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OIT News Monthly Update from Instructional and Research Support
May 2017

Take a Workshop this Summer to
Get Ready for Fall

OIT Software Highlights
OIT staff have developed several new workshops to help you and your students get ready for the fall. 

  • Help your students get organized and learn to take better notes with our Digital Tools for Notetaking workshops on Evernote or OneNote.
  • Learn about personal productivity tools available to you or your students in Office 365 with our Special Topics or Sharing and Collaboration workshops.
  • Make your Canvas transition smooth. Blackboard is being retired on May 31; take one of our Getting to Know Canvas workshops.
Invite us to your class! We are available to come to your class to train your students on the topics above, or any of our other topics. Check out our workshop calendar for ideas.

Request a personal consultation! Do you want to incorporate your iPad or tablet as an annotation system in class? Do you have an amazing technology idea you'd like to try out? Contact the OIT HelpDesk online or by phone at 865-974-9900 to set up a workshop on request or a consultation.

Coming Soon! New OIT Website

Screen shot of new OIT website

You asked and we listened! The UT campus has shared website suggestions with us through surveys, online requests, and feedback sessions. In response, OIT’s new site will feature a simplified layout, fewer pages to sort through, and an all-new search box designed to cut through the clutter. Our site-wide upgrade will also include a major boost for accessibility and mobile-friendliness.

Visit oit.utk.edu in mid-May for a link to a sneak peek, or come back in late May to check out the live site!

Encrypt Your Confidential Email 


lock image with computer code backgroundDo you ever need to send protected or confidential information via email, such as student grades?  OIT offers two solutions to send email securely.  

The first option, UT Vault, is a file transfer service that allows you to send large files quickly and securely. UT Vault is available at vault.utk.edu.

The second option is to send encrypted email directly from your Office 365 account. To encrypt your message, add the word encrypt as a simple, predetermined code word, or trigger, to the subject line of an email sent from your Office 365 account and the message will be encrypted. You do not need a special interface or website for sending, and the message notification goes directly to the recipient’s inbox for easy retrieval. The rule will only pick up the exact trigger word of encrypt and not words like encryption or encrypted.

For example, the following subject lines will cause the message to be encrypted:
  • Encrypt: End of term course grades
  • Judicial Affairs Memo, encrypt
  • Encrypt preliminary textbook chapter 1
The OIT Knowledge Base has additional information about using the encrypt trigger.  If you have any questions, please contact the OIT HelpDesk online or at 865-974-9900.

Are You Using SurveyMonkey?
Think About Switching to Qualtrics

Qualtrics vs SurveyMonkey
If you are using SurveyMonkey, you may want to consider migrating over to Qualtrics Research Suite. An account is available to all faculty, staff, and students, at no additional charge, and includes more features than a free SurveyMonkey account. 

Why is Qualtrics a better choice?

  • Ease of use.
  • Fully meets all IRB standards for data collection.
  • Secure data and control over how the data is shared with collaborators.
  • Select a University of Tennessee branded template as well as dozens of more generic templates.
  • OIT offers full support for Qualtrics plus the Qualtrics website provides training videos and excellent help files.
  • Collaborate with researchers both affiliated with UT and researchers on other campuses.
  • Robust reporting tools.
  • Data easily exports from Qualtrics to SPSS and other statistical programs for in-depth analysis.
  • Automatically optimized for mobile and desktop viewing.

To create a new account, visit OIT's web surveys page. You will be asked to log in with your NetID and NetID password. If you need help getting started with Qualtrics, OIT has staff with more than 10 years of experience in building and administrating online surveys as well as providing full statistical services. We are available to review your survey to ensure that it is optimized for data collection on the web. We also offer training workshops and can provide a one-on-one overview of how to use the software when you first get started as well as assistance in building more complicated surveys. 

To request an appointment for assistance with online surveys or data analysis, call the OIT Helpdesk at 865-974-9900 or use the online help submission form.

Do You Eduroam During Summer?

EduroamDo you travel to other universities during the summer months? If so, check to see if that university provides an Eduroam wireless network. Eduroam, short for EDUcation ROAMing, is the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community. Eduroam allows students, staff, and faculty from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus and when visiting other participating institutions. Go to Eduroam for more information, including a list of participating educational and research institutions, and even some museums, train stations, and hotels. Go here for a list of participating institutions in the United States.
 
Why not just use available guest access? Eduroam improves security by encrypting traffic between your device and the Wi-Fi infrastructure, so your passwords and information are secure. If you are traveling to a university that offers an Eduroam wireless network, you will need to make sure you have connected to the Eduroam wireless network at UT prior to connecting to the Eduroam network at your destination institution. Instructions for getting connected with Eduroam are available in the OIT Knowledge Base or you may contact the OIT HelpDesk online or call 865-974-9900 for assistance.

The 'R' Forecast Package

R logoWhen forecasting data, there are many techniques which can help improve your accuracy that extend well beyond looking at trends and taking simple moving averages. These techniques consist of statistical methods within the field of time series analysis and can be utilized to create more effective forecasting models. The R package, named forecast, can help create statistically sound forecasts using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models for you. This package contains automatic forecasting algorithms which extend well beyond what is offered in most statistical software packages. The auto.arimia function within the forecast package will automatically diagnose a time series, provide statistically optimal parameterization to produce the most accurate forecasts possible, and provide forecasts moving forward. The resulting forecasting models are not only accurate but also typically meet the underlying statistical assumptions of time series forecasting.

Research Computing Support group can now help you perform time series forecasts that create accurate and reliable results. For free assistance, contact the OIT Help Desk online or by phone at 865-974-9900 or stop by our walk-in area in Greve 517. View our walk in support schedule.

O I T Highlights
Mirroring your Mac
Do you ever need your Mac to display the same screen on both the desktop and the projector? Try mirroring your display. Check out the video!
Blackboard Uptime

April Uptime:
Blackboard Learn 100%
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Office of Innovative Technologies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
517 Greve Hall
821 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37996

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Phone: (865) 974-9900
Contact Form: help.utk.edu

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