%PDF-1.3 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R ] /Count 1 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 16 0 R /I2 17 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Creator (DOMPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250723083308+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250723083308+00'00') /Title (Report 07-2025) >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 12 0 R 14 0 R ] /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Length 6375 >> stream 0.702 0.800 0.816 rg 34.016 34.016 543.969 723.969 re f 1.000 1.000 1.000 rg 45.266 109.346 521.469 637.388 re f 0.773 0.773 0.773 RG 0.75 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 45.641 109.721 520.719 636.638 re S 0.773 0.773 0.773 rg 61.016 125.096 m 550.984 125.096 l 550.984 125.846 l 61.016 125.846 l f 0.200 0.200 0.200 rg BT 61.016 693.716 Td /F1 14.4 Tf [(EXAM ACCESS APP A RESOUNDING SUCCESS)] TJ ET 0.400 0.400 0.400 rg BT 61.016 664.909 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(Posted on )] TJ ET BT 104.045 664.909 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(January 01,1970)] TJ ET BT 173.588 664.909 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [( by )] TJ ET BT 188.096 664.909 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(IT Communications)] TJ ET 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 61.016 637.420 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Until recently granting access to examinations for students has been a manual and time-consuming process of checking-)] TJ ET BT 61.016 626.431 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(off access lists. However, thanks to new technology developed by Information Technology in collaboration with the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 615.442 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Examination Office in the Registrars Division, this is no longer the case.??)] TJ ET BT 61.016 595.453 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Since June this year,the identification of students for access to examination venueshas beenfacilitatedwith the use of )] TJ ET BT 61.016 584.464 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(cell phones at each venue.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 564.475 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Astudent's student cardis held against theback of the cell phone, and on the screen, it is indicated whether the student is )] TJ ET BT 61.016 553.486 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(supposed to write the examination in the specific module in the specific venue. The screen will display a green mark if the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 542.497 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(student is at the correct exam venue \(see image right\) and a red cross if not. If the student is at the wrong venue, the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 531.508 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(screen will indicate where the student should?be for the exam or test.?)] TJ ET BT 61.016 511.519 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(This will result in access to examination venues being easily and swiftly controlled and will certainly simplify and improve )] TJ ET BT 61.016 500.530 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(the function of access controlwith regard toexamination venues.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 480.541 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(This easier scanning process is made possible by theNFC \(near-field communications\) chip on Android phones which )] TJ ET BT 61.016 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(communicates with theMIFARE chip embedded in the studentcard, )] TJ ET BT 337.136 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(and)] TJ ET BT 352.148 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 354.650 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(the identification information)] TJ ET BT 469.202 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(is then)] TJ ET BT 498.218 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(used)] TJ ET BT 517.730 469.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(by)] TJ ET BT 61.016 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(the phone app)] TJ ET BT 123.566 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(to look up the student's exam venue.)] TJ ET BT 269.870 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 272.372 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The exam venue and module information)] TJ ET BT 438.449 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(come)] TJ ET BT 460.454 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(from the Student )] TJ ET BT 61.016 447.574 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Information System.)] TJ ET BT 141.044 447.574 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 61.016 427.585 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Tests were first conductedon a small scale during the November 2017 examination andthe technology wasrolled out fully )] TJ ET BT 61.016 416.596 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(for theJune 2018 examination.It wasa resounding success.?)] TJ ET BT 61.016 396.607 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(EmceLouw, Head of the Exam Office experienced the impact first-hand as the process was driven from her office. This )] TJ ET BT 61.016 385.618 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(included loading the cell phones, setting up data, training the convenors responsible for scanning at the venues and )] TJ ET BT 61.016 374.629 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(collecting the phones after the exams.She received overwhelmingly positive feedback from invigilators and students alike:)] TJ ET BT 61.016 354.640 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 61.016 334.651 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 61.016 314.662 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 61.016 294.673 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 61.016 274.684 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(")] TJ ET BT 64.211 274.684 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(Scan)] TJ ET BT 84.722 274.684 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [( van studentekaarte is fantasties! Ek het gister 4de jaar Megatronika studente gehad. Hulle was vreeslik be)] TJ ET BT 509.927 274.684 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET BT 512.429 274.684 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(n)] TJ ET BT 517.433 274.684 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(druk )] TJ ET BT 61.016 263.695 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(met die )] TJ ET BT 93.029 263.695 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(scanning)] TJ ET BT 129.047 263.695 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(!")] TJ ET BT 61.016 243.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The development and successful completion of the technology was a)] TJ ET BT 338.153 243.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(cross-functional)] TJ ET BT 401.171 243.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(team)] TJ ET BT 426.182 243.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(effort)] TJ ET BT 446.693 243.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(. Hendrik le Roux from )] TJ ET BT 61.016 232.717 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Information Technology's Access Control Division was the project manager and?Guzelle?Hendricks was responsible for )] TJ ET BT 61.016 221.728 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(business analysis for the twothree-monthphases of the project which ran from the end of 2017 to June 2018.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 201.739 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(In addition toHendrik andGuzelle?the following staff played a key role in getting the project off the ground - Phillip Greeff )] TJ ET BT 61.016 190.750 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(\(TAS\), Gregory Isaacs \(TAS\), Anna-Mari du Toit, Marc-Allen Johnson,Jeremy van Rooyen,Charles Hopkins,who wrote )] TJ ET BT 61.016 179.761 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(the app andElmar Mattheewho was responsible for the back-end development. On the side of the functional )] TJ ET BT 61.016 168.772 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(stakeholders, besides for Emce, Neels Fourie \(Deputy Registrar\), and Jan du Toit and Helene Nieuwoudt \(both from )] TJ ET BT 61.016 157.783 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(SISS\) participated in the project.)] TJ ET 0.400 0.400 0.400 rg BT 61.016 139.294 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(Posted in:Apps,Students | | With 0 comments)] TJ ET q 126.000 0 0 225.000 61.016 421.211 cm /I1 Do Q q 225.000 0 0 72.750 61.016 290.681 cm /I2 Do Q endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Helvetica-BoldOblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 13 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 61.0157 421.2109 187.0157 646.2109 ] >> endobj 13 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (http://blogs.sun.ac.za/it/files/2018/08/exam_app-approved-new.jpg) >> endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 15 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 61.0157 290.6809 286.0157 363.4309 ] >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (http://blogs.sun.ac.za/it/files/2018/08/exam_app_comment.jpg) >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 168 /Height 300 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 9079>> stream JFIF;CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 82 C    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$," }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?@5Nu p"ߝs> h>H4X!]nGN"6覚6|I,f$;zdQ^}-CR*._| Z4*Hdsdunr1>P񀽞Vx`QH1{ 㞞ju #v1Q\ U'׻W(:r{e>y5f)s=Z{OO4ܳ'M36?+4ge}WZǽ?6?) Dǽ?6?(2m3c޴ab=L{1G$rʏ"$Gpy \͇?ab& SxC했.lauYr, as"tnXA:zSZ(i%` }ќ~$t Q${5sUy\L]9J6~<TF:r s7gT3.:5G6?(͇a*]HN,~qi ;IטOeM88zŰ ;^o][=Ė$wB@dF7,H#@kB_ZKq+2_KG}F `$lSq l[KMm׿Ȯ\5޺_Ͽ5n^GvS2f|z*[q]YY6Hxq]չ}J|J( ^R=ᲄcΖ^Aq*E|)+>:\#}IaL.|tSV$8s/S:ROV~.,qk7gL&)~ӷ?Zmyg[ r8ֲo5YtXtxna9YSb^?}擣E+wpL2*sϊخcik~} uCyN#.J08hA 6wm2-y$Ǹ/bK~~'ĸ|M ipUmb:"bDaN#ClS-|u ̖ɾ^ AսZϯ=~~*-* tmqRKMRWSy^0%'C8pK?-mIX~@%N9BY^9W]UT8bPuĊI#fTbBJ赯[m Ӟb0+g d|ñ zd𕔑MHF0Z8P7^RZ)?Ik&cE+}k5y}fȗVpJV"kNIrg9XZeͅL*r03һORZ%KO֞gI/+[3[m8е" גH-Ŕq7.? X.[چL#7}3Ѝ KY4’%M9xYMIW@[\]uEz/)-gZ? KY591Q^ KY4’%MxϷuK^ KY4’%MxϷwע’%M𤵟 iG~/?1G5𤵟 iG)-gZ?g|z')-gZ? KY4mC#>y4W’%MmC#>{.=ǽ-0Pcތ{@ z1KE&=ǽ-PQ\o_ d3oEIό#ӵunP{UT#ӡkaJ9=#|=UJo^^ѸOH>COgeY#ҮbiҌcތ{Lbcތ{@ z)hOƏƀOƏƀOƏƀ5iҞNV(T7||NNM5[RtpC! 6o9V>gia}%|:i{.Mj ?~DUNjENkBJnq~"Y"blSq~m ~>2=?oE6z5=͹ݻ70_fٲïeI;fk{s= Tcn#gRyVϑB&$5o:O-uĉ\tw=: +j8 (P0 _]iwаxoQ+IPR~4~4R~4PEQF(Q1@-VzJ />Kn'q g{WWsu v_ N.#r:b{}}ɸxXR2CAg.~ÿذ?vGgӱC)Tl]'xu4xہѮH??+X#(P0 K{xm #HB" P:*N+a#Y`0c (+ ((( (((u˧_Dj 9el5iu}nM1a˴wpqu#%l8S^Es>0y#т*ω76*\%%}]uY7!|b67hvŻ϶"ݙ#1*K(fX],Sp#?Y:'Ҁ:z+?bZ)&Y+sgNjd(pot\v::+.Cr-g <(q}2M=w 3؁V9s222z(; XC!f.thHݳS^rjif-•gaxLF9硠 j+7̖,Pc<֕s65ЪGII *0H8ր4(((κЬ/y.#̖O5nv4M>wy-kw>x^KFsmTܛz⠒3"(P, =h7mQ ]8U?a"ʬ.'.$>Ikopn#k1!02 ֱ+ۆ"1;#IPcMz7In[s!؜|=̾µ__ms5tWIcmǿӵ#xOi|wlMvnۜgo1ky BV -#i 7% t!9:TP2&}|rn};t֣1Bn#Ǘ>N=+Nζll0!Fԝ8>):=Q.9R@8=PO#oْ˜ĊozhkgN? ( ( ((j:iP{;BC."w?Y܋wZD "X"g esq<0JQ93,>ޔԵ( ۆ@I~*v!uC9' i/䷎$PH| ns]3G  @I%r޿Zu5=fOm?>ǯ#9[l0p(U"Uw1%EPEPEPEE{a$*ȗC&UFq [OJ)e i`ϥ^ּH5Xf 1e@G+TW(\kT1h޻*(-IrA&[$|%zfd@n"3*0pߧ֭z~P!6v_G%hHG }Nɫ:^}yWPhN#ϘQlۜȮ(((Š(((Š(((Š(((((((((((((k/?Oo+Z(k/?Oo+Z(k/?Oo+ CX]M$*%PAF®{ le/ln[J 5 j'Q eZW5 j'Q eZW5 j'Q eZut|lnR!u&$L܌,d' )W5 j'Q eZW5 j'Q eZj6]+PW7?g䑞MRX0068V(+v[k~y5z[ mK.uu$f{O!Q'Lr$r4Q@Q@Q@ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 300 /Height 97 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 8572>> stream JFIF;CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 82 C    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$a," }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?~ QE[9%Ȫd>GT~#֮tX`K#8dX׽fi>9mN[f8;KF^9aP񪲄 q4 {!ǘ2 92rq@]|l}ի'pn"1ɘɟUq\?umo2\"=m}$g5-u >%+Sʕ62T9sE曥ߵb$v:ֹ=FkQY%l\5+Cϵh7(n!x ۝'t$hEcX,B)?MIe*O7J-gPwǹB@*H@< \W/-*x 9B ]ʶ:9Ŭ#|+;J=Z:Nas/r1jC+mE1ɵ$ #٣O[bMJK'_A:f5mΈ!m& 2зVDR/w>4~ĢIc8WeNQ @^wߵ9uE/`"[yd 4˔ AKsfM]OI/!jQzuJ擩ڤZDcH(lB1@5.qV.Fi\8>jֶv3桧[^u(@|vxn+Ujz.L"B(8f '~֧t'KE[yt`zMGt41Y7ٸ`g+Ϥuٴ?+[IbdVkR2qqlfM$S9<-C:jn71$b ~瞵]A"W14(crO5 RCĉmghX<$˕%=2GpPh22Ȣi5X%/Ocp@7>NZIĒ$\S{zޢ_䙭#'8YR 5[Krٯ%:K r0PFT6zjͨji68F8xFHao`? ز\Cjaж1v~Jr[H' !g"Q*VݹwȰ]Fúk-rlFp;p}ri:Ėw2MktUUY.x[BӒ2N+(rv_/Y2?xdĚ5gQ%YNP[[ǽFv=15iQ4זm8weaCi-@Dr.zsؑޫGE($@a *:]-ʧ}8$5RM!8a#<:2G?F.bGf<(Å<ۃ&bMs6XP# ˶5<tP*PP0KEQEQEWΟ__ F_Eah;B 7 p6Dx$x'YdxVbv3‘zڼm4u:BKwGV֧ s $B;t 4y"N":la28%h[xN'$l6n{t3J+yTxXmr NIϭW[/$fխ-<_*0 >q)ќ+ B0 <{O|oaiX\gpV5gI+rgH*FĪ.ꮷkiC *ӏsttF>i-% 2gfK-iQ<Uq~6].K.PK9DH=*h7Veԡ),7 Y #iGq|IH>]_No+[xc5 ҡlo o* Ǡ'{P}Z#iڝ%X'q<8#wAϥk]Z@$h*<5ǧ.uagwZE][ |e9$r@y=4utqX>S]`@>09$zr%5[%ūΪK'ǥR L%=?q4̀rkK}3~˫^]W'NEߌ%Wyrz(Έ:i _F@r4 }_ K}VиSPXP6c6C0^ckJlo4mLC4'2܊$i˟D#|bL%jN= i ]0'T=xTzN!gbJt1Gw8??BHǰ'}; Δ:[Ƹo ơw3\^E3GϷr(R+R{DoajSl@5C9(4>1Q`P? )-jC7@|9e7q'@ޛs$~~u/R?ӿp>2T+(%YfB3-7 !R|Z@Uq}~NvہQ@|F,h6Ch蛛K-7}5隋gL<h"D U3Q'ms4մhs2)߃sjkJt/S?4g_lb4)6VMlJSiGe~)`~DìO_ѻiv?›և@}?wO>Џ?H4 t,n!_h.?š<1M*}"Ftli)dcP֊?g~ ev ?ҳn?wN]J?j:68PF\=HѤFF  5^?zC2sCO6ЬMbB"IƎE@dZ_G?羥 OGS];7AS4L2@D_Gw~#r1/! yzkO%H7M E?ڗaGCR|;hÙ?ZH3<Q/֥==DQnmq\*;-˖ay>4+KӵD/!yHI} <{Om2DТCQf^?1~dSmi7rksF{]]$bH9څNp(o @zWQ[P[Xu]I^M/ʧ;qUE-[=c]TTHmMF NFrqӱWcX& |O FHV$9PWzv8 ZgVyR>^<ƥ}GWڥkPr1(!SzbsakƬ|8٠ ri/ l9,Z09TwztZΪ[G H^q~U_eu+e۳*FBl8u\Ηkzo.O۬Q!Hc*3ȠE:T:ɏ:M?oxf/=3/5km*}JI-!X*7B `X~"еY4zFGD0#bEODW#seܨ'fGs]}[۴ ye]JA,3s\RY50I/&s‹ms R~IPk2ݦk*%$c(pT#ȣ>'OF[xu@C K zcX+{dxm f^69oG&]ĚLH#$2v$nq:Ankks2ļO~]>P_ 4y6eTCw=vMŬڴGn7x#5I@p̂MBЦF1Ja Y;d[f }q&rmkc7P6*,T`{SwK*1O{b(3 l]qQns6.#w9|sb(*SͥZ[[ ps~O[˦ ®Bwr gW_(MGb2X[0gE*mBĒ 6t9wWM!"f6?1#k;Ws_'m5gkhOQ ѿH`*ί⨴kkv[Frg8>+Nܚ5l{,YP' |I IoAD>TĿ6*JqI@Mο-ʮ-3$۳{@8.\鷑%& ;@䎼bQxsZյ!Ԡ`$qϯAg}^Nˡ颎Epdo svlJpxS3m ?.Rgx=)|Oj[ la&UHZF+LZR4BQK@ߊ8.J+_-وxʓ9EW>=i)ϼWs0?/{g+ĺnˆf˹t/Ԑ1@MQGM u8h+յ5N,^R1qO\g2{(*r\3а}zQxOnZtGI# }+t8ms1u=,<Ǝ8ٗzx^)xiT咈0*lXZ6}m5Wyhc&֭dXKy ޫʦpd{d{^fDV2}_'k[FIJ/-}dۼMm䯛?j 2/%}AyiqpSȾns@_D5{>uo3΀ɟqSoG@ Ʒ&} AiOƔEza[8ڔ|A],9@ lr+<' ]tOO?[F?熘4FA 7uq)<}tE'.zi(vk[g?j1U]ah?`&xZa?Kkí~(N?b~EֳK/@ K_?\l7Ho5Iw((::ݸOSq }[A'ޛ 9_Uzܑ<_Ujggk_ #@o79Aկ]Q?GP kl? _w.(yе1(VCj} }R_#kMz@#@@Yhӿ.h?ߟc?Rw9Ix::_9r0plc@/9G/9Hu5,לG?$@ s@MKӬ?ri/,NխFE{xֺQI?“ aR)K@-ֆ_]N=lXa݀Ӟ4-PP.o͍0dT 8=@~xj7G?o&9*D̉X9'7Lu5%xOkqIw~凑 QHqHlZOQ\op.H(=@F@nUmN9orKP,u9b/JF~ok<*'o5ҩXhZcyF_8I8|9V>mo0Ymg83_?ԏ2/%}_;Wɿ3cM!ђP%EPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEP)EPQEQEQE(( ?Oͨ? endstream endobj xref 0 18 0000000000 65535 f 0000000008 00000 n 0000000073 00000 n 0000000119 00000 n 0000000343 00000 n 0000000380 00000 n 0000000518 00000 n 0000000607 00000 n 0000007034 00000 n 0000007146 00000 n 0000007261 00000 n 0000007381 00000 n 0000007489 00000 n 0000007616 00000 n 0000007733 00000 n 0000007860 00000 n 0000007972 00000 n 0000017219 00000 n trailer << /Size 18 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R >> startxref 25958 %%EOF Students « Informasietegnologie
Language:
SEARCH

  • Recent Posts

  • Categories

  • Archives

Students

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

The cloud is coming

Friday, September 26th, 2014

Within the next few months Matie students will be able to send e-mail like never before.

If you’re a regular Twitter user or sometimes wander around in the Neelsie or Library, you’ve probably seen notices referring to the “cloud”. Don’t worry, we’re not talking about the unpredictable Cape weather. On the contrary, this cloud brings good news.

Student numbers have been increasing rapidly over the past few years and with it the need for more e-mail storage space. Up till now student mail has been hosted on the university’s mail servers, but we’re starting to run out of space.

Information Technology has been investigating all the possible solutions and came to the conclusion that Office 365 would be the best choice for student e-mail.

MS Office and Microsoft operating systems are already used in student computer user areas and would integrate seamlessly with this existing technology.

With the e-mail cloud project Stellenbosch University will be entering a new phase for e-mail and although staff e-mail will also eventually be migrated, the biggest need is currently moving student e-mails.

The target date for migration is October, but we will continuously keep students updated on developments through Twitter.

A website will be made available where students can do the migration themselves and start testing the cloud platform. Students can choose when they want to migrate. Those who haven’t migrated by December, will automatically be moved by IT to Office 365 before the end of the year.

But why struggle with limited space, when you can have a whole 50 GB space to your disposal. Office 365 also offers other advantages such as storage space on OneDrive and online access to Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, etc.

If you want to stay updated on the e-mail cloud project, follow us on Twitter at @ITStellenUni or #theitcloud.

Email

Tags: , ,
Posted in Connectivity, E-mail, Students | Comments Off on The cloud is coming

Buying a tablet: The choices

Friday, September 5th, 2014

In a previous post we looked at the advantages of tablet-based learning. This time around we’ll investigate the options available when you’re buying a tablet.

While there are many different tablets on the market, they can all be categorised according to the software platform they run. Just like a computer runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX or Linux, a tablet also has a so-called operating system. In choosing a tablet, then, you have three main alternatives:[1]

  1. An iOS-based tablet:
    1. Apple iPad (starting at around R4 500 for an older iPad 2 with WiFi)
    2. Apple iPad Mini (starting at around R3 500 for a first-generation device with WiFi)
  2. An Android-based tablet:
    1. Samsung Galaxy Tab (starting at around R6 000 for an older Galaxy Tab 2 P5100 with WiFi)
    2. Samsung Galaxy Note (costing around R7 000 for a Galaxy Note N7100 with WiFi+3G)
    3. Lower-end alternatives by other companies (costing as little as R1 500)
  3. A Windows-based tablet:
    1. Lenovo and Dell tablets (starting at around R5 000)

The first two groups are by far the most popular. Although many people will argue that an iPad is better than a Samsung Galaxy Tab – or vice versa – choosing between the two is ultimately a matter of taste. However, if you own a smartphone (e.g. an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy), it makes sense to get a tablet that runs the same software so that you can easily share dataandapps between the two.

If cost is your biggest concern, your best option will be to get a lower-end Android tablet. These tablets should be able to do most things that their Samsung big brother can do, albeit at a slower pace and without some of the enhancements that come with Samsung devices. When buying such a tablet, make sure that the battery life is good (you’ll want at least 8 hours of battery life to get through a full day of classes) and that the tablet has enough storage space (less than 16 GB will fill up rather rapidly).

For detailed specifications on available tablets, click here (downloadable pdf)

TIP: Stellenbosch University is part of the national Student Technology Programme (STP), which offers laptops and tablets at reduced prices. Take a look at their website: www.stp.ac.za. Mid-September new tablets will also be added to the list.

[1] Please note that the listed prices of tablets are merely intended as a general guideline and were current as of January 2014.

[ARTICLE BY JOHANNES JONKER]

Email

Posted in Connectivity, Students | 2 Comments »

Using a tablet for smarter learning (part 1)

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

Since tablets became mainstream in 2010, more and more students have started relying on these nifty gadgets to take their learning experience to the next level.

However, many students still are unaware or unconvinced of the advantages of tablet-based learning. In the following section, we’ll look at why exactly a tablet is a fantastic investment.

Why a tablet?

In short, there are four reasons:

1. The most obvious advantage of a tablet is the level of mobility it offers. As a student, you’ll most probably carry around at least a notepad, your prescribed books and your class notes. And, for many, a calculator, dictionary and diary/calendar are also indispensable. Carrying these items around all day long can quickly become a back-breaking burden – which is why most students simply leave their heavy books at home.

With a tablet, though, you can have all of these resources compacted into the size of an A5 notepad. No more forgetting books or notes at home – everything you need is but a few finger taps away. This is a killer feature in itself.

2. However, the true academic value of a tablet becomes evident when one looks at its potential as an in-class companion. Not only does a tablet keep everything you need at hand, it also allows you to manipulate these resources in useful ways. For example, you can add bookmarks, highlights and notes to your prescribed books and class notes while the lecturer is discussing them. You can also efficiently create rich notes of your own.

You’ll be able to combine typing and drawing on the screen to capture, for example, key points in a class discussion or diagrams and charts drawn by the lecturer. You’ll be able to neatly organise these notes in subject folders for future reference.

The biggest killer feature of a tablet in class, however, is the fact that it allows you to record what is said in class so that you can listen to these recordings while preparing for an exam. While it’s not practical to record every second of every class (because –let’s be honest –you’ll never listen to all of that again), this feature is extremely handy to record important bits of a lecturer’s explanation or a class discussion.

Lastly, a tablet also gives you quick access to handy reference material. Need to quickly look up a word’s definition or do a calculation? A tablet lets you do both at lightning speed, which means that you won’t lose track of the train of thought in class.

3. Tablets don’t only shine inside the classroom. Any student who’s had to scour stacks and stacks of paper notes to review specific content before an exam will testify to how frustrating, tedious and time-wasting this can be.

Having all of your own notes –and the slideshows or hand-outs provided by the lecturer –neatly organised on a single device, where it’s accessible with a few taps of the finger, eliminates the hassles of paper-based exam preparation and gives you more time to actually study.

4. An often-missed advantage of tablet-based learning is the fact that e-book versions of prescribed books and textbooks are usually cheaper than their print counterparts. While many books are not yet available in digital format, the savings on those that are can quickly compound to a substantial amount.

And, of course, using an e-book offers all of the advantages of digital learning, including such timesavers as being able to search for words and phrases, jump to specific pages and chapters, add multi-coloured highlights and make digital annotations.

Next time : Buying a tablet: The choices

[ARTICLE BY JOHANNES JONKER]

Email

Tags:
Posted in Research, Students, Training | 1 Comment »

Advanced tips to get the most out of Zotero

Friday, June 13th, 2014

In a previous post told you more about Zotero, a powerful referencing tool. This time around, we’ll  give you a few advanced tips to get the most out of it.

GENERAL

  1. If you normally browse the internet with a browser other than Firefox (e.g. Google Chrome or Internet Explorer), it works great to use Firefox as a “research-only” browser. Disable all unnecessary add-ons and plugins and add quick links to your favourite research websites in your bookmarks toolbar. That way, when you open Firefox you’ll be able to research efficiently without distractions.

COLLECTING SOURCES

  1. If you’re browsing Google Scholar, JSTOR or something similar and both the address bar icon and the “Export” link are shown for a particular item, rather use the latter. In some cases, Zotero can’t extract the complete metadata for the item when it tries to do so automagically. In these (rare) cases, the metadata provided by the vendor (Google Scholar, JSTOR, etc.) is more accurate and so it makes more sense to use the “Export” link.
  2. Learn how to use ZotFile. This nifty Zotero add-on will allow you to store full-text PDFs of your journal articles on your hard drive. It will also allow you to send these PDFs to your tablet, letting you annotate them using your favourite PDF app. Afterwards, it pulls the annotated PDFs back into your library. This is brilliant for jotting down thoughts while you’re reading an article.

ORGANISING SOURCES

  1. The easiest way to organise your sources is by using collections. However, tags are also very handy for adding ‘statuses’ to your sources. For example, you could decide to add the tag “Started” to all the sources you’ve started reading for a particular project. When you’re finished with a particular source you could add the tag “Finished”. Also, you could indicate the quality of a source by using a tag, for example by adding tags like “Not applicable” and “Awesome”. Check out this article for help on using collections and tags.

CITING IN A DOCUMENT

  1. You can create your own citation style if, heaven forbid, none of the existing ones fits your needs. Be warned, though, that this requires a bit of technical knowledge.
  2. In Microsoft Word, create keyboard shortcuts for inserting a citation and editing a citation. This will make it even easier to insert citations while you type (literally reducing the time required to insert a citation to a few seconds). For example, you could assign CTRL+ALT+D to inserting a citation and CTRL+ALT+E to editing a citation.
LAST NOTE

The chances are that, once you start using Zotero, you will find it hard to remember how you did research without it. Apart from the short-term advantages set out above, using Zotero has the long-term advantage of letting you gradually build your own research library, ensuring a level of continuity across your different essays/articles/papers.

In conclusion, and to summarise: Zotero handles the nitty-gritty practicalities of research, letting you concentrate fully on what matters most: interpreting existing knowledge and contributing your own.

[ARTICLE BY JOHANNES JONKER]

 

Email

Tags:
Posted in Research, Students | Comments Off on Advanced tips to get the most out of Zotero

Struggle to manage postgrads?

Friday, June 6th, 2014

Two weeks ago we introduced you to NAO (Postgraduate Academic Support), a web based system to help you manage postgraduate student information without too much effort.

The following questions are most often asked by staff members who are already putting NAO to good use:

  1. Why is NAO not available via my.sun.ac.za?  I am forever losing the link sent to me!
  2. Could someone please wave a magic wand and get rid of all the forms we have to complete and replace them with pre-populated ones?
  3. Could we please be notified when new functionalities are implemented in the NAO system? 

The good news is that both questions 1 and 2 will receive attention next semester and we have a solution to the problem in question 3 already.  Bits & Bytes and the  blog will be used to make information about NAO available to staff members.

As far as question 1 is concerned, a workflow process is envisaged for staff members to receive permission from their line managers to use NAO.  The reason behind the strict access is that sensitive information, necessary for the management of postgraduate students, is available via the system and your line manager knows whether you should have access or not. 

The SU auditors would need to be in the know about the outcome of the authorisation process to decide whether legislation regarding the privacy of individuals’ personal information, is complied with. They also need to know who has access and who gave permission. 

As soon as the authorisation process becomes available, staff members would be able to apply for access to NAO via my.sun.ac.za and be assigned a specific Role within the system on the basis of answers given to questions and agreed on by the line manager. 

Question 2 has been under discussion for a long time.  At the moment, much thought is given to generic forms generated and pre-populated by NAO for various purposes e.g. nomination of M and PhD candidates, nomination of Study Leaders/Supervisors and numerous other examples, which could be used by all Faculties and Departments. 

The information collected by the forms of different Faculties correspond 95% and the idea is to add the other 5% as optional extras for staff members to fill in if their areas require the information. 

Maybe the best way to get people interested in generic forms, is to gradually add prototypes to NAO and wait for users of the system to respond.  It is virtually impossible to involve  everybody personally and it is easier to comment on something more tangible than an idea. 

 We’d like to invite you to leave us comments, ideas and suggestions on this on this blog post or contact Rita de Jager. 

[ARTICLE BY:  Rita de Jager (Head: Postgraduate Academic Support, Information Technology, SU]

 

Email

Tags:
Posted in General, Research, Students | Comments Off on Struggle to manage postgrads?

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
 

© 2013-2025 Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author(s) and content contributor(s). The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Stellenbosch University.