In SPIRE, find the SPARK Course Request Form in the left Menu, under Faculty Home > SPARK Course Request. If you have already requested your SPARK course for Spring 2010, you may check the status of your request in SPIRE. For more information about requesting a SPARK course in SPIRE please see: http://www.oit.umass.edu/spire/for_instructors/class_information/sparkcourse_request.html Courses are…
Category: Technology Survival Guide
Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009 – Week 4: Change Your Clocks & Your Passwords
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! In support of this national initiative, OIT is sponsoring a number of activities designed to help the UMass Amherst community stay safe online. Each week in October will have its own cyber security theme. Protecting your computer is easier than you think! Week 4: Change Your Clocks & Your Passwords…
Grading SPARK Discussions with Grading Forms is Effortless!
Grading weekly discussions for my online class was a nightmare until Blackboard developed “Grading Forms”. Now grading discussions is as easy as 1-2-3. Instead of spending hours reviewing student posts and grading them accordingly I now spend less than 20 minutes per week grading discussion participation. My students receive up to two points every week…
Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009 – Week 3: Secure Your Data
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! In support of this national initiative, OIT is sponsoring a number of activities designed to help the UMass Amherst community stay safe online. Each week in October will have its own cyber security theme. Protecting your computer is easier than you think! Week 3: Secure Your Data Learn how you…
Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009 – Week 2 Phishing
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! In support of this national initiative, OIT is sponsoring a number of activities designed to help the UMass Amherst community stay safe online. Each week in October will have its own cyber security theme. Protecting your computer is easier than you think! Week 2: Phishing Don’t get caught in an…
Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! In support of this national initiative, OIT is sponsoring a number of activities designed to help the UMass Amherst community stay safe online. Each week in October will have its own cyber security theme. Protecting your computer is easier than you think! Week 1: Safe Computing This week, we’ll take…
Use WebDAV on a Mac to Manage Your UDrive and SPARK Files
WebDAV (World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is a quick and easy tool for managing your files in UDrive and on SPARK. On a Mac, you can mount your UDrive or your SPARK File Manager directly onto your desktop, allowing you to easily drag & drop (or copy & paste) files between your computer…
Start of Semester Tip: When can students access SPARK?
Your students will have access to your Fall 2009 SPARK on Monday September 7th (12:01 AM to be exact.) If you have requested and received a SPARK course, but not yet opened it up and begun building it, your students will see that course listed as when the log into SPARK, but receive a “Course not yet…
Start of Semester Tip: Key requests for AV cabinets in classrooms
Many classrooms across campus are equipped with cabinets of audio visual equipment which including a DVD player, VCR, and the all important laptop-to-projector connection cable. Step 1: Check if your classroom(s) are on the list of spaces with the cabinets installed: http://www.umass.edu/provost/classroom/ Step 2: Request keys for audio visual cabinets through the Provost Office’s webpage: http://www.umass.edu/provost/key-request/ With the…
Start of Semester Tip: Getting TAs into SPARK
As the beginning of the semester approaches and faculty continue to prepare for teaching, Teaching Assistants are also being assigned. Academic Computing would like to remind you of the necessary steps for giving TAs access to your SPARK course: For Graduate TAs: If your TA cannot access your SPARK course, confirm with the Academic Scheduling Representative in your department…
Start of Semester Tip: Create Class Email Lists in SPIRE
Creating a class email list can be a simple way to keep your students up-to-date with announcements on course events. Instructors can use SPIRE to create, refresh, and delete class email lists. This will generate a single email address that lets you email all the students enrolled in the course at once. More information at: http://www.oit.umass.edu/spire/for_instructors/class_information/mailing_list.html Tip: Your…
Start of Semester Tip: Photo Rosters in SPIRE
The addition of photo rosters to SPIRE has been a personal boon to me in terms of learning my students’ names as quickly as possible. Don’t have access to photo rosters for your own courses yet? Take the FERPA quiz and earn your security certificate to activate this feature in SPIRE: http://www.oit.umass.edu/spire/for_instructors/class_information/photo_roster.html