What’s the Difference Between Kaltura, Panopto and Zoom?

Emporia State has licensed three video products from many years, starting with Panopto in 2008, followed by Kaltura in 2014 and Zoom in 2016. Each product is intended for very particular verticals but are now beginning to expand their portfolio to include features that overlap with one another. Video is extraordinarily popular at ESU. In any given month several terabytes of video are captured and replayed. Canvas is not well suited to support that much video content, so we direct users to one of these other solutions.

Panopto (Ancient Greek for All Seeing) was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University as a lecture-capture product used in medical schools. It is the workhorse for recording and uploading didactic presentations that are replayed later for review and study – mostly PowerPoint and web sites with a video insert. Panopto is unique in that it is one of the few products in its class that supports two cameras. ESU first adopted Panopto to be used in the Earl Center for recording counseling sessions. Later, it was rolled out across campus into every Learning Space and every office. Faculty can even record at home. Like all our products, Panopto is mobile friendly and provides automatic closed captioning. Panopto can also be used for live broadcasting events. It is not a product that is intended for synchronous web-conferencing.

Kaltura is the granddaddy of video hosting and streaming. It is used by many major corporations and universities, including the University of Washington, KU, and Indiana University. Think of Kaltura as a YouTube for the university but used primarily used for academics. ESU adopted Kaltura because Panopto did not afford video upload from non-Panopto sources at the time we conducted a review. (That since has changed.) Kaltura’s vertical is serving video content through Canvas and through a public facing portal called Kaltura Media Space. It also includes a desktop capture utility called Kaltura Capture that offers native screen recording. Kaltura also supports some of our best accessibility features using an add-in called Reach that not only captions, but also provides an automatic transcript of the video dialog that can be downloaded and printed. Kaltura is attempting to broaden its portfolio into lecture capture and web-conferencing. Kaltura Mobile allows faculty to capture and upload video from  their smartphones directly onto Canvas.

Zoom is the latest entrant to our portfolio. Zoom replaced Adobe Connect a few years ago when we saw Flash being deprecated by the browser vendors. This product’s primary vertical is web-conferencing, although it is commonly used for all manner of lecture capture given its ease of use. Our license for Zoom is underwritten by KanREN – our campus Internet provider. Zoom recordings are stored on Zoom Cloud for 60 days, and simultaneously stored on Kaltura using a product integration. Zoom is perhaps one of our more popular products given its ‘frictionless’ product interface. In a typical month we will see upward of 600 Zoom meetings. Zoom can even be used for desktop capture recordings. It is perhaps the most versatile of the products we license, but the storage limitations provide challenges.

Rob Gibson
Director

Learning Technologies

Checking for Updates in Zoom

We’ve come to rely on Zoom as our primary means of communication as we learn, work and teach from home.  It’s important, however, to make sure your Zoom software is updated.  As Zoom has become immensely popular, it has also been targeted for vulnerabilities and exploits.  Zoom is continually updating and patching their software, but it is up to YOU to install those patches.  Here's how.

Zoom will typically alert you when a new update is available.  It will appear across the top of the Zoom application.

If you don't see it, you can always check for updates manually.  To do so, open Zoom.  Click your initials or avatar graphic in the upper right corner.  Choose “Check for Updates.”

If there are any updates, you’ll be shown an “Update Available” screen.  Click the “Update” button.

After a few seconds, you’ll now have the option to click the “Install” button.  Click it and Zoom will close to complete the update.

Follow any on-screen prompts for your operating system to install the update.  Zoom should then restart automatically, and you’re all set to go.

The Takeaway:  Update Zoom on your computer.  Check for updates at least once a week and install any that are available.

Across Campus 1: Student Roundtable

Across Campus is a new series brought to you by ESU IT! In this series, we're going to discover how IT impacts you — the students, faculty, and staff across the Emporia State campus. Sometimes technology is front and center, while other times it is almost transparent--and we want to explore those scenarios with you.

We invite all types of members from the ESU community to talk about a variety of different topics.

Last week, Dakota Taylor and I had the opportunity to sit down (virtually, of course) with a few ESU Students to discuss their transition to online learning.

• Simon Stewart, Sophomore - Statistics major
• Luiz Felipe Maia, Sophomore - Economics major
• Taylor Nelson, Computer Science Junior
• Martin Okonkwo, MBA + MSIT, Graduate Assistant, IT Project Assistant
• Katelyn Flynn, Graduate Student - Public Relations major

Student-athletes, student employees, international students, and members of the FSL community; our student panel was filled with student diversity to make sure we could cover just more than one perspective.

The first episode of Across Campus will cover topics such as online classes, professor adaptation, working from home, and much more! 

Want to keep up with all this fun content and more? Head over to our Hornet TV YouTube Channel!

Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant

Web & Digital Strategies

Google World

If there's one thing I know, I know that we all know the word 'Google'. Generally, people know Google for its search engine which is widely used across the nation and the world. What many people don't know is the vast amount of services that Google provides us! I would like to cover some of those services and how we utilize them at Emporia State.

• Google Sites - Hornet 365, and all of our Hornet Sites, are built using Google Sites. Google Sites are an easy-to-use site-builder that guarantees accessibility while also giving you customization. Google Sites also features YouTube video plugins, Google Analytics integration, and the ability to make them private or public. We've really enjoyed using Google Sites as it allows for a clean designed website in a short amount of time. We can also turn over Hornet Sites to their respective departmental owners and the feedback has been excellent - it's easy to use! Another excellent feature of Google Sites is that it allows you to duplicate the site at any given time, which can be used for backups in the future!

• Google Analytics - Emporia State University utilizes Google Analytics with all of our major sites. Google Analytics allows for real-time analytical data about the audience of your websites. It can break the data down into geographical, demographical, and even technological units. For example, we can see what percentage of our users are using Chrome browser on our website and where our users are from.

• Google Drive - Google offers G Suite for Education tenants unlimited storage for Google Drive. This is possibly one of the best offers that current students will come across. Many cloud storage providers charge people for a certain amount of storage, so to have a Google Drive with unlimited storage is amazing. Utilize this offer by selecting Google Drive in the Google Apps tab while logged into your student email account!

This is only a glimpse of what Google offers us at Emporia State University. If you'd like to check out all of the services that Google provides, just sign into your student email account and check out all of the Google Apps that are available to you!

Sam Derksen
Web Developer
Web and Digital Strategies

Introducing CHECK 2020 - Planning Our Virtual IT Conference

Every year, the Kansas Regents universities and a few others get together for a conference called CHECK, which stands for Conference on Higher Education Computing in Kansas.  Presenters from each of the institutions share the latest trends, unique solutions, and other topics of interest with their fellow colleagues.  Each university takes a turn hosting it and this year the conference was scheduled to be at ESU.  This year marks 50 years since the techies first started meeting and we were excited to make this CHECK one to remember.  Alas, the Coronavirus derailed months of hard work and planning.  But not all is lost as we're reinventing the conference as a virtual event and we'd like to share how we're doing that.

• We'd normally have opening remarks by the CIO or others.  These will now be done via Zoom and streamed live.

• We follow the opening remarks with a keynote speaker for all attendees (approx. 200).  This too, will be done via Zoom and streamed live.  We're discussing adding/modifying the traditional keynote to include a roundtable-style discussion with CIO's and/or IT decision makers talking about their COVID-19 response.  

• The rest of the conference is made up on breakout sessions on multiple tracks.  We're still determining the number of tracks, but we'll have a Zoom room setup for each track with an ESU moderator.  Presenters will have the option of joining the Zoom session and presenting just like they would have if they were coming in person.  Alternatively, they can film their presentation ahead of time and we'll just run it during their session.  In both instances, there will be an option for a Q/A session with attendees--again using native Zoom tools.

• All sessions will be recorded and made available for watching later.

• We had planned a swag bag (T-shirt, pen, notepad) for all attendees, videos and interactive kiosks, vendor booths, and an evening social event.  The vendors will be given the option for a digital marketing presence, but the rest are nixed.  We're still doing a few fun things on social media to get everyone excited for the conference and we’ll move our Interactive kiosk content to the web, so there will still be a few unique things happening this year.  

Hopefully, this gives you an insight into how we're reworking our own conference from digital to virtual.  ESU employees interested in IT are welcome to register and attend.  The virtual CHECK conference will be held on May 20th and 21st.  More info can be found at esucheck2020.com

Brian Osbourn

Director, Web and Digital Strategies

Security Awareness Training Update

The Security Awareness Training contest ended nearly 2 weeks ago, and the winner was announced last week. The annual online security training is required for all ESU employees, and this year we gave one lucky winner (selected from those that completed the training by the end of the day on March 30) the choice between an Kindle E-Reader and an ESU parking pass.

1/3 of all ESU employees completed the training by the deadline and were entered into the contest. 

If you or someone you know hasn't completed the training, the deadline is June 1st. 

The winner of this year's contest was Debbie Redeker! Debbie's prize of choice was the Kindle E-Reader.

(An in-person presentation of the prize will happen once we're back on campus)

Congratulations Debbie, and a huge thank you to all who completed the security awareness training for this year.

We also want to invite everybody to tune into our now weekly video series, IT Only Takes a Minute, as well as our new segment in the Hornet Announcements, the Daily Download - technology news and tips.

Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant

Web & Digital Strategies

Email Encryption - New Service at ESU

This week, we announced the availability of email encryption from Outlook for ESU employees.    Our Information Security team has developed the following "how-to" guide with frequently asked questions to help users get started.

·       When would I use the encryption option?

o   If you send and receive information that's considered PII, Non-directory FERPA, HIPAA, Intellectual Property or any personally important information, you should use encryption.

·       Why would I use the encryption option?

o   Encryption scrambles the information in your message so that it can only be read by a recipient with the correct key. Encryption ensures that your information remains safe and confidential while it's passing through the internet. 

·       What do I have to do to use encryption?

o   It’s already available natively for some Outlook 2016 users (If you see a “permission” button where the “encryption” button should be then you need to upgrade your Office suite to enjoy seamless interaction with encrypted mail. All Outlook 2019 desktop and webmail users are able to use encryption without any additional setup.

o   If you have tried sending encrypted mail with Outlook in the past you may recall how tedious the process was to setup certificates and how often the mail recipient could not open the mail you sent them. The new encryption process is much, much easier to use and, most importantly, can be used to communicate with people using Gmail, Yahoo or virtually any other email client. 

·       What are these options I see under the encryption button? 

o   There are 4 types of email classification options available to Outlook desktop users and 2 available to Outlook web users. Desktop only options are noted with an *:

§  Encrypt-Only – This is the recommended setting for sending encrypted mail. We recommend this setting over the others because it is compatible with nearly every email recipient (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL….lets just say we haven’t found an email provider that it doesn’t work with yet)

§  Do Not Forward – This option gives you a little more control over the content you email. Using this option the recipient will not be able to forward the email message to another account or individual. This would be best used when sending sensitive information that only the recipient and the recipient alone should have access to.

§  Emporia.edu – confidential* – This option, along with the next one are not recommended for use unless you’re given specific guidance to do so. No, it won’t cause harm to use this or the next setting, but it will prevent any recipient outside of the organization from viewing your email.

§  Emporia.edu – confidential View Only* – As with above, this setting is really meant for highly confidential communication within the ESU organization. If you haven’t been given instructions to use this option then you don’t need to.

·       What types of attachments can I send?

o   Attachments are fully supported for all Office file types, PDF and several image file types.

·       I need to send email to multiple recipients; can I do that?

o   Encrypted mail can be sent to multiple recipients using the “Encrypt-Only” and “Do Not Forward” options.

·       I am ready to send encrypted mail; how does my recipient open the mail?

o   If the recipient is using another email client, such as Gmail or Yahoo, they'll see a link that lets them either sign in to read the email message or request a one-time passcode to view the message in a web browser. The message will be read and replied to in an Outlook web interface.

Knowledge Base Links:

·       How do I open a protected message?

o   https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-do-i-open-a-protected-message-1157a286-8ecc-4b1e-ac43-2a608fbf3098?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

·       View encrypted messages on your Android device

o   https://support.office.com/en-us/article/view-protected-messages-on-your-android-device-83d60f17-2305-407a-a762-7d518401fdeb?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

·       View protected messages on your iPhone or iPad

o   https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/view-protected-messages-on-your-iphone-or-ipad-4d631321-0d26-4bcc-a483-d294dd0b1caf?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

·       Encrypt email messages

o   https://support.office.com/en-us/article/encrypt-email-messages-373339cb-bf1a-4509-b296-802a39d801dc

Applies to: Outlook for Office 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, & Outlook 2007

·       File types supported by the Azure Information Protection client (Encrypted Mail)

o   https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/information-protection/rms-client/client-admin-guide-file-types

Web Form Solution... Sintel Forms

As time goes on, we have seen a need to transition from traditional paper forms to web based forms. Especially in a time like this, we have been doing our best to translate as many of these traditional forms to a web based form, and we do that by using Sintel Forms. Sintel Forms is an integration piece for SharePoint that provides a clean user-interface for forms. When a user submits their form using Sintel, their submission is stored in SharePoint making it extremely handy to categorize and sort. This also allows the option to export all of the submission to an Excel spreadsheet! The feedback has been tremendous because people don't need to shuffle through hundreds of paper forms anymore - they can do it all from their computer! In addition to the ease of use, you can take advantage of Microsoft Flow to automate submission notifications, response emails, and even store the information on a different platform.

We have been in contact with Sintel about their user-interface and how some users were confused about submitting their form. We are very happy to say that Sintel has taken our feedback into account and acted on it. There is now an option to have a submit button at the bottom of each form, making it easier for our users to submit their form.

If you'd like to have a web form created, please contact your WebDAC!

Sam Derksen
Web Developer
Web and Digital Strategies

Staying Motivated

During these difficult times when you have to stay inside for most of the day or don’t have a job to go to, it may be hard to stay focused on what is important for your future. In my opinion, experience is what brings you to the highs in your industry. Getting there is very hard, but it is always doable when you make a great use of your free time. During this pandemic, most people have more than plenty of time to do useful things for improving or getting new knowledge about something within the industry they are already in or going to be in in the near future. Here are some useful tips on how to stay motivated and get or improve knowledge you need:

Motivational tips:

• Doing extra work on top of what you get assigned to at work, school or college is not always easy, but your priority is what you should strive to achieve in your life. When you have a hard time motivating yourself to increase your knowledge or learn something new instead of, for example, watching your favorite show, just think about your future and how good it would be if you had a job you always dreamed of. Think of things you wouldn’t get if you didn’t stay motivated. That would be a great start on the way to success.

• Try to manage your time well. Not only does it help getting a great position after college, but also keeps you organized. Set aside an hour of your day for "extra" work. You will soon realize how helpful it is for your future. At first, it might be a little frustrating or boring, but once you start seeing the result, the motivation will come right away. It will soon become your habit and you won’t want to stop.

• When it comes to becoming successful at something, be the first in line. Take every opportunity you get, especially when you have free time. Don’t be scared to try new things. Eventually, you will look at yourself as a completely different person, because you will be proud for what you achieved.

We have all been through hard times and this pandemic is definitely not the easiest time to get through.  It is up to you to decide how you want to use your free time. From my experience, extra practice helps in any industry and any situation. Don’t wait until last minute to prepare for your future, start now and you will achieve great things.

Anton Levanovich
Student Web Developer

Web & Digital Strategies

Emporia State University Student Billing on Hornet 365!

Here at Emporia State University, we provide you with a 24/7 online student account center for fee payments, this can be accessed through your university portal, Hornet365!

The Financial Center give you access:

As an authorized users (parents/guardians/spouse) can log in here. 

To additional forms, by visiting the student form central page.

The Student Account Center is your one stop shop to: 

Check your student balance Get an itemized breakdown by semester, from the time you’ve been here. 

Make a payment towards your balance.  
Pay using major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express). Pay using an electronic check, all you would need is your bank account and routing number. This option does not have any extra convenience fees. 

Enroll in a payment plan 

View your payment history Print it out or export it as an excel or pdf file. 

Store your payment methods securely for quick and easy payment 

Provide permission to others (parents, guardians, etc.)  This way authorized users can view your bill, view your 1098-T tax statement and make payments. 

Direct deposit your excess funds into any US bank account 

You must complete the direct deposit authorization form online, and activate two-factor authentication, prior to the processing of excess funds. 

📹 Want a video tutorial? Emporia State University Student Billing on Hornet365

Got more questions? Find out more at emporia.edu/studentbilling

Ready to pay your fees? Get started at hornet365.com

Saandhyarag Sasidhar
Web and Media Specialist
Web and Digital Strategies

Asking Questions/Finding Answers

Are you seeking help?

Can’t meet up with anyone to resolve your issue?

Is your professor or manager not providing you with enough information to succeed?

Fret not Hornets! Where there's a will, there's always a way! We're going to help you find the solutions and online platforms, where you can find all the answers to your important questions.

Schoolwork:

• Many courses have discussion boards on Canvas! This is available for you to ask and answer course related material. If you don’t understand something, ask for help.
   
• Schedule a Zoom meeting with your classmates! Zoom is probably your best option, because you can share your screen and showcase what you are trying to figure out. Zoom also has the functionality for remote control access. This allows the person who is trying to help, control your machine until the issue is resolved.
   
• If you're still having trouble understanding the material, don’t forget that you can email / virtually meet with your professor on Zoom, to clarify your questions and get a better understanding on the material. Professors are here to help you succeed!

• You can always check the ESU Learn Anywhere site for campus resources or reach out to us and we'll help direct you to the person who can answer your question.

Job tasks:

• The best option when it comes to finding a solution to your work related question, is to communicate with your team on the established communication channels.  Is that email?  Teams? SharePoint? Perhaps now is the ideal time to establish that channel!
   
• Schedule a meeting with a manager or coworker(s). This will give you an opportunity to ask all your questions and get the answers. Make a list of questions before the meeting so you don't miss anything.
   
• If no one is available--that's not a problem! You have the greatest invention known to us, GOOGLE.  Ask Google any question you have, and you are most likely to get an answer. Use it with caution!

It's important to realize that these are unprecedented times for all of us! So, don’t be scared to ask for help!

Anton Levanovich
Student Web Developer

Web & Digital Strategies

Keeping Up With Microsoft Planner

We've received feedback that many users would like a task management tool to help stay organized and on track. While there are many solutions available, Emporia State offers a free tool to our faculty and staff called Microsoft Planner. Microsoft Planner is an excellent task management tool that allows you to assign users, set deadline dates, statuses of the task, and all of this with email notifications. Even if someone happens to forget about the task, an email will be sent before the deadline reminding the users that there is an upcoming task!

To make the best use of Planner, you should have a SharePoint Group created. Follow this link to have a SharePoint Group created for your team. Once you have a SharePoint Group, a Plan will be populated in your Plans tab. Plans feature options such as exporting it to an excel spreadsheet, or even a 'Chart' which helps you understand a deeper, analytical prospective of how your plan is performing. Once you have a plan created, start populating it with your current tasks. You can create different 'buckets' which help you differentiate the tasks and their topic. The user-interface makes it very easy to set your due dates and assign people to the tasks. Once your task has been created, Microsoft Planner features multiple sections to help you and your team complete it. There is a section for notes, checklist items, and even attachments. All of these features can help your team know exactly what the task is and where you are in terms of completing it!

Also, because Microsoft Planner is part of Office 365, you can access it from any device through your browser. Microsoft Planner also gives you the option to sync your tasks to your Outlook calendar if you'd like your tasks to appear there as well. The options are limitless for Planner, follow this link to check it out for yourself!

Sam Derksen
Web Developer
Web and Digital Strategies

Fun with Zoom Backgrounds!

Host your Zoom meeting from Gotham City!

If you've participated in Zoom video conferencing sessions, you've almost certainly seen that some of your fellow attendees are showcasing their creativity with unique backgrounds.

If your computer or device supports a custom background, our Learning Tech team has created instructions on how you can change your own.

Generally, a Zoom background needs to be 16:9 or 1920 pixels x 1080 pixels in size.  Your room should also have adequate lighting.

You can use your own photo or graphic or check out some of our favorites from around the web.

From Gotham City to Metropolis, here are a few provided by DC Comics.

Not to be outdone by Batman and the Super Friends, Marvel Comics has provided their own backgrounds showcasing the favorite MCU locales of the Avengers.

If space is your thing, boldly go with these Star Trek backgrounds or find all kinds of free or public domain photos on Pexels or Unsplash.

And finally, you can show your ESU Pride by downloading these campus photos or grab your own copy of the exclusive IT Only Takes a Minute custom background.

Brian Osbourn
Director, Web and Digital Strategies