SOU Students | Information Technology

Dear SOU students. Your I.T. department is working to get you the resources you need to adapt to the changing environment brought on by the current spread of the coronavirus. We are aware that not all of you will have access to reliable high-speed connections from the locations where you will be staying.

Alternate Locations

SOU is partnering with three other regional schools that participate in the Southern Oregon Higher Education Consortium (SOHEC) to provide you with additional access points around the area. The member schools, SOU (Ashland and Medford), Rogue Community College (Medford), OIT (Klamath Falls, Wilsonville) and Klamath Community College (Klamath Falls).

Together, we are offering to provide wireless services to students from the SOHEC partner campuses.

Eduroam

SOU participates in a global network named Eduroam. Eduroam will allow anyone with SOU credentials to access the wireless networks of other Eduroam participating institutions.

Click Here to see a map of participating Eduroam institutions.

Many campuses nationwide are closing access to buildings, including libraries. Please check with any campus before visiting to ensure that they can accommodate you.

Remote Tools Available to Students

Remote Desktop Options

You can use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to any of our remote Windows work environments from off campus. We recommend the virtuallab.sou.edu remote environment for most students. Computer Science students should use the cslab.sou.edu remote environment. If you find that we do not currently offer software that you need on any of our remote desktop environments, contact your instructor or email helpdesk@sou.edu with a description of what you need.

All students should save their files created within these remote environments to their Box drive. NEVER save your files on the desktop within these remote environments because they will disappear after you log out. Click here for instructions on Box Drive.

Below are instructions for connecting to any of these remote environments from Windows or Macintosh computers, along with instructions for how to configure your Remote Desktop client to get the most out of your remote work experience. You can configure the remote Windows computer to see your local computer's storage drives, flash drives you connect to your computer, and your local printers. You can also configure your connection settings, which could help with performance. Call the IT Helpdesk at 541-552-6900 if you need help connecting or configuring your remote environment.

Windows

Macintosh

Chrome OS (Chromebooks)

How to connect to SOU's Remote Access Resources from Chrome OS

iOS (iPhones and iPads)

You can use pan and zoom on your iOS device to navigate the remote desktop environment, but expect challenges on smaller screens.

(iOS) How to connect to SOU's Remote Desktop Environments from iOS

Android (Samsung, LG, Motorola, Google Pixel, etc.)

You can use pan and zoom on your Android device to navigate the remote desktop environment, but expect challenges on smaller screens.

(Android) How to connect to SOU's Remote Desktop Environments from Android

About VirtualLab.sou.edu

The virtuallab.sou.edu environment is meant to provide an experience similar to using any of our on-campus computer labs. We have installed our site-licensed and commonly-used open source software in this environment in addition to software titles specific to various academic disciplines. Please click here for a full list of software installed on virtuallab.sou.edu. You are not able to install any software on virtuallab.sou.edu. This server is mainly designed for students to have access to specialized software from anywhere on or off campus. Any settings you change in your profile are not persistent: they will be discarded when you log out. You must save any files to your Box Drive. If you save anything to the C: drive or your desktop, you will lose your file.

About CSLab.sou.edu

The cslab.sou.edu environment is meant to provide an experience similar to using any of our on-campus computer labs that have been configured for Computer Science coursework. We have installed our site-licensed and commonly-used open source software in this environment in addition to software titles specific to Computer Science students. Please click here for a full list of software installed on cslab.sou.edu. You are not able to install any software on cslab.sou.edu. This server is designed for Computer Science students to have access to specialized software from anywhere on or off campus. Any settings you change in your profile are persistent, so you should have a consistent experience every time you use cslab.sou.edu. However, you must save any files to your Box Drive. If you save anything to the C: drive or your desktop, you may lose your file.

Microsoft Office 365

SOU students have always been able to download the Microsoft Office 365 suite for free to use on their own devices. If you haven't done so already, click the link to get started.

Zoom Web Conferencing

With Zoom, you can participate in a virtual meeting with up to 300 people. Zoom can be used for online gatherings such as class meetings, office hours, and study sessions. Everyone with an SOU computing account can create a Zoom host account. Anyone with an Internet connection can join a Zoom meeting, but only a host can start or schedule a meeting.

Zoom is integrated with Moodle, making it easy to have virtual sessions with your instructor and classmates.

Students, read all about setting up your Zoom account and hosting meetings here.

Google Hangouts, Google Meet, and Jamboard

Google Hangouts and Google Meet are popular video conferencing tools available to SOU students. Hangouts is useful for one-on-one conversations and small groups. Google Meet is a powerful tool for remote collaboration between larger teams. Jamboards enable you to share a remote whiteboard with your classmates or instructor that you can draw on with your mouse pointer, a touch screen, or a tablet and stylus.

Put Your Smartphone to Work

Although smartphones and tablets are not ideal devices for typing, they can still be used with Microsoft Office 365, and they are excellent devices for video and audio recording. Click here for some suggestions to help you be productive with your iOS or Android device.

For even more special offers available to students right now for remote learning, click here to visit Educause's Corporate Resources for COVID-19 webpage.

Videos

How to Take Online Classes During the Coronavirus Pandemic