Author: Andrew Ruether

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Software, Students

Mathematica 8 Now Available

Andrew Ruether

Last month, Wolfram Research released Mathematica 8.  Swarthmore ITS has the new edition available for download for faculty, staff, and students here:Download Mathematica 8 (Swarthmore username and password required).  We have versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. From Wolfram’s website, here are the top 8 reasons to upgrade: Enter your queries in plain English using new free-form linguistic input Access more than 10 trillion sets of curated, up-to-date, and ready-to-use data Import all your data using a wider array of import/export formats Use the broadest statistics and data visualization capabilities on the market Choose from a full suite of engineering … Continue reading Mathematica 8 Now Available

Academic Technology, Blackboard, Moodle, Workshops and Training

Introduction to Moodle Class

Andrew Ruether

ITS will be holding two “Introduction to Moodle” training sessions to help new users transition from Blackboard to our new learning management system. In the first half of the class, we will cover logging in, navigation, and adding materials and online assignments to courses. During the second half, participants will have to time to work on their course or explore additional features in Moodle. This is a great opportunity to get started if you are thinking of using Moodle for a spring semester course.  Additional training will also be held in early January. The course will be offered at the … Continue reading Introduction to Moodle Class

Software, Swatfiles

SwatFiles Drive

Andrew Ruether

Have you tried SwatFiles – the system that lets you store and share your files online?  You can upload your files and access them from any computer with an Internet connection – no VPN needed.  In addition, you can share your files with selected colleagues whether at Swarthmore or not.  You can also use SwatFiles as a drop box, simple wiki system, and a web server .  All faculty, staff, and students have space on the system.  You can access SwatFiles at swatfiles.swarthmore.edu. For the folks that are already using SwatFiles, one common question is how to easily edit files. … Continue reading SwatFiles Drive

Academic Technology, Moodle, The Dash, Web Projects

Moodle Tab Added to Campus Dash

Andrew Ruether

ITS has just added a Moodle tab to the Dash. Because Moodle uses your network username and password, logging in to the Dash will automatically log you in to Moodle without having to retype your password.  Soon additional services such as SwatFiles and SwatMail will be added to the tabs, allowing easy access to frequently used web sites without typing the same credentials over and over. Moodle is our new learning management system that will replace Blackboard over the course of the next two years.  For Fall 2010, we have 15 courses hosted in Moodle with about 100 users logging … Continue reading Moodle Tab Added to Campus Dash

Faculty/Staff, Software, Students

Swarthmore’s Software Revision Control System available to Faculty, Staff, and Students

Andrew Ruether

Are you working on a project that involves software development?  You may be interested in Swarthmore’s software revision control system.  Called gForge, this service is now available to the Swarthmore community. The biggest reason to use gForge is its revision control features.  It provides a Subversion (SVN) repository for each project that you can use to control the revision levels of your software.  Instead of relying on renaming files to indicate versions, you and any collaborators can always have the latest version of your software handy while also keeping every revision from the very beginning of your project. gForge also … Continue reading Swarthmore’s Software Revision Control System available to Faculty, Staff, and Students