March 2015
Issue 16
. In This Issue .
+ Blackboard Collaborate
find out how RCGC is using this powerful web conferencing tool
page 1
+New Phone System
introducing RCGC’s new Cisco phone system
page 2
+ CIO Blog
the RCGC transition
page 2
+ Maintenance Calendar
Spring & Summer dates
page 3
+ Bb Grader App
Blackboard’s new app for grading assignments
page 3
+ Team Dynamix
New ticketing system and Knowledge Base
page 4
+ New Faces in IT
meet our new staff
page 5-6
Blackboard Collaborate
RCGC is using Blackboard Collaborate, a robust web conferencing tool, in many ways
to better serve our students.
Collaborate is Blackboard’s ver-sion of a web conferencing tool. With Collaborate, users can utilize various features to communicate with one another from almost anywhere in the world using their computer or mobile device. Some of the key features of Blackboard Collaborate are: built-in phone conferencing, mobile collabo-ration, integration with eLearn-ing, powerful
modera-tor tools, an interactive whiteboard, application sharing, multi-point vid-eo, and the ability to re-cord sessions. A
screen-shot of a Collaborate session can be seen to the right.
Though Collaborate was built with teaching in mind, its tool set of-fers other members of the RCGC community a chance to bring some of their services online as well. As the college takes its final steps towards establishing a fully online degree, it has been import-ant to make sure all on-campus resources will be available to our online students as well. For ex-ample, our team of advisors have been trained to use Blackboard
Collaborate so they can offer im-portant, private, and personal ad-vising sessions to students who may never set foot on our cam-pus. Our technical support techni-cians have their own private Col-laborate rooms so they can offer remote support to users who are experiencing issues that are hard-er to diagnose.
All faculty who are using eLearn-ing can utilize the Collab-orate tool, but by default, the tool is not available in all courses. So, if you are interested in using any or all of the features Collab-orate has to offer, please contact eLearning Sup-port so you can attend a training session and get the tool enabled in your course.
If you’ve used Collab-orate in any of your
courses, or if you’ve seen it used in another capacity that you thought was interesting, please let us know! We feel confident that Collaborate can be used to accomplish nearly anything you can think of, and we’d like to hear about the creative ways you have found to use the tool. As always, you can reach us by emailing [email protected].
Technical Support Instructional Center 449a
MTWR 7:30a-6p MTWR 6p-9p in IC 435 Friday 7:30a-5p Saturday 7:45a-1p in IC 435 Instructional Technology Instructional Center 435 MTWR 7:30a-9p Friday 7:30a-5p Saturday 7:45a-1p Sunday CLOSED
438 Open Computer Lab Instructional Center 438
MTWR 7:30a-7p Friday 7:30a-5p Saturday CLOSED Sunday CLOSED
Library Open Computer Lab
MTWR 8a-9p Friday 8a-5p Saturday 10a-4p Sunday CLOSED [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @RCGCIT
Though Collaborate was built with teaching in mind, its
tool set offers other members of the RCGC community a
CIO’s Blog
Welcome to the latest edition of the Educational Technology Review. I hope you like the fresh new look that Beth Beecroft has created.For more than a year the Office of Technology has been working at a fever pitch to migrate all of our technology assets, like email and our website, from Gloucester County College to Rowan College at Gloucester County. In June we’ll finish this massive migration by moving to a new Portal that will be easier to use. This new Portal will capitalize on mobile responsive design which means the new Portal will automatically reconfigure itself to look beautiful on any device, ranging from your smart phone to your tablet to your computer.
In the next month or two, the Office of Technology will launch an updated version of the RCGC website that is even slicker than the current version, and easier to use, especially on a mobile device like a smart phone. Chibueze Okechukwu, our new Web Master working under Dave Comfort’s leadership, has come up with an amazing design which really captures the spirit of RCGC!
Finally, I want to congratulate Nayibe Lopez, our college’s Banner Programmer Analyst, who recently received the honor of Employee of the Month. Nayibe works harmoniously with every department on campus to make sure Banner is meeting the ever-evolving needs of our college, which is not an easy job.
Congrats, Nayibe!
P.S. Just a friendly reminder: In June your GCCNJ.edu email address will no longer work! Make sure everyone is using your RCGC.edu email address.
Josh R. Piddington Chief Information Officer
Introducing RCGC’s New Cisco Phone
System - At a Desk Near You
Over the summer, the Office of Technology overhauled
RCGC’s entire phone system. The new system went live in
August.
By now, you’ve had some time to get to know your new Cisco phone. Over the past summer, the Office of Technology performed a campus-wide upgrade of RCGC’s phone system.
The old Avaya phone system utilized POT (Plain Old Telephone) lines which means they were based on analog sig-nal transmission and were hooked up using conventional phone lines.
The new Cisco phone system is VoIP, which stands for Voice Over IP. This means that it utilizes the RCGC net-work the same way your computer does. An ethernet cable comes out of the wall and into your phone, and a second line comes out of the phone and into the back of your computer.
The move to the new system was necessary because the old system had many limitations, utilized outdated technology, and was entering a period of limited vendor support.
The new Cisco phones bring with them a new set of features that make for a better experience.
There is now a speech-enabled directory search that allows you to call someone by dialing *5101 and then saying the person’s name. If they are listed in the directory, the call will be placed automatically.
Security and emergency services will receive a notice on their phone if an emergency call has been placed. The phone/location the call was placed from will also be displayed. This is hugely important for Security so they can always be aware of any emergencies on campus.
You may also have noticed that you now receive emails whenever a voice-mail has been left for you. You can click on the evoice-mail attachment to listen to the voicemail on your computer, or you can use your phone to retrieve the voicemail. You can also easily forward this voicemail email to anyone at RCGC.
If you’ve ever wanted to reach someone’s voicemail directly, or transfer a call directly to someone’s voicemail, you can do that with the new system. Just dial the * button before the person’s extension.
In the coming months a campus-wide Instant Messaging tool will be in-troduced that will integrate with your computer, Cisco desk phone, Smart phone, and tablet.
All of the phone menus have been reworked and made more efficient so the right locations are receiving the right calls.
If you want to find out more about the phone system or about how to use your phone, user guides have been made available on SharePoint. To access these guides, visit intranet.rcgc.edu/CiscoPhoneSystem and type in your RCGC username and password when prompted.
If you have any issues with your new phone, please make sure you contact Technical Support by emailing [email protected] or by calling us at 856-415-2298.
The new Cisco phone system is VoIP, which stands for
Voice Over IP. This means it utilizes the RCGC network
Bb Grader
Blackboard’s new grading app allows iPad users the ability
to grade on the go.
In October of 2014, Blackboard released a brand new (and free!) app for grading. The purpose of the Bb Grader iOS app is to provide instructors with a tablet-based mobile solution for reviewing, providing feedback, and ultimately grading student submissions to Blackboard Learn Assignments. Tablet requirements:
◊ iOS 7 or above
◊ iPad 2 (and newer) and iPad mini are supported Here are some of the features:
◊ First-time users will see a quick tutorial that will introduce the features of the app
◊ Grade student assignment submissions ◊ Inline viewing of student submissions
◊ The option of using your iPad’s microphone and camera to record feedback
◊ Features from the Retention Center allow you to stay on top of students’ progress
Here are some restrictions:
◊ You cannot access your Grade Center from the app
◊ You can grade only regular assignments via the app, which means you won’t be able to grade Discussion Boards, Tests, or SafeAssignments.
. IT Maintenance .
April 19, 2015
8am - 4pm
May 14, 2015
8am - 8pm
(eLearning only)
May 17, 2015
8am - 4pm
June 26, 2015*
8am - 4pm
June 30 - July 1, 2015
10pm - 8am
July 17, 2015*
8am - 4pm
August 28, 2015
6am - 9pm
(eLearning only)
*These dates are pending approval of the Col-lege being closed on Fridays during the summer by the Board of Trustees. If not approved by the Board of Trustees, the alternative dates would be June 28th and July 19th.
The up-to-date Calendar can always be found at www.rcgc.edu/ITMaintenance
This app is currently available to iPad users only. As such, you will not be able to get this app on your iPhone, Android phone, Android tablet, Windows tablet, Kindle, or Nook. Blackboard has assured its clients that they will be creating an Android-friendly version of the app (to work on Android tablets) in the near future.
TeamDynamix - RCGC’s New Technical Support Ticketing System
The Office of Technology’s new Ticketing System allows all users the ability to keep track of the status of
their issue and refer back to the ticket at any time for any reason.
If you have reached out to Technical Support for any reason over the last two semesters, you will have noticed that we have a new ticketing system to track support issues. This new system is called TeamDynamix and it is far more robust than our previ-ous system, TrackIt! As you may remember, TrackIt sent you an email with a ticket number whenever you reached out to Techni-cal Support with a problem, but if you ever tried to use that num-ber to look up your ticket, you wouldn’t have been successful.
TeamDynamix, on the other hand, makes it incredibly easy for all users to keep up-to-date on the status of their ticket at any time. To create a new ticket for any technology-related issue you ex-perience, or any question you have regarding technology here at RCGC, all you need to do is fill out a form on the RCGC Portal. You can access the forms by logging into the Portal, clicking on the IT Support Tab, and then selecting the appropriate form from the list of options. You are also able to create a support ticket by emailing [email protected] directly if you are unable to access the forms for some reason.
From the IT Support tab where you access the various support forms, you also have access to view all of the tickets you’ve
opened with the Office of Technology (at the top right where it states My Tickets). This is handy for when you want to check on the status of a ticket, or when you can’t remember a ticket num-ber for a case you opened previously. Sometimes technicians who help you with your issue may include important and/or in-formative links in your ticket that you may want to refer to again in the future, and this is the quickest way to get to that info. We hope that you find TeamDynamix to be easy, useful, and a much better solution to our Technical Support ticket management than our old system. Please let us know if you experience any issues submitting support forms or accessing your ticket history. You can email [email protected] or call us at 856-415-2298.
TeamDynamix’s Knowledge Base
A key feature of TeamDynamix is its Knowledge Base filled with informative articles created by us for you.
One of our department’s favorite new features in TeamDynamixis its Knowledge Base. In short, the Knowledge Base is a place where we can store information and files for others to search and access when that information is needed. For our department, we are able to create articles about known issues or important processes that everyone needs to be aware of, and for our end users (that’s you), the Knowledge Base can act as a resource for walkthroughs and tutorials.
For example, whenever a new Section Creation Form is filled out by a faculty member, a new support ticket is created to kick off the process (read the article above for more information about submitting support forms). When the course is created in eLearning, the ticket is closed by one of our eLearning techni-cians and the ticket is updated with a link to a Knowledge Base article that walks the faculty member
through the process of copying content from one course to another. This update to the ticket is also sent via email to the faculty member as well. The screenshot (to the right) is a preview of what the Knowledge Base article looks like. Another way we’re using the Team-Dynamix Knowledge Base is to create articles whenever we have scheduled maintenance or when we experience larger issues that our end users need to be made aware of. This way we have documentation we can link to from
oth-er locations (like Twittoth-er or email) that gives details about these situations. The Knowledge Base articles are time stamped with a Created date, as well as an Edited date in case changes need to be made to the article later. These articles allow us to communi-cate with all of you without us having to flood your inbox. With the Knowledge Base, you can locate articles that adress your own specific needs.
So, you may be wondering how you can access this Knowledge Base on your own so you can search for useful information. The easiest way to get to the Knowledge Base is to access the IT Sup-port tab in the RCGC Portal. Once you’re on the page (pictured in the screenshot in the article above), you will see a link in the top right that says Knowledge Base Articles. Just click that link to be taken to the Knowledge Base where you can explore articles in the categories listed, use the search bar at the top right to search keywords, or use the list of tags (you may need to scroll down) to find articles that will be useful to you. Please note that you may need to login to TeamDynamix to access all articles, so just check the top right corner of your screen to see if you’re already logged in or not.
We hope you find the Knowledge Base to be a useful tool, and please be sure to let us know if you have any issues or questions: [email protected]
Create a Technical Support ticket by logging into the
RCGC Portal, clicking the IT Support tab, and then
selecting the appropriate form from the list of options.
Meet the Staff
We’ve gotten a bit behind on introducting you to our staff. Take a few minutes to get to know some new
faces, and find out more about the staff you already know and love.
Instructional Technology Tech, Student Elsie is our newest student worker. Hired in March of 2015, her training is in SMART classroom technology as well as the general maintenance of equip-ment. She is enrolled at Rowan College at Gloucester County as a Liberal Arts major.
Elsie Alvarez
Instructional Technology Tech, Student Shaun has been with the Office of Tech-nology since September, 2013. His du-ties include the training and instruction of SMART technologies, as well as as-sisting with SMART classroom support. He also works with the IASTE Stage Hand Union in the TD Bank Arts Center in his spare time. He is currently a stu-dent worker and is pursuing a degree in Computer Science.
Shaun Burns
Technical Support Tech, Student Riker has been employed with the Col-lege since October of 2013. He has al-ready graduated with an A.A. degree in Art from RCGC and is currently seek-ing a Bachelor’s degree in History from Rowan University.
Riker Cross
Instructional Technology Tech, Student Sam is a technician in the Department of Instructional Technology, where he has been employed since September, 2013. His primary duties are training in SMART technology as well as the main-tenance and upkeep of equipment. He is enrolled at Rowan College as a Comput-er Information Systems major.
Sam Emmett
Applications and Systems Administrator Jeff is part of the team responsible for the day to day operations of RCGC’s server systems and network infrastruc-ture equipment. Jeff has been a full time employee of RCGC since January, 2014. Prior to joining RCGC, Jeff worked as the Systems Administrator for a Sporting Goods Manufacturing/Distribution com-pany. He enjoys using his skills in the education sector at RCGC.
Jeff Frye
Instructional Technology Tech, Student Rachel has been with the Office of Tech-nology since November of 2014. Her duties include the training and instruc-tion of SMART technologies, as well as assisting with SMART classroom support and maintaining equipment. She is at-tending RCGC as a Communications major and plans to transfer to Rowan University in pursuit of a degree in Ra-dio, Television, and Film.
Rachel Hanstein
Technical Support Technician
You already know Carlos since he has worked in the OoT since 2012, but what you may not know is that he was recent-ly hired full-time at Technical Support. He now provides service and support for all campus computers and applications. He will soon be receiving his comput-er science degree at RCGC and plans to
Carlos Jimenez
Instructional Technology Tech, Student Chris has been a technician in the In-structional Technology department since July, 2014. He is majoring in Com-puter Science at RCGC. His knowledge and various experiences allow him to provide technical support in and out of the classroom.
1400 Tanyard Road • Sewell, New Jersey 08080 • 856-468-5000
RCGC.edu
Applications and Systems Administrator Rob works as part of RCGC’s Network & Systems Administration team. Rob has been a full-time employee of the Col-lege since April of 2012. Rob previous-ly served as the systems administrator for a managed services provider that focused on providing IT services sup-port to pharmaceutical companies in the Northeast.
Rob Lore
Applications and Systems Administrator Carlos is an applications and system ad-ministrator within Rowan College’s Net-work & Systems Administration team. He joined the College in March 2012. Before that time, Carlos worked in the health information technologies field as a technical support engineer in Long Beach, CA where he was involved in nu-merous projects. He enjoys using his skills in the education sector at RCGC.
Carlos Lugo
Network Administrator, RCGC & GCEC Ken is a Network Administrator at both RCGC and the Gloucester County Edu-cational Campus. He has over 30 years experience in IT working mainly on net-work communications issues. Ken holds an A.A. degree in Humanities from Mor-ris County College, has a senior stand-ing at Rowan University in Management Information Systems, and has a CCNA certificate.
Ken Mattison
Web Developer
Chibueze (Chib) Okechukwu earned a degree in Web Development for e-Com-merce at Rowan College in 2011 and began working for the College in 2014. He has been designing and maintain-ing websites since 2008. Chib intends to continue working for the College and also further his education. Whenever he isn’t developing websites, you’ll usually find him watching or playing soccer.
Chib Okechukwu
Technical Support Technician
Justin joined the College in 2011 as a computer graphics art major. He has worked for Technical Support since 2012 but was hired full-time in 2014. He provides computer technical sup-port for all students, faculty, and staff at the College and plans to attend a local four-year college to further his degree in Advanced Game Design at Wilmington University.
Justin Weaver
Building
Room
Screen Type
Additional Details
College Center
202
Smart Board
203
Smart Board
204
Pull-Down Screen
205
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
Police Academy/PEC
301
Smart Board
302
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD player (no VCR)
303
Smart Board
304
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + DVD/VHS combo unit+ Laptop conversion lab
308
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + DVD/VHS combo unit
309
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + DVD/VHS combo unit
310
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + DVD/VHS combo unit
Instructional Center
400
Pull-Down Screen
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR) + Dual Cassette Deck
401
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
401a
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit+ Laptop conversion lab
403
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
404
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
405
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
405a
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit + Laptop conversion lab407
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
420
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD player (no VCR)
421
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
422
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
427
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD player (no VCR)+ Laptop conversion lab
430
Powered Screen
Lecture Hall, Podium-based Interactive Pen Display Lecture Capture Capabilities via Camtasia
HDMI & Displayport connections for additional mobile connectivity
431
Pull-Down Screen
ITV Classroom
437
Smart Board
439
Smart Board
441
Smart Board
442
Smart Board
443
Smart Board
444
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
445
Pull-Down Screen
Laptop Conversion Lab
447
Smart Board
Health Sciences
500
Pull-Down Screen
Lecture Hall, Podium-based Interactive Pen Display
502
Smart Board
Laptop Conversion Lab
503
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
504
Smart Board
505
NO SCREEN
Laptop Conversion Lab (6 Laptops)**no projector**506
Smart Board
509
Smart Board
510
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
511
Widescreen Smart Board
512
Smart Board
513
Smart Board
GCC - Classrooms with Technology
The Smart Classrooms listed below have permanent technology installed.
Each room has (minimally) a computer, projector, screen and DVD/VCR combo unit unless otherwise specified. If you need technology in a room that is not listed, please email [email protected]
Building
Room
Screen Type
Additional Details
Scott Hall
705
Widescreen Smart Board
Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
706
Smart Board
707
Smart Board
708
Widescreen Smart Board
709
Smart Board
710
Smart Board
711
Pull-Down Screen
Graphics Arts Lab
712
Pull-Down Screen
Graphics Arts Lab
714
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
715
Pull-Down Screen
Tabletop-based Interactive Pen Display
716
Pull-Down Screen
Tabletop-based Interactive Pen Display
717
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
721
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
722
Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray DVD/VHS combo unit
728
Smart Board
731
Smart Board
732
Smart Board
737
Smart Board
740
Smart Board
741
Smart Board
748
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
751
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
752
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
755
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
University Center
901
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
902
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)+ Laptop conversion lab903
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR) + Laptop lab904
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
905
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR) + Laptop lab906
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
907
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
908
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
909
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
951
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
952
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
953
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
954
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
955
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
956
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
957
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
958
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
959
Widescreen Pull-Down Screen
Interactive Pen Display + Blu-ray/DVD player (no VCR)
Please turn this page over to see the technology available in Scott Hall and the University Center.
The Smart Classrooms listed below have permanent technology installed.
Each room has (minimally) a computer, projector, screen and DVD/VCR combo unit unless otherwise specified.
GCC - Classrooms with Technology
If you need technology in a room that is not listed, please email [email protected]
