Friday, August 27, 2021

DUO Authentication Issue - Weak Cell Signal

OIT is aware of faculty, students, and staff experiencing authentication issues due to weak cell phone signals in some rooms and areas across campus. Insufficient cellular service impedes the user from receiving the authentication push from the DUO app on their phone. To avoid this problem, we recommend making sure that, when on campus, you connect your cell phone to UHCL's WiFi system (UHCLPrivate), as described below:

  1. Find a location on campus where your phone has adequate signal strength.
  2. Connect to the UHCLPrivate (as opposed to UHCLPublic) WiFi on your cell phone. OIT’s Mobile Devices and WiFi page has more detail (including a list of device-specific instructions at the bottom of the page).
  3. When setting up your access to UHCLPrivate, use your domain\UserID (e.g., UHCL\smithj, PCLAB\smithj1234) and password combination to log into the UHCLPrivate wireless network.

The third step often confuses users because only a handful of systems require the use of the domain prefix (UHCL\ or PCLAB\).

When your phone is connected to the UHCLPrivate WiFi, and you experience poor cell service, the DUO authentication prompt should be sent to your phone via WiFi instead of by cell signal.

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Sunday, August 15, 2021

FA22 Faculty Welcome and IT-Related Updates

Welcome, or welcome back, to another exciting academic year at the University of Houston - Clear Lake. On behalf of the Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) team and our OIT colleagues in the Support Center, Tech Services, Academic Computing, and Academic Labs, we are posting this information to provide all faculty and staff critical IT-related information and updates to keep in mind as you make technology preparations to support your teaching in the new semester.

Support Center/Computer Lab Locations and Hours

The Support Center's walk-up support is available at our Bayou 1312 (Mini Support Center) location. Although currently open Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-5:30PM, beginning Monday, August 22, 2022, the Support Center hours will be as follows:

Monday-Thursday: 8:00 AM-7:30 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM-5:30 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM-3:00 PM
Sunday: Closed

Faculty, staff, and students can also submit questions and technical issues to the Support Center by telephone (281.283.2828) and via email (SupportCenter@uhcl.edu). 

Faculty experiencing technical issues during an on-campus class can still call the Support Center and, when prompted, press the button/number for classroom tech issues. Those calls will be routed to one of the Open Computer Labs, and a staff member from Academic Computing and Academic Labs will assist you. SSCB 2201 Open Lab hours for the FA22 semester are as follows:

Monday-Thursday: 7:30 AM-10:30 PM
Friday-Saturday: 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Sunday: Closed

Please visit the Open Labs webpage for information about other Computer Lab locations and operating hours.

Important Document/Blog Post Links

As always, if you have any questions about these resources or about instructional technology at UHCL, please contact OIT's Support Center. Your inquiry will be entered into the help ticketing system and an OIT staff member will be assigned to assist you.

OIT Support Center
Location: B1312
Email: SupportCenter@uhcl.edu
Phone: 2810283-2828
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Scantron Self-Service Station

As announced in one of our team's March 2021 newsletters and in our CETL video tour, the Scantron workstation has been transferred from OIT's Tech Services department to the IDT team. The unit is now located in the back area of the Center for Engagement, Teaching, and Learning (CETL) in Bayou 1604. The Scantron workstation has been configured as a faculty self-service installation and our team will post both a video tutorial and electronic instructions document on our Blackboard Faculty Support webpage by the start of the FA21 semester. Faculty may also schedule an in-person training session with our team by contacting the Support Center (281.283.2828 or SupportCenter@uhcl.edu).

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New Semester Recommend Updates for Personal Devices

OIT's Tech Services, Academic Computing, and Academic Labs will prepare all OIT-controlled classroom teaching stations, computer lab workstations, and on-campus office workstations with updates needed to begin the new academic year. Faculty and staff who still have UHCL-owned devices at home should return those to campus as soon as possible. We are only able to update those machines when they are on campus and connected to the on-campus network. Anyone using personal devices for UHCL work at home or while traveling should ensure that you install the latest versions of the following applications and tools on your non-UHCL equipment:

  • Operating System
  • Web Browsers (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari)
  • Mobile Device Operating Systems (e.g., Android, iOS)
  • Zoom App
  • Echo360 Universal Capture

Faculty using Respondus LockDown Browser (LDB) with their online exams should also remind students to update their copy of LDB well in advance of their first exam.

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Classroom Point-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) Cameras (a.k.a., Rally cams) and Recording/Live Streaming Lecture Options

As we near the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, OIT staff are equipping general classrooms as quickly as possible with Ultra-HD conferencing cameras (Rally or similar) and ceiling-mounted microphones. Given the shortage of microchips due to the pandemic, camera supply issues may prevent every classroom fully equipped by August 23. We will post and update our classroom inventory spreadsheet on the Office of Information Technology’s landing page.

Support documentation and video tutorials about how to use these new cameras are now available!

Faculty have two supported options for recording or live streaming their on-campus face-to-face lectures/class meetings.

  • Echo360 - We strongly recommend Echo360's Universal Capture (UC) application for instructors who want to record their lectures/classes for posting in Blackboard. Echo360 UC includes an option to stream the course synchronously to remote learners. However, remote learners can only "participate" via a live chat tool built into Echo360 UC. Lectures/Classes recorded with Echo360 UC are automatically saved to instructors' Echo360 Library, where they are also automatically captioned. Making Echo360 videos available to students in Blackboard is a straightforward procedure, and our instructional designers and learning technology administrators are standing by to help you get started.
  • Zoom - A full-featured web conferencing system, Zoom is an ideal option for instructors who want to actively engage via audio and video with remote learners during their on-campus classes. Instructors have the opportunity also to record those sessions. Recorded Zoom sessions should be saved in Echo360 and deployed into your Blackboard courses from that video storage and management system.

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Zoom Recording Planned Deletions

As we have explained in previous semesters, the university's license for Zoom does not include unlimited cloud storage for recorded meetings. As we begin the FA21 term, UHCL has used 82% of our licensed cloud storage and we expect to see a rapid increase in recorded meetings early in the new semester. Please be aware of the following tips and reminders for recording Zoom recordings and long-term storage:

  • If you plan to save recorded Zoom meetings beyond the semester in which you record them, please make sure to activate your UHCL Echo360 account and set your Zoom meetings to record to the cloud. If both these conditions are met, your Zoom recordings will be saved in the Zoom cloud (temporarily) and your Echo360 library (long-term storage).
  • Beginning in FA21, the IDT team began regularly notifying faculty with recorded Zoom meetings in both locations that we intend to delete recorded sessions from the Zoom cloud since they will remain in Echo360 storage indefinitely.
  • Faculty who have not activated their UHCL Echo360 account and who own recorded Zoom meetings saved in the Zoom cloud should take steps to move those from Zoom to a long-term storage solution. Our IDT team can provide instructions and training on downloading MP4 video files from Zoom to your computer, activating your Echo360 account, uploading the videos to your Echo360 library, and then deleting the recordings from Zoom. Other options are available, including downloading from Zoom and uploading to YouTube or simply downloading recordings and saving them on your own external drive. However, OIT can only provide full support for Zoom cloud-to-Echo360 video migrations.

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OIT Faculty Technology Support

Although our Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) team is usually the focus of these blog posts, the IDT unit is only one of several components of the university's Office of Information Technology (OIT). UHCL's Office of Information Technology provides a wide range of support for faculty, including the following:

  • Classroom Support - Although OIT's Academic Computing team holds primary responsibility for supporting all in-classroom issues, the Support Center staff often serve as the initial point of contact. If you encounter a technical problem while teaching in a classroom in Bayou, SSCB, Delta, Arbor, or STEM, please use the in-classroom phone to dial the Support Center at x2828. If the Support Center technicians can't resolve your issue, they will transfer you to Academic Computing/Academic Labs, who can send someone to the classroom, if needed. If your call is after 5:30 PM Monday through Thursday, the SSCB 2201 and the Bayou 3608 open lab are staffed till 10:00 PM to provide student and classroom support. During those evening hours, please dial the regular Support Center number. You will hear a recorded message that includes the option to "Press 3 for evening classroom support." Use that option to direct your call straight to Academic Computing/Academic Labs for assistance.
  • Support Center - OIT's Support Center is the entry point for all UHCL faculty, staff, and student technology questions. If the Support Technicians on duty cannot resolve your problem immediately, they will gather all relevant information, create a help ticket, and assign the ticket to the OIT department (e.g., IDT Team, Tech Services, Networking) that specializes in that specific type of issue. Users have several ways to contact the Support Center, including telephone (281.283.2828), email (SupportCenter@uhcl.edu), creating your own help ticket, in person at our Bayou 1312 location, and even via a live chat during business hours (look for the "Chat with us" link in the lower right of OIT's main web page). For more information about the Support Center, including locations and hours, please visit UHCL's Office of Information Technology (OIT) webpage.
  • Computer Labs/Teaching Labs - OIT operates several open computer labs on UHCL's main campus and at Pearland. These labs provide powerful desktop computers for students to work on their academic and research assignments and become familiar with and utilize standard and specialized software used for their classes. All labs are staffed with both part-time student lab assistants and full-time staff to support users. Free restricted printing is provided for all currently enrolled students by presenting their UHCL student ID. There are also 15 teaching labs spread out across UHCL's computer labs.  Faculty and staff may reserve a teaching lab by contacting the UHCL's Scheduling Department. For more information about the Computer Labs, including locations and hours, please visit OIT's Computing Labs webpage.
  • Virtual Software Access - Academic Computing/Academic Labs ensure that faculty, students, and staff can access supported software even from off-campus through the following tools:

    • Remote Lab Access - Enable you to access via a virtual private network (VPN) connection UHCL teaching and open computer lab workstations from home.
    • Apporto Virtual Lab - The anytime, anywhere computer lab! As a "Desktop as a Service" (DaaS) system, Apporto provides UHCL with a cloud-based virtual desktop and software available for students and faculty to access from any device via a web browser anywhere at any time.

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