Category: Education & Outreach

Certification Practice Exams Now Available on LinkedIn Learning

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LinkedIn Learning now offers technical certification preparation practice exams to help users prepare for official certification exams. Tech certifications are an industry-recognized benchmark for verifying skills, especially for roles in technical support, network administration, and information security.

With LinkedIn Learning, users can choose from nearly 50 practice exams to assess their current subject matter knowledge and also pinpoint what skills need improvement to be successful prior to taking the official exam. Each practice exam covers current certification content from leading providers such as AWS, CompTIA, ISC2, and Microsoft Azure. You can also customize your practice exam by choosing what skills to test on.

Your FREE LinkedIn Learning account provided by UF Information Technology (UFIT) offers access to the certification preparation practice exams, along with 20,000+ courses covering a wide range of professional and personal skills.

Visit https://elearning.ufl.edu/supported-services/linkedin-learning/ to activate your account. Need assistance? Contact the UFIT Help Desk by calling 352-392-HELP or visiting 132 Hub, across from the Starbucks. Students can also stop by the 2024 Tech Fair on Feb. 28 to learn how to make the most of free access to Linkedin Learning!

Elevating Generative AI Recipes to Encourage Authentic Assessments

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UF Information Technology (UFIT) offers multiple Tech Bytes each year. Tech Bytes are shorter, “byte-sized” events that demonstrate new/emerging technologies and strategies to enhance teaching and learning. The next Tech Byte is on Thursday, Feb. 29, and focuses on encouraging authentic assessments with artificial intelligence (AI).

Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (via Zoom)

Registration link

Educational Technologist Chris Sharp and Instructional Designer Leslie Mojeiko are hosting this new Tech Byte that explores how to utilize generative AI to increase authentic assessments in the classroom. Chris and Leslie previously shared their AI Prompt Cookbook in a 2023 Tech Byte, which contains recipes (or prompts) designed to enhance teaching and learning. This new session will feature recipes that elevate instructors’ use of generative AI to move beyond basic use and embrace how it can transform the teaching and learning process. Join Chris and Leslie to learn new tech recipes for debating, role playing, tutoring, and more.

Previous Tech Byte event recordings are available online at no charge. Instructors with questions about this event are welcome to contact UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology and Training via their online form.

Money Available for Tech Purchases that Enable Student Success

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Could your college or major benefit from a new software or hardware purchase? Is there a tech resource you wish UF’s libraries offered? The 2024 Student Technology Fee grant submissions cycle is now open to all students, faculty, and staff with IT-based purchase ideas that support teaching and learning at UF.

The annual proposal review process involves the randomized selection of a committee comprised of several students along with one faculty member to determine which proposals are recommended to CIO Elias Eldayrie for funding. Students are encouraged to submit their ideas because part of their tuition each semester funds the Tech Fee program–at a rate of $5.25 per credit hour for undergraduate courses and $6.56 per credit hour for graduate courses. In other words, this student-led initiative is paid for and determined by YOU.

Winning proposals from the 2022-23 Tech Fee funding cycle include a podcasting studio at Marston Science Library (available to all students regardless of major), the Arts & AI Virtual Workstation Studio for College of the Arts students to experiment with AI technologies, and state-of-the-art equipment purchased for the Quest 2 astrophotography course. Your one-time proposal could change course instruction and the student experience at UF for years to come!

Did you know that LinkedIn Learning and iPads for borrowing at Smathers were both proposals initially funded by your Tech Fee? The deadline for submitting a proposal is Monday, March 18, 2024. Students must partner with a UF department or college on their proposals so get started now! Review the 2024 Tech Fee Proposal Template for submission guidelines, including how to format your proposal and who you must send it to for review prior to deadline. Important dates for the 2024 funding cycle are listed on the Tech Fee Grants webpage. If you have questions, please email UFIT Manager Anne Allen (alallen@ufl.edu), support administrator for the Technology Fee Advisory Committee.

 

Upgrades to UFIT’s Video Production Studios

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New equipment has been installed and is ready for instructor use in UFIT’s video production studios.

Instructors can now more easily share files and discuss visual concepts when filming their course videos. A larger green screen has been installed in one of UFIT’s studios, allowing for much wider shots than before, so the person being filmed has more mobility during their video shoot. Additionally, a 28″ Surface Studio was part of this recent equipment upgrade, providing a touchscreen-based personal computer, interactive whiteboard, and digital pen for use during your video shoot.

UFIT’s video production studios has multimedia specialists available for consult and who will support you and your project throughout the process. The studios are located on the second floor of the Hub. Filming can be done in-studio or in the field, so if you require location shooting for projects like welcome videos or the recording of in-class lectures, this isn’t an issue. Visit https://citt.ufl.edu/services/video-production/ to learn more, schedule a consult, or to book time in the studio.

Anyone with questions about the services offered is welcome to email UFIT Production Manager Greg D’angio. 

FY23 Contributions Report Theme: Securing UF

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Each year, Vice President and CIO Elias Eldayrie shares UFIT’s progress made towards Our Purpose. Our Legacy. The University of Florida Strategic Plan for IT: 2020-2025. The progress is reported in the annual publication known as the Contributions Report. The 12-page publication for fiscal year (FY) 2023 is available online in two formats:

Optimized for Printing

Optimized for Online Reading/Screen Viewing

Securing UF’s network and UF data is the theme threaded throughout the content sections of the FY23 Contributions Report. Some of the security-based content featured include a section dedicated to achieving HITRUST certification for HiPerGator and a list of new IT security policies approved in FY23. Additionally, VP Eldayrie reports on the progress made towards each of the strategic plan’s six goals.

Anyone with questions about the 2022-2023 Contributions Report is welcome to contact UFIT Communications.

What Your Primary Affiliation Means for Digital Access at UF

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The University of Florida’s large and diverse population is comprised of students, faculty, and staff. But there are many other primary roles (known as ‘affiliations’) in our Gator community, and everyone’s affiliation determines what digital services they are entitled to access. Some of these additional primary UF affiliations include emeritus faculty member, consultant, community members who use UF libraries, authorized vendors, and newly admitted students not yet enrolled.

UFIT has an updated webpage showing which affiliations can use the following provisioned services.

UF Email Eligible365 LicenseDropboxGooglePower BI ProZoomVPNEduroam

UFIT maintains the list of primary affiliations for the university. Anyone with questions about their affiliation or the assigned affiliation of a new hire or former employee is encouraged to chat with their department security administrator (DSA).

Learn to Use SPSS & Sample Power 3

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An instructor-led SPSS & Sample Power 3 course will be offered in Spring 2024. The course, a free offering from UF Information Technology (UFIT), is open to all faculty, postdoctoral candidates, graduate students, and staff that have completed at least one graduate-level statistics course.

To register, visit UFIT’s training website and type ‘SPSS’ in the Search by Keyword box. The Spring 2024 course dates are January 16 to March 15, 2024. The course is comprised of seven modules. Participants will learn to:

● Navigate the SPSS & Sample Power interface
● Create and import datasets
● Conduct exploratory data analysis
● Create different types of charts
● Transform data
● Perform inferential statistics for the mean, proportion, and categorical variables
● Carry out bivariate linear regression, correlation, and multiple linear regression
● Perform analysis of variances, analysis of covariance, and logistic regression
● Conduct Power Analysis for each statistical test

Anyone with questions about UFIT’s SPSS & Sample Power 3 course is welcome to contact the course’s trainer, Dr. Jose Silva-Lugo.

Use the Break Periods to Develop Your Professional Skills

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Take advantage of the upcoming holiday breaks to build your professional skills using LinkedIn Learning and UFApps.

Students can access more than 21,000 courses on LinkedIn Learning for FREE with their GatorLink credentials. What do you need to learn that will make you stand out from other applicants for that job or internship? You can take a database fundamentals course, advanced Excel, learn Python or Adobe Creative Cloud and more, from the comfort of your couch or while flying home!

https://elearning.ufl.edu/supported-services/linkedin-learning/

UFIT also provides UFApps, enabling access to 130+ applications you can use to build proficiency in professional-level tools, such as MATLAB, Autodesk, and SPSS. Your experience with these applications can be valuable additions to your resume and job applications. Go to https://info.apps.ufl.edu/ and click “Login to UFApps” on the top right to get started.

It’s never too early to get started on your professional development, Gators! Enjoy these free opportunities while you can, because software applications are expensive and a LinkedIn Learning account will cost you more than $20/month after graduation. If you need assistance accessing the free version of LinkedIn Learning or downloading the receiver to use UFApps, call (352-392-HELP) or visit (132 Hub, across from Starbucks) the UFIT Help Desk.

Electronic Thesis & Dissertation Formatting Help

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The UFIT Help Desk provides campus with a variety of technical support services, including electronic thesis and dissertation support. The Electronic Thesis and Dissertation team (ETD) assists graduate students through the formatting process of their thesis or dissertation in accordance with the Graduate Editorial Office’s guidelines. Their services are available for free to all UF graduate students.

Meg Renard, a lead ETD staff member, joined the team in 2019. She encourages graduate students to reach out as early as possible.

“If you look up the template before you start writing, or if you’re at least aware, the process is going to be much easier,” Renard said. “People spend so long writing these things and gathering material. Then, they get to the end, and they have no idea that the submission had requirements.”

Whether you need finishing touches or a full reformat, the ETD team will meet you wherever you are in the formatting process, Renard said. The team’s primary three services are one-on-one appointments, document reviews via email, and free template and formatting tutorials. The only templates accepted for thesis and dissertation submissions are in MS Word and LaTeX, both requiring specific formatting that is difficult to recreate. Faculty can also arrange for an ETD staff member to present to their classroom by contacting the ETD team directly.

Visit https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/ to book an appointment, email your document for review, or view the templates and tutorials. Appointments and email queue spots fill quickly as submission deadlines approach, so it’s best to contact the team as soon as you can. Although the UFIT’s ETD team supports students through the formatting process, the Graduate Editorial Office is a separate office and sets the submission standards and deadlines. Students can view thesis and dissertation deadlines, checklists, and further requirements on the Editorial Office’s website.