Afternoon Breakout Sessions #4

The following presentations were selected for the Afternoon Breakout Sessions #4

From Time Series to Rotating Cubes: Interactive Online Databases for Teaching and Research
(Chris Leowski/Andreea Gheorghe)

The authors present the evolution of the CHASS Data Centre  a collection of on line social sciences databases used by over 60 universities in Canada and the U.S.  in the context of various interactive data search and retrieval methods, moving from simple time series to multi-dimensional hyper cubes that allow users to view data from different  angles by flipping dimensions directly in the WEB browser. Live CANSIM, Canadian Census, and various social surveys data will be used to illustrate this presentation, and examples of using CHASS on line databases in teaching and research will be shown.

Next Generation Student Information Services (NGSIS): An Overview
(Siobhan Keogh)

NGSIS - Next Generation Student Information Services.
NGSIS will bring many changes to applications working with student information. Find out the approach options, accomplishments to date and the direction for the next years.

UTSC WebOption Lecturecast System: Current Pethodology and Practice of the WebOption Lecturecast Group.
(Brian Sutherland/Perry Sheppard/Steve Joordens)

UT Scarborough has a rich history of innovation in video production related to lecture materials. In this presentation we will outline the current methodology and practice of the WebOption Lecturecast group from end to end  from how lectures are captured, compressed and posted, to how the content management system manages enrolment and access. We will also outline a current study of student usage statistics, the data and results of which will serve to inform future program and technology development.

Building an Interactive Kiosk
(Sian Miekle)

So, you need to build an interactive information kiosk for your department? The Libraries' IT staff share tips, tricks, and lessons learned the hard way from the deployment of 24 interactive information kiosks and other digital signage throughout the newly renovated Robarts Library space. These web-based kiosks let users find directory information, get real-time seating and workstation availability, and explore library collections visually.

OpenMDS Windows 7 Migration Process
(Ian Thomas)

There are over 1,400 computers running on the I+TS Open Managed Desktop System (UTORcsi\OpenMDS) and this year we re upgrading all of them to Windows 7 with disk encryption. During this presentation we will take a look at the departmental migration process, the different migration options and what people will actually see at the desktop. If you re on OpenMDS and eagerly awaiting Windows 7, or just want to know what it takes to upgrade to Windows 7, this talk is for you!

Implementation of Sencha Touch, new Mobile WebApp Framework: Converting webpages to Mobile framework
(Ross Barclay)

We will demonstrate our implementation of Sencha Touch, which is a new Mobile Web App Framework. We have modified certain parts of our website (www.cepd.utoronto.ca) to take advantage of this new framework which allows for web pages to be displayed on mobile devices such as iPhone, Android, and Blackberry as if they were native applications. The Sencha Touch framework implements other interesting features such as data-aware widgets that use JSON to communicate back and forth with the server. We feel that this framework, which is freely available to anyone, would be of interest to the wider university community.

OISE's use of RoleSystem and LDAP to consolidate numerous user data sources into an authoritative single source
(Carl Chan/Michael Moncada)

Every unit at UofT seems to have their own way of managing user authorizations and permissions. Why not use the existing sources? This presentation details how OISE makes use of the RoleSystem and LDAP to consolidate numerous user data sources into an authoritative single source for use by everything from back-end systems to web applications.