ITS Meeting Minutes - 10-24-02
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Academic Computing Lab presented by Lucy Bowen

The ACL has released its training session schedule for the semester. Students, staff and faculty are welcome to attend. RSVP via the web site.

NT accounts are still being created in the ACL. Response has been good but overall only about 50% of the student body has activated their account. Instructors may want to encourage students to create these accounts since they will be required for lab and general computer access on campus.

General software evaluation requests for the Spring semester are being accepted now. The ACL and TTLC staff are attempting to identify and evaluate software being shipped with some textbook titles. Testing is for compatibility with lab PCs. Contact Lucy Bowen or Eric Nathan for more information.

W.I. Dykes Library presented by Tracy Williams

The library would like to remind the faculty and students of its customized info services for WebCT and ITV courses. Librarians are available for scheduled chat sessions and to monitor discussion board postings for class projects as well as hosting an informational session for an ITV class.

Reference questions can be posted to the library via the "Ask a Reference Question" web page.

The Wall Street Journal and American Periodical Series have been approved for purchase and will soon be added to the electronic resources available in the Library.

Net Tutor discussion presented by Mark Henderson

Net Tutor is a math symbol compliant whiteboard utility. This utility is being evaluated for compatibility and use with the University. Additional options are also being researched. The current solution for online math topics is the new equation editor integrated with WebCT.

Satellite Downlink for ADA Compatibility presented by Rhonda Steedman

The downlink was a 2 hour program focused on ADA issues & university compliance with section 508 and general ADA compliance. Major concerns were raised with compliance in regard to Publisher ePacks for WebCT. UHD has developed a review process for ePack evaluation and compliance testing. Contact Rhonda or TTLC for more information on ePack evaluation. Software for ADA compliance testing is also being evaluated. A video tape of the presentation is available from the Multimedia Department.

IT Planning presented by Hossein Shahrokhi

Student web-based email accounts are in development. Additional tools like an online grade book and email distribution lists are also in the planning and research phase of development.

General Discussion

Dr. Chen from Urban Education addressed the concern for computer labs and software in the new building. Discussion on the topic revealed that funding is still being discussed for these issues.

Erin Mayer opened discussion about partially online (hybrid) classes freeing up university classroom space.

A brown bag lunch is tentatively scheduled for November 4th to discuss the topic of plagiarism in today's electronic classroom age. Additional information will be announced.

Supplemental Information

NIST UNVEILS DEVICE FOR BLIND TO UNDERSTAND IMAGES

Functioning like a sophisticated, novelty-store "bed of nails," a new device developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) allows the blind and visually impaired to "see" images. The device has 3,600 pins, about 10 per square inch, that are raised and lowered to mimic images, allowing users to feel what the image looks like. Officials from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), which will test the device, praised it, saying that it has the potential to empower blind people in ways that were previously unavailable. Other devices function similarly but cost around $40,000, said John Roberts of NIST. Early versions of the new device should cost about $2,000, and the price should drop later, he said. A representative of the NFB said the device could prove especially beneficial for educational purposes because of the wide gap between written and image-based information. United Press International, 24 October 2002 (if you want to visit the site, free registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/590039p-4591647c.html