Category: Policies

Discontinuing Video Hosting on Moodle for Winter 2021

Posted on by Josh Moon

Information Services is discontinuing support for video files hosted directly on Moodle beginning in winter 2021. This applies only to video files that have been uploaded or drag-and-dropped directly into Moodle.  It will still be possible to link or embed videos from other services such as Microsoft Stream and YouTube. 

In response to the increase in online learning, we are taking this action at this time with the following considerations in mind:

  • Video on a streaming platform (Microsoft Stream, Vimeo, YouTube, etc.) is preferable and more accessible for students.
  • Microsoft Stream is now able to host streaming video content for courses at the College without using another outside service.  If you have questions about how to use Stream and manage its permissions, please refer to the Video streaming page on the Information Services website.
  • Hosting video files directly on Moodle has caused intermittent errors, disrupting service for Moodle users.

Our staff will be contacting faculty members who might need additional support hosting video files for the winter courses.  You are welcome to contact us as well.  Please send your questions to Josh Moon, Educational Technology Specialist, at Josh.Moon@kzoo.edu

Safeguarding PII While Working From Home

Posted on by Greg Diment

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is information that, when used alone or with other relevant data, can identify an individual. Many employees work with PII about students, staff or alumni. Find a more detailed definition of PII and Kalamazoo College’s policy for protecting it on the IS Policies page.

  • Follow the steps in our earlier post “Tips for Working Securely from Home.” In particular, employees should be extra vigilant when working from home against social engineering attacks.  It might be harder to tell if that email from your supervisor or colleague is legitimate when you are not located down the hall from them. If you receive a request for PII, we suggest that you get verbal/video confirmation from the requester.  
  • Try to minimize how much PII you work with from home. 
  • Never send PII through email 
  • If you need to work with PII, the best way to keep it secure is to store it on a computer that is on campus under IS management. This would include the KFiles server. We do not recommend storing PII on cloud-based services or on your device at home.  
  • To work with PII, you can also use remote access via our VPN to connect using Remote Desktop to a campus computer. Another advantage to connecting with remote desktop is that if your home internet connection is unstable, your work is preserved on the campus desktop if you get disconnected.
  • If you have further questions or need help getting set up for remote access, please contact the Help Desk.