February 2023

Michael Krikonis, Manager of Client Support

Help Desk

Michael KrikonisITS is excited to announce that long-time Academic Technologist, Michael Krikonis, has been promoted to Manager of Client Support, a role previously held by Terrance McCormack.

From March 13th, Michael will relocate to manage the Help Desk’s daily operations with Sharon Griffin Edson, Tess Walsh, and our many student employees. In addition to the regular work that the Help Desk does, Michael will also be leading many new initiatives to improve ITS services across campus, including employee onboarding, computer replacements and community support.

After 16 years working at Clark University, mostly in the Academic Technology department, Michael is well-known and respected around campus for his work with Moodle, Qualtrics, research technology support, and much more. In the past two years Michael has taken a leading role in the LMS evaluation and replacement project and worked closely with many ITS partners to support the successful roll-out of Canvas.

For those faculty and staff used to reaching out to Michael for ATS support, don’t worry because ATS will continue to be here to help. Contact canvas@clarku.edu for any Canvas-specific concerns, or contact one of our other wonderful staff for other questions:

Look for Michael at the Help Desk from March 13th!

OneDrive and SharePoint and Teams, Oh My!

Around campus, your colleague or classmate might mention that they’re saving their research to OneDrive. You might get automated emails from SharePoint regarding collaborative documents that you’ve posted in Teams. All of these tools are Microsoft platforms are related to the cloud, but what do they do? How do they interact?

Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint are all connected, but they are not the same thing. Each has different functions and interactions with one another, so it’s helpful to think of these tools as different parts of a whole, like the building below.

Microsoft Campus

OneDrive is like your office: it is your personal space to store documents, notes, research, and organize as you please. No one can enter your office unless you invite them in. It’s ideal for your own projects, and maybe collaborating with a few colleagues, but it’s not suited for larger meetings or projects.

Teams is like a conference room where you regularly meet with different campus groups you’re a part of, whether that is a department or a club. Here, you can iron out ideas, collaborate on new projects, and get updates related to ongoing group goals. You might bring some of your own work, such as a proposal, picture, or agenda, into this conference room.

SharePoint is the university hall where both your OneDrive office and your Teams conference room live. It keeps the internet and lights running in both places, but you mostly keep your work within your own office or department space rather than in the other rooms and closets around the building.

So, when people say, “It’s on SharePoint,” they usually mean, more specifically, it’s been shared in OneDrive or Teams, similar to how someone might tell you to “come see me in Carlson” when they really mean their office in Carlson. On rare occasions, such as for university events or programs, you might need to use the whole building (or, digitally, the SharePoint platform), but these cases should be discussed with ITS.

More questions? Reach out to techtraining@clarku.edu to learn more!

Canvas: March Madness

As we all settle into Canvas, ATS is excited to offer Canvas March Madness – a series of Canvas workshops on Zoom targeting some of the more advanced topics in our new LMS.

Click here for full information on the workshops, and links to join the zoom sessions (no registration required)

Using the SpeedGrader

Learn how to use many faculty members’ favorite Canvas tool – the Speed Grader. SpeedGrader allows you to view and grade student assignment submissions in one place using a simple point scale or complex rubric. Some document assignments can be marked up for feedback directly within the submission. You can also provide feedback to your students with text or media comments.

  • Wednesday, March 1st: 4pm to 5pm
  • Friday, March 3rd: 9am to 10am
  • Tuesday, March 21st: 12pm to 1pm

Using Turnitin with Canvas

Turnitin is fully integrated with Canvas, allowing you to use both the plagiarism checking functionality, and the Feedback Studio.

  • Thursday, March 2nd: 12pm to 1pm
  • Friday, March 17th: 12pm to 1pm

Syllabi and Setting Dates

Many faculty and students like to provide a web-version of their syllabus, and Canvas makes this incredibly easy. Automatically adding all important dates to the Syllabus link in Canvas can keep give your students a one-stop page for up-to-date information on due dates and assignments.

  • Monday, March 13th: 12pm to 1pm

Setting up your Gradebook

Using the Canvas gradebook can save faculty a lot of time, and students a lot of anxiety, but we know that the setup can be overwhelming. This session will walk you through some common gradebook setup and answer many of your questions

  • Wednesday, March 15th: 12pm to 1pm

Using Rubrics

Rubrics are a great assessment tool to help communicate expectations, increase grading efficiency and align your course and assignment with any departmental or external outcomes.

  • Thursday, March 23rd: 12pm to 1pm

Office Hours for Faculty, Staff and TAs

Got questions about Canvas that won’t be covered in our workshops? Join our Zoom Office Hours.

  • Monday, March 27th: 12pm to 1pm
  • Tuesday, March 28th: 9am to 10am
  • Wednesday, March 29th: 4pm to 5pm
  • Thursday, March 30th: 9am to 10am
  • Friday, March 31st: 12pm to 1pm

Tool Spotlight: Name Coach

NameCoach

Now that Clark University is on Canvas, all Clarkies have access to a great new tool that allows everyone to record the correct pronunciation of their name for colleagues, professors, and classmates: NameCoach!

What is NameCoach?

NameCoach is software built into Canvas that allows all members of the Clark community to record the pronunciation of their names. These recordings are then made available to professors, classmates, and colleagues within the same courses, so not only can you record your own name for others, but you can also listen and learn the correct pronunciations of people’s names in your class or department.

Margo ForemanWhy should I use NameCoach?

Margo Foreman, Clark’s Vice President and Chief Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, strongly recommends all Clarkies to record their name in NameCoach to ensure all people on campus are respected. Vice President Foreman suggests,

“I encourage every student to utilize the NameCoach app to record their name. As a matter of pride and in order for others to respect the uniqueness of your name and its pronunciation, please slowly annunciate your name to help others discern how to appropriately articulate it. I suggest users break the pronunciation of their names down by syllable or phonetically then, repeat it fluidly but not fast.”

How do I record my name or listen to pronunciations?

Click here see step-by-step directions for recording your name and listening to the recordings of others.

Think Twice Before Charging!

We have all been there, your phone battery is at 5%, and you’re in an airport, coffeeshop or other public space. You search for an outlet, but instead find a powered USB port. You figure this will charge the same way as a pronged outlet. Think twice!

While it’s true that public USB ports can help charge in a pinch (though often at much slower rates), it may also leave your device at risk of malicious malware. Hackers can infect USB ports with software that can infect your device as soon as you plug in. To help minimize the risk of your device being compromised, it is best to use a USB Data Blocker.

What are USB Data Blockers?

A USB data blocker is a device that plugs into the charging port on your phone, acting as a shield between the public charging station and your phone. USB data blockers restrict hackers from accessing your phone’s data.

Which USB Data Blocker is the Best?

There are many types of USB Data Blockers, all of which accomplish the same goal of protecting your device. Some use a stronger level of security, and so depending on the type of data on your device, we recommend researching and seeing which blocker your industry prefers and why.

If you have no specific needs, our recommendation is the 4th Gen Juice-Jack Defender. It is cheap, effective, comes in many colors, and is available on Amazon and from many other retailers

Get to Know Us: Rajesh Shukla

Rajesh ShuklaThis month, we meet Rajesh Shukla, Assistant Director of Enterprise Applications, who has been at Clark for 7 years.

Rajesh helps to manage Banner, the university’s Student (and employee) Information System and everything connected to it. One of Rajesh’s most important responsibilities is ensuring that everyone “gets paid on time,” since paycheck information is directly related to Banner. With 25 years of experience in technology, including in data, healthcare, and cloud computing, Rajesh enjoys the collaborative nature of working with different groups in ITS and likes finding automation solutions for not only work, but everything in his life.

Outside of work, Rajesh, a native of India, loves following cricket. He’s currently listening to Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain on audiobook and wishing for the superpower of easily remembering names. Rajesh is happy to discuss how to make technology work for you, rather than the other way around. Click here for contact information.

Technology Training for Staff and Faculty 

The Help Desk and Tess Walsh, our Technology Training Specialist, is excited to invite staff and faculty to attend our upcoming online workshops.

Check out our schedule below and look for more workshops in the future on our Tech Training webpage. Also if you have any requests for the summer or Fall schedule, please let us know!

Microsoft Excel 101

Swimming in spreadsheets? Join Tess on Tuesday, March 7 at 10 AM online to learn the basics of Excel, one of Microsoft’s trickiest and most powerful tools. This one-hour workshop will cover:

  • Basic Excel navigation
  • Creating and navigating tables of data
  • Basic Excel functions

This workshop is appropriate for those who have limited Excel experience or those who would like a refresher on its foundations. More advanced workshops will be offered at a later date.

Seats are limited, so click here to register now.

Microsoft Tips and Tricks

This workshop online on Friday, March 24 at 11 AM will go over the hidden and handy tricks within different Microsoft tools, such as OneDrive, Teams, Word, and more. If you’re comfortable with the basics and ready to learn some time-saving secrets, please join us!

In this one-hour workshop, you’ll learn how to:

  • Easily access shared files and libraries
  • Make your documents easier to navigate
  • much more!

Seats are limited, so click here to register now.

Can’t make it?

If you can’t make these workshops, visit our Technology Training page regularly to see more workshops – both live and virtual, or request custom training.

Tess is particularly eager to meet with departments to design custom, focused training to address your groups’ needs. Contact techtraining@clarku.edu for more information and to schedule your group training.