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Friday, February 20, 2009

Class Capture Pilot Project Update

The Office of Classroom Management, in partnership with the Office of
Information Technology (OIT) Video Solutions, is currently
investigating the performance of Camtasia Relay class capture
application. This pilot program will evaluate its suitability for
wide-scale use in central classrooms and elsewhere on campus.



Pilot project update:



The initial evaluation phase has been successfully concluded, resulting
in the purchase of Camtasia Relay by OIT. A select group of faculty is
currently using the Relay software in general purpose classrooms. The
captured course content is then made available to students. Hardware
issues, such as microphones, are being investigated and evaluated, as
is testing with iTunes U.



More information on this pilot program can be found here:



http://www.classroom.umn.edu/support/camtasia.html

Monday, February 16, 2009

Wireless Upgrade Project

The University of Minnesota wireless network is centrally managed by
the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and provides campus
affiliates and guests with wireless Internet access as they roam the
Twin Cities campus. OIT is currently in the process of replacing all
existing diverse and aging wireless hardware on the University Twin
Cities campus with state of the art technology to create a new,
centrally managed network.



The primary objective of the wireless upgrade project is to provide
seamless, fast, flexible, and secure wireless access everywhere on
campus. In addition, the service would be manageable, expandable, and
scalable to accommodate campus-wide coverage in the future.



The work to replace more than 1,700 existing access points on campus,
and cutover to the new system began in June 2008 and is now nearing
completion. During the transition period, some buildings on campus
operated on the new network, and some still used the older technology.



ALL OCM classrooms with wireless networking coverage have been
successfully upgraded and are now operating on the new system. The
network runs on 802.11n technology and offers increased bandwidth. The
use the new system, select the "UofM" network from available network
options.



More information about the wireless network is located here:



http://www1.umn.edu/wireless/index.html

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

SCB Demolition Project Update

The following is an excerpt from the 1/29/2009 Capital Planning and
Project Management construction update regarding demolition of the
Science Classroom Building:



Demolition started Friday, 01/23/09 and will continue for approximately
three more weeks. Earthwork will begin next week. Cranes and other
heavy machinery will be brought to the site in the very near future.
Traffic around the site will remain the same through demolition.



The construction team monitors vibration impacts on the site and in
adjacent buildings. There are total of four monitors set in place
around ST+SS site, one in each of the following buildings -
Weisman, Kolthoff, Appleby and Smith. So far no recordings have
exceeded the levels established to ensure the safety and integrity of
the buildings and occupants around the site.



Some pounding, noise and vibration are expected at this stage of the
project. The contractor, McGough Construction, will work to minimize
the impact as much as possible while continuing essential progress on
the building.



The project can be viewed live via this webcam address:



http://socsciencecam.oit.umn.edu/en/JViewer.html