included is a QR code scanner that can scan posters and signs around campus.

Places provides hours, offices, maps and upcoming events for all the places around you. Need to navigate around campus? Google Maps is integrated in helping you navigate to any location on campus. Along with a Building Directory that allows you to search for all buildings including student housing and lecture halls found on campus, there is also a transit tracker that shows all the routes currently in service.

Events lets users see what's happening right now, along with upcoming events. You can also browse different event calendars such as Arts & Culture and the Athletics calendar for all the upcoming games. 

Jones said that the app is designed to be really simple, and will be updated with more features making it more even more robust in the future. 


Thumbnail Photo by Dylan Nathan
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Once a year Blackboard hosts the BbWorld conference over four days for faculty, students, administrators, instructional technology specialists, training professionals, developers, and system administrators. In 2015, the conference is in Washington, D.C. from July 20-23.

This year, Blackboard introduces the virtual conference experience -- a free opportunity to faculty, students, staff, and others to follow all of the keynotes featuring youth advocate Adora Svitak, flipped classroom expert Aaron Sams, and technology innovator Peter Diamandis. The virtual conference will also provide attendees with access to industry insights and Blackboard roadmap sessions -- including a sneak peak at Blackboard Ultra, the next major release!

Virtual participants can customize the online experience by following one of five tracks aligned with their professional role. 
  • DevCon - Especially for Developers, System Administrators, and other IT professionals, this track dives into the technical aspects of digital learning, including new technologies and future product plans
  • Today’s Learners - Learn about the real-world challenges facing students today. Student leaders will describe in their own words how they’re aligning future hopes with near-term education decisions.
  • K-12 - Explore the challenges facing K-12 executive and district leaders today, such as digital transformation, engaging parents to improve student outcomes, and keeping pace with emerging technologies.
  • Higher Education - This track highlights case studies, lessons learned, and new technology strategies for delivering education that’s more effective, more efficient, and more accessible to all students.
  • Professional Education - Employee engagement and effective training are critical to bottom line results. In this track you’ll learn about technology strategies for increasing the reach, efficiency, and return on your training investments.
Additionally, the virtual conference will provide interactive chat, on demand case studies, and session replays. 

DoIT will present twice at the Bb World conference:
  • "A Peek Behind the UMBC Analytics Curtain," John Fritz and Kevin Joseph
  • "Sous Chefs & Apprentices: Mentoring & Training Future Blackboard Experts," Mariann Hawken & Holly Bielak (with Dr. Katrina Kardiasmenos, Bowie State University)
Register today for BbWorld Live or register to attend Bb World in person. During the conference, follow social media via Twitter hashtags #BbWorldLive or #BbWorld15.
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Used by more than 5,000 students, UMBC has standardized its student response system, or “clickers,” on the Turning Technologies  platform. This systems supports instant student feedback to questions posed by faculty in the classroom, which can be integrated into PowerPoint presentations or faculty can asked questions on the fly. The results display of all student responses and allows the instructor to tailor instructor based on what students do (or don’t) understand before moving on to new content. Turning Point  also integrates with Blackboard so that instructors can access participant list of registered users and send grades to the gradebook. Using the clickers is a great way to engage your students and assess their knowledge of course content.


To learn more about using the Turning Point Clickers:


]]> Used by more than 5,000 students, UMBC has standardized its student response system, or “clickers,” on the Turning Technologies  platform. This systems supports instant student feedback to... https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/52481/guest@my.umbc.edu/2ec89023d9be8a3465c1e3c224913d13/api/pixel clickers turningpoint turningtechnologies Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doit https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/original.JPG?1727453227 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/large.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/medium.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/small.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxsmall.png?1727453227 Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/xxlarge.jpg?1435592644 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/xlarge.jpg?1435592644 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/large.jpg?1435592644 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/medium.jpg?1435592644 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/small.jpg?1435592644 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/xsmall.jpg?1435592644 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/481/9f4893b1a3d6ea138951c96663bdd3ed/xxsmall.jpg?1435592644 0 0 true Tue, 30 Jun 2015 11:55:49 -0400 Tue, 30 Jun 2015 15:44:10 -0400 Meet TSC Senior Student Consultant Christian Oyson A look into everyday life at the Technology Support Center

For over a year, Christian Oyson has worked Tier 1 support for the Technology Support Center (TSC) here at UMBC, providing assistance to students, faculty and staff. Oyson, a senior majoring in Informations Systems with a minor in Computer Science, started out at the TSC in summer 2014 as a student consultant. On a daily basis, the TSC gets a variety of calls ranging from user accounts, computer issues, phones, to internet complications and blackboard assistance. “If it’s anything technology related, we can try to assist you.” says Oyson. 

On average, working at the TSC fluctuates depending on the hour and how many people are on duty. During a regular semester, there are two to three students working at a time and get about ten calls per shift. “Most people that call us do tend to be friendly,” says Oyson “but sometimes we can get calls from people frustrated on their issue and we do what we can to keep them calm while assessing the situation.”

Not all calls lead to a complex solution. Oyson recalls one call he had that was a simple fix involving a user who could not turn on their computer even though everything appeared fine. He had asked them if the computer was plugged in securely to an outlet, to which the user replied that it was plugged into a power strip. Oyson then followed up with his question and asked if the power strip was turned on, something the user did not think of. “The next thing I hear on the phone were happy cheers and sighs of relief.” Oyson said “I guess the saying "Try turning it on and off again" does come in handy.”

Not every call is as easy, and when it is really busy, such as during the first few weeks in the beginning of the semester or during a campus wide situation, the TSC springs into action. Oyson says “If it gets extremely busy, all hands on deck. Depending on how many are on duty, we have a rotation system determining who takes the call, but if things get really busy, then whoever is available has the call.” 

Joining the TSC can be a great opportunity to break into the tech field and boost your communication skills according to Oyson. He mentions that starting out is challenging, but it gets easier as it goes on. “At the TSC, we talk to people from all walks of life: Old and young, tech experts and novices, and people from around the world.” Oyson says “You really don't know who you are talking to until you answer the call. With that said in mind, be ready and familiar with various approaches on how to tackle on a situation.”

Oyson will continue his work at the TSC through the upcoming fall semester. “I plan to continue working this position until I graduate in the spring of 2016 gaining as much knowledge and experience I can in preparation for the IT career ahead of me” Oyson said.
]]> For over a year, Christian Oyson has worked Tier 1 support for the Technology Support Center (TSC) here at UMBC, providing assistance to students, faculty and staff. Oyson, a senior majoring in... https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/52406/guest@my.umbc.edu/d213f6253b9e8ceea39b4dfe3e7ea238/api/pixel support technology tsc umbc Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doit https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/original.JPG?1727453227 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/large.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/medium.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/small.png?1727453227 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxsmall.png?1727453227 Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/xxlarge.jpg?1435152590 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/xlarge.jpg?1435152590 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/large.jpg?1435152590 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/medium.jpg?1435152590 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/small.jpg?1435152590 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/xsmall.jpg?1435152590 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/052/406/b1d7959d1b4710b34a65cb11b403db66/xxsmall.jpg?1435152590 14 2 true Wed, 24 Jun 2015 09:43:54 -0400 Kudos to Tom Penniston on New Book Chapter

DoIT would like to recognize its own Tom Penniston on the publication of the book chapter “Service Learning and the Acquisition of Social Capital in the Community College Setting.” For this project, Penniston and co-author Amy Pucino conducted interview research to investigate how service-learning participation helps community-college students develop formal and informal relationships and access resources, such as letters of recommendation.

The findings of the research highlight the connections students forge through participation in service-learning. “When students stepped out of their comfort zones, they were able to build and connect with social capital, which may be of special importance to community-college students” (Pucino & Penniston 2014). Penniston, who earned his Ph.D. from UMBC in 2014, believes these experiences support students’ academic and professional success.

You can check out the complete book here.
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The UMBC Directory Search offers a browse by department feature that shows people affiliated with a university department. At times, people may incorrectly appear as part of a department, so it’s important to keep the directory updated as correcting this problem depends on the person’s affiliation with UMBC. 

To navigate to the directory listings page, log in to myUMBC and mouse over your name, on the drop down menu click profile and then navigate to Online/Print Directory Info link at the bottom. If you do not see your department listed, submit a ticket with the UMBC Technology Support Center to have it made available.

Damian Doyle, Director of Enterprise Infrastructure and Support says “The process is quick and easy, it only takes a minute and is intuitive once you are on the page.” Actions such as removing a former employee or updating a job title are quick and easy, and require only a minimum amount of steps. 

“As people are searching for who to contact across campus it can be very frustrating for parents/students and other faculty and staff if information in the directory is inaccurate and leads people on wild goose chases,” says Doyle.
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Blackboard Instant Messenger (IM) is an academic-centric instant collaboration app designed to promote learning and support virtual group work. Blackboard IM synchronizes with our Blackboard Learn course enrollments, which means that students are automatically connected with other Blackboard IM users enrolled in the same courses. 

Blackboard IM includes a range of features to allow everyone to collaborate and communicate quickly and easily.
  • Chat via keyboard to communicate quickly and efficiently with your classmates
  • Call via audio or video for more natural communication with one-on-one or group conversations
  • Collaborate in real time to share ideas with others
  • Screen Share for real-time display of any document or application on your computer
  • Use whiteboard tools to annotate PowerPoint and images
Faculty and departments can use Blackboard IM to set up virtual office hours and virtual support centers, allowing queues for individualized attention.

Blackboard IM is similar to many other instant messaging tools including Skype, Google Talk, AIM, Windows Live, etc., however, Blackboard IM is fully integrated into the Blackboard Learn system. Each semester, courses will synchronize and provide a robust contact list. There's no need to figure out what app to use for chatting or keep track of everyone's logins and handles -- Blackboard IM will be ready! Just login and start collaborating. 

Need to work on a big group project? Practice a presentation with a partner? Study with a classmate for a test? Try the new virtual study spaces option through Blackboard IM.

To access Blackboard IM:
  • Log into Blackboard and access the My Blackboard dashboard
  • Log into any SU2015 or later course. Click on Tools -> Blackboard IM.
For more information about Blackboard IM, please check out the FAQs or open an RT ticket.
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We wanted to remind everyone that on Saturday June 13th around 8am we will be migrating the main campus website environment so it is running on new hardware and software. This past fall an emergency preparedness exercise was conducted by the campus and it became clear that in the event of an emergency one of our main methods of communications, the campus web server, would be unable to respond to the demands placed on it. The new web environment will be running a modern set of web protocols and the infrastructure will be able to scale and meet the demands of the campus moving forward.


To help prepare for this transition we have been working with OIA to test compatibility between the main website as well as some of the departmental websites hosted on the main campus web server. We have been working with various departmental web administrators throughout the campus to help make this transition as smooth as possible. 


If you notice any issues after the upgrade please either contact your department's web administrator or open a RT ticket at http://rt.umbc.edu.


Thank You

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