Information Technology News Archive

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Sylvia Bass

New OIT Web Site

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website

Last month, OIT introduced a new web site, full of features intended to make it easier for UCI faculty, staff, and students to find the information and services they need. Here is a brief tour of some of those features.

A version of this article with screenshots can be found on the OIT web site.

Services

If you’re looking for information on a particular service, you can browse the services section of the menu bar, or access the services directly from the alphabetical list on the home page. They are organized by category.

Audience Landing Pages

One of the most significant changes is our new Audience Menu at the top of the website.  We have created audience landing pages to make it easier to find OIT services that relevant to various campus audiences. Each link goes to a page with a collection of links relevant to that group (undergraduates, faculty, staff, researchers, etc.)

Homepage Sidebar

Other areas of note are arranged on the right edge of the home page.  Service alerts will advise you when there are issues with a major campus service. There is a convenient set of links with logins to various email, calendar, and file storage services, as well as a collection of links for common needs. There is also a sidebar with links to various forms of assistance.

Website Feedback

Finally, if you have suggestions for improvement to the site (either corrections or additions to a page, or new pages that would be useful to you) there is a feedback gadget on the right side of every page.

iTunes U Courses

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iTunes U has a new feature allowing instructors to create and distribute complete courses featuring audio, video, books, and other content. Students and lifelong learners can experience these courses for free using the iTunes U app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

The iTunes U app gives students access to all the course material in one place. They can play audio, video, read books and view presentations. They can also see a list of all the assignments for the course and check them off once complete.

Instructors use iTunes U Course Manager, a web based tool, to gather all the materials to create the course.

UCI’s OpenCourseWare is an early adopter. Current UCI courses include:

  • Foundations of Public Health, Professor Oladele Ogunseitan
  • Introduction to Cosmology, Professor James Bullock
  • Organic Chemistry,  Professor James Nowick
  • Organic Spectroscopy, Professor James Nowick

iTunes U Course Manager

To learn more and create your own courses on iTunes U, please see our iTunes U for Content Providers page.

Introducing Faculty Websites

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Screenshot - Anechoic Research Facility Home

Example of a Faculty Website

Faculty Websites is a service provided by the Office of Information Technology in collaboration with the academic units. Our goal is to enable UCI Faculty to create a website for themselves or their research lab easily. We are using WordPress, the same technology that runs our Sites@UCI service.

We have customized the Faculty Websites service to make it quick and easy for faculty members to create a website using templates – sample pages ready to be edited. All content creation and editing is done through a web browser and requires no web-development experience. You can authorize other UCI people to help maintain your content.

To see if this service is right for you, read about the benefits and limitations. If you would like to request a website, click the “Request a Website” button on the Faculty Websites homepage.

iTunes U for UCI

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Digital sign

UC Irvine uses Apple’s iTunes U to make podcasts readily available to faculty, staff, and students. Using iTunes U, you can access course content and university information from within iTunes.

To access UCI on iTunes U, you will need to have the latest version of iTunes installed on your Mac or PC computer. You can find UCI’s content in iTunes U by searching for “UC Irvine”, browsing Universities & Colleges, or using the direct link below.

If you have podcasts that you would like to include in UCI’s iTunes U site, you can apply to become a contributor. There are some technical requirements including needing an Apple ID and the Safari web browser (4.0.3 or later). In most cases, your school’s IT support team is available to assist you in using iTunes U.  OIT is also available to those who need advice or expertise beyond the experience of your local support staff. Detailed information is available at OIT’s page for iTunes U content providers.  More general information can be found on OIT’s iTunes U FAQ.

 

Blogging comes to UCI

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Blog ImageOIT offers a campus-wide blogging service to all faculty, staff and graduate students called  “Blogs@UCI“.

Blogs, short for “Web logs”, are a popular method for communicating with the Internet community.  Often taking the form of serial essays, blogs attract like-minded people to read and discuss topics of common interest.

OIT’s blog service offers a quick and convenient local alternative especially suited for connection to the UCI community and oriented toward University business.

Built on the WordPress blog technology, the same technology used to publish IT News, Blogs@UCI uses UCInetIDs for authentication, and offers copious assistance in the FAQ and help files.

Many UCI blogs have already been created. Here are a few examples of what others are publishing using Blogs@UCI:

Currently, only faculty, staff and graduate students can create blogs.  Undergraduate students interested in a blog can work with a faculty or other University sponsor.