Virtual Academic Space

For Students, Faculty

Overview

The Virtual Academic Space, hosted by Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, is the University's virtual computer lab that provides students and faculty with access to software applications commonly found in a campus computer lab or classroom.

 

How to connect

Log in to fordham.edu > My Apps > Course Tools > Virtual Academic Space. Or, go to MyDesktop.Fordham.edu and login with your Fordham credentials; you may be asked for multi-factor authentication. The Virtual Academic Space can be accessed via any device. In addition to accessing the environment from your browser, you can configure the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client on your device for a more traditional desktop experience. Review the Azure Virtual Desktop Access Guide for instructions.  

For help logging in or for technical support, contact the IT Service Desk.

 

Features

See below for:

  • Available applications
  • Azure Lab Services - Virtual Lab
  • Requesting new software
  • Support
  • Recommended network connection
    • Saving files created in Azure’s Virtual Desktop environment
  • User Data Policy

 

Available Applications:

Standard Virtual Desktop

  • Amos
  • Anaconda
  • Audacity
  • BlueJ
  • Browsers (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox)
  • CaseWare IDEA
  • ChemDraw
  • Mathematica
  • Microsoft Office 365 (log in using your Fordham email address)
  • Microsoft Power BI Desktop
  • MS Project (Course specific license must be assigned)
  • Microsoft SQL Server Express
  • Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
  • MS Visual Studio Code
  • Notepad++
  • Oracle SQLDeveloper
  • Putty
  • Python
  • R and R Studio
  • SAS
  • Sniffy Pro
  • SPSS
  • SPSS Modeler
  • Tableau Desktop
  • Tableau Prep
  • Zotero

GPU Virtual Desktop

  • Adobe Creative Suite (log in using your Fordham email address)
  • Blender
  • QGIS
  • VectorWorks
  • VLC

Direct Launch Applications

The following applications have a limited amount of licenses available. A request can be made to access some of these applications, but the application owner has final approval. These applications are first come first served. If you are not able to access the application due to no license being available, please try again later.

  • Mplus (Accessible to provisioned users only)
  • NVIVO (Accessible to provisioned users only)
  • STATA

 

Azure Lab Services - Virtual Lab

Access is limited to only a few courses. If your class is configured to access Azure Lab Services, your professor will share documentation on how to register to your assigned Azure Virtual Lab. To access, please go to https://labs.azure.com and log in with your Fordham email.  For additional information on how to access, please see the Azure Virtual Labs access guide.

 

Adding additional software to the Virtual Computer Lab

Additional software may be added to the Virtual Academic Space, provided the University owns a valid license for it and it is required by an instructor. Contact the IT Service Desk to make a request and the Office of Information Technology will review the possibility of adding the software to the Virtual Academic Space.

 

Virtual Academic Space Support

If you have a technical question about Azure Virtual Desktop, you might find the answer in the Azure Virtual Desktop documentation for users page. If you have trouble connecting to the Virtual Academic Space on your network or for additional assistance, please contact the IT Service Desk.

 

Recommended network connection and saving files

For an optimal experience with Azure Virtual Desktop, make sure you have a high bandwidth Internet connection.

  • A wired connection is preferred but not necessary. WiFi connections may be used, but graphics-intensive applications such as Adobe Premiere may function with delays. Smartphone hotspots are not recommended. 
    • A Round Trip Time (RTT) of 150ms or lower is recommended for display performance.  
    • If you are experiencing a sluggish display or input response, check your RTT (Average Latency (ms)) from your device to the East US Azure Region via the Azure Latency Test. Under US select East US.
    • Save your work frequently, especially if your network connection is unreliable. Save your work to your desktop or documents folder on your hard drive. This will ensure access to those files even when your session is disrupted due to a poor network connection.
  • Before you begin working with files in the Virtual Academic Space: If you're using cloud storage services to access your files, such as OneDrive and Google Drive, copy or drag the files from Cloud Drive to your desktop.
    • It is recommended that you save all your data to your OneDrive.
    • Each workspace will create its unique user profile. Data saved to your profile in the Standard Desktop and GPU Desktop will not be accessible between each other. Please save data to your OneDrive, Google Drive, or local device if it needs to be accessible in each workspace.

 

User Data Policy

While data saved to your profile (Documents and Desktop folder) is persistent for at least the semester, it is limited to 30GB, please save your data to your OneDrive, Google Drive and/or save it to your device to reduce the chance of data loss.  We are not responsible for any data lost in these lab Virtual Academic Spaces.  Please save important data outside the environment using the previously mentioned options.

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