technology
September 3, 2015
GC adopts cloud-based computer system
A new cloud-based computer system is now available to members of the Goshen College community. This system allows students to access software purchased by the college from their personal computers as well as from campus computers. This change uses what is known in the tech industry as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), which is something that Goshen has been working to implement for years. By enacting this new system, Goshen College joins several other colleges and universities, including the Harvard School of Public Health, Villanova, Michigan State and Indiana University that have already implemented similar systems. The adoption of this system...
January 22, 2015
A rush of creativity: Goshen hosts the Global Game Jam
This weekend, the 23rd through the 25th of January, Goshen College will be hosting the 2015 Global Game Jam for the first time. This is an event where up to 40 participants will get the chance to form teams in order to create board game computer games through a simulation of what is called the “crunch” method, where deadlines and adrenaline mix with a “secret theme” to produce a rush of creativity. The event, which will be held in the Umble Center, begins on the evening of Friday, January 23rd and goes from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. It then...
September 24, 2014
Goshen Launching New Website
A new website for Goshen College will launch Monday, Sept. 29. The homepage will launch first, with the rest of the website following behind to include significant changes in the format, which hasn’t been redesigned since March of 2010. According to Jodi Beyeler, director of the Communications and Marketing department and project leader for the new website, one goal of the new website is to make it more mobile friendly. “The future is in mobile devices, and we needed to get with the times,” Beyeler said. Stats gathered in the Communications and Marketing department showed that 20.78 percent of visitors...
February 5, 2014
The Woes of Social Media
A New York Times article entitled, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting” tells the story of a 25 year-old teacher in training, Stacey Snyder, who posted a photo of herself wearing a pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup with the caption, “Drunken Pirate.” The photo was found by supervisors at the school, who declared the photo “unprofessional,” saying that Snyder was “promoting drinking in virtual-view of her underage students.” As a result of the photo, Snyder was denied her teaching degree just days before graduation. She sued, but was overruled. According to the ruling judge, Snyder was...
February 5, 2014
Micah Miller-Eshleman Starts Business
Micah Miller-Eshleman, a Goshen College senior and Alan Smith, a previous Goshen College student, are in the beginning stages of creating and running PixelDance, a website development studio with potential in software development down the road. Miller-Eshleman and Smith’s small business startup success is thanks to several factors: the city of Goshen’s LaunchPad business incubator, Goshen College’s entrepreneurship grant and, most importantly, plenty of personal ambition. Said Miller-Eshleman, “I’ve wanted to start a business ever since I was a wee little kid, and right out of college seemed like a good time.” When Miller-Eshleman and Smith’s paths intertwined at Goshen,...
December 7, 2013
ITS tomfoolery: the antics of campus pranksters
When first-year students come to Goshen College, they receive complementary iPads loaded with apps to access class content, email, shared servers and a sneaky purple dinosaur. Peter Miller, a GC graduate and information technology employee, added a purple dinosaur graphic to the bottom of the iPad email app as a prank before any first-years received their iPads. The dinosaur was only visible when the user scrolled down, and as soon as the finger released the scroll, the dinosaur disappeared. Strategies for sneakily showing the dinosaur had to be revised several times. The purple dinosaur lasted for several weeks before a...
November 22, 2013
Record site revamped for online readers
The Record has long been published in an online as well as paper print edition. With the rise of technology and smart phone users, the need to stay up-to-date and “readable” is ever-present. Peter Miller, education technology intern at Goshen and head of the new IT group CodePurple, has been working alongside Micah Miller-Eshleman, a senior, to give the online addition of the Record both a new look as well as a mobile-friendly update to be more accessible to student readers. In addition to staying up-to-date, CodePurple would like to give Record-contributing writers the option of having personal profiles for...
October 6, 2013
Programming students gear up in competition
A team of four programming students participated in a programming competition sponsored bythe Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges at University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio last Tuesday. The competition focused on promoting quality computer-oriented curricula as well as encouraging effective use of computing in small higher learning institutes. The CCSC has 10 destinations across the nation. The Midwest region of CCSC welcomed Goshen College for the first time to participate in the regional event. It all started in a class setting, when Kent Palmer, informatics professor, asked students to participate in a regional programming competition. Four students did. Without competitive...
September 25, 2013
The iPad Epidemic
For the second year in a row, Goshen College has distributed iPads to all incoming first-years. But for the first time, iPads have been made available for purchase by juniors and seniors at a reduced price. A total of two hundred and twenty-seven first-year transfers, juniors, and seniors took advantage of the opportunity to lease an iPad, according to Patricia Goodman, IT assistant director. Last year students saw major changes with the introduction of the iCore curriculum. Every incoming student was equipped with an iPad 2 to go along with the switch from colloquium classes to the GC Core program....
September 18, 2013
New merit page unveils campus achievements
The Communications and Marketing Office rolled out the new Merit page over the summer. The website will track student achievements by awarding virtual badges accompanied with a brief description. Students can earn awards for making the dean’s list, participating in sports or going on SST. Hannah Bartel, a 2013 graduate, designed the badges. According to Brian Yoder Schlabach, the Campus News Bureau Coordinator, there are three main benefits of the merit page: it saves time for the Communications and Marketing Office, helps families show off the achievements of their students, and supplements résumés of graduates entering the workforce. Schlabach explained...
April 10, 2013
Put it in the book(s)
The digital revolution has not been kind to dead-tree books. As I’m sure the bookstore has told you several times over, the electronic editions of your favorite literature are cheaper than their bound relatives, not to mention less likely to collect dust and turn yellow with age. But there are some functions of computerization that don’t translate well from the tactile to the touchscreen. It’s April, which means (despite Mother Nature’s evidence to the contrary) that baseball season is beginning—and that brings to mind one such function. I’m referring to the practice of scoring baseball and softball games, which entails...
April 10, 2013
Glenn Gilbert: Technology meets sustainability
Not a minute passes for Glenn Gilbert without the static overtone of a hand radio, the buzz of a cell phone or the chime of incoming mail on his tablet. “This is the latest and greatest,” Gilbert said of his Samsung Galaxy Player tablet. “I should say: ‘I like gadgets.’” Gilbert explained that for a long time he was ahead of the curve when it came to the latest technology: the Goshen College Alumni Bulletin even featured Gilbert sporting an ancestor of today’s mobile device several years ago. Many devices later, Gilbert cannot recall which one was featured. You might...
February 7, 2013
Professor, students ‘hang out’ in online course
The social work department is trying their hand at virtual face-to-face discussions this semester. The CORE 106 Culture and Community class taught online by Carol Jarvis, associate professor of social work, is using Google Hangout, a video chat feature from Google +. Every Thursday at 6 p.m. the Culture and Community class meets via Hangout to imitate a traditional classroom setting. “I use [Hangout] for small group discussions to mirror a face-to-face setting,” said Jarvis. Google Hangout allows for ten people to interact over video chat. Jarvis can show her students how to upload assignments to Moodle, where they can...
December 6, 2012
Goshen College email addresses attacked by phishers
In the past, a friend or trustworthy Goshen College department may have emailed you and casually asked for your GC password and username. In fact, this request was likely neither from a friend or Goshen College, but instead an attempt to steal information from you as a means to profit off of access to your contacts and personal information. If you gave out this information, it was likely used to flood the inboxes of you and your friends with unsolicited advertising, and maybe even to install malware on your computer. Those who received your information were paid at the expense...
November 15, 2012
Fact Book makes data as close as the click of mouse
For years, a collection of facts about Goshen College finances, enrollment and student life was tucked away in a filing cabinet in the Registrar’s office. Scott Barge, director of assessment and institutional research, believes that access to this data, and data in general, can create a stronger campus. Though the information was public, faculty and students wanting access to the files needed to sift through them--making fact-checking a tedious and laborious process. Barge hopes to change this. Barge, along with other faculty from the Institutional Research Office, has produced Goshen’s first online, interactive “Fact Book.” Barge started assembling the book...