The Force is just around the corner....really!

By Dr. Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Student Computing Services Manager*

The Smartforce Win2000 Webserver is currently in "testing production". All security checks have been positive so all remaining items can now be implemented for full production. All that must be done is the uploading of user accounts. A general announcement will be posted when this process is completed. Additionally, the August issue of Benchmarks Online will feature an article containing FAQs and other information needed to get started with Web-based training.

All UNT faculty, staff, and registered students will have access to Smartforce training materials. Users will log on to the server for Web-based training using their EUID and will use their ID card number as their password. The courses will be listed in a library clearly identifying their contents. Users will also want to take advantage of the features that will be available via our Smartforce Website including answers to many common questions and email contacts for comments and additional course requests.

Courses can also be transferred to CD-ROM for offline use. Please continue to contact Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Smartforce administrator, at ehinkle@unt.edu with CD-ROM requests. Turnaround time on CD requests is currently about two weeks, although the following topical training CDs are already compiled and can be duplicated more quickly if requested:

• Javascript and Java
• Office 2000
• UNIX
• Oracle
• Visual Interdev
• Visual Basic Scripting

We are also beginning our experimentation with making the courses available via WebCT - a feature which should be of great interest to faculty.

So, be on the lookout for a general announcement about Web-based training access very soon! The Force is getting closer and closer!

Missing "Lab-of-the Month"? Fans of the Lab-of-the-Month series can find an index with links to all the articles, so far, here: http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/GeneralAccessLabs/Glabs.htm