Hosted service outage: Desire2Learn hosting services suffered a lengthy outage this week affecting several Canadian universities and colleges.The service failure was severe enough to warrant a letter of apology from the President of Desire2Learn to several customers. Attached is a link to the letter sent to Wilfred Laurier University: D2L apology
OCAD mobility report: OCAD U's President, Sara Diamond, has released “Taking Ontario Mobile,” a comprehensive, cross-sectoral research, policy framework and strategy report about how mobile technologies are part of the financially responsible solution to providing better access to services for Ontarians. The report provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, barriers and best practices across five priority sectors: learning, health, government services, entertainment and commerce. It also creates a blueprint for establishing Ontario as a mobile leader, both nationally and globally. Taking Ontario Mobile
Donations for literacy: Rebecca Graham, the University of Guelph’s chief information officer and chief librarian was asked for suggestions on how to help with literacy issues in Ghana. She went above and beyond the request and within two days offered 125 computers with power cords, mice and keyboards. The library was in the process of replacing computers used in public workstations, so she was able to arrange for these to be donated. IT staff checked over each one to make sure they were in good working condition and reset them to factory settings, then had them shipped to Ghana. According to Rebecca, “It’s part of our commitment to community. Technology doesn’t solve problems, but it enables people to find solutions.” Commitment to community
Big ideas for mobile: Saint Mary's University is holding a mobile app contest. Students are invited to submit their ideas and SMU staff will help them develop their ideas into reality. Winners receive an iPad Mini and a one-course tuition waver. SMU mobile app contest
Even more mobile news: The University of Windsor is releasing a new version of its myUWindsor mobile app. The new features and technical improvements will be available February 4. mUWindsor upgrade
Community building in Edmonton: The University of Alberta's guest wireless service replaced Edmonton Wireless last fall in the Enterprise Square complex. This picture from Trevor Woods says it all: University of Alberta wireless
