IT department initiates wider wireless services

The IT Department is currently creating different methods of bringing information technology services to students, faculty and staff at UTPA. The division recently implemented three different programs in an effort to meet with the high demand for wireless upgrades.

“This is part of a larger initiative in taking the services to the students,” said Anne Toal, the technology assessment officer for Information Technology. “We’re getting out there and improving our infrastructure.”

The first effort begins with wireless upgrades for the entire institution. The university recently expanded its bandwidth up to 5 times faster this year, continued Toal, increasing from 54 to 300 megabytes. The upgrades were completed and installed for fall 2009 and cost the university between $400,00 to $500,000.

“Students are viewing videos, some are logging into blackboard,” noted the IT officer. “We’re discovering that students are eating up bandwidth by receiving this media from a variety of sources, therefore we are better preparing ourselves to meet this demand.”

The newly added upgrades are campus-wide, commented Toal, and available outside as well at areas like the north end of the quad located in the center of campus.

The second effort began with another program the university implemented this year, Tegrity Lecture Capture. This program allows professors to videotape their lectures, post them online and have them accessible for students who were either tardy, absent, or would like to view it again.

Tegrity Lecture Capture is a collaborative project between two services within the IT Department. Internet and Video services teamed up with the center for Online Teaching and Technology, who operates blackboard and online learning services, to capture and post the lectures for students.

The university handled the purchasing process over the summer and went live with the program at the beginning of fall semester. The university equipped smart classrooms with the software and set up microphones while offering basic training for professors who were interested in using it.

“It’s as easy as clicking start and stop, that kind of deal. We did not want faculty and staff to learn anything new or add more to their workload in integrating this into their teaching process,” said Kumar Raman, director of Internet Services.

Surveys that other universities have conducted indicated that software like this helps students understand the material better, continued Raman, because students can slow down the lecture or speed up playbacks. Other universities who use similar programs include University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College and the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

“Usage shows that right before exams or finals, students flock to the program to review the material or listen to a complicated topic again,” said Raman.

The software captures power-points, voice and visual feedback. It bundles it up into a video file and is then available through Blackboard for the student. The video can be viewed in multiple formats such as podcasts or even downloaded into a portable device, noted the director. The software also automatically creates key points every time there is a significant change.

“That way when the student logs on to view a three hour lecture, you can playback in parts instead of viewing the whole thing,” said Raman.

The university currently has 23 professors using the software, explained Raman. Tegrity provided the university with the software, equipment and training to run the program. The university has signed a three-year contract with the program costing $64,000 for the first year.

“We think this will be tremendously beneficial to students because it has a variety of uses. For someone who missed part of class due to traffic or for those who just missed class for whatever reason or at the end of the semester you would like to just review past lectures,” continued Toal. “We feel having a better wireless infrastructure will better facilitate those needs.”

VirtualLab is the third program in which the university hopes to bring IT services to the students. Students who have laptops and computers with a high speed connection can begin using the software installed on campus computers onto their machines with VirtualLab.

“The university started the program in fall of 2009 with the hope that it will help reduce transportation fees and services,” said the Assistant Director for Computer Support Services Richard Rodriguez.

Once the program is loaded onto the laptop, students can access the software that is initially only offered on campus computers. Software included are nursing programs, engineering, and statistical analysis, continued Rodriguez. Currently the university has a pilot version of the software, to test out until the end of the semester, and only allows 100 students and faculty at a time. The university purchased the program at $120,000.

“The software also allows you to keep the drives and programs that are within your computer onto the virtual lab. Once you log off, it all evaporates as if it was never there,” explained Toal. “The department is currently working on saving that information onto the virtual lab and making it your own that way when you log on, you log onto your virtual lab and loading becomes faster and easier.”

With the virtual labs available, students can benefit from no interference. The program will allow the software to be offered to students at all times. This means that the virtual labs will not be subject to closures during holiday hours.