New Apple Products

In the midst of this crisis, Apple managed to release the new iPad Pro. One could argue that there couldn't be a better time due to many educational institutions moving their classes to an online platform. iPads are becoming more and more similar to your traditional laptops with enhancements that allow you to do most things that you could do on a Windows or Mac laptop. The new iPad Pro boasts an A12Z bionic chip, which is slightly better than the A12X chip included in the last version of the iPad Pro. This means that this iPad will run all of the software you would need for school flawlessly.

Along with the introduction of the new iPad, Apple released a new 'Magic Keyboard' to go hand-in-hand with it. The Magic Keyboard seems magic, because your iPad magnetically connects to the stand and 'floats' while being able to type. Along with this cool feature, the Magic Keyboard also includes a trackpad, making the iPad seem like a traditional laptop.



Sam Derksen
Web Developer
Web and Digital Strategies

Group Collaboration

Is it your first time taking an online class? Are you stressed about not being able to communicate with your group mates? Don't worry, we've got your back. In this post, we'll cover what you need to know about virtually collaborating with your groups.

Sometimes collaborating with your group gets complicated; and bad communication can result in bad grades (and a bad mood.)    

We are here to help make collaborating online simple. All you need is a good internet connection and a reliable device. (A Windows laptop, a MacBook, an iPad, or even a smartphone.)

Need a new way to collaborate with your group on projects, assignments, and studying? 
Zoom is a great video chat software that allows you to not only chat, but also share your screen and give your group-mates control of your computer. Zoom is free and unlimited to all ESU students and employees.

Looking for a software that allows you and your groupmates to share and edit documents?
Google products such as Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides. They are simple to use and convenient when everyone in the group must work on the same file. 

Do you not like video or audio chatting?
Text-based chat using messengers like Apple Messages, GroupMe, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, may be more to your liking. You can also chat on Canvas under the “chat” tab. If none of those sound good to you, then emailing your groupmates is the always an option. 
(Just remember that all group members need to be diligent in checking and responding to messages!)

Are you trying to find a safe place for storing your files online where your group-mates can also access them?
OneDrive and Google Drive are your best options in this situation. Upload your document and share it with people you want to have access to the document. You can allow them to only view the document or both view and edit it; it’s totally up to you.  

Working on an individual project?

Emporia State University offers free access to all the Office365 products. Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint and more. All ready for you to use free of charge as a student. You can download them at hornet365.com. 

Having online classes might be stressful at first, but services we all have access to make our lives much easier. Check back weekly for more useful tips, and more! Stay safe, stay healthy and stay inside.

Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant

Web & Digital Strategies

Remote Work + Study

Working + Studying from home might seem like a terrifying and complicated concept, but it doesn't have to be. We know with all the distractions you have freely available at your home, it can be quite easy to forget a quiz you may have to take, or a class you may have to attend, or work your supervisor had assigned to you.

Here are some tips to keep you in check and help stay on track, whether it be class work or work projects and tasks. 

For School: 

1. Be on time

If you have an online meeting or zoom class session, make sure to have the date and time on your calendar. Participation counts and you might lose points if you don't follow the schedule. Make sure to submit your work on time to avoid losing points.

2. Limit all distractions around you

Distraction is your biggest enemy when it comes to studying from home. Make sure you stay in a quiet room with limited distractions.
 

3. Keep up with your courses  

Ensure you have a flow of communication with your professor and classmate, be sure to check up on any new assignments, quizzes, or exams you may. Check out (link to taylor's blog post on how to maintain a schedule) for more information.

4. Time yourself

Start a timer! Work in 40 minute chunks. This will ensure that you have put in hard work for 40 minutes straight, and also help you feel accomplished when taking a short break.

5. Ask questions

Do not stress if you're having a difficult time understanding concepts in class. You have all the tools needed in order to communicate with your professors, and peers.  

6. Take tests and quizzes in a quiet room. 

Always stay focused  when it comes to time-sensitive material like a test or quiz.

For Work: 

1. Be on time

Even though you are working from home, you still have a tight schedule to follow. Be ready to work diligently when you are scheduled to.

2. Maintain a flow of communication 

Ensure you are communicating with your supervisor on how things are going. Your supervisor must know what everyone is working on to keep track of the progress and make plans for the future.

3. Be Proactive  

Be sure to ask your supervisor how you could be helping in continuing with the daily workflow.

If you have never worked or studied from home, don’t worry! Your supervisor and professor will do everything they can to aid in this process and help you stay on track.

Now, time to stay focused, and study hard, and work hard. Good luck Hornets!

Anton Levanovich
Student Web Developer

Web & Digital Strategies

Work Anywhere - Employee Guide

Are you ready to work from home? We sure hope so. If not, we look to prep you with everything you'll need to know about the near future of ESU classes.

As an ESU employee, there are a number of things that you need to take in to account to become a secure and productive remote worker.

Let's begin with the basics.
You're going to need a computer or compatible device - If you already have an ESU laptop with Windows or MacOS, then you're set.
If you have an iPad, you should be able to do most tasks as well. (But if you mostly work with Microsoft Office, you're going to want a keyboard.)

If you don't have an ESU laptop and you're familiar with cloud services - You can use your home computer.
However, if you're using secure services that need a VPN, (Banner Admin pages, Jabber, and the W: drive,) you'll need to use an ESU laptop.

If you need to check out an ESU laptop, visit the Teach and Work Anywhere site on emporia.edu/covid19 and fill out the form under "Recommended Equipment."

Next,
You'll need communicate with your colleagues or students - Starting with your ESU office phone.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to forward it to your home phone or cell phone due to technical limitations.

This leaves you with two alternatives:

1. Change your voicemail - Inform callers that you will return their call via phone or email. Instructions and more information located on the Work Anywhere site.
2. Jabber Software Client - This is for lines with a larger call volume, (Admissions, Registration, or any department's main line.) Using the Jabber software client installed on your laptop, you'll be able to make and receive calls using the speaker and microphone on your computer. (Note: you must be connected to the ESU VPN.)

ESU offers two types of applications and services: 

1. Cloud based - You can use it anywhere on any device (Office 365, Teams, Canvas, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.)
2. Secure (Requires VPN connection to use.) - A VPN consists of software that runs on your computer and connects back to the ESU network, providing a secure tunnel. Essentially, you're on the ESU network from home. (Banner Admin pages, Jabber, and the W: drive.)

An alternative to using the VPN is ESU's online virtual computer lab, SkyLab, ESU's virtual computer lab

Have you moved to SharePoint Drive or your personal OneDrive? - You can access those from anywhere.
If you still have files on the W: or X: drives, you will need VPN or SkyLab to access those files.

Web Conferencing Software

There are 2 Options for Employees

1. Zoom - ESU's primary platform for hosting a video conference. Instructors can use it to have virtual classes and departments can use it to host meetings. (All employees have access to Zoom via Hornet 365)
2. Microsoft Teams - ESU's primary platform for instant messaging. You can access it from anywhere and on any device. Virtual meetings can be hosted on Teams as well. (All employees have access to Microsoft Teams via Hornet 365)

Now that you're informed on ESU's online capabilities, you have the ability to work from anywhere.

For more information, visit our Teach + Work Anywhere website.

Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant

Web & Digital Strategies

Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom - Which Should You Use?

As we move our classes online, you may wonder, "What is the difference between Teams and Zoom?"

ESU offers a plethora of resources for conferencing and communications, and today we'll be comparing two: Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Both software are great when it comes to online collaboration, but they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Both Microsoft Teams and Zoom offer individual and group communication through messaging and video conferencing. This can come in handy when working on group projects, online instruction, presentations, or traditional face-to-face meetings.  So the question is, when does one work better than the other?

Microsoft Teams:

• Quick Messaging
• File Sharing
• Push-Notification Instant Messaging
• Text-Based Group chats

Zoom:

• Massive Video-Calling
• Online Classroom
• Phone Dial-In Service
• Screen Casting
• Screen Recording

Both services offer a mobile app as well, which works best with iPhones.

Looking to download Zoom? Click here.

Looking to download Microsoft Teams? Click here.

For more information, watch episode 12 of IT Only Takes a Minute where we discuss these further in depth.

Questions? Contact the IT Help Desk and we'll be happy to help you out!

Call: 877-341-5555

Email: helpdesk@emporia.edu

Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant

Web & Digital Strategies

Video Conferencing Etiquette

You might encounter several video conferences over the next few weeks of ESU's online education. Some may be well experienced in this are, while other may be completely new to the idea of a video conference. It is important to know how to behave in a virtual classroom so you and your classmates get the most out of the experience.

1. Wear Work-Appropriate Clothing - Follow your organization’s rules and dress appropriately. Be smart when it comes to dressing up, because you are a representation of your organization.
2. Ensure Your Technology Works Correctly - Check the devices you want to use for the conference. Make sure everything works and you have a stable network connection. 
3. Use the Proper Software and Hardware - Make sure you have every software used for conference calls. You want to be prepared and have everything you need before you take or make a call. 
4. Be on Time - Your responsibility is to be on time. Being on time is always important and makes you look good inside and outside of your organization. 
5. Have the Right Light -  Lighting is very important. Make sure the room has a lot of light and people can see everything you use during the conference. 
6. Mute Yourself When Not Speaking - Even though you might not be speaking, your microphone can still pick up minor background noises. Background noises might often distract your peers. Make sure you follow proper etiquette and limit the amount of noises.  
7. Limit Your Distractions - Don’t get distracted. Distraction is your biggest enemy. Conference calls are important, and you always need to be focused. 
8. Engage - Participate as much as possible. Your opinion matters and your peers will appreciate you sharing it with them. 
9. Pay Attention - Paying attention is the key. Try not to miss information, because you will most likely miss something important and won’t have anyone to ask at home. 

These are 9 essential tips when it comes to video conference etiquette. If sought through, you're sure to get the best experience out of your online classroom!

For an instructional video detailing these tips, check out our YouTube video.

Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant

Web & Digital Strategies

Tips For Online Collaboration

Are you all ready for all of your classes to be transitioned to an online setting? Hopefully your years of exposure to technology has you feeling confident, but if not, no need to worry! The Information Technology department at ESU has been putting together resources to simplify this situation as much as possible. Follow this link to the 'Learn Anywhere' site to view all of the resources that we have gathered for you.

While the 'Learn Anywhere' site has a lot of information, I personally wanted to give you some opinions on how to best collaborate with fellow students on group assignments or projects. Two of my favorite options are...

• Google Meet
• This is one of the most popular video communication tools used in the world. It integrates with your Student G Suite account, making it easy to search and invite classmates to your call. It also allows users to dial-in to the call with their personal phone! This makes it one of the most accessible platforms to use for collaboration.
• Zoom
• A world-wide favorite, Zoom is used for video conferencing and meetings. During this situation, Zoom has allowed all users to have unlimited time usage for their calls. This means that you are no longer limited by the 40 minute 'lite version'. This ensures that you and your classmates can collaborate for as long as it takes to finish the assignment!

Most importantly... Communicate!

Communicate with your classmates and figure out what works best for you all! This is an excellent opportunity to learn different methods of collaborating virtually. Make the best of the situation!

If you still having any questions or concerns, please visit the ESU Coronavirus Information page.

Sam Derksen
Web Developer
Web and Digital Strategies

Introducing Canva!

Canva is a great website that you may have already heard of, and that's great! If you haven't heard of Canva, welcome! Below is a screenshot of the home screen of Canva. 

1) The URL is pretty close to the canvas one so to make sure you go to the correct site, type the full “canva.com”.  

2) You will be able to login through google or Facebook, but if you want you can create your own account. This all about your preference! The most important part about this one is, you do not have to sign up to pay for it. Canva has a lot of free goods so there is no reason to pay for anything.  

3) However, when you use certain templates it may want to charge you for downloading or printing those. To avoid this, you can create your own after you get more comfortable with the website.  

4) When creating, you may notice the words are hard to read. If you go in the bottom right corner, you will see something close to an expand-o button or a zoom in button. If you click on the zoom percentage there will be many options for you to choose from. Personally, I would say you would want to do the option, “Fill.”