IT News
Spring 2009
Division of Information Technology
Second Phase of EagleMail
Information
Technology
EagleMail provides new
collaboration tools
Help Desk
By Anna Martel
Regular Spring/Summer
Hours
M-F 8:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m.
Call Us
734-487-2120
Visit Us
106 Halle Library
Email Us
it.helpdesk@emich.edu
In this issue:
Second Phase of
EagleMail
1
Phishing Reminder
1
EagleMail, the new e-mail
system launched in October, is entering its second
phase with added features for users. A pilot
version of the new functions ran in February,
and many of the new applications were released
to the University community at the end of March.
A main aspect of this second phase is the ability of
users to share documents
with other users through
the Documents and Briefcase tabs. The EagleMail
Documents feature contains a program for word
processing and for the
creation of spreadsheets.
This allows users to create documents and share
Phishing Reminder...
IT Governance
2
Faculty Spotlight
3
Emergency Alerts
4
IT Lab Locations
4
IT Mission
Statement
4
No one from the Division
of Information Technology, including IT Help
Desk staff, will ever ask
you to provide your
password either in person, over the phone, or
via email. Should you
receive an email message asking you to reply
with your username and
password—EVEN IF
THE MESSAGE LOOKS
LEGITIMATE—just delete it without replying.
them with other EagleMail users without e-mail
attachments and
downloads. Documents
created with this function
can be shared with large
groups, such as a class or
workgroup.
With the EagleMail Briefcase feature, users are
also able to upload documents from other programs, such as Microsoft
Word or Excel. Not only
can these files be shared,
but files also can be uploaded to the Briefcase for
later retrieval when traveling between computers.
Another feature that is
now available is the ability to share e-mail folders
and address books with
other users. Finally the
EagleMail Tasks function
allows users to create and
share “to-do” lists, with
start and end dates.
The Division of IT is holding demonstration and
training sessions to introduce EagleMail users to
these second-phase additions. For more information on these training
sessions, go to http://
emich.edu/eaglemail.
Reference guides about
the new applications and
instructions for common
tasks are available at
http://www.emich.edu/
training/email.
EagleMail calendaring will
be rolled out following the
pilot later this spring.
Details, schedule, information sessions and
training for the new calendaring interface will be
available later in the
spring.
EMU on iTunes U
The Division of IT is excited about the Winter 2009 launch
of EMU on iTunes U. In the Spring of 2008, IT and
the Marketing Department joined forces to
provide the university with a scalable system
for podcasts through iTunes U, a component
of Apple’s iTunes Store. A committee was
formed of individuals across campus that
represented talents of faculty, staff and
students. After a year’s endeavor, EMU on
iTunes U launched its public face with over
100 podcasts and within the
first week The Honors College
Star Lecture Series Album was
featured on the iTunes U home
page. Learn more and how to
access EMU’s podcasts at
http://emich.edu/itunesu.
Page 2
IT News
IT Governance
IT planning gets underway
Information technology (IT) can attract and retain students, faculty, staff and external support, improve the
quality of University services, and allow University personnel to work more efficiently. To realize benefits like
these, EMU established a governance structure (see figure below) for using IT effectively to advance academic
and non-academic programs. The structure reflects the need to engage individuals at all levels of the University in identifying needs, strategies and initiatives that will strengthen programs and provide it with competitive advantages.
IT governance is not
about information technology per se. Instead,
IT governance is about
advancing teaching,
learning, scholarship,
and university services
with technology.
To keep focused, members of EMU’s IT steering and advisory committees are adhering to
these three guiding
principles:
1. Provide EMU with Competitive Advantages
Rationale: EMU must identify strategic IT goals and initiatives that will provide the University with a competitive advantage in attracting, students, faculty, staff and external support. By using IT strategically,
EMU can achieve its vision for outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs, maximizing student and
faculty success, and contributing to the growth of the regions it serves.
2. Improve the Quality of University Services
Rationale: Information technology has the potential to streamline processes and make it easier for individuals to interact with EMU in a variety of ways. For example, automating workflow, the sequence of actions
needed to complete processes, has the potential to significantly improve the quality of EMU’s services.
Maximizing self-service also can improve services by enabling individuals to access systems and information at their convenience. High quality services attract and retain students, faculty, staff and external support to enhance satisfaction and develop loyalty.
3. Promote Efficiency and Collaboration
Rationale: EMU requires creative ways to respond to the state’s economic troubles, and is not alone as evidenced by the number of recent research reports
focused on how institutions are dealing with IT funding during times of decreasing resources. Universities nationwide are using strategies such as renegotiating
contracts, eliminating redundancies, creating consortia to share IT resources,
and simplifying their IT environments.
EMU’s IT governance advisory committees will begin work in May, charged with
proposing initiatives that adhere to the University’s guiding principles for IT and
supporting EMU’s strategic goals to:
1.
Be recognized for strong undergraduate and graduate academic programs
2.
Maximize the student experience
3.
Maximize faculty and staff success
4.
Support a sustainable, safe, and student‐focused learning and work environment
5.
Ensure financial stability
6.
Be recognized for service and public engagement
Dr. Connie Schaffer
Interim Chief Information Officer
Spring 2009
Page 3
Faculty Spotlight
Cross Cultural Understanding
through Text and Images
By Angela Ahlijian
Technology is an integral part of
today’s global society. During the
past two decades we went from using desktop computers to connect to
the Internet to accessing it with
mobile hand held wireless devices.
Instead of going to the library to find
answers to all our questions, we use
search engines like Google to find
answers on sites like Wikipedia. We
find individuals who share our interests and build social networks in
sites like Facebook. Because of this,
educators must be prepared for the
impact of technology on the world’s
educational environment more than
ever before. According to Guey-Meei
Yang, Ph.D., an Associate Professor
of Visual Arts Education at Eastern
Michigan University, technology
helps bridge the gap between people
and their cultural differences.
Dr. Yang says, “A lot of people think
that you cannot have a true crosscultural understanding unless you
parachute the
students to
‘This multianother counnarrative podcast try, but I disagree with
showed the great that.” Dr. Yang
believes techpotential
nology is a
great tool that
technology can
acts as a meplay in enriching dium facilitating two cultures so they
the learning
could better
experience.’
understand
their cultural
differences. Technology has the
unique ability to virtually transport
a person half way around the world
without a person having to be
physically present. She has created
a project that exemplifies this idea.
The project conducted by Dr. Yang
in 2003 called, “Cross Cultural Understanding through Text and Images” was inspired by her experience teaching in the United States,
whose culture was unfamiliar to
her. She taught two classes in Taiwan and one at EMU simultaneously. Students in each class were
instructed to draw dragons and
write short stories about the images
they illustrated. After the project
was completed, all three classes
compared their notes and discussed
the differences in their images as
well as their basic understanding of
dragons. This was all made possible
by using an online Course Management System (CMS). The CMS allowed students to post assignments
and other information online for
classmates and instructors to view.
It also acted as a type of social networking site that allowed students
to upload photos as well as write
about hobbies and personal interests. This dragon assignment, according to Dr. Yang, “acted as a
catalyst for cross-cultural conversation.” The students discussed the
different ideas they associated with
a dragon, which later lead to openended discussions about other cultural differences in education, campus life and campus culture.
In Dr. Yang’s teaching she also uses
podcasts, which can be downloaded
off the Internet and experienced on
iPods or MP3 players. One podcast
project Dr. Yang developed provided
a multi-narrative perspective of art
in an exhibit held in the University
Art Gallery. While viewing a piece of
art, participants were able to listen
to three audio files on an iPod about
the work. The three files were recorded by an art historian, the artist, and a group of art students all
of whom provided their perspective
on the work. The experience provided the gallery participant with a
broader perspective about each
piece, rather than a single narrative
voice of an expert. Dr. Yang believes
that this technology allowed people
to have a voice when they might not
have been heard before. She says,
“We need to empower the viewers to
tell us what they see - what they
think.” This multi-narrative podcast
showed the great potential technology can play in enriching the learning experience. Dr. Yang states, “If
we only have passive participants in
our galleries, then what we imply to
our citizens is that we should be
passive because they are the experts
and our perspectives don’t matter.”
This technology goes a long way
towards promoting her beliefs in
Dr. Guey-Meei Yang
Associate Professor of Visual Arts Education
unity and respect for the opinions of
others.
A current passion of Dr. Yang involves Web 2.0 technology. Recently, she and EMU Art Historian,
Dr.Thomas Suchan, created a wiki
called TeachArt Wiki. For this wiki,
Dr. Suchan’s students wrote content about artists and their art. Dr.
Yang’s students created lessons
about the artist and their art for
teachers to use in their classrooms.
These lessons are available to anyone who goes to the wiki website at
http://teachartwiki.wikispaces.com.
The most useful and beneficial thing
about a wiki is that it doesn’t have
to remain static. Information can be
added to or removed from it at any
time by anyone as new information
and theories become available. Dr.
Yang discusses how general websites are a problem because they are
controlled by webmasters who hold
the key to the information on that
website, whereas with a wiki, the
information can be updated at any
time, any place, by anyone. Consequently, this technology provides a
dynamic educational platform for
students to engage in lifelong learning.
An interview with Dr. Yang can be
viewed at EMU on iTunes U in the
“We Are EMU” album. iTunes U is
free and can be downloaded to any
computer. For more information on
accessing EMU on iTunes U, please
visit http://www.emich.edu/
itunesu.
Page 4
IT News
Emergency Alerts—Register Today!
Q: How do I sign up to receive emergency alerts?
A: Visit http://getrave.com/login/EasternMichigan. Provide
your my.emich e-mail address, your cell phone number and
other required information. Important: To activate alerts, you
must click the link inside of the e-mail confirmation. Once
you activate the service, it will remain active until you cancel
it. Registration training is available as a link from the web
site listed above.
NEW FEATURE!!
Register Multiple Numbers!
Did you know that you can now register multiple mobile
numbers in the EMU Emergency Alert System. If you’d like
to add additional numbers so parents, spouses, etc can also
receive alerts, simply login to http://getrave.com/login/
EasternMichigan to register the additional numbers.
IT Computer Lab Locations and Hours
Morell D. Boone
Computing Commons
G07 Bruce T. Halle Library
Phone: 734.487.2121
PCs: 108 Macs: 24
Spring/Summer 2009
Monday—Thursday 8:00 am-10:00 pm
Friday
8:00 am — 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am — 5:00 pm
Sunday
1:00 pm—10:00 pm
MultiMedia Commons
First Floor Bruce T. Halle Library
Phone: 734.487.2687
PCs: 30 Macs: 13
Spring/Summer 2009
Monday—Thursday 8:00 am–10:00 pm
Friday
8:00 am — 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am — 5:00 pm
Sunday
1:00 pm —10:00 pm
Owen Computing Lab
101 Owen Building
Phone: 734.487.2241
PCs: 90
Spring/Summer 2009
Monday—Thursday 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
Friday — Sunday Closed
Pray-Harrold Computing Lab
327 Pray-Harrold
Phone: 734.487.3271
PCs: 30
Spring/Summer 2009
Monday—Thursday 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday—Sunday Closed
Student Center Computing Lab
270 Student Center
Phone: 734.487.1365
PCs: 43
Spring/Summer 2009
Monday—Friday 7:00 am-9:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am-9:00 pm
Sunday Closed
Division of Information
Technology
Mission Statement
Information technology (IT)
is a cornerstone for the
success of contemporary
universities. At Eastern
Michigan University, the
mission of the Division of
Information Technology is
to provide and support IT
resources that advance
teaching, learning, scholarly activities and University services. The Division
of Information Technology
is committed to helping
EMU achieve its strategic
vision for excellence in
education to attract and
retain students, faculty,
staff and external support.
More details about our mission are available at:
https://it.emich.edu/teams/
missionvisionvalues.cfm