Tech News for Students (Dec. 2023)
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Prepare for Finals ... and Graduation
Finals week — a rollercoaster of late-night study sessions and too much caffeine. If you’re graduating soon, you also have some extra to-dos. Fear not! Pitt IT has tech tools for the final stretch.
Finals Frenzy Tech Tips
* Look at your Canvas courses to confirm due dates, exam topics, and project prompts.
* Create a study/work schedule in Microsoft Outlook and stick to it!
* Submit any questions to professors as early as possible — last minute looks bad!
* Re-watch recorded lectures. In Panopto, you can adjust the playback speed.
* Use the computing labs for needed apps and an ideal study environment.
* Turn in assignments early to allow time to resolve technical snafus while submitting.
December Graduates
When you graduate, your Student Computing Account will automatically convert to an Alumni Account. Your access to free software, cloud storage, official email, and 24/7 support will change. See the Graduation Checklist for a summary of things to do and consider, such as downloading files in OneDrive to a personal account.
April Graduates
Graduation is not an automatic process – all students who are eligible for graduation must submit an application to graduate. If you have just one semester left, be sure to submit your application to graduate by no later than December 15.
Explore Your Creativity with Adobe Creative Suite
For Pitt student Pam Smith, using Adobe Creative Cloud was integral to pursuing her hobbies and extracurricular activities. Getting it at no cost was icing on the cake. If you use Adobe apps for class or club activities, get your free license.
Meet the New IT Service Portal
The brand-new IT Service Portal is your one-stop shop for all Pitt IT services offered to students. It is designed to make your life easier in three key areas: understanding tech services, accessing help articles, and submitting help tickets. Learn more.
Get a Guardian for the Holidays
Winter break is full of parties with friends. Stay safe when driving or walking home after drinking or in inclement weather. The Rave Guardian app’s Safety Timer lets friends and family track you and notify the authorities if you don’t arrive home safely. Download it now.
Prevent Identity Theft Over Winter Break
Cybercrime often starts in the real world. If you live off campus and will be gone over winter break, have the Postal Service hold your mail while you’re gone. Scammers prowl student apartments to steal mail and packages. Credit card offers may be junk mail to you, but are an identity theft goldmine. Learn more holiday season cybersafety tips.
Keep Learning Over Break
Winter break can be a great time to take a LinkedIn Learning course or even complete a full learning path. Use some downtime to pad your resume with extra courses employers will appreciate. We suggest the "Getting Started with Microsoft 365" certificate path.
IT Help Over the Holidays
We hope you’ll be taking some much-needed time off to relax and rejuvenate this winter break. But if you experience problems accessing Pitt IT services, the 24/7 IT Help Desk is ready and able to help. We’re here 24/7 via chat, phone, email, or online form.
Using the Labs Over Winter Break
You can use the labs from anywhere, on campus or off, with the Virtual
Computer Lab. Connect remotely and voila — your computer becomes a lab machine, with the same look, functionality, and software. Since virtual machines run in the cloud, your device will have the compute power of a lab machine! Connect to the Virtual Computing Lab.
Sticking around over winter break? Check out the revised hours for winter break.
Panther Bytes to Nibble On
Check out these bite-sized blogs about tech topics you should know. Read the ones you missed, and check back over break for new ones on topics like our best tech gifts of 2023, using LinkedIn to propel your career, and New Year’s tech resolutions.
