September 2022

LMS, September 2022

Canvas is Coming

As announced in June, Clark is replacing Moodle with Canvas. Starting in Spring 2023, all courses will begin using Canvas as the Learning Management System (LMS). Click here for more information about this project.

Since our announcement over the summer, ITS has been busy working with faculty, students and staff, to prepare Canvas for our Fall 2022 pilot. This semester, as part of the pilot we have 97 courses, with 60 faculty and over 1700 student enrollments. ITS and much of the campus is getting lots of experience in making Canvas the best possible LMS for Clark.

As we move closer to our full campus launch for Spring 2023, here are some important dates for all community members to note.

Log into Canvas: The week of October 3rd

  • All students, faculty and staff will be able to log into Canvas via ClarkYou or directly via https://canvas.clarku.edu with their Clark Account credentials. When you first log in, you will have access to a faculty and/or student training course to help you prepare for Spring semester.

Faculty: Hear From Your Peers: October 14th, 12pm to 1pm

  • ATS will host a faculty webinar panel with Deb Robertson, Kristina Wilson and other faculty teaching in Canvas during the pilot. Learn more how pilot faculty have adapted to Canvas, and hear their advice. Click here to register.

Courses migrated from Moodle: The week of October 17th

  • Courses from Spring 2022 and prior (that are currently available in Moodle) will be migrated to Canvas and available for faculty to access and use in future courses.
    • Summer 2022 and Fall 2022 courses from Moodle will be available in Canvas in early January 2023 to ensure the content moved is as complete as possible. If you need to migrate this content sooner, please contact helpdesk@clarku.edu for instructions.

Spring Shells available in Canvas: The week of November 14th 

  • Spring 2023 shells will be available to faculty to build in Canvas approximately 7 days after registration opens.

Faculty, TA, Staff and Student Training: Ongoing

We know that moving to a new LMS can be both exciting and scary, but we’re here to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your favorite ATS or ITS person for a conversation and to learn more about how we can help.

September 2022, Tips and Tricks

Ten Minute Tech Tips

Written by Tess Walsh, Technology Training Specialist.

The world we live in is always changing. In 2022, we read academic articles on phones, use emojis to communicate with coworkers, and might even order groceries from robot assistants. The ability to interact meaningfully with a variety of software, devices, and apps—a skill often called technological literacy—has become vital in all aspects of our lives.

Everyone at Clark is at different points in their tech literacy journey, and this journey will continue beyond your time on campus. Just as technology itself is always evolving, so too is our relationship to it. Here are a few ways you can enhance your technological literacy:

These resources will take you less than 10 minutes and may make a big difference in how efficient and comfortable you are working, teaching and studying at Clark. Look for more future resources in this reoccurring column.

Interested in learning more? Tess Walsh, our Technology Training Specialist is available to meet with staff and faculty to learn more about how best to use technology. Click here for more information.

Data Privacy and Security, September 2022

Get Ready for Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a global effort to help everyone stay safe and protected when using technology whenever and however you connect. As education, socializing, and many aspects of life increasingly rely on technology, it’s more important than ever to protect your digital identity and steer clear of cybercriminals.

The theme for the month is ‘It’s easy to stay safe online’ #BeCyberSmart, and Clark University is proud to be a champion and support this online safety and education initiative.

This month is all about taking action! There are all kinds of ways to stay safe and secure online but even just practicing these cybersecurity basics can make a huge difference:

  1. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication
  2. Use Strong Passwords and a Password Manager
  3. Update Your Software
  4. Recognize and Report Phishing

We want to help you, your family, friends, and our community stay safe all year long, too. We encourage you to sign up as an individual Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion. After signing up, you’ll receive a toolkit of free resources, including simple steps you can take to #BeCyberSmart.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is co-led by the National Cybersecurity Alliance and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). For more information about ways to keep you and your family safe online visit https://staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/champions/ and https://www.cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month.

Stay tuned for weekly emails during October highlighting cybersecurity topics.

September 2022, Tool Spotlight

New Tech: ITS WebBot & Screen Sharing

ITS WebBot

Looking for quick answers to quick questions? While the Help Desk is always here to help, we have launched a WebBot on the ITS website to help community members find information even more easily. Ask the Bot a question and it will point you towards resources on the website that may help. While it is learning, even if it can’t find the correct answer, it will allow you to create a Help Desk ticket. Check it out now on the ITS Website.

Screen Sharing

We’re excited to announce after a successful pilot last year, that most ITS-managed classrooms across campus now have the ability for faculty, students or any participant to wirelessly present from their personal device to the projector. Using phones, tablets, or laptops, any member of your learning community can now, with a few clicks, display their screen to the class.

Get to Know Us, September 2022

Get to Know Us: Tess Walsh

This month, we’re happy to introduce Tess Walsh, our Technical Training Specialist. A member of the Help Desk team, Tess joined us over the summer and is eager to help Clark community members  learn more about technology and how it can make their lives easier! With a particular focus on the numerous tools in the Microsoft Office Suite, Tess gets most excited when she gets questions about OneDrive and really enjoys connecting with people from all across campus.

Tess pairs her love of technology with a passion for reading and writing, with a Masters in English from UMass Boston. She came to Clark after a time working in training and customer service at an educational technology startup but is very happy to be back on a college campus. Living in Westborough with her significant human other, and her significant cat other (a dramatic black cat called Panda), Tess enjoys reading, visiting the Queens Cups bakery for their cannoli cookies, and relaxing by the fire.

Tess is now available for one-on-one and group training sessions for staff in a range of software. Click here to learn more about this service and to book a session.

September 2022, Workshops

Staff Workshop: Introduction to OneDrive

The Help Desk and Tess Walsh, our Technology Training Specialist is excited to invite staff to join her for an in-person Introduction to OneDrive workshop on Monday, October 3 from 2:30 PM – 3:30PM

  • Have you ever left a document on your campus computer that you need to work on from home?
  • Have you ever spent time integrating feedback from multiple teammates into one final version of a file?
  • Have you ever been confused about which versions of a document should be considered final?

If so, this one-hour workshop is for you! Developed specifically for staff who are interested in learning more about OneDrive, we’ll discuss how this tool can help you and your department:

  • Improve collaboration among and across teams
  • Increase efficiency in document management
  • Support hybrid working environments

Seats are limited, so click here to register now.

Can’t make it?

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