I am sure many of you were there when the iPad was announced. Personally, I was scratching my head and wondering how useful it could actually be.
Cole Camplese, the Education Technology Services Director, decided to put the iPad to the test. Starting April 6th, Cole decided that he was going an entire month without his laptop and cell phone, only using a computer when he's at his desk, and using an iPad for everything else. I talked with Cole to see how everything was going. Read on to find out how the challenge has been treating him.
Did you know that Penn State’s Computer Store is making Penn State a greener, more sustainable place? Find out how during Earth Week, which is April 19th to the 23rd.
Next week, visit the Computer Store Showrooms to check out some great green products, learn about what makes products green, and learn about great and easy ways you can save energy. With every purchase, shoppers will get a free, reusable shopping bag made from recycled bottles. For showroom locations and hours of operation, visit the Computer Store website.
If you are a current student then you know how much it is a pain to see that a section you wanted to get into for a class is full. Well with eLion's new feature, the Course Watch List, your troubles may be over. Posted on Penn State Live Friday the 12th, eLion is getting a new upgrade.
Quote from the Penn State Live Story:
This application will provide students with the opportunity to be notified when a seat opens in a full section of a course. Students will indicate the course sections they wish to watch and may be notified of an open seat via a Penn State e-mail account and/or a text message to a mobile phone. Students may attempt to schedule the section through the normal avenues.
Government Technology recently posted an article about 6 Emerging Technologies that they believed would impact colleges everywhere. I have to agree with most of them, but here are just some of my opinions on each of the six.
Mobile computing? eBooks? Augmented reality? Do these things pique your interest? Then read the full post after the jump!
So you have probably heard about the CATA app by now and how useful it is, but what about for people that are interested in computer labs? Many students on campus use the computer labs on a daily basis and some wish there was a simple way to find the closest labs to them that are not packed with people.
Chris Sacksteder is developing that type of system. He is creating a web app for mobile platforms that not only tells you which labs are around campus, but how many computers are free in each lab and maybe someday which lab is the closest to your current location via your phone's GPS. Although currently in development, this design could help many students find easily accessible labs for group meetings and / or quiet homework areas.
Would you use this? What platform would be best for it? Where can you try it out? Read on to discuss and find out!
Last week, we let out a story about Windows 7 being implemented to all ITS labs starting this May. To find out some more information about this change, I talked with Marcus Robinson, Director of Marketing Communications at Penn State, to discuss the entire transfer process.
The facts are as follows - starting May 15th, 2010, Windows 7, 32 bit Enterprise Edition, will be implemented into all ITS labs. Starting April 15th, 2010, students, faculty, and staff will be able to test Windows 7 in demo centers in two different locations on campus. They will be located in the Pattee and Pollock 201 (not the eTesting center) open labs. You can consider these demo centers to be an open public beta for ITS and PSU to test the new operating system on the Penn State network, but also for people to get use to the new system.
ITS and Penn State will then be keeping an eye on the fully implemented system over the summer to be on the look out for any unexpected issues and to make sure everything works before 42,000+ students arrive for the fall semester. Mr. Robinson assured me that they do not anticipate any issues when the system is fully implemented.
Now what does that mean for you, the user? Even though ITS labs will not have XP anymore, there is no learning curve for Windows 7. Windows 7 has a very simple interface and everything will be in the same location as Windows XP. It just looks a lot nicer and is a lot faster than XP.
As for Snow Leopard being implemented on the Macs in the lab, that is still in discussion, and there is no official word on that. However, as soon as Onward State hears anything about that, we will be sure to let you know.