News

First e-exam in the new room KISS

The first e-exam was written yesterday morning in the new e-exam room KISS “Am Kisselberg”. After the closure of SB-ANT in SBII, a new location for testing of this type had to be found. The university found what they were looking for in the newly rented JGU building “Am Kisselberg”, which is located across from Koblenzer Straße.

Dr. Stefan Röhle, head of the e-learning area at the ZDV, is very satisfied: "With KISS we are leaving the SBII behind and can now offer a modern, large and bright pool room for e-exams for the various departments. According to the calendar, we are already working at full capacity for the next few weeks and months.”

The e-exam room KISS (00-241) can be booked via the room planning process at the University of Mainz (RAPS) and selected in ILIAS.

More space and light

With 136 seats, the room has more workspaces than the previous room in SBII and can be booked for e-exams all year round. It is therefore also available outside of the actual core exam times for e-exams.

The room has separate entrances and exits, which allows participants to switch quickly between two exams. In addition, a wide window front offers sufficient daylight and air conditioning a pleasant working atmosphere.

  • Short name: KISS
  • Official room number: 00-241
  • Address: Isaac-Fulda-Allee 2b (Am Kisselberg)
  • Room size: approx. 305m²
  • Total seats: 138
  • PC places: 136 (plus 1 lecturer computer + 1 student assistant computer)
  • Examination places: 134 (2 computers remain free as an alternative reserve for exams)

Plan more time for the journey

In general, it is possible to get here by bicycle or by public transport. From Mainz main station you can take bus lines 54, 55, 56, 58 and tram lines 51, 53, 59 directly to the "Kisselberg" station. From the campus to the new e-exam room KISS, however, you should plan about 15-20 minutes on foot.

A look behind the scenes

The last few weeks have been characterized by moving and set-up activities for the ZDV e-learning team: First, all the furniture and technology had to be packed, moved and set up again in the KISS with the help of a moving company. The team then laid around 300 meters of cable, set up network connections and checked the network connection of all computers in cooperation with the ZDV network department. Last but not least, the media technology was installed in the room and anti-theft devices were attached to the computers.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

ZDV service: WLAN consultation hours in the ZDV hotline/advice center

If you have questions about network problems on mobile devices, the ZDV offers WLAN consultation hours on the ZDV hotline/advice center (NatFak | Room 00 151).

Monday to Thursday from 4.45 p.m. to 5.45 p.m. the ZDV hotline is dedicated to uncooperative notebooks, smartphones and other mobile devices. On Fridays there is an extra long consultation hour for you: from 3.00 p.m. to 5.45 p.m.

During this time, the employees of the ZDV hotline/advice center will help with connection problems, among other things, and provide support in setting up the university networks "eduroam" and "Uni-Mainz". You can access the ZDV hotline via this link: https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/hotline/ 

Note: The ZDV does not carry out any technical repairs on private devices. Business devices can be contacted for hardware and software problems as usual by phone or email to hotline@zdv.uni-mainz.de for support be registered.

Further question hours and support offers from the ZDV: https://www.zdv.uni-mainz.de/fragestunden/


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

ZDV service: High-quality bindings for all theses

The ZDV offers high-quality hot melt bindings for all final, seminar or term papers. This type of binding, also known as softcover binding, is more stable than wire or plastic binding and lasts particularly long.

There are various design options for all hot melt bindings. Two different materials are available for the cover and back pages: foil or colored cardboard.

Various color combinations possible for the softcover binding | ©ZDV

 

With a standard price of EUR 1.50 per binding, the costs for theses are very low compared to other providers at the ZDV.

The binding work can be easily handed over to the ZDV hotline/advice center and paid for with a Studicard. Works that are handed in for binding by 11 a.m. can be picked up again by 12 p.m. at the latest.

Further information on bindings to the ZDV can be found here.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

BigBlueButton – New layout and settings

With the new default settings, participants no longer miss the beginning of a presentation during a conference.

  1. More space for videos
  2. New presentation mode

More space for videos

The new layout increases the video area for all participants in a BBB conference. The public chat and default presentation no longer appear automatically at the start of a conference. When messages are shared in Public Chat, a corresponding icon appears in the top left corner.

With one click you show the public chat again. (You can still find the phone number to dial in in the public chat.)

You can use the button at the bottom right to display the presentation again immediately.

New presentation mode

If a new slide is displayed in the shared presentation, the presentation is enlarged or drawn on, it is automatically displayed again for all participants - if it was hidden.

Participants who initially hide the presentation to view videos larger often forget to restore them. With the new setting, participants no longer miss slides.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

E-exam room moves from SB II to Kisselberg

The SB-ANT e-exam room in SB II (Col.-Kleinmannweg 2) will move to the “Am Kisselberg” building on Isaac-Fulda-Allee 2b in April with all its equipment. The move is necessary due to the current construction work in SB II.

The room, which will be available for future e-exams "Am Kisselberg" from April, has 5 more seats than its predecessor and offers daylight through a window front. Furthermore, separate entrances and two exits prevent students from meeting each other before or after the exam.

Details about the new e-exam room

  • Short name: KISS
  • Official room number: 00-241
  • Address: Isaac-Fulda-Allee 2b (Am Kisselberg)
  • Room size: approx. 305m²
  • Total seats: 138
  • PC places: 136 (plus 1 lecturer computer + 1 student assistant computer)
  • Examination places: 134 (2 computers remain free as an alternative reserve for exams)

The ZDV is still responsible for the on-site technical support. The room KISS (00-241) can be booked via the Room Planning Uni Mainz (RAPS) process.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

BigBlueButton conferences with more participants possible

In the last few weeks, the ZDV has carried out extensive tests with regard to conference sizes. Due to numerous optimizations and improved settings with the new BBB version 2.4, the team recommends new guidelines for the number of participants in a BBB conference.

Adjusted conference size recommendations

With the new recommendation, conferences with up to 600 participants can be held. Presentations, surveys, screen sharing, public chat and shared notes can be used without restriction.

We have put together an overview of all the new scenarios for a BBB conference and what you need to consider: https://www.zdv.uni-mainz.de/bigbluebutton-moegliche-szenarien/

Test out the new possibilities with us

Test the various functions with us with a large number of participants.

We invite you to a BBB testing event on February 18 at 10:30 am.
Access link: https://bbb.rlp.net/b/sch-rqb-7fk-rnb</a >

Advice for special requirements

If you are planning very large events or have special requirements for your conference (e.g. many high-resolution cameras), please contact bbb-admin@zdv.uni-mainz.de. We would be happy to advise you.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

ZDV removes "digital contact registration" from the JGU app

Since January 28, there has been no obligation to register contacts in all courses, examinations and other events at JGU. The basis for this is an amendment to the Thirtieth Corona Control Ordinance (30th CoBeLVO) of January 28, 2022.

In the last few semesters, contact details were registered digitally with the help of a system specially developed for the university: In the JGU app, the "digital contact registration" function offered the option of registering for and de-registering from courses. With the announcement of the new regulation, the ZDV team started removing the program from the app and deleting all the data that was still there.

Current information: Currently, the JGU app for Android cannot be downloaded from the Google Playstore. Google temporarily blocked the app. Unfortunately, we are dependent on feedback from Google. The team is working flat out on a solution.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

New Adobe alternative for graphic design, layouts and image editing

Affinity software available for JGU employees and students

Some users will already be familiar with the alternatives to Adobe products from private use: Since January 2022, ZDV has been offering Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher for anyone interested at JGU. You can assign and use the three products yourself in the AppV Self-Service at https://apps.zdv.uni-mainz.de/.

Application and advantages at a glance

Affinity Designer is a graphic design software that can be used to create graphics as well as mockups for smartphones and the web. It is often used as an alternative to Adobe Illustrator.

Affinity Publisher is software for creating and editing designs and layouts. It can load very large documents—even those with thousands of pages and many gigabytes of linked images—instantly and edit them in real time. There is no longer a limit to the size of documents. It is often used as an alternative to Adobe InDesign.

Affinity Photo is photo editing software. Blending layers runs efficiently and the workflow remains non-destructive. The software is often used as an alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

  • Students can use Affinity products on the Remote Desktop Server
  • If you only need one application, you can assign it individually and thus save storage space compared to Adobe.
  • Files created with Adobe products can be easily opened and edited in Affinity software.

An introductory training course on the three products is planned for the coming semester.

Helpful links


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

Virtual backgrounds and a new layout manager at BigBlueButton

For BigBlueButton conferences, there have been more functionalities for studying and teaching since the beginning of the year. An overview of the most important changes:

  • Your own background can be blurred when the camera is released and various virtual backgrounds are available
  • New layout manager: switch between "focus on presentation" and "focus on webcams" possible; the moderator can set the layout for all participants
  • More flexible handling of the breakout rooms (group rooms) through individual naming and extension of the term
  • Recordings include poll results from polls and links from shared external videos
  • No more tunnel effect (recursive, shrinking display) when releasing the entire screen
  • Messages from moderators are highlighted in public chat
  • The list of participants shows who has released the camera

The VCRP has created a video on the most important innovations:
https://video.vcrp.de/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=1727c220-4c83-4559-85d6-adfe012061e4

The video conference system bbb.rlp.net is available to all colleges / universities and schools in Rhineland-Palatinate and is hosted by the ZDV at the JGU.


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

Uni Mainz app with a new function: the semester timetable can be displayed

The timetable has been available in the Uni Mainz app for all students and lecturers at JGU since June 2021. After registering, you have the option of viewing the timetable, filtered by semester. The information on the individual events (lecturer, type of event, first and last date and the registration status) come directly from JOGU-StINe and are always updated when the app is opened. The feedback from the test users, who extensively checked the new function during the pilot phase, was consistently positive.

In the near future, it is planned to link the timetable with the room search so that new students in particular can view the event location directly on the campus map. Furthermore, it should be possible to search directly for contact details and office hours of lecturers via the timetable.

More information about the app


More news from the Data Center → may be found here.

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