Hi all,
Finishing the Fall
Finals are about done. Maybe you have grading to finish, maybe you are done. Here are a few reminders about finishing the semester well:
- Reflect. What went well and what would you do different next time? Write it down! One way to improve our teaching is to go through a reflection/action process. Even it's a small thing that you want to change, it sets a precedent of continuous improvement to make the change. From what I know about teaching, striving to improve keeps the material fresh and alive for me.
- Enter grades in UAOnline by 11:59 pm on Wed. December 17.
- Make your Blackboard shell unavailable to students – when appropriate for your course- go to Control Panel > Customization> Properties > Item 3.
Getting Ready for Spring
Some people are prepping now, some work over break, some take a brain break and dive in in January. Here are a couple items to ease the process:
- AIE consulting and workshops. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with an AIE Instructional Designer on Dec 17–19, 2014 or Jan 5–16, 2015. Spring Bootcamp is on Jan 7–9, 2015. Topics include: Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Presentation Techniques, Screencasting and Google Apps.
- If you want to learn more about Blackboard on your own, go to the Instructor Resources area in your new Blackboard shell.
- Set up your Blackboard course
- Course copy materials from the Blackboard shell from a prior semester
- Learn more on the Instructors Getting Started page
Email Virus Update
Beginning on Monday December 8, University of Alaska Anchorage personnel were inundated with virus-infected spam emails, in many cases from colleagues with already infected computers. These spam messages had a .zip file attachment. Those individuals who opened the .zip file soon found out that they had unknowingly installed a virus on their computers.
In the cases this week, the usual anti-virus and anti-malware software remained one step behind these infections. IT professionals across campus worked many, many hours to repair the damage. Infected computers were re-imaged – which meant those persons were without their primary computer for some time.
Some .zip files are very dangerous and IT Services depends on each of us to be cautious with emails containing .zip attachments. What can you do?
- Keep your anti-virus and anti-malware software up-to-date. Ask the Call Center for detail on anti-virus and anti-malware software at the university.
- Pause and be suspicious before clicking on any link- especially .zip files- in an email message – including ones from me! Just because you know the sender, doesn't mean the email is safe.
- Make sure your data is backed up.
- Immediately call the Call Center or your IT person (if your department has one) if you suspect your computer has been compromised.
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