Digital Support Update, August 26, 2020

Dear faculty and staff,

Greetings again from the IT Digital Support team. We have a few timely updates as we approach the first day of the fall term:

New digital support site
Student technology support
August 28th deadline to apply for fall faculty iPad program
Weekend pedagogical consultations for instructors
Assistants for courses
Tools use in China

Details are in the corresponding numbered sections below.

As always, please submit help questions via the Help link on the digital support site: https://sites.google.com/smith.edu/digital (if you visit the old site, you will be redirected to the new one). Requests that go to individual staff members may take longer to get an initial response and may introduce delays in getting you connected to a person who can help with your specific question.

1. New digital support site

Earlier today, we launched a new digital support site at https://sites.google.com/smith.edu/digital. It has been redesigned for easier use on mobile devices as well as computer screens, and we have updated the content structure. The help form has also been streamlined to make it easier to submit your request quickly. If you click on any saved links to the old site, you will be redirected to the home page of the new site automatically.

2. Student technology support

The new digital support site includes three pages relevant for instructors or those who support students

Technology support for students: This is a general information page that you can link to from your syllabus. It connects to the pages in the bullets below as well as additional helpful information for students.
Technology loaner program: The college is funding loaner computing devices and hotspots as well as (in limited cases) connectivity stipends for eligible students with demonstrated financial need. Read this page for full details.
Tools for students: Includes information about general tools uses in courses as well as links to software available for download or remote access.

3. August 28 deadline to apply for Fall 2020 faculty iPad purchase & loaner program

We will accept applications for the Fall 2020 Faculty iPad Purchase and loaner program through August 28 at 5 p.m. Applications will be processed on a time-permitting basis. We will make decisions about potential spring programs in the December-January timeframe. (This is a repeat of an announcement from the August 19, 2020 digital support update.)

4. Weekend consultations available August 29-30

Instructors: book a 30-minute pedagogical consultation with a member of our team this weekend if you’d like to discuss your teaching needs and the tools/technologies you're evaluating for Fall 2020 courses. Signups available here; select Consultation from the top menu and then select the right arrow beside the description to view available times.

5. Assistants for courses

The information circulated on August 19 about our two student assistant programs is now available on the new digital support site. Note that September 11, 2020 is the final day to submit a request to hire a specific student as a fall course assistant.

For those of you who have already submitted requests for a short-term student tech assistant or a semester course assistant, we are processing those now. You will hear something from us soon if you haven’t already.

6. Tools use in China

We’ve summarized the advice we’ve been sharing in various workshop and consultation settings in a single document (Smith login required). This also includes some new information that we are tracking. We will also get the link added to the new digital support site in the next few days.

Thanks for reading this far, and on behalf of the very hardworking cross-departmental digital support team (with colleagues from ITS, CATS, the Libraries, and other units), thank you for your partnership. Wishing you all productive days and moments of respite in these busy times!

Best,
Samantha