Conference XP to be Introduced at Maryland

By Jennifer Hare

Videoconferencing is no longer the wave of the future: it’s a reality of the present. Students, professionals, and even grandparents are now using videoconferencing features — such as those embedded into instant messenger and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) tools — to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues around the world. But while these tools are great for one-on-one communication, they often fall short when it comes to supporting larger group interactions. That’s where Conference XP
(www.conferencexp.net) comes into play.

Among the newest and most exciting of the technologies of its kind, Conference XP is a high-end collaboration platform developed by Microsoft Research. It supports audio and video communications from multiple participants as well as shared PowerPoint presentations, shared Web browsing, group text chats, and many other features. What’s more, Conference XP is free for educational use and can be extended to support custom collaboration requirements. That means it can be tailored to suit just about any of your individual educational needs.

Later this year, OIT will launch pilot tests of Conference XP by incorporating it into the Maryland Transfer Advantage Program and the First Year Book Program. We anticipate that Conference XP will allow faculty and counselors at the university to interact with and advise students in the Maryland Transfer Advantage Program at both Montgomery College and Prince George’s Community College. The technology should also permit students in the First Year Book Program to hear guest speakers who cannot speak on campus in person.

These Conference XP pilots will be supported by free hardware from Microsoft Research — the prize for a winning proposal developed by OIT in conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Studies, Montgomery College, Prince George’s Community College, and the Universities at Shady Grove.

We realize that face-to-face interaction simply cannot be replicated online, but we are confident that Conference XP and other collaborative technological options will help close the gap, enabling students to engage in a global community of learning that may have otherwise been impossible. If you’d like to learn more about Conference XP or other collaboration technologies, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 301.405.1400.

UM Collaborates with Blackboard to Offer a Single, Campus-wide Teaching and Learning System

The University of Maryland, in partnership with Blackboard Inc., is launching the university’s first single, campus-wide family of integrated applications for teaching, learning, community building, and knowledge sharing. Release 7.1 of the Blackboard Academic Suite™ is Maryland’s new enterprise learning management system (ELMS) and is being deployed during the fall 2006 semester. ELMS users will be able to take their research, projects, and work to a higher level of sophistication with one standardized, easy-to-use system and a large content repository.

“With an eye on a more efficient use of university resources, the selection of a central product has resulted in the ability to provide a robust campus-wide learning environment to offer faculty and students functionality well beyond the course delivery system currently

available,” said Dr. Jeffrey Huskamp, Vice President and Chief Information Officer. “This system provides an environment in which any student or teacher can view instructional content, collaborate with educators, evaluate academic performance, and access learning resources anytime from anywhere in order to achieve their educational objectives,” Huskamp said.

The university has been using two major course management systems for at least the past five years — WebCT Campus Edition and Blackboard Learning System. The transition will take up to a year to complete, so WebCT will run in parallel with the new replacement system through the end of the spring 2007 semester. For more information, visit http://elms.umd.edu.

 

 

 

University Portal System Will Simplify Online UM Activities

In May 2006, the university contracted with Exceptional Software Strategies Inc. of Linthicum, Maryland (www.exceptionalsoftware.com) for the highly anticipated UM Campus Portal system. The portal will be used by all campus constituents as a single access point for a host of applications and personalized information, all housed in a consistent, intuitive, seamless, and secure environment.

The portal project will be released in phases. Visit www.portalproject.umd.edu to see a demo portal and for more information about how the portal will make your online university interactions easier.

 

Don’t Haul Your Computer to the Dump!

Do you have unwanted personal computer equipment cluttering your place? Don’t trash it — recycle it!

The University of Maryland and Apple Computer, Inc. have teamed up to collect and recycle your old desktops, laptops, and accessories right here on campus. They will sponsor a two-day event on September 29 and 30 as part of an effort to reduce improper and dangerous disposal of old equipment (you should never put it in a landfill). Faculty, staff, students, and local residents are invited to bring unwanted personal computers (not just Apple computers), monitors, and
printers to the designated collection spot. Volunteers will be on hand to unload your vehicle.

Visit www.oit.umd.edu/computerrecycling for more details.

 

 

Don’t let your Web crawling activities get you in trouble.
Visit www.umd.edu/aup to learn what is acceptable and unacceptable when using the university network and other information technology resources.
Office of Information Technology TechKnow is the Information Technology Newsletter for University of Maryland students, published by the Office of Information Technology. Letters to the editor and story suggestions are welcome. Please send correspondence to TechKnow@umd.edu.
© 2006 University of Maryland.