October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month around the country, and Communications and Infrastructure Services staff from IT Services spent the month educating the UMass Boston Community on this important issue. The focuses of the education efforts were Phishing, Ransomware, and Passphrases. A series of poster designs were created and located around campus, and also sent out to Faculty and Staff by email. Additionally, IT Security staff held “Information Sessions” in the Campus Center for to help spread the word on easy ways to stay safe online.

To provide pervasive Wi-Fi connectivity on campus, ITS/CIS staff have dramatically improved the network by replacing and tuning over 1000 access points on campus! This includes replacing the hardware with next-generation equipment, and configuring load groups to meet the demands of crowded areas such as cafeteria, large classrooms, and event spaces. The major enhancements provide improved and ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage within the academic buildings, including the on-campus outdoor bus stops but excluding stairwells and bathrooms. In addition, a high availability backbone network has been architected and implemented to sustain the Wi-Fi uptime and its quality of service. IT Services started the semester with a large communications campaign to let the community know about these improvements, and requesting anyone still experiencing problems to get in touch for quick help. The message of these communications was that IT Services is committed to providing 100% Wi-Fi coverage for every indoor learning, working, and recreation space on campus!

.

UMass Boston now has five 3D printers, free to use for all Faculty, Staff, and Students, at the brand new UMass Boston MakerSpace! On October 12th and 13th, the MakerSpace was visited by the Provost, the CIO, and many faculty and students all eager to learn about the possibilities of this new technology. Students quickly started designing and printing small organs, gears, pieces to build objects, etc., while faculty and staff excitedly discussed how to incorporate the lab into their curriculum. Three professors are already making use of the MakerSpace for their classes in the month after it’s opening, including a Biology class where students will be designing and printing replicas of livers, stomachs, and hearts! The UMass Boston Makerspace is a collaboration between School for the Environment, Department of Engineering, and Information Technology Services.

The heroes at the IT Service Desk save the day all year round, but it’s not until Halloween that we can see what true superheros they are!

By Ellen Foust, VoiceThread Consultant/Trainer

On May 4, the eLearning and Instructional Support Team hosted the first in a series of VoiceThread Lunch & Learn events. Voicethread is an interactive multimedia tool in Blackboard that lets you upload pictures and videos for you and your students to leave recorded audio comments and listen to each other’s comments.

With this tool, you can create online speaking and listening opportunities for your students to get more practice outside of the classroom. Future Lunch & Learn events will showcase use of VoiceThread by other departments besides languages, including use for group projects, to replace text-based discussions, to create video introductions to weekly modules, and more!

Over a light lunch, a full room of language faculty learned from their fellow faculty presenters, including Tracy Brown, ESL; Gretchen Umholtz, Greek; Katharina Loew, German; and Jim Dobreff, Latin. Instructors shared how they incorporate VoiceThread into their face-to-face and fully online courses, and they had an engaging discussions about the possibilities this tool provides.

Do you want to see how VoiceThread can increase the engaging interactive activities for your students? Get in touch with Ellen Foust, VoiceThread Consultant, by emailing ellen.foust@umb.edu.