Final Paper
Working at ODU online
Mason M Cohan
Old Dominion University
CYSE 368 Cybersecurity Internship
Dr. Karahan Saltuk
4/28/2023
Part 1: Introduction (objectives)
Part 2: History and First Impressions
Part 3: Management/Structure
Part 4: Work Assignment and Projects
Part 5: Cybersecurity Skills and Knowledge
Part 6:ODU Curriculum and Readiness
Part 7: Outcomes and Objectives Did they suffice?
Part 8: Most Motivated Aspects
Part 9: Most Discouraging Aspects
Part 10: Challenging Aspect
Part 11: Recommendations for future employees
Part 12: Conclusion
Introduction
I will be discussing my internship about my time at ODU Global formerly known as ODU Online. I took on this job because I wanted to get to know more about how online infrastructure works. Whether it be something simple or more advanced I wanted more knowledge on how online systems work. I took the position also because I wanted to see how a team works together when it comes to solving IT, hardware, and software mishaps that may come up in the common day. I also wanted a better understanding of how a workplace works with IT-related issues on a general scale. In addition, I wanted to be of help to people who may not click as easily with technology as I do. Technology is something I have loved ever since I was younger. I love building computers, messing with software, and being able to toy with any technology that comes my way.
Having this job allowed me to do more with technology I knew nothing about. That’s the main idea of why I wanted to take it. I could learn more about audio and visual technology which I have personally not dabbled in. It is one of the few categories that I had not gotten around to. Every day I had been at the job I got to learn new tricks and tips about each piece of technology I had never interacted with. Each one of these things is what drew me to my job. These all lead to the objectives I had for myself when starting the job. First I wanted to learn about technology I had rarely used. Second I wanted to work in a team setting to see how it works in the real world. Third I wanted to also learn new software and hardware that I myself could fix without extra assistance. I felt by the second year mark of working my job I had accomplished all of those things. Each day was a new day to learn and experience more about technology and things offered to me by the support staff. I got to learn how to use new audio, visuals, software, and hardware that all helped me accomplish my main goals.
History and First Impressions and Effectiveness
ODU Global is an organization that runs online and hybrid classes for Old Dominion University. As stated by their website “Our original satellite delivery program, TELETECHNET, was officially established in 1994. It was part of a partnership with the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to provide higher education to students at a distance” (ODU Global Website). It was originally a satellite delivery program for schools. As obvious the internet was not available to support classes or anything of that nature. They used Sataleites to broadcast classes to different remote locations around Virginia. This would then bounce around to other parts of the country from said sites in Virginia.
In 2010 the program started to change drastically. This led to them pushing for more online classes and not requiring students to only have to be in person. Post the push they made towards this lead to the program blossoming again. Another excerpt from their website, “In fall 2014, we said goodbye to our satellite system. All programs that had been broadcast via satellite were now available online, and new programs were being developed to expand our offerings”(ODU Global). They finally were able to go fully online with this initiative of ditching old technology for new technology. ODU Global continued to grow and be a larger platform for students all over the world. It became a highly reputable online college for anyone looking to get anywhere from a bachelor’s to a Ph.D.
My initial impressions were I did not know fully what the job would entail. I knew I would work with Zoom and Webex heavily but not in what regard. That much was obvious to me since most of all Online Schooling had switched over to Zoom since the Covid-19 pandemic. After getting to interact with it, I had a new appreciation for digital learning. I thought it was a simple as clicking a Zoom call and sharing the password and code. It turns out a lot more goes into that digital learning and how it helped out so many. Initially, my orientations started as just watching archives of past Zoom recordings. Then little by little I was told about each audio and visual piece of equipment in our control rooms. Along with that, I was trained on how to use Zoom and Webex as a host of said meetings. After that, I was given the tools to do things on my own. Overall I was trained for about a month before being able to manage a classroom on my own. This all helped in learning about the hardware and software I would use for a future employment opportunity.
The effectiveness of being able to do things on my own really helped encourage me to get a boost in the process of managing everything on my own. In addition, my job gave me valuable teamwork and collaboration tools that I dont think I would have gotten at other places. The way we are able to function so fluently as a team is great to me and has helped me gain an edge in learning how to manage and operate with other individuals. It’s not always about just helping out yourself but everyone else around you.
Management/Structure
We worked under the supervision of our Online Operations Manager. Originally that was Linda Harvey when I started. She was the boss of our all of our Supervisors. She would talk with the President and Vice President of digital learning about what we needed in terms of equipment, software, and other needs that our office may pertain. Our supervisors were next in line in the chain of command. They essentially would sit in the middle of the office and work as supervisors for us Technicians. We would report to them about issues with classes and other predicaments that may come up when interacting with students and teachers. They would also help us report problems to IT. We had a Mircosoft Teams channel that all of us Technicians, supervisors, and Linda were connected to. This lets us reduce any issues that would pop whether it be running while a class happens or in between classes. All of this management was very well organized and collaborative. That was the most helpful part about our management. It was incredibly easy to work with our boss and supervisors. They always were willing to help and it never felt like we were burdening them when asking questions. It also allowed for the effectiveness of learning everything. Any time I or another co-worker had a question they would be willing to train and help us with whatever task that we had at hand. It was really eye-opening to see how much that was offered to us and how much it mattered to them. They wanted us to be able to do things on our own but were always willing to teach us new things.
Work Assignment and Projects
Most of the time we dont have many projects. We have more assignments than projects. Our main assignment involves us doing archives. We essentially have a collection of archives from past and present classes. We are required to go through them as operators and figure out if anything is wrong with them. They are all laid out on a Google sheet and are written up by the day and time when each one occurred. It brings us to the ODU Online archive page for each individual class. All of them have their own set of archives and will usually have two copies of each one. One will be a classic view recording and the other will be the enhanced player. The enhanced player is the main one that matters to us since it allows the most flexibility when using the player.
The above image shows the archive page and how it is organized. The read indicated there is a n issue with the file while white means it is clear. We also label them with DNM as do no meet, if the class missed meeting that day.
This is what the page will look like when viewing said archives. It must have at least one recording and no missing content for it to be cleared. This part of our job is incredibly important since otherwise it would not allow students to properly go back and view missed classes or regurgitate content. Part of the convenience of online learning is that you can rewatch lectures and classes for proper learning. We need to always check these otherwise it’s no point in even putting a recording to be a part of our online program. It would be a waste of time and money if we did not make sure they ran without error. Having these recordings allows us also to see if we made some mistakes on our own. There is the possibility that we did not start the recording, the backup recorder did not join, or the room did not join properly to start the recording itself.
They are incredibly important to the business side of things. When we offer our services to outreaching ODU campuses it’s one of the many features we offer. I do not think as many teachers or programs would want to take advantage of the services we offer if recording is not a part of it. It is another great way for students to learn and get more information from something they may have missed while in class. It also helps teachers show old lessons to new students if it’s something they may have missed explaining themselves. This part really does improve our business aspect and keeps us as one of the many top organizations for digital learning in the United States.
Another project that we have been working on is redoing our entire office. This will consist of getting new desks, monitors, control rooms, and other hardware to help us run more efficiently. We are currently in the planning stage of everything that needs to be done. Most of it will involve remodeling our control rooms and classrooms to run more smoothly without losing the convenience of the current setups we have. I think that will allow us to manage our classrooms much more efficiently. In addition, it will help our business have better word of mouth. It comes with the idea of us being tech support for online and hybrid classes. This type of bump in quality will allow for quicker help and more flexible classrooms that are easier to navigate.
Both of these projects will greatly benefit ODU Global in the long run. I think with how we already operate archives they work incredibly well. Not only that we are able to manage them t,o even greater degree than we have in the past. Additionally, new hardware and software around our office will help us manage classrooms and provide easier help for teachers. These two main projects will allow ODU Global to get an even greater reputation.
Cybersecurity Skills and Knowledge
The skills I had prior to the internship were with software and hardware involving cybersecurity basics. These include Linux, firewall practices, network security software, etc. I also had hardware skills such as physical networking, fixing computers, and other technology. Once I got to the job I learned a lot more about digital security with online classes. Each class required a codec that was set to a certain timer and date of when to join. Not only that but students who were not registered for the course would not be able to join. This showed me it was not a simple password and code to join the Zoom session anymore. It also helped me learn more about networking and writing involving audio equipment. I had no idea how Xlr and audio boards worked together. After spending two years with them I have a much larger grasp of what they exactly do. These helped me advance in my hardware and software used for cybersecurity going forward.
ODU Curriculum and Readiness
The ODU curriculum did not necessarily prepare me for this job since I had not taken a course based on audio and visual equipment. However, it did prepare me for it by showing me how to work as a team on a project. Most of my job consists of a collaboration of working with multiple software, hardware, and systems that I had not seen before. The only main one I was familiar with was Zoom. Each of those systems I worked with required some type of collaboration. The connections with projects and ways I had to cooperate with other students definitely benefited me in my job. I would say the majority of classes did not benefit me but the group projects helped me work better as a part of an IT and audio and visual team. Some experiences such as working with the Creston and audio panels were completely new to me. They really helped me figure out problems I had never faced before. They also helped me learn concepts such as switching out things very quickly which compared to the courses here at ODU I had not tackled before then. I stated prior that most of the content I did feel became somewhat relevant but only in the team-building aspect. The rest of it came from learning it from my supervisors and testing new technology I had never learned before. I think they are all great tools to have but I would not say ODU was the one that helped me the most with the job I was working. The new techniques like working with broken cameras, microphones, or disconnecting classrooms were all firsts for me. They were not something that was completely new to me and I had not encountered them when doing projects or assignments for school. I had worked with hardware and software that would give me issues. However, these specific ones were all new to me and helped me adapt my problem-solving skills better. These were great experiences to have for going forward in the cybersecurity field.
Outcomes and Objectives did they suffice?
I felt like the first objective was most definitely achieved. I learned so much more about the technology I had never used before. I learned what Crestron and Cisco panels do and how to use them for remote classes. I learned how audio boards linked to our classrooms and the faders that were associated with them. All the technology whether software or hardware helped me accomplish my first goal. The second goal was the most important one to me. I felt like after working two years together with the IT and ODU global team I get how collaboration works. It isn’t just one person who bosses you around it’s a cooperative effort that takes the entire team to accomplish it. That second objective made me realize what it took to run an IT team and work with one another when something is not working. It does not just come from the idea of a simple fix but multiple people getting an understanding of the problem or issue at hand. The third and final objective was also achieved. I wanted to learn new software and hardware and do it on my own by the time I was far into my job. I have been able to for almost two years without the assistance of new software. We even recently got another piece of software called Synergy which helps us add missing rooms to the Zoom sessions. It also helps us see when they dont join and helps us manage to fix them. It’s another software I am able to use on my own without outside assistance. The third objective was still the hardest to accomplish. As it was a learning curve with each system I was given to learn within a short period of time. However, with the assistance from all the other workers it became so much easier to grasp it all.
Most Motivated Aspects
The most motivated aspect was always getting to help a teacher in the class. I loved being able to go into each classroom and figure out the problem for me. I always liked the challenge of not knowing how to tackle another issue that would come up in the classroom. Somewhat I even liked to see if I could beat the IT team to fixing it. I wanted to challenge myself to figure it out and base it on past issues that may occur from prior sessions. I think that was the most motivating aspect of the experience. In addition, I really enjoyed working with the IT team. I got to learn a lot about how they put in our classrooms and the systems they make to integrate Another was getting to help design and give input on new office and classroom technology. We were allowed to give that since we are getting a new budget. I liked helping give input on new technology that would help benefit us.
Most Discouraging Aspects
By far was the waiting around for issues to happen. It seems odd that I would complain about something in that way. However, I found that to be the most discouraging thing. There were times I want to help but there is nothing to help with. Either we would have all the archives done and both classes are done and there is nothing to assist within the office. Also, it comes with the territory of enjoying fixing things. I like assisting others when it comes to technology. So when I could not be of assistance it felt discouraging to me. Other than that nothing else discouraging comes to mind.
Challenging Aspect
The most challenging aspect of the job was by far managing multiple classes at once. When I originally started the job we had to manage up to three to four classes at a time. It’s hard to manage that many classes at the same time. It means we would have to be able to listen for our name with three overlapping voices. It made it incredibly difficult to understand if the professor needed our assistance or if they may have been calling on a student. Luckily we had messaging and phone call functions to give them, in the case of an emergency. That was the most difficult aspect of the job.
Recommendations for future employees
I would recommend coming into the job with an open mind. That was the best thing for me when I joined ODU Global. I remember I had no idea what to expect outside of working with online classes. Luckily it turned out to be fantastic for me I got to learn about a lot more systems and different aspects of the online classrooms. In addition, be ready to work with people. If you dont like working with people, it is not the job for you. You need to be able to collaborate with other team members to fix a majority of harder problems. It’s not going to be easy if you do not express what is the issue or how it happened. That will only cause more problems for the supervisors and other team members. Those would be my main two takeaways to get from the job if you plan on applying to be an ODU Online Technician.
Conclusion
ODU Global is a company that manages online and hybrid classes for Old Dominion University. I have been working for two years for the company. It’s been an incredibly enjoyable time at the company. I got to learn a lot from many people about different software, hardware, and interfaces I had never used before. I felt as if each one helped me learn more about technology on a great level as well. I think this job made me realize how important teamwork and communication are when working with a company. Tech companies especially rely on different levels of sharing information. Otherwise, it would lead to a lot of unresolved issues.
I think the most important part about that teamwork was getting said experience for the real world when I get hired by a different company. The job will also help me in my future career by being able to multitask heavily. Most of being an ODU online technician required a lot of multitasking. I think that’s another skill that I have greatly benefited from. Each part of the job made me realize what it takes to be a part of a team, learning new systems, and being able to communicate with others. Going forward I am grateful I have had this job for the past two years.
References