We welcome you back – virtually – from break.  Educational Technology and Technology Services have been working with your faculty and staff across the campus to make the transition to remote teaching, learning, mentoring, and student engagement.  Suffice it to say, this is a very new way of working for our community, and members of the technology teams are committed to its success.

As Provost Perfetti wrote to you on March 13, your faculty will be contacting you by today to let you know how they plan to proceed with the remainder of the semester.  We are writing to let you know how we plan to support you given many of us, including your colleagues who are our Student Technology Assistants (STAs), are working remotely as well.

First, with the guidance and work of our STAs, we have a “continuity resources for students” site.  Here you will find a list of the questions you may have, issues you might encounter (especially if you have been a lite Moodle user), and information about using some collaboration tools the College has had, but has not needed to deploy in a significant way until now.

There is a new “Guide to Working Remotely” site. It includes nearly everything students, staff, and faculty need to know about working remotely, including non-tech tips (a few of our favorites?  “maintain your routine” and “10 tips for eating healthy…”).

We also have our comprehensive IT Documentation site, which we have updated with specific information pertaining to learning and working remotely.

Second, we will have HelpDesk and Digital Media Assistant support:

• The Help Desk: will be staffed 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM EDT (12:30 PM – 9:00 PM UTC). Monday – Friday.  Phone (330-287-4357) and email assistance (helpdesk@wooster.edu) will continue. We are adding a “chat” feature and will let you know when it is available and how to use it.  We will have extended phone support hours, from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT (9:00 PM – 12:00 AM UTC) to assist your transition to remote learning beginning Tuesday, March 24 through Tuesday, March 31
• Digital Media Assistants are scheduling consultations as they would at the Digital Media Bar. To schedule, go to their Bookings site: http://tiny.cc/EdTechSTABooking

If you have not already done so, please, please, please set up your secret questions and answers so that you can change your password yourself, should you forget it or think someone else may have it.  See our instructions at https://wiki.wooster.edu/display/itdocumentation/Initial+Setup.

If you have any questions or need assistance please contact us.  We want to know how the switch to “remote” is going for you, too.

Jon Breitenbucher, Educational Technology

Vince DiScipio, Technology Services