IT Transition

As part of the IT Transition process within the Faculty of Education, we will be changing the server name for the FirstClass server,

If you currently use the desktop version of the  firstclass software application, you will have to make a change to the server setting within FirstClass.  The attached PDF indicates the steps that should be taken to change the setting.

You should make this change as soon as possible, as the system change will come into effect on June 30th 2009.

The following steps should simplify the process:

1. Download and open the attached PDF file.
2. Close FirstClass (if you have it open)
3. Launch FirstClass and then follow the instructions within the PDF.

For those users familiar with Firstclass settings, the server name will be changing to fc.edu.yorku.ca

changeserver.pdf

The following screencast from Microsoft provides an overview of the features of Outlook Web Access.  Please take a few minutes to browse through the tour.

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/code/OWA/index.html

The IT transition within the Faculty consists of 3 elements:

1. @edu.yorku.ca email will be provided by Microsoft Outlook/Exchange
2. Course content/conferences will be provided through Moodle.
3. Community discussions and resource sharing will be provided through DINER, our social network.

The change-over from FirstClass to Outlook/Exchange is scheduled for mid August 2009.

To better meet the information needs of our community members, the IT Transition site has been re-designed to provide customised information for current students, graduating students, alumni and faculty members and instructors.

Please use the menu options to select the sub-site that best reflects your status.

The re-designed site will be available on June 4th 2009.

Vbulletin is a web-based discussion/forums platform that the IT team will be investigating over the next few weeks. Recently, we’ve been fortunate to receive some advice from the creators of the vBulletin based website – Biome, at University of Toronto.

Students and alumni are invited to attend a series of design meetings on the content of the proposed vBulletin system. If you’re interested in the design process, please email  dreid at edu.yorku.ca

Over the past few months, the EDU IT team has looked at a number of collaboration suites (details will be available in this year’s Computing Plan).

After considerable investigation and deliberation, the IT Team has focused on two offerings – IBM’s Lotus suite, including Notes, Quickr and Sametime, and Zimbra.

While both platforms offer the standard email, calendaring and contacts options, there are significant differences in approach.

Lotus Notes is often described as ‘more than email’, and to gain true value from an investment in the IBM suite, we will likely look to use Domino as an application and intranet-style platform. The latest Notes release, including iNotes, has benefitted from a ‘design makeover’ . Quickr offers an excellent teaming option for Faculty, staff and researchers.

Conversely, Zimbra, with it’s focus on web delivery and an Ajax enhanced interface, offers a familiar webmail experience for faculty and students. With Zimbra as a platform, the need for support of a dedicated email client is greatly reduced i.e. there will be some users that prefer the functionality of a ‘fat client’, but the majority of users will look to use the web based or mobile options.

The EDU IT Team has created 2 pilot environments and invited faculty and staff to participate.

It’s that time of year already. Time to request your Moodle courses for the winter term. If you would like to use Moodle for any of your winter courses please submit your requests as soon as possible. This will give you the time you need to get your courses up and running for the start of term.

Please see Request Course PDF for details.

One-to-one sessions will continue to be available with Kate MacMillan by appointment.

Moodle – I’ve received confirmation from CNS that they have invested significant funds in the hardware infrastructure for Moodle. Subsequently, performance should be much improved. Moodle workshops continue to be available on a one-to-one basis with Kate MacMillan.

Email – The IT Team are still investigating and documenting migration options from FirstClass. Lotus Notes remains the front-runner for the core email and collaboration system, but the team are investigating alternative suites to ensure that the applications are capable of meeting our needs. The migration of email content for faculty, staff and current students will be carried out by the IT team. Further updates will be posted shortly.