Each day, the OUCS home page shows a short item training a spotlight on a particular OUCS
service. We have gathered each of these spotlight pieces here on one page so that you can
view all the available spotlights together.
We know you know it's important to keep the password for your Oxford username safe. But have you stopped to consider why? In a world where we increasingly conduct our lives online our digital identity is precious and this is as true in Oxford as anywhere else. Your digital identity in Oxford is managed by Registration Services in IT Services and we take lots of steps to maintain the overall security of your digital identity. One of those steps is to set a password expiry that means you must change your password at least once a year. You may argue that you don't have to do this for other online services but we believe that setting a password expiry brings benefits that improve security for you and everyone in Oxford.
Oxford has embraced podcasting technology as a way to deliver course materials and lectures outside a conventional classroom environment. For those interested in creating podcasts the how to podcast at Oxford guide gives an overview of how to go about creating your own podcasts and how to use the University RSS system, OXITEMS, to publish your podcasts to the Internet. There are two ways to access the podcasts being provided by the University of Oxford: iTunes users can make use of the University's own site in iTunes U or alternatively our podcasts can also be seen using a web browser.
WebLearn is a web-based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which can be used to both support and enhance teaching and learning. WebLearn enables University members with very little web experience to set up a structured web site and provide an excellent resource for their students and so to focus their electronic teaching and learning activity. Once you have an Oxford username it's easy to login and start using WebLearn where you'll discover the many tools available in WebLearn ranging from on-line assessment and assignment submission (with optional plagiarism detection) to markbook tools to tutorial sign-up sheets to a resources area where documents and multimedia files can be stored, protected and searched. Departments wishing to make use of Weblearn can contact the WebLearn team for advice. University members may like to attend a training course or take a look at the Step-by-Step tool guides and the 'Least you need to know' guides all available within the Weblearn Guidance site.
The Oxford username is your gateway to services at Oxford. Most of the central services are authenticated via the Oxford username and many departments and colleges now use it to authenticate their own services too. You might also hear it called your 'Single Sign On' (SSO) or 'webauth' account as well as simply using the name of a service eg your 'Nexus account' - it is all the same. Your Oxford username allows you to access the central mail store (known as Nexus), access your own web space, use WebLearn, use the Oxford email relays when not in Oxford via a configured mail client, and get a central linux account. It will also give you access to library resources, OXAM past exam papers, the OSS student records system, the OxCORT undergrad tutorial system, GSS, the Graduate Supervison System, and many other services.
IT Services' Self-Registration page pulls together a range of facilities that allow you to manage your accounts on many of the centrally offered services. You can request and set a remote access password, manage your TSM backup registration, check the details we have about you, eg email routings, usernames. Do you need to get Sophos, the anti-virus software? Or perhaps you need a VPN client? These and other site-licensed software packages can be downloaded via the Self-Registration page too.
Does your college or department need some extra or specialized IT help? NSMS may be the answer that you are looking for. NSMS is a team of IT professionals who, as part of IT Services, work throughout Oxford University, within departments, colleges and associated institutions. Think of NSMS as a team of Oxford-specific consultants offering a wide and varied range of IT services... read more about NSMS
For most of us our use of computer hardware has become an integral part of our daily lives. You could in fact argue that we have become incredibly dependent on computers, many of us would be aghast at the thought of losing our laptop for a significant length of time. So what happens if your laptop does break down and needs repair? IT Services can help and offers a number of services for the repair and upgrade of personal computers. These range from the Computer Hardware Breakdown Service, to the Repair and Upgrade Service, to a Data Backup and System Re-install Service... read more about computer breakdown services
How many times have you accidentally deleted something you shouldn't have? It happens to us all. In those situations knowing that you have a backup is a welcome feeling indeed. IT Services operates a University-wide backup service for University staff members and postgraduates via the Hierarchical File Store (HFS) that is suitable for personal computers and servers alike... read more about TSM
The IT Learning Programme at IT Services, is all about providing the link between information technology and academic teaching and research. We aim to give you the IT training that you need from gentle introductions to advanced computing topics. Many University members choose to attend one of our many taught courses... more about the ITLP.