John Ellinger
Chief Information Officer
Bowling Green State University

• Office: 213 Hayes Hall
• Phone: 419-372-7712
• Email: cio@bgsu.edu

The Office of the CIO provides leadership, direction, and advocacy for information systems and information technology for the University.

• FalconMail coming to BGSU
• Canvas - ePortfolio and Learning Management System (LMS)
• Introducing QizBox: A Social Learning Environment
• Academic Software Advisory Committee (ASAC)

• IT Announcements Calendar
• CIO-Alerts/CIO-Inform/ITS Fraud Notice email messages

BGSU undergraduate students, graduate students, and retirees will soon receive a FalconMail email address.  Each FalconMail address will receive a 10GB mailbox, 25GB free file storage space and 5GB of collaboration space.  FalconMail features and services will be available to students throughout their college career and will continue to be available as they move from a student to an alumni status.

To learn more about FalconMail, please review the information on the FalconMail web page or to direct any questions you may have to the Technology Support Center (TSC) at tsc@bgsu.edu, 419-372-0999.

BGSU is completing a review of the currently supported Learning Management System (LMS) and ePortfolio systems.  BGSU is currently utilizing Blackboard for LMS and Epsilen for ePortfolio services.  

This is an Office of the Provost project with technical support being provided by Information Technology Services (ITS). 

An evaluation of five "open source" ePortfolio / LMS systems during the spring 2011 semester resulted in the selection of the Canvas product by Instructure for piloting at BGSU. During the fall semester faculty and staff members, as identified by the deans of each college, will learn how to use Canvas and spend time preparing their course materials using Canvas.  These materials will then be utilized and evaluated during the spring semester. The results of the pilot will be used in deciding the ePortfolio / LMS system to be implemented at BGSU.  

Additional information about the Canvas product may be found by reviewing the April 2011 BGSU Canvas product demo or by vising the Instructure web site:  www.instructure.com.

QizBox is a web application which uses game mechanics to create a social learning environment. Created to enhance the real-life classroom lecture and presentation experience, QizBox offers the presenter the ability to share slides, quiz the audience and provide real-time feedback. When enabled, the audience may discuss the lecture in a chat room, ask and answer questions, and even take notes that are accessible for review through a dashboard interface. QizBox also includes a dynamic award system that honors audience engagement with the presentation. Users can accumulate, create, and distribute awards that contribute to a collaborative and cooperative learning environment.

QizBox has been testing in five classrooms during the fall semester and is available to all BGSU faculty and students. This web app can also be used to enhance meeting and conference presentations. QizBox workshops are offered through the Center for Teaching and Learning.

To learn more about QizBox, please contact Anthony Fontana at afontan@bgsu.edu.

In order to provide support for the integration of technology into the curriculum, a program to aid colleges with the purchase of instructional software and databases has been established. The Academic Software Advisory Committee (ASAC) will review requests and recommend the purchase of software that is to be used for instruction or a classroom activity. The committee, software request timeline, and software form [ read more ]