As our country is battling the Coronavirus, libraries, publishers and course platforms are doing their best to keep up with the changing demands. Elizabeth City State University has already decided that the remainder of the curriculum will take place in online learning environments, instead of on campus. This means extra resources are needed: students have to get access to materials otherwise easily accessible on campus.
If you have trouble getting a good internet connection at home, internet service providers have been offering additional options that may help. Keep in mind that not all of these options may be available to you so reach out to them if you need help getting access to a remote internet connection: Using carrier provided hot-spots where available (Xfinity, AT&T, etc.) – these may not be ideal because you may need to travel to a location where a hot-spot is available. Requesting Comcast/Xfinity Internet Essentials at your residence at no charge for 60 days. If you don’t have Xfinity where you are, check with other cable companies in your area to see if they offer something similar. Enable hot-spot functionality on your existing mobile phones. T-Mobile and Sprint have indicated that this will be available at no additional charge. Check with your mobile phone provider to see if they have a similar offer.
FCC agreement
The FCC has worked with providers to waive late fees, not cutoff service for lack
of payment, and open hot-spots.
T-Mobile COVID-19 response
Following FCC agreement, plus unlimited data to existing customers, and, coming soon,
will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge.
Comcast COVID-19 response
Offering free WiFi for 2 months to low income families plus all Xfinity hot-spots are
free to the public during this time.
Verizon COVID-19 response
No special offers but following the FCC agreement.
AT&T COVID-19 response
Offering open hot-spots, unlimited data to existing customers, and $10/month plans
to low income families.
Sprint COVID-19 response
Following FCC agreement, providing unlimited data to existing customers, and, starting
Tuesday, 3/17/2020, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no
extra charge.
Charter Communication/Spectrum:
Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households
with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription
and at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To enroll call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households. Charter will partner
with school districts to ensure local communities are aware of these tools to help
students learn remotely. Charter will continue to offer Spectrum Internet Assist,
high speed broadband program to eligible low-income households delivering speeds of
30 Mbps. Charter will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across our footprint for public use. Spectrum
does not have data caps or hidden fees.
Blackboard Learn
Blackboard is Elizabeth City State University's learning management system that allows
students and faculty members to access course materials, conduct course activities,
communicate, and collaborate online. Students in courses that use Blackboard can access
those courses anywhere and anytime they can access the World-Wide Web.
E4U
ECSU through E4U, can identify, advise, and monitor key student segments while leveraging
real-time data to measure and optimize intervention effectiveness.
Mathematica
The world's most powerful global computing environment. Ideal for use in engineering,
mathematics, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, and a wide range of other fields,
it makes possible a new level of automation in algorithmic computation, interactive
manipulation, and dynamic presentation--as well as a whole new way of interacting
with the world of data.
Online Library Resources
Articles, data, full-text reference sources, and more.
Adobe
Creative Cloud is a collection of 20+ desktop and mobile apps and services for photography,
design, video, web, UX and more. Now you can take your ideas to new places with Photoshop
on the iPad, draw and paint with Fresco, and design for 3D and AR. Join our global
creative community — and make something better together.
Affinity
Created by top digital artists and designers, our stunning range of high-quality
creative content packs – including font bundles, illustration kits, brush packs and
more – can help you bring some extra creativity and polish to your projects.
Autodesk
Autodesk provides open access to more than 100 products – available to students,
educators, and institutions globally
Gimp
GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed
program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab
Welcome to the Purdue OWL. We offer free resources including Writing and Teaching
Writing, Research, Grammar and Mechanics, Style Guides, ESL (English as a Second Language),
and Job Search and Professional Writing.
LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com)
Learn from industry experts, and connect with a global network of experience on your
time. How and when you want. Use single single sign-on with ECSU email account.
My Viking Access Panel
List of Office 365 apps.
Teams
Office 365 Education includes Microsoft Teams, Office on the web, and OneDrive. Teams
is a hub for chat, assignments, and content creation, and connects students, teachers,
and staff in an online classroom.
Skype
Skype makes it easy to stay in touch, Talk. Chat. Collaborate.
Zoom
Teachers, administrators, and students can successfully spin up virtual classrooms,
participate in online classes, and use Zoom for distance education.
Outlook
Work efficiently with email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and more—together in one
place. Office integration lets you share attachments right from OneDrive, access contacts,
and view LinkedIn profiles.
Google Hangouts
Hangouts brings conversations to life with photos, emoji, and even group video calls
for free.
Google Duo
Google Duo works on Android and iOS smartphones, tablets, computers, and Smart Displays,
so you’ll never miss another moment with any of your friends and family
Greeting Vikings:
In order to facilitate the learning process and make your eLearning experience more dynamic, the ECSU campus store is offering options to support ECSU students.
- FREE Online Shipping Offer: Visit the campus store website at www.ECSUShop.comfor Free Shipping on all items with no minimum purchase. This includes various formats of course materials, supplies, apparel, technology and more.
- Access to eBooks AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE: Visit the campus store websitewww.ECSUShop.com to gain access to eBooks at no additional charge with your @students.ecsu.edu email address. You can access up to 7 eBooks for the designated period free of charge.
- FREE Access to Lumen Learning OER Courseware. Lumen Learning, our OER partner, is offering FREE access to courseware to help supplement content, and offer additional resources to faculty, click here for the Lumen offer.
- Free Shipping on Rental Returns & Deadline Extensions: The campus store is offering free shipping return labels and is also extending the non-return period without penalty to assist with increased returns by mail. Click the COVID-19 message on the home page of the campus store website at www.ECSUShop.com. Please feel free to contact the store manager at ncarawan@follett.com if you have any questions or concerns about book returns.
We will get through this together. We will adapt new learning paths and grow stronger, long after the virus has subsided.
Sincerely,
Roe J. McFarlane
President
Follett Higher Education Group
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