New version of Chrome is causing some issues

The latest release of the Google Chrome browser (version 45+) has implemented some changes that can affect the appearance and performance of web pages.  The updates are designed to make Chrome use less memory and run faster, but have had some side effects that may cause problems. The latest version of Chrome has disabled support for many plug-ins including Java and Silverlight.  Content that worked in the past may not display any longer. Chrome will now “auto-pause Flash content that’s not central to a website.”  If you have a site with a video or other multimedia content that is not functioning, … Continue reading New version of Chrome is causing some issues

What’s New in Academic Technology for Fall 2015

ITS has spent the summer improving our core services and implementing new projects to help with your teaching and research. Today, we’d like to call your attention to some of the additions and changes that you might not have heard about. Classroom A/V Updates: Media Services has updated many rooms this summer. (19 classrooms even have wireless projection capability!) For the full list see the “What’s New in Classroom AV” blog post: https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/its/blog/2015/08/26/whats-new-in-classroom-av-fall-2015/. SensusAccess: Accessibility of course materials is essential to make sure that all students can participate fully in the academic program. SensusAccess is an online service which converts … Continue reading What’s New in Academic Technology for Fall 2015

Free Office 365 Education for Students

Office 365 Education for Students is available for free to students enrolled at Swarthmore College.  Install Office on up to 5 PCs or Macs and on other mobile devices, including Android, iPad®, and Windows tablets. To enroll, visit Microsoft’s Office 365 page and log in with your Swarthmore email address. www.office.com/getOffice365 Continue reading Free Office 365 Education for Students

ITS Recommendation for Windows 10

Microsoft released Windows 10 on July 29th, 2015 and is offering the operating system as a free upgrade to eligible Windows 7 and 8.1 installations for one year. ITS Recommendation Information Technology Services (ITS) will support personally-owned Windows 10 devices on our network and with supported College software.  ITS strongly recommends that College community members thinking of upgrading to Windows 10 adopt a “wait and see” approach, continuing to use earlier supported versions of Windows (Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1) until the initial bugs and compatibility issues in Windows 10 are identified and fixed. At this point … Continue reading ITS Recommendation for Windows 10

Windows 10 at Swarthmore

Microsoft will release Windows 10 on July 29th, 2015 and is offering the operating system as a free upgrade to existing Windows 7 and 8.1 installations for one year. ITS Recommendation ITS strongly recommends that College community members thinking of upgrading to Windows 10 adopt a “wait and see” approach, continuing to use earlier supported versions of Windows (Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1) until the initial bugs and compatibility issues in Windows 10 are identified and fixed. After the official release is tested, Swarthmore College’s full recommendation for Windows 10 will be posted to the ITS Blog. Information … Continue reading Windows 10 at Swarthmore

Introducing Zoom video conferencing

Over the past few years, Media Services has seen a boom in requests for support for web-based video and audio conferencing services (such as Skype, Google Hangouts, WebEx, and GoToMeeting.) While these tools are handy, we haven’t always been satisfied with their quality or ease of use. Starting immediately, all Swarthmore faculty, staff, and students have a basic Zoom account— just go to http://swarthmore.zoom.us. Sign in with your Swarthmore College username and password. You can use Zoom to have an audio or video chat with anybody else, but you can invite up to two dozen people into a meeting. The only limit to a … Continue reading Introducing Zoom video conferencing