April 2015 OET Newsletter

Welcome

Welcome to the inaugural newsletter of the Office of Educational Technology (OET). This monthly newsletter will provide faculty and staff in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) with technology information that helps you to be more productive and protected.

Computer Security Changes

As we increase our reliance on technology, our data is at greater risk. The Office of Educational Technology is implementing the following changes to help protect our computers from dangerous viruses or hackers:

• Software Updates or Installation
• Annual Password Changes
• Automated Logoff

Software Updates or Installation

If you have software updates or new programs for installation, contact OET directly. CEHD computers will no longer permit individual users to install updates. This will help us prevent unintended applications from being installed, including malware such as viruses.

The Office of Educational Technology can install the software remotely, whether you are on or off campus, at no charge. Staff who need to install software for their units on a regular basis, may be granted special administrator rights. In certain circumstances, such as software not running under a standard user login, OET will work with you to implement the best solution.

Annual Password Changes

OET passwords will now expire once a year.  This requirement will limit the length of exposure, if an unauthorized source obtains your password. Over the next few weeks, we will email directions to you for Macintosh and Windows computers at the time you are required to change your password.

Automated Logoff

After 30 minutes of inactivity, computers on the OET domain will log you off and display a password-protected logon screen. You will need to enter your OET user name and password to regain access. This will minimize the risk of an unauthorized person using your session while you are away from your computer.

These changes are being implemented to improve computer security within our College. If you have any questions, please contact OET.

Calling All WordPress Users: Bring Your Lunch!

WordPress users are invited to our first WordPress Users Group meeting on Thursday, May 7, in WHL 207 from 12-1 p.m.  The first topic will be mobile-friendly websites, but if you have any questions relating to your site, stop by and bring your lunch. Refreshments will be available.

Connect Here and Away with Eduroam

Eduroam is a secure wireless network now available at UD.  Developed for the international research and education community, Eduroam provides per-user, per-session network access at any Eduroam campus.  Visitors to UD from other Eduroam institutions (and vice versa) would only need to enter their usual credentials to gain access to the wireless network—no guest access required.

New Projector in 207 WHL

A Dell S520 Interactive Projector has been installed in the back of Frank B. Murray Conference Room, 207 Willard Hall Education Building, for small meetings.  The projector supports touch recognition on Macintosh and Windows computers. Directions on how to use the projector are available on OET’s website.

Protecting PII

To ensure that we are not storing inappropriate personally-identifiable information (PII) on our computers, over the next few weeks, OET technicians will be installing Identity Finder. This is a software application designed to find social security numbers, credit card numbers, and passwords.

Once installed, we ask that you run Identity Finder on your computers. The time a scan takes to complete varies on the amount of data scanned and the speed of your computer.  Identity Finder is very thorough, and you can expect to leave the scan running overnight.  False positives have been minimal.

If found, files with PII should be deleted or encrypted.  The University offers a licensed copy of Identity Finder for faculty-, staff- and University-owned computers.

Create a Word Cloud with our Educational Apps of the Month

Wordle and Tagul are two similar free online tools that you can use to create word clouds using text you provide.  These can be for writing prompts, setting criteria, analyzing speeches, summaries, and comparisons or generating feedback.  Both tools offer options to choose colors, shapes, and directions for your word clouds.

Find Us Tweeting @oethelp

Follow us on Twitter at @oethelp for information on outages, services, apps and educational technology information.  Don’t have a Twitter account?  Then, stay in touch with us at oet-help@udel.edu or (302) 831-8162, or visit our website at www.oet.udel.edu.