To the Editor:
I would like to thank Michael Belinsky '08 for his most recent column, because he mentions a number of technology issues that Computing Services is either considering or addressing ("Making Technology a Priority," April 22).
First, let me deal with the qualities of the BlitzMail client. Indeed it is old; BlitzMail celebrated its 20th birthday in Nov. 2007. And if you have the BlitzMail client on your computer, you are experiencing a system that is showing its age with its simple, austere client interface. Blitz's limitations are what have driven many people at Dartmouth to use alternative e-mail clients, such as Microsoft's Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird that allow features and functionality such as search within messages and folders, HTML formatting, nested folders and so on.
Working with the Council on Computing, we have set up a task force to look at our e-mail and calendaring applications, as well as applications that provide for collaboration. The Task Force on E-mail and Collaboration Tools started meeting this spring, and we are developing a list of features that should be in new e-mail, calendaring and collaboration tools. We have students on the task force, as well as faculty and staff, and we will be hosting focus groups this spring to get more input. By the end of the Fall term we should have a plan for improving our e-mail and related services.
Belinsky also mentions lecture capture or podcasting. Our Curricular Computing group has been working with faculty on podcasting lectures. Last term we had 10 members of the faculty who took part in our lecture podcast program, and this term we have an additional eight faculty members. Just as we have seen Blackboard use grow to include 75 percent of courses, we also expect to see podcasting use grow within the next few years.
We are always looking for ways to enhance the academic experience for Dartmouth students and faculty, and we welcome your input. You can e-mail me if you have other ideas you would like us to consider.
Ellen Waite-Franzen
Vice President of Information Technology
