The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

Agenda

In this meeting we will have two presentations:

• RStudio Server http://act.middcreate.net/site/projects/rstudio-server/
• Academic Cyberinfrastructure Inventory http://act.middcreate.net/site/projects/academic-cyberinfrastructure-inventory/

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

RStudio

Albert Kim and David Guertin

• http://rstudio.middlebury.edu
• David creates accounts for faculty and students.
• In the desktop version, each student needs to install multiple packages; with RStudio Server, a faculty or an admin installs all packages in one location and students don’t need to.
• R Markdown: combines text, R code, graphics are embedded in one document. Standardized and easier to grade.
• Some upper-level courses require students to download the desktop version of RStudio, it is important for them to understand this environment. The server version is most useful for entry-level courses and limited use within a course as it reduces the time needed to set up the software.
• VPN may be necessary for MIIS to access RStudio, this should not be the case. David will work with Chris to see why this may be happening.
• To go live, we would need to set up with Active Directory. Do we want people to add RStudio via the Course Hub using a self-service model, or do we them to contact AT? David and Joe will communicate about this.
• Shiny Server Pro: create interactive apps and graphics without needing any tech knowledge. Graphics are interactive, changing the variables changes the graphic display in real time.
• You can host apps on free shinyapps.io or you can install Shiny Server Pro and serve on your own servers. Free for academic institutions with proof of syllabus. The Middlebury-hosted service is much more responsive.
• We would like to share these services with other faculty. Albert and Bill will communicate and set up a demonstration, possibly through CTLR programming.

Academic Cyberinfrastructure Inventory

• The Project Team is learning a lot about our environment through working on this project.
• Q: Why does the inventory include services like Facebook, Twitter, Scrivener, etc.?
  • We know these services are being used for academic work.
  • For comparison with similar services.
  • To track the continuum of moving from service to service over time.
• A viewable/usable version of the inventory should include a filter for Middlebury-supported services.
• Once the Project Team has completed the categorization phase, the project will be shepherded by the ACTT working with ITS to deploy the information in a web-accessible format. It will include search functions for faculty, staff and students, with some protected information behind authentication for staff that need to track dependencies, for instance.