270 likes | 385 Views
Project Directory Service: Supporting Courses Through Network Storage. Nancy J. Yost Associate Professor Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA (724) 357-5678 njyost@iup.edu. J. Richard McFerron Director, Academic Technology Services
E N D
Project Directory Service: Supporting Courses Through Network Storage Nancy J. Yost Associate Professor Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA (724) 357-5678 njyost@iup.edu J. Richard McFerron Director, Academic Technology Services Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA (724) 357-5769 jr.mcferron@iup.edu Educause Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference January 13-15, 2004 Baltimore, MD
Why PDS to begin with . . . • Additional network disk space for faculty and students • It allows • Instructors to store materials • Students to access, submit, and store materials • Collaboration student-student and student-instructor • Equity of access
Project Directory Service Summary (PDS) • PDS provides “project” disk space for each individual course-section being offered in the current academic semester • PDS provides access to the entire project root directory through a single “share point” • PDS provides a fully automated initial creation mechanism based on production Banner (student record system) data sources • PDS automates initial security permissions for each course-section based on data sources
Project Directory Service Summary (PDS) • PDS provides security through the use of Microsoft Windows 2000 Server • PDS provides automated directory updates on a nightly basis • PDS provides an initial course-section quota of 2MB • PDS permits instructor-initiated quota increases.A 10MB and 250 MB quota increase option are available via http://www.project.iup.edu/support
Background • Campus Technology Committees: • Academic Computing Policy and Advisory Committee (ACPAC) • Technology Utilities Council (TUC) • Academic Operations Group (AOG) • Concept put forth • Work group created • TUC issued specifications: http://www.iup.edu/tsc/iuponly/utilities/pds-requirements.doc • TUC issued plan: http://www.iup.edu/tsc/iuponly/utilities/tuc-pds-implementation.doc
Accessing the PDS Faculty and students may access the PDS through: • a mapped drive – P: • ftp • http
Permissions to Folders • Much discussion • Who • Names of folders • Permissions available on PDS folders • Full • Add • Read • Change
Instructor-Only Folder • instructor has FULL access • students have no access • contains a class list that is updated nightly
Information Folder • instructor has FULL access • students have READ access
Scratch Folder • instructor has FULL access • students have READ and CHANGE access
Student Folders • instructor has FULL access • students have READ and CHANGE access to their individual folder only Each student has an individual subfolder within the student folder identified by their username in which only the student and the instructor can access, allowing them to work on course-related projects and assignments.
Hand-in Folder • instructor has FULL access • students have ADD access • file cannot be changed or deleted not even by the owner of the file
Dropped Folder • instructor has FULL access • students have no access • contains folders and content for students that have dropped the course • updated daily
World-Read Folder • instructor has FULL access • everyone has READ access • folder may be accessed by any individual with an IUPMSD network account
Documents Availablehttp://www.iup.edu/ats/helpdesk/Documentation/pds/index.shtmhttp://www.iup.edu/ats/sts/project/menu.htm
Advantages to Instruction • lower learning curve for instructor • not as involved as WebCT • looks like a computer drive • access on and off campus • organization of materials • student and faculty work areas
Disadvantages to Instruction • instructor must teach functions and use to students – for some instructors this may discourage use • consistency issues with the technology • students don’t follow directions • permission over-rides difficulties
Benefits to Institution • collaborative work space • course file storage and access • increased faculty and student confidence in technology usage • increased faculty and student confidence in their technology management skills • increased confidence on the part of the technology managers gained through building the structure and their capability to develop such a project
Future Enhancements • improve archiving • seek feedback from faculty • support student use of service • continue to promote use of service • coordinate timing with other university services
Questions J. Richard McFerron Director, Academic Technology Services Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA (724) 357-5769 jr.mcferron@iup.edu Nancy J. Yost Associate Professor Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA (724) 357-5678 njyost@iup.edu