Broadcasting UB Alerts and Info I UB Wireless Coverage ICellular Coverage Expansion I Mobile Learning I Learning Spaces I Key Resources I Security and Policies

mUB - Mobile Computing: Plan Overview and Project Information mUB Vision Our mUB vision is to provide access to any data, content and services -- from any mobile device (laptop, PDA, smart phone) -- from any location - anytime.. A mobile computing initiative positions a campus to meet the "anytime, anywhere" expectations and needs of our increasingly nomadic students, faculty and staff who use personal mobile devices to access information resources, communicate, and collaborate. This initiative, coupled with blended learning courses and strategies that provide a combination of face-to-face and online course elements, will enable UB to increase enrollments and to support the needs of alumni and the community for convenient access to lifelong education. Pervasive wireless access and mobile computing initiatives also enable faculty to transform teaching and learning with the use of new tools and methods, and lead to higher productivity, increased collaboration, and improved communications on campus as well. Finally, mobile computing initiatives enable students to participate in active learning communities, such as UB's Undergraduate Academies and Discovery Seminars, and support our students' desire for engagement and participatory learning. Improving Campus Communications: Broadcasting Communications to Mobile Devices In an effort to supplement existing campus communication channel, UB is offering a text messaging service to all members of the campus community. Students, faculty, and staff can sign up to have critical text messages from UB delivered directly to their mobile phones. UB has contracted with Rave Wireless to provide Mobile Phone SMS Gateway Service to deliver emergency notifications and campus alerts, such as campus closings. An FAQ about the service is provided at: http://emergency.buffalo.edu/textfaq.htm. We will be evaluating the use of Rave Alerts to provide other timely information to students such as course announcements from instructors and important notices from campus offices, and will also pilot the use of Rave to facilitate student-to-student and student-faculty communication among "virtual learning communities" such as interest groups formed in the Undergraduate Academies. These will be "opt-in" mobile communication services rather than required services; i.e., students and faculty will need to elect to participate in specific group communications. Rave Wireless Resources UB Text Message Alerts Web Site Rave Wireless See how a peer institution is using Rave Wireless UNC-Chapel Hill rave@unc   Current UBwireless Coverage and Plans for Expansion UB currently has approximately 400 wireless access points, providing pockets of access across the campuses. Our goal is to provide a high performance wireless network system that scales to support thousands of simultaneous users and gigabits of encrypted throughput, providing the pervasive and secure wireless access needed at UB. Campus-wide rollouts of secure wireless networks are underway or completed at most of our peer and "aspire to" institutions. Current UBwireless hot spots Maps showing the UBwireless Hot Spots in each building are available for the North and South Campuses. Plan for Wireless Expansion: Wireless Project Information Centralized management model: Our wireless network has grown over the years by spot deployments. In order to expand the network we need to move to a centralized management model that will make it easier to deploy and manage access points. Security: In order to support wireless expansion, we also need to upgrade existing firewalls since they are becoming overwhelmed with traffic. Upgrade wireless access points to create uniform wireless "A" and "G" coverage. Create an expansion plan and schedule: We need to develop a comprehensive plan and schedule for rollout in consultation with University leadership, based on University priorities such assupport for the Undergraduate Academies. Connecting to UBwireless Securely The very features that make mobile computing devices such as PDAs, cell phones, and laptop computers useful (portability, access connectivity, data storage, processing power) also make them a security risk to University at Buffalo. Major features of mobile computing devices that cause a risk to the University include their small size (they can be easily lost, stolen, or misplaced); weak user authentication mechanisms that can be easily compromised or simply disabled by the user; and their ease of interconnectedness. To use UBwireless with your laptop, you must authenticate with Virtual Private Network (VPN) client software. VPN client software provides a secure connection to the network: data transmission to and from your computer is encrypted. UB provides VPN clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.. To use the UBwireless network with other mobile devices not currently supported by VPN software, you must authenticate via the OpenPort firewall https://gateway.openport.buffalo.edu before you access the Internet. Additional Security Measures for Blackberry, PDA, or Other Mobile Devices Some of the end-user security measures that can be taken to ensure that UB and its data are not jeopardized by the use of the mobile computing device follow: Mobile devices should be password protected if that feature is available. The password will block access to the device by unauthorized users. Tips for choosing a good password (US-CERT) Data transmissions should be encrypted where possible (e.g., via VPN) Wireless access, such as Ethernet, Bluetooth, to the PDA or other device should be disabled when not in use to help to prevent unauthorized access to the device. In general, keep your wireless connection on hidden mode unless you specifically need to be visible to others. Wireless access should be configured to query the user for confirmation before connecting to wireless networks. Exercise caution when accepting applications sent via wireless or opening attachments as they may include software harmful to your mobile device. Cellular Coverage Reinforcement Plan UB's cellular coverage will also be improved in the 2007-08 academic year. The goal is to provide ubiquitous cellular coverage. To this end, UB is partnering with NextG Networks to provide vendor neutral cellular coverage across our campuses, providing both sufficient capacity to meet demand as well as cellular coverage in areas without coverage. The rollout is scheduled to occur in the 2007-2008 academic year. Mobile Learning Research, teaching, and learning are at the core of UB's mission and promoting innovative and effective teaching, learning, and research are of key importance. The tranformational power of mobile learning to provide active and authentic learning experiences, to enable situated learning, and to enhance student productivity, have been recognized by many, including UB's School of Medicine, Nursing, Dental School, and School of Management. Mobile Learning Services and Resources Digital Access: Course Casting UB has become a leader in state-of-the-art digital course capture infrastructure and course-casting/streaming, providing students with audio and video recordings of lectures that can be accessed from student mobile devices. Recordings can be accessed through the course management system, UBlearns, as well as directly from various streaming servers. DEVO: Streaming video services (Central IT Services) UB School of Management Digital Access Digital Lecture Hall Recordings (Audio) Coming Soon: Information on a UB iTunes pilot for the 2007-08 Academic Year Mobile Medicine: UB School of Medicine - PDAs AvantGo server delivers med school content and apps formatted for mobile devices/pdas. Students have the ability to sync their AvantGo channels on the UMMobileMed system. HSL also provides an IP syncing station. UB's medical school is a leader in providing Mobile Medicine content and services for educational purposes. In addition to PDA use to access a rich set of information resources, students use their mobile devices as clickers in the classroom (audience response system). UB Dental School: Electronic Curriculum/Laptop Program UB's Dental School has been a pioneer in providing its curriculum (textbooks, course materials, dental resources) on a DVD and pervasive wireless coverage in its buildings. The vision is to provide laptops at the chairside with patient records and dental resources available at the laptop. Active learning components have been introduced in the classroom. Office of the Provost: Use of collaboration and communication tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasting, to communicate and showcase academic and co-curricular activities. The elgg open source social networking suite will provide networking, learning, and collaboration opportunities for the UB Undergraduate Academies and other learning communities. Best Practices at Other Institutions Wake Forest Mobile U - Pocket PC Phones Mobile class resources: search library catalog and databases, chem resources, psych resources, etc. Cell phones as clickers in the classroom via text messaging: Duke, et al. ( Rave Wireless) Active Campus: UCSD Active Class: student/instructor interaction in classroom, active learning Location-based services Pod-/Vod-casting: Georgia State University, Duke, Berkeley, MIT, and many, many more schools,... Language Learning Informal Learning Spaces With pervasive wireless access and UB's high rate of student ownership of mobile devices (approximately 70% of UB students reported owning laptop computers in the 2006-07 Student IT Survey; in a Spring 2007 ECAR Student IT Use Survey more than 80% of UB freshmen and senior class students reported owning iPods or other MP3 music/video players), every space can become a learning space. The EDUCAUSE e-book, Learning Spaces provides many examples of how colleges and universities have transformed classrooms, computing labs, corridor niches, cafes, residence halls, etc. into learning spaces. Staff from the CIO and University Libraries organizations have developed plans to transform spaces in the Libraries and on the ground floor of Norton into technology-enabled informal learning spaces where group work and collaborations can flourish. These plans are part of the group's 2007-08 strategic plans and budget proposals. Stay tuned for more information. UB's School of Management has turned the entire Alfiero Center into an Informal Learning Space by providing pervasive wireless access. Student team work and constructive learning take place throughout the Center. Team Rooms with whiteboards can be reserved by students. The School of Engineering provides wireless access throughout engineering buildings. Learning Spaces e-book   Support for Handheld Mobile Devices: Blackberry Support and Integration with Email/Calendaring A production service to provide technical support, as well as email and calendaring applications, for Blackberry devices has been rolled out via a partnership of IT staff in the CIO, VP for Student Affairs, and VP for Research areas. 100 devices are currently being supported by the partnership. Next Steps: Positioning Key Resources for Mobile Devices Creating a mobile portal is a next step in the mUB plan. Although some institutions have simply used their existing web portals and a solution that grabs the text and displays it on the mobile device, a better solution seems to be creating a portal specifically for mobile devices. The Medical School and the Health Sciences Library have created mobile portals. Mobile HSL Site: AvantGo Mobile Medicine at UB: See above   Sample Mobile Security Policies As stated earlier, the features that make mobile computing devices so useful (portability, connectivity and access, data storage, processing power) also make them a security risk to UB. We are developing Mobile Security policies to ensure that we manage this risk appropriately. Some sample mobile security policies that will inform our policy development follow. University of Virginia: Mobile Computing Security George Washington University Mobile Device Security Policy Mobile Devices, Purdue University CMU: Mobile Device Security and Usage Guidelines Policy Expression and Enforcement for Handheld Devices (NIST) The SANS Security Policy Project site