Category Archives: News

News

Tech Summer Camps 2016

June 9, 2016 John Mazzarella

Make this the summer you get the tech skills you need to succeed!

Attend Tech Summer Camps 2016, a series of free Tech Training Workshops offered on campus by the IT department. Learn iPad apps, Photoshop, Video Editing, Excel, Powerpoint, Acrobat Pro and more!

Intro to 3D Printing

Get an overview of 3D Printing and 3D Design. Learn how to design 3D models using AudoDesk Fusion and basic operation of UMass Boston’s 3D Printers. You will get to design a simple object and print it out before leaving the class!

Wednesday June 22nd 1-2:30

Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/3dprint16

Adobe Summer Camp

Did you know that faculty and staff get a huge discount on Adobe software? Come to one session or all five to learn how to use these powerful multimedia creation tools!

Monday June 27th 1-3: PDF Creation and Editing with Adobe Acrobat
Tuesday June 28th 1-3: Photo manipulation with Adobe Photoshop
Wednesday June 29th 1-3: Digital Animation with Adobe Animate
Thursday June 30th 1-3: Creating Graphics with Adobe Illustrator
Friday July 1st 1-3: Video Touchups with Adobe After Effects

Learn More and Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/adobe16

iPad Research and Productivity Camp

Come to one day or all five. Learn about iPad apps to create impactful presentations, keep your digital life organized, and improve your research skills. Learn about the iPad’s accessibility tools and apps. iPads will be provided by the Library.

Monday June 20th 10-11: Library Supported Apps & more
Tuesday June 21st 10-11: Database Apps for Research: Gale, EBSCO, PubMed & Census
Wednesday June 22nd 10-11: Accessibility Tools and Apps
Thursday June 23rd 10-11: Apps to Enhance Productivity
Friday June 24th 10-11: Mobile Presentation Tools

Learn More and Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/ipad16

Excel Summer Camp

Learn all about Excel, from basic usage to advanced functions and techniques. Many people know excel by picking it up over the course of years, but taking a comprehensive series like this will truly make you an expert!

Tuesday July 26th P1 1-3: Intro To Excel
Wednesday July 27th 1-3: Charting in Excel
Thursday July 28th 1-3: Excel Database Features
Friday July 29th 1-3: Functions and Formulas in Excel

Learn More and Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/excel16

PowerPoint Summer Camp

Learn about PowerPoint in depth with this short series covering basic and advanced topics that will give your presentation a professional polish.

Tuesday June 21st 1-3: Introduction to PowerPoint
Wednesday June 22nd 1-3: Transitions and Animations
Thursday June 23rd 1-3: Media, Timings, and Effects

★ June 28th, 1-3:
PowerPoint Clinic. Bring a presentations for analysis and discussion about PowerPoint best practices.

Learn More and Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/powerpoint16

UMass Boston Website Summer Camp

Do you have a web editor account to edit your section of the UMass Boston website? If so, this series is for you! Recap all the features, tips, and tricks to make your web content and organization effective and intuitive for your visitors. Learn to track traffic on your page to gauge effectiveness, as well as how to add images to your web pages. You’ll leave from this week with the skills to easily make you’re section of the website amazing!

Monday July 18th 1-2:30: Web Editing Boot Camp Day 1
Tuesday July 19th 1-2: Web Editing Boot Camp Day 2
Wednesday July 20th 1-2: Web Editing Boot Camp Day 3
Thursday July 21st 1-2: Web Editing Boot Camp Day 4 – Siteimprove Reports
Friday July 22nd 1-2:30: Web Editing Boot Camp Day 5 – Web Graphics

★ July 21st, 2-3: Siteimprove Clinic. Come to discuss your specific reporting needs, and how you can get the best metrics for your site.

Learn More and Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/Web16

Blackboard Summer Camp

The eLearning and Instructional Support Team has some exciting events and trainings coming this summer. You can sign up to be notified about future training offerings about Blackboard and other eLearning concepts by filling out the form below.

Sign Up at:
http://UMB.LI/blackboard16

Images are CC+BY+SA. Source images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

News

The 10th Annual Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Technology was a great success!

May 27, 2016 John Mazzarella

Another spring semester draws to a close, and with it comes the annual University Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Technology. Now in it’s 10th year, the conference continues to grant UMass Boston faculty opportunities for sharing strategies and exploring issues that focus on inclusive teaching, learning, and curriculum and technology change in college classrooms.

From discussions of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary content to explorations and applications of it, social interactions help students discover the power of learning as participating and “learning to be.” In a recent Educause Review article, Minds on Fire, John Seely Brown and Richard Adler write about “the importance of social interaction to learning”:

[I]nstead of starting from the Cartesian premise of “I think, therefore I am,” and from the assumption that knowledge is something that is transferred to the student via various pedagogical strategies, the social view of learning says, “We participate, therefore we are.”

Screen Shot 2016-05-27 at 3.28.52 PM — Faculty Award Winners with the Provost, from left to right. Jackie Lageson – Sociology [Community Engaged] Winston Langley – Provost Shoshanna Ehrlich – Women & Gender Studies – [Face-to-Face] Laura Hayden – Counseling and School Psychology – [Online] Andrew Perumal – Economics – [Face-to-Face]

Since 1994, the UMass Boston Center for Innovative Teaching has organized an annual conference on Teaching for Transformation. Beginning in 2011, CIT collaborated with IT/Educational Technology and Healey Library to host the conference collaboratively. The day-long conference included presentations and workshops on a variety of issues that are critical to teaching and learning in a diverse, public institution of higher education. The annual conferences provide opportunities for presenters across different educational institutions in the New England area to explore issues and share strategies that focus on inclusive teaching and curriculum change in college classrooms.

To read more about the day’s activities, visit the 2016 conference program.

News

TechToberFest – The IT Department Presents a Series of Technology Workshops and Events

May 23, 2016 John Mazzarella

TechToberFest– Free tech training activities all semester long!

★ EVENT: Machine Learning with MATLAB

Thursday, October 8, 2015. 1-3 | Integrated Sciences Complex, Room 1400

Machine learning is ubiquitous. Come to learn about several machine learning techniques available in MATLAB. Sign Up for Free »

★ EVENT: i>Clicker: Student Response System

Thursday, October 14, 2015. 11-12 & 1-2 | Integrated Sciences Complex, Room 2003

Learn how i>Clickers provide opportunities for interaction, collaboration, and peer instruction in your class. No registration required! See the Agenda »

• Mobile Apps for Education

Learn how to use some great iPad apps to help with your courses. Prezi, Google Slides, Educreations, and more. See the Classes »

• Graphic Design

Learn how to use professional design software like Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat Pro, plus photography and photo editing. See the Classes »

 • Microsoft Office

Learn the in’s and out’s of Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. Give your documents a professional polish. See the Classes »

• Library Research

Learn the tools to seek, gather, and manage your research information with Zotero, Mendeley and EasyBib. See the Classes »

• Research Computing

Learn about high performance computing resources and services, as well as classes on Linux and Bash shell scripting. See the Classes »

• Blackboard

Engage your students using Blackboard. Post course content, accept & grade assignments online, and use academic integrity tools. See the Classes »

• Statistics

Learn the various tools for statistical analysis, included SPSS, SAS, R, using Excel for statistics, and more. See the Classes »

• Cyber Security

There’s no delete button on the Internet. Is your digital identity secure? Learn how to keep yourself secure online. See the Classes »

There are plenty more topics offered by IT, as well as other departments across campus. See them all at The Training Portal

Want to teach a workshop about a subject you are passionate about? Send an email to ITC@umb.edu and lets talk about it!

News

Wi-Fi will be down for scheduled upgrades May 24th 10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.

May 7, 2016 John Mazzarella

A Wi-Fi service outage is planned Tuesday May 24th 10:00 p.m. until Wednesday May 25th 06:00 a.m.. Network Services will be upgrading code on network equipment which will cause a campus-wide wireless outage. This outage is necessary so that network engineers may introduce newer wireless access points to the campus.

The wired network service will NOT be affected during this outage window so there should not be any interruption in general internet use for the campus community, or in the use of the campus wired networks.

Please plan accordingly. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and we do appreciate your patience.

Questions or concerns may be directed to ITSD Service Desk (617.287.5220, ITServiceDesk@umb.edu)

To get updates on this alert and
see the status of other systems, visit:
umb.edu/it/status

News, Phishing, Security

PHISHING WALL OF SHAME – “Campus Police Security News Umb.Edu”

April 28, 2016 John Mazzarella

Don’t rely on the kindness of scammers!

We all owe a debt of gratitude to today’s scammer for all the clues he gave, warning us we were about to be hustled! However, you can’t rely on obvious signs to protect yourself. Today’s entry was forwarded to IT staff by numerous people on campus:

The email has a link in it. IT Staff were able to investigate this link in a secure way, and saw it directed to a form requesting the user enter their email username and password. Trained IT Staff opened the web page to take the picture below, however you should avoid clicking a link in a suspicious email because it could contain phishing attempts, malicious code, or illegal content, and could cause harm to your computer. Here is the page that these links led to:

“Pippy” was removed
from the logo in 2009.

Let’s list all the ways that this scammer showed us that they are trying to hustle us. The email text is confusing, the sender’s name doesn’t show up in our staff directory, the sender is using a non-umb.edu email address (probably a previous phishing victim), and the logo on the website is about 7 years out of date.

But what’s the number one way we can tell that this page is trying to hustle us? Let’s get a close up of that URL… screenshot of the scammer's url, goonthehustle******.us Yes, the URL of this page actually has “Hustle” in the address!

All that being said, a point that this blog always tries to hammer home is “Never assume a scammer’s stupidity will adequately protect you from their malice.” (If I may adapt Hanlon’s razor…)

What this means is while many attacks are obvious fakes, it’s not hard for a scammer to make a perfect looking email and web page-you can’t depend on an incompetent scammer to keep yourself safe!

Today’s scammer did a poor job, but how could you be sure it’s a fake, even if the attack were a perfect forgery? Check the URL and the certificate!

To contrast, here is the url bar for the real UMass Boston webmail login. First you can see it says “umb.edu/”. But beyond that, we can tell the page has a security certificate from the green icon. If you click on this green icon, you get additional info about its validity.

Note, the certificate icon will look different depending on your browser and operating system. Do some research to find out what you should be seeing on yours.

If you are suspicious of a file, link, website, or email, you can contact the IT department to ask if it may be a scam. Forward a copy of a suspicious email to abuse@umb.edu.

Always remember…

Don’t take the bait! IT will NEVER ask you for your password. Phishing emails attempt to deceive you into giving up your private information by leading you to fraudulent websites. Learn more at:
http://www.umb.edu/it/getting_services/security/phishing/

News

Phishing season in full swing as tax deadline looms

March 15, 2016 John Mazzarella

Associated Press – Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Tax day is a little more than a month away, which means phishing season is in full swing.The IRS says it’s seen a “surge” this year in phishing emails, with thieves baiting special hooks for payroll and human-resources workers in hopes of snagging a company’s entire stash of employee Social Security numbers and other personal information.

Meanwhile, tax-season phishing attacks against individuals are also up. Last month, the IRS said it had seen a quadrupling of phishing- and malware-related incidents for this year’s tax season.

Experts warn that phishing emails often masquerade as legitimate communication from your bank, human resources department or email provider. But in reality, they’re part of a scheme designed to steal the confidential information stored in your computer, or to gain access to the network it’s attached to. And this time of year, that information can be used to file a false tax return.

While people are more aware of the danger of phishing more than ever before, the lures continue to evolve and increase in sophistication, making it tough for the average person to discern which emails are legitimate and which ones aren’t.

To read more visit — http://a.msn.com/r/2/AAgzcgt?a=1&m=EN-US

Event, News

Student Photography Project 2016

February 29, 2016 syedaali001

What role does technology play in the everyday life of UMass Boston students? Throughout last fall, several students created a photo series to explore the relationship of technology to student academic life at UMass Boston. Their work was unveiled on February 17th to a large gathering of staff and students.

All of us are witnesses (and victims) to family dinners that are less of good ol’ family time and more of a iphone/android fiesta. In a world developing so rapidly, technology has now almost become a basic necessity for survival. We all enjoy downloading a new game on our phones or laptops, browsing the internet and even our daily communication is now through text messages, calls, emails and social applications (Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter). Long gone are the days of telegrams, letter writing and telephone calls. The highest number of consumers of technology are the developing generations. That said, technology does have its perks other than its negative demeanor of getting us addicted to it. It serves as the main research tool for students in universities nowadays.

To see the positive impact of technology in the UMass Boston community, the Student Photography Project was initiated by the IT Learning Commons and lead by three staff members: Lisa Link, Trieu Ly and Mary Simone.

Four students were selected to photograph instances where technology was being used around campus. Ivis Fiallo, Likhita Mallavaram, Long Ding and Shilpa Bhambhwani trained with staff leaders of the project. They practiced capturing pictures from various angles, in different lighting and seeking guidance from previous student volunteers. Each student had a different connection with photography.

Ivis, Long, Likhita and Shilpa standing in front of the photo display — Ivis, Long, Likhita and Shilpa

Long Ding said “I started photography to show the beauty of Tibetan culture. As a child I always went to monasteries and couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the architecture” , while Shilpa explained how she had no experience of photography in the past, “I took this project up because I felt I needed to learn the skills required for photography, I use it on a daily basis and I saw this as a great opportunity to learn” she also exclaimed that she was interested in capturing the effects of technology in our day-to- day lives to show the significance it holds; not just in a students life, but in everybody’s.

Shilpa explained, “My picture is a blend of technology as well as the traditional method of using books” She was very much concerned with how the transition from paper to screen has yet not ended and how many people still use books. The rest of the pictures showcased the same idea of how technology has an impact over campus and even in the libraries. They showed the advancement of the learning tools on campus and how technological gadgets are accessible to us throughout our lives.

The students shared a warm relationship with Mary, Lisa and Trieu. One of the students even excitedly exclaimed “Lisa let us use her camera! How cool is that?”, making the project more enjoyable for the students, “It was such a great learning experience” said one student. Trieu (one of the leaders of the project) explained how Ivis, Shilpa, Likhita and Long helped IT to learn more about technology on campus and that they look forward to having more events like this, perhaps one every semester. Every interviewee at the event confirmed how technology plays a very big part in our every day lives. We keep ourselves up to date with the newest software, phones and laptops. He said the students have done a lovely job both those from last year as well as this year. “Their pictures are unique and meaningful”, he said.

The IT department looks forward to conducting more events like these for student and staff engagement. Cheers to Ivis, Likhita, Shilpa, Dong, Mary, Lisa and Trieu, who made this event successful!

News

IT and Microsoft Staff spread the word about Free Microsoft Office!

November 16, 2015 John Mazzarella

Did you know that all UMass Boston Faculty, Staff, and Students get access to Microsoft Office for FREE? That’s Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more, not just for Mac and PC, but also for your cell phone and tablet — install it on up to 5 different devices!

On November 5th, Microsoft employees visited UMass Boston, and with a few IT staffers, set up shop outside the Campus Center Cafeteria to help students install Office software on their laptops and mobile devices.

Over a few hours, around 150 students stopped by to ask questions, get assistance, pick up a free t-shirt, and learn about this great service.

Did you miss the event? Don’t fret!
You can learn more about installing Microsoft office for FREE at:

http://umb.edu/it/Office

News

In Brightest Day, in Bluest Screen… – IT Service Desk Halloween Costumes

October 30, 2015 John Mazzarella

Zap! Pow! Spoon!

Got a problem with your computer, phone, or UMB web service?

Service Desk Assemble!

20151030_085136 — Holy Help Desk, Batman!

The brave men and women at the IT Service Desk are here to fight the never-ending battle for internet access, cyber security, and the good customer service way!

This looks like a job for the IT Service Desk!

Walk-in: IT Service Desk – 3rd floor Healey Library
Email: ITServiceDesk@umb.edu
Phone: 617.287.5220
Password Reset: MyPassword.umb.edu

Spoon!

News

Notice: New look for WISER, HR Direct and other secure login websites

October 21, 2015 John Mazzarella

On October 26th, the appearance of the UMass secure login page will change. This page is used to access WISER, HR Direct and other secure web applications.

The new appearance, shown below, will size to fit screens of any size and be accessible on both your computer and mobile device. Nothing else will change, your same password will work as before.

To confirm you are on a trusted, secure page, look for the lock icon in your address bar. This icon will look different depending on the browser and operating system you use. Below are a few examples of what you might see.

If you have any questions, contact the IT Service Desk – (617) 287-5220 | ITServiceDesk@umb.edu

Make this the summer you get the tech skills you need to succeed!

To get updates on this alert and see the status of other systems, visit: umb.edu/it/status

This looks like a job for the IT Service Desk!

To get updates on this alert and
see the status of other systems, visit:
umb.edu/it/status