Don't forget to arrive early, seats will fill up fast.
The Agony & Ecstasy...the Trials, Tribulations & Thrills of an Enormous Project
Presented by: Mark Reynolds, University of New Mexico
Imagine the agony: a hospital being built on top of your main switch room, 6-8 foot holes being drilled right next to your switch room walls, dust infiltrating every inch of your communications equipment, vibration caused by the drilling, coordination issues, construction processes, customer issues, and again, dust.this was all recently experienced by the University of New Mexico (UNM) when they undertook a huge project to upgrade their existing communications system.
Now, imagine the ecstasy: successful completion of such a large
complex project! Learn how UNM overcame the daunting obstacles they
faced when planning to upgrade their existing system for both current
and future campus needs.
This discussion will cover UNM's development, management and
implementation of:
- Solid strategic plan
- RFP process that resulted in accurately articulated their requirements
- Funding model and budget
- Executive notification, coordination and approval process
- Overall project plan and processes
- Team that implemented the plan successfully
- Issue resolution process used throughout installation and
construction
Got Game? Developing Young Programmers through Gaming
Presented by: Irene Lee & Betsy Frederick, Project GUTS: Growing Up Thinking Scientifically & Celia Einhorn, Supercomputing Challenge
Through the familiarity with video games, students have begun to develop an interest in the gaming industry and how games are made. But often, they have not yet developed the technical background and ability to write games. We are introducing Starlogo TNG to lead students into writing computer games and to connect their interest in gaming with the corresponding technological fluency and skills necessary to operate in a technology rich world.
This new 3D version of StarLogo, known as “StarLogo: The Next Generation” or “StarLogo TNG” for short, is a graphical programming tool that allows students and teachers to easily create their own computer simulations and games. At the same time it motivates students to learn, it introduces students to fundamental IT fluency skills. It is targeted at middle and high school students, both in traditional subjects (e.g. biology, chemistry, mathematics) interested in integrating computer modeling into the curriculum, and introductory programming classes where we can use this tool to attract more student interest in this subject area.
We will introduce the Starlogo TNG environment, the blocks programming interface and the terrain editor. We will demonstrate some games created by students using StarLogo TNG. We will make note of the relevant IT concepts addressed that will lead the students to greater IT fluency and demonstrate some examples of how StarLogo TNG could be used in various classroom settings.
As a group, we will discuss how developing video games might be used to leverage learning in other domains.
We will discuss how StarLogo TNG was used as part of a two-week summer workshop for middle school students that explored models of complex systems, taught programming through gaming, and introduced students to scientists.
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Statewide Networking (NMLR & ABQ-G)
Presented by: Presented by: Cris Landgraf, UNM/NMLR/ABQ-G, & Louella Phillips, University of NM
Summary: This presentation will be about how New Mexico Lambda Rail and the Albuquerque Gigapop can assist in Statewide connectivity by working with ChecsNet and hopefully expanding capabilities and capacity to many potential connectors by developing partnerships and trying to eliminate duplicate networks and efforts.
I will use some real life examples of research needs that will include NMCAC, and the Southwest Telehealth Access Grid. I will use some hypothetical connections to show the potential benefit.
The presentation will discuss partnerships developed, those that are developing and possibilities for others. I will discuss equal benefits and rate tables along with Service Level Agreements.
I’ll give a brief overview of both New Mexico Lambda Rail and Albuquerque Gigapop with diagrams and maps. I will discuss the requirements for connectivity which include research, education, healthcare, emergency services and economic development. I will also discuss different initiatives like Wire New Mexico.
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Electronic Document signature System
Presented by: Pankaj Sharma, NM State University
Even with the advent of alternate content delivery mediums, paper printouts
are still very popular. While the need for paper printouts will not be
eliminated in the foreseeable future, their usage can certainly be
minimized. The concept of a paperless office has been around for some time
now. According to wikipedia, a paperless office is "...considered to be a
philosophy to work with minimal paper and convert all forms of
documentation to a digital form. The ideal is driven by a number of
motivators including productivity gains, costs savings, space saving, the
need to share information etc."
Today at NMSU several documents are available electronically. But at the
same time there is also a category of documents that users have to
download, take a printout, sign and then submit a paper copy to the
concerned office. In 2007, NMSU-ICT began developing the Electronic
Document Signature system that will allow employees to sign the "Conflict
of Interest" form electronically. The objective was simple: Eliminate
submission of paper copies to the Human Resources department. The system
will also have the ability to host other documents. This presentation will
show case the system and will touch upon topics such as the need for an electronic document signature system, electronic signatures, the features
of the EDS system, document security, document archiving and the overall
benefits of such a system.
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Ten Simple Steps Toward Universal Design of Online Courses
Presented by: Aimee Colmery, Santa Fe Community College
Implementing the principles of universal design in online learning means anticipating the diversity of students that may enroll in your course and planning accordingly. These ten key elements will greatly enhance the accessibility and usability of your course for students with and without disabilities. Project PACE at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has developed an instructional CD that will be presented and shared in collaboration with El Colegio/Title V Grant at Santa Fe Community College, (audience members will each take home a copy of the CD).
In both two and four year institutions, Aimee Colmery has facilitated the collaboration of faculty, students and campus services to accommodate students with disabilities. She has taught a wide range of learners for over 30 years, and began teaching with technology in 1999. Currently Aimee is the Director of Distance Learning and Professional Development, and El Colegio/Title V Grant activities, at Santa Fe Community College. She earned an MA in Tech Writing and a BA in Art from UALR.
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Open Source Imaging Techniques
Presented by: Ron Mitchell, Alamogordo Public Schools
Today’s educational computing environment requires that many classrooms and computer labs have standardized system configurations. In the past, commercial off the shelf (COTS) disk imaging programs like Ghost or Disk Image were readily available, easy to use, and were affordable. However, cost and complexity are rising while budgets are dwindling. In this breakout session, we will review several Open Source alternatives for disk imaging as well as some cost effective deployment strategies.
Audience: tech level
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Data Center Ops/Security Admin/ Student Information Systems (Banner)
Presented by: Shaun Cooper, New Mexico State University
Most institutions are challenged with running array of administrative processes in order to meet the needs of the institution. New Mexico State University (NMSU) has recently deployed the SCT Banner system in support of the business operations at NMSU. As part of this deployment, we have found that our end customers wish to have more involvement with the running, scheduling and reviewing of customized jobs related to their areas. NMSU has implemented Appworx as a means to schedule and distribute job management throughout the enterprise. Traditionally, the data center would take in requests to schedule jobs and then output was delivered to the customer the next day. With the use of Appworx and other technologies, NMSU is able to allow the end client to run, scheduled and review output of their jobs without compromising the security of other applications. In addition to the deployment of Appworx to end users, the data center security team uses Appworx to load Banner security tables from spreadsheets provided by the functional custodians.
NMSU has deployed items in Appworx which include Banner Security Spreadsheet updates Student Advising Documents sent to E~print, Bank Recon/Positive Pay, ACH
Financial Aid processing.
The goal of this presentation is to discuss the various applications deployed via Appworx, how NMSU manages remote user access to the Appworx interface, what applications naturally fit into and Appworx setting, and a live demonstration of the application. Those people who deal with data center operations or are functional users of administrative systems will most likely benefit from this presentation.
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IT Service Quality - How Does Yours Measure Up?
Presented by: Jane McGuire, University of NM
This presentation reports on UNM’s experience participating in the development of the Higher Education TechQual+ survey. TechQual+ is intended to become a national standard instrument to measure the quality of IT services delivered in higher education. The presentation highlights benefits, describes the goals and outlines the development process of the survey.
The quality of service is in the eye of the customer, and the customer is always right! What does this mean for IT Technical Services in higher education? How do your institution’s services compare with others? How do service providers understand changing customer needs and the adequacy of their service delivery over time?
IT service providers in higher ed have wanted a standard national survey instrument for a long time. Tim Chester, CIO at Pepperdine University, launched a research project in early 2005 to develop such an instrument. UNM, through a partnership of the Office of the CIO and the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, is one of 12 institutions nationwide participating in the development of this instrument. This presentation identifies the benefits, describes the instrument and outlines the development process of such a survey.
The survey being developed is called Higher Education TechQual+ and is based on the model used in the LibQual survey. The survey measures desired, minimum acceptable and perceived levels of services in six categories to quantify the acceptability of services rendered. Survey Categories include:
- Inclusive planning
- Classroom technology
- Information systems (ERP)
- Access - Networking
- Web
- Customer Support
The survey is hosted remotely, can be administered selectively, additional fields are available for local analysis needs, and individual responses are anonymous.
Institutions partnering in the development of the survey provide the following:
• Review and approval of local Institutional Review Boards on the process;
• Access by the PI to local focus cross-campus groups;
• Pilot survey results to refine and tighten the survey instrument.
Finally, we will share summary-level information gathered in the focus groups conducted at UNM and the high-level results of the UNM pilots to date to demonstrate the analysis capabilities of the instrument being developed.
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Take a little trip and never leave the farm! (It ain't so hard)
Presented by: Tony Korwin, Alamogordo Public Schools
This session will explore virtual field trips and their availability over video conferencing equipment. Samples of equipment will be displayed and connections will be made with various non-profits around the country to show how easy it can be to set up and run a field trip right in your own classroom/office. Many districts already have the conferencing equipment, that has been laying dormant, because of the belief it is too hard to set up and manage a connection. We will attempt to dispel that belief.
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