News

Now you can find out about upcoming learning opportunities while you're catching up with friends and coworkers on Facebook. Visit http://www.facebook.com/psuitstraining/ or type "ITS Technology Training" in the Facebook search field to see technology tips from ITS trainers, as well as information about upcoming training sessions. You can also join in the conversations and contribute your ideas about technology learning opportunities at Penn State.  

Register to win an Eee PC Netbook by participating in Penn State's Take Control Computer Security contest. Meet the "ITS Squirrel," learn nine steps to keep you and your computer safe, and enter the contest at: http://its.psu.edu/takecontrol/.  Contest ends December 4, 2009.

Take Control is a University-wide campaign, sponsored by Information Technology Services, to increase awareness of computer security dangers and to help students, faculty, and staff protect themselves, their data, and their computers.

Go to http://its.psu.edu/takecontrol/ and enter the contest today! 

Graduate students are invited to attend a free overview workshop on the Teaching with Technology Certificate program on either November 23 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. or November 24 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. in 169 Willard Building, University Park.
 
The Teaching with Technology Certificate program enables graduate students to strengthen their educational technology capabilities. Through the free certificate program, participants apply existing technology skills, acquire new skills, and develop a philosophy about teaching with technology. They then assemble an online portfolio highlighting their knowledge and skills, under the guidance of departmental representatives. Upon approval of this portfolio, students receive a certificate from The Graduate School. The workshop will discuss the flexible structure of this portfolio program and highlight the benefits to students wishing to showcase both their teaching and their technology skills in a competitive job market. The Teaching with Technology Certificate program is sponsored by The Graduate School and Information Technology Services.
 
To register for the workshop, visit the ITS Training Services Web site at http://its.psu.edu/training/ and select the "Register for training" link.

Registration is open for the free workshops offered by ITS Training Services that are designed to meet the needs of graduate students at Penn State. Many of these workshops are available over the fall break, including SPSS, Scientific Computing, Refworks, Penn State Thesis Template, and more. From the ITS Training Services home page, click on Look for Training to view all training options.

From hundreds of training sessions scheduled throughout the year, to training for groups upon request, to online video tutorials that are available any time, ITS fulfills a variety of technology training needs at Penn State. Watch this three-minute video to "Get to Know ITS Training Services."

Registration is now open for the technology workshops offered throughout fall semester by ITS Training Services. Popular topics include Access, Excel, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, cascading style sheets, XHTML, InDesign, Illustrator, Flash, ANGEL, Penn State's administrative systems, and many more. For convenience, many sessions are offered via Adobe Connect online meeting and training software, and others are offered as "lunchtime sessions," from noon until 1:00 p.m. Visit the Web site for more information and to register for training at http://its.psu.edu/training/ .

Penn State's Course Management System, ANGEL, has recently been upgraded from version 7.1 to version 7.3. The new version of ANGEL features enhancements to several existing tools, and several new tools help course editors perform administrative tasks. There are also several minor interface changes. Users can learn about the features of ANGEL 7.3 in several ways:

• Read the ANGEL Help and Information Guide article entitled "ANGEL 7.3 New Features" at http://angelkb.ais.psu.edu/article.asp?article=1610&p=2.
• During the week of August 17-21, workshops will be offered on the following topics: What's New in ANGEL 7.3, Course Gradebook, and Start Using ANGEL in Your Course Right Away. To register, visit http://its.psu.edu/training/, then select the "Register for training" link.
• Attend an ANGEL Town Hall on August 25 from 10:00 a.m.-noon in 116 Wagner, University Park or via an Adobe Connect desktop videoconference. This is an open forum where in-depth exploration of new tools and features will take place. To register, visit http://its.psu.edu/training/, then select the "Register for training" link.
• To access a series of ANGELshorts on new features including course mail, the HTML editor, and discussion forums, visit the ANGEL Community Hub at http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/angel/.
• Watch a recording of a previous What's New in ANGEL 7.3 workshop at https://breeze.psu.edu/p42497699/.
• To learn about Technology Learning Assistants, who provide one-on-one consultation on ANGEL and other technologies for teaching, e-mail tlatutors@psu.edu.

Thousands of high-quality video tutorials on hundreds of IT topics are now available at no cost to Penn State faculty, staff, and students through a license agreement with lynda.com, Inc., an industry leader in online training. To help ease current and potential resource burdens for Penn State faculty, staff, and students in challenging economic times, Information Technology Services has secured a University-wide site license for these tutorials, which are broken down into manageable segments to accommodate busy schedules. Topics include Microsoft Office applications, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, SQL, Drupal, audio and video editing applications, ColdFusion, operating systems, and hundreds more. These tutorials are taught by industry experts and available 24/7 for convenient, self-paced learning. In order to access the tutorials at no cost, go to http://its.psu.edu/training/lynda/, where other service requirements, as well as the dedicated link for the Penn State community, are posted.

Now you can find out about new technology learning opportunities by following psuITStraining on Twitter, a social Web tool that provides quick access to brief information. If you're already on Twitter, just visit http://twitter.com/psuITStraining/, click to follow, and receive updates on upcoming classes and other learning opportunities. We'll post when seats are available for specific classes, when the ITS training group is going to be at an event, and when registration opens for a scheduled training session. If you're not using Twitter, you can still sign up to receive monthly e-mail updates on upcoming learning opportunities through the Training News List by sending a blank e-mail to L-TRAINING-NEWS-SUBSCRIBE-REQUEST@LISTS.PSU.EDU.

To learn more about Twitter, view the video "Twitter in Plain English."

An online learning resource is open for the participation of students, faculty, and staff at Penn State. The Technology Training Community allows users to browse current tips and information or log in to participate in forum discussions on the many technology topics that affect their lives and roles at the University. Though originally developed to foster continued learning for participants of the ITS technology workshops, this community is open for everyone at Penn State to use at their convenience for informal learning and information sharing. Please visit the community at http://technologytraining.psu.edu/ or e-mail techtraining@psu.edu with questions.