| News
Library
Learning Common Opens!
The Library Learning Common was opened on
the 6th July by Hon. Julie Bishop MP. The new facility includes
new seating and collaborative areas, coffee and food, big screens,
casual and formal computer labs and 24x7 access. Computer labs
can be booked via timetabling@murdoch.edu.au
and are identified as "LC NW2 LAB 1 Room 2.010" (near the 24x7
entrance) and "LC NW2 LAB 2 Room 2.006" (in the corner, Level 2).
Tutorial rooms can be booked via Outlook, "Public Folders/All
Public Folders/Division of Academic Affairs/Library/Resources/Rooms/LC
NW xxx". Further information is available from the latest news
on the Murdoch
web site. New
Murdoch Web Site Goes Live
The new Murdoch home page and sub-sites went
live on Wednesday 11th July. The new website includes new sub-sites
for "Future Students", "International Students", "About Murdoch"
and "News".
Helen Moorhead, Brand Marketing Manager, recently advised staff
on re-branding University websites: "... a number of people have
expressed a keenness to convert their existing website on the
Murdoch web to the new brand look. Due to the size and complexity
of the web project, this is not possible immediately. To get it
right, it must be done in a thorough, planned way - and this takes
time. This does mean that the majority of websites will remain
unchanged for the moment - and will change progressively over
the next 12 - 18 months. This will ensure that we do not damage
or dilute the new brand identity. However I do recognise that
there may be specific situations where an interim solution is
needed for people who, for business critical reasons, need to
create a new website or make substantial structural changes to
an existing website. To support people in such circumstances,
a series of interim 'style' templates will be available in mid/late
August". The advice was accompanied by a set of guidelines which
can be obtained from Helen.
Communications
Network Upgrade Approved
The communications network upgrade project
has now been approved by Senior Executive and is proceeding to
construction. We have chosen to stay with Cisco equipment and
utilise a supplier by the name of "L7". Ordering of equipment for the first
stage of the project, the access layer, has been completed.
"Peel
Stage 2" Due to Open Shortly
"Peel Stage 2" as it is known, is due to open shortly. The
ICT facilities at Peel Stage 2 builds on the highly successful
principles established for Peel Stage 1. The building will provide
state of the art flexible teaching to cater for an expanded
number of students at the Peel campus.
The new building will have fully equipped 250 seat and 60 seat
lecture theatres, a purpose built video-conference room and a
Library Learning Common facility. The Library Learning Common
(similar in concept to the new facility recently opened at the
South Street campus) boasts new seating and collaborative areas
plus casual and formal computer labs.
Following the trend set in Stage 1, the building will also feature:
- Wireless access throughout the whole
campus area.
-
Lectopia (audio) recording in each lecture
theatre with capability to move to video recording in the
future.
-
State of the art network routing and
switching equipment capable of delivering 1Gigabit per second
to bandwidth-intensive real-time audio and video-conference
applications.
-
An enhanced Voice-over-IP (VOIP) telephone
system to provide expanded telephone features and improved
mobility for teaching and support staff so that they can retain
the same extension and telephone features, regardless of which
campus they are located at.
-
Technology integration with the soon
to be completed Perth-Mandurah optical fibre network. This
will soon replace the existing 34Mbps intercampus network
and is aimed at providing a high speed, flexible teaching
and research IT environment that is relatively independent
of geographic campus location. This includes a new server
and communications room, which will not only be the termination
point of the Perth-Mandurah optical fibre network but also
the departure point of future planned extension of the high
speed optical-fibre network to Bunbury.
New Policies
Two new policies, "IT Equipment Lifecycle" and "IT Equipment Disposal" have been approved by the Senior Executive group. Each policy is described below.
IT Equipment Lifecycle. The purpose of this policy
is to establish and define a lifecycle for all IT equipment. This
is intended to provide a balance between optimum use and on-going
maintenance costs to enable staff to use the latest software with
ease. See http://www.murdoch.edu.au/admin/policies/itequiplifecycle.html.
IT Equipment Disposal. The purpose of this policy
is to establish and define standards, procedures, and restrictions
for the disposal of non-leased IT equipment in a legal, environmentally
friendly and cost-effective manner. The University's surplus or
obsolete IT equipment (i.e. desktop computers, servers, etc.)
must be disposed of according to legal requirements and environmental
regulations through appropriate external agents and University's
upgrade guidelines. Therefore, all disposal procedures for retired
IT equipment must adhere to University-approved methods. See http://www.murdoch.edu.au/admin/policies/itequipdisposal.html. IT Discovery Forum meets for the First Time
The "IT Discovery Forum" was born out of the
recommendations from the IT Review and members met for the first
time in May. The role of this group is to improve
business operation and planning through the use of Information Technology (IT).
It will advise on how to best to use technology to improve and
enhance the quality of University service and operation. It meets
biannually through a workshop where a wide selection of stakeholders
and external guests will discuss and plan the technology
horizon for Murdoch. For more information about the forum, see
the website.
Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 Update
New
and Updated Services
Computer Lab Consolidation and Status
IT Services is in process of taking responsibility for most of the computer labs. This includes provisioning of workstations, toner management and refills, support, printing quota and support. We are currently working on a new web site that provides real-time information about the usage, type and software loaded onto the workstations in each lab.
Computer Room Upgrade
The main computer room in the Science and Computing building is undergoing major changes. These include installation of extra server racks, installation of fire detection and suppression system, new air-conditioning, additional UPS power and new security system. The room will be transformed into a state-of-the-art facility by the time work is completed in late September.
LMS Upgrade
The University's Learning Management System
is being upgraded from WebCT Campus Edition version 4.1 to CE
version 6. The upgrade involves major platform and database changes,
introduces additional and enhanced functionality, and changes
the look and feel of the product. All unit offerings with a teaching
period starting on or after 6 August will use CE 6. All unit offerings
which commenced before 6 August 2007 including year long units
and 2007 community sites will remain on WebCT 4.1. Staff access
to the LMS is through the Teaching & Learning tab in Staff Portal
and student access is via the "MyUnits" page. Further information
relating to CE 6 can be found at http://www.lms-support.murdoch.edu.au/. Student Portal
The first version of Murdoch's Student Portal was implemented at the start of first semester 2007. The functionality provided in that version was centered on teaching and learning, with the portal delivering a single point of access to information relating to a student's enrolment. A Steering Group chaired by Darren Munday has been convened to identify and
prioritise enhancements to functionality and information to be accessible through the portal in future releases.
Current development is focused on enhancements to the teaching and learning functionality to extend the information provided and improve response times. Release of these improvements is scheduled prior to the commencement of semester 2.
Staff Portal
As from the start of semester 2, all staff access to the LMS will be through the Staff Portal. Software has been enhanced to significantly improve response times in the LMS area.
"Live Classroom" Now Available
The "Live Classroom" system is now available for use. Best described as "a technology which can be used for multi-way audio (VOIP) where instructors and students can communicate and collaborate as though they were in a face to face class". The system is due to be upgraded shortly to allow video as well. Live Classroom can be added as a content link within a unit on CE 6 (updated version of WebCT). Rooms can be set up for communication between groups of students. Please contact Rhondda Tilbrook in the TLC for more information on accessing this resource.
|
