Category: Education & Outreach

Tenth Anniversary of Tech Fair!

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Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Tech Fair, UFIT’s largest annual outreach event, features experiential activities that focus on helping students utilize AI and online tools.

Students can get advice and support on setting up their e-Portfolios, improve their digital literacy, meet with C3 staff to learn how AI programs evaluate resumes, and see what’s available in the Marston Science Library Makery. Students can also get assistance with campus tech such as help with Wi-Fi (eduroam), setting up GatorMail on their phone, and learning what software is available for free or at seriously discounted prices.

2023 Tech Fair
Wednesday, Feb. 22
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Tech Fair is held in Tech Plaza, the space created by Marston and the CSE Building. (Look for the tents!) In addition to getting help with campus tech that could boost your future plans, students could win a Tribit Stormbox Bluetooth Speaker or a Roku Ultra Streaming Device just for answering the Tech Fair survey. Students with questions about Tech Fair are welcome to email it-comm@ufl.edu. See you on Tech Plaza!

Classroom Technology Tech Byte – Dec. 8

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Join UFIT to explore classroom technologies that can enhance your teaching. Faculty and TA’s with course teaching loads are welcome to stop by the Classroom Technology Tech Byte:

December 8 │ 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
CSE E231

Several instructional stations showcasing classroom technologies and teaching tools will be set up for quick assistance. Each station will focus on a classroom technology component, instructional design support tool, active learning strategy, and other teaching and learning services provided by UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT).

The December 8 event date was selected because it is a reading day with no classes scheduled. This Classroom Technology Tech Byte is open to the UF community. Anyone with questions about the services or events sponsored by the CITT is welcome to send a message to https://citt.ufl.edu/request-assistance/.

SPSS Training Offered This Spring

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UFIT is offering its SPSS Statistics & Sample Power 3 this spring.  The online course begins January 9, and ends on March 10, 2023.  This free certificate earning, self-paced course includes seven modules that focus on the latest statistical procedures.  All modules must be completed by March 10 for the participant to earn the certificate.

This course has been designed for faculty, TAs, graduate students, postdoctoral candidates, and staff.  Potential participants can review the course syllabus prior to registering.

Participants must have completed a graduate course in statistics and the “SPSS Statistics Essential Training” in LinkedIn Learning prior to January 9.  To register, visit https://training.it.ufl.edu/training and use the keyword: SPSS. Anyone with questions about UFIT’s SPSS certificate program is welcome to contact instructor Dr. Jose Silva-Lugo.

Building Pedagogically Sound Courses

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UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology & Training (CITT) is offering its two-day Course Mapping Camp in person on December 8-9. This hands-on workshop is designed to help instructors build a pedagogically sound blueprint for any course.  Dr. Breann Garbas, clinical assistant professor and physician assistant in UF’s School of Physician Assistant Studies gained valuable insights by attending the Course Mapping Camp:

“I would absolutely recommend that other faculty attend Course Mapping, because you don’t realize the holes your course potentially has until you line up all of your objectives and see if you have an assessment that matches up with each of those objectives.”

Led by experienced instructional designers, the Course Mapping Camp begins with student learning outcomes, moving from course goals to the development of specific and measurable learning objectives. Next, instructors design student learning experiences and identify assessments, learning materials, and activities that support defined learning outcomes. Throughout the workshop, CITT instructors provide guidance and feedback to ensure alignment between goals, objectives, and assessments.

Visit UFIT’s Course Mapping Camp page for more details and to register.  After registering, a workshop facilitator will email you the schedule prior to the start date. Instructors with questions about this workshop or any of the CITT’s trainings may use the https://citt.ufl.edu/request-assistance/ form.  Just click the radial “Training & Workshops” button and a member of the instructional design team will get back with you forthwith!

 

Teaching TechXploration – Fall 2022

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Explore the intersections of technology and teaching at the Fall 2022 Teaching TechXploration. The event is on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Registration is open and free to the UF community.

The virtual, conference-style Teaching TechXploration will be held via Microsoft Teams. The format features 30-minute presentations on educational technologies and solutions to teaching challenges, as well as sessions for instructors to practice new strategies. Presentation topics include:

● Applying UX Principles to Design Human-Centered Courses
● Using NameCoach to demonstrate a commitment to equity and inclusion
● Zoom into Whiteboarding
● Tips for teaching with Microsoft Teams
● Survey Tools for Teaching & Learning
● New Tools in Learning Analytics and Assessment
● Troubleshooting Assignment Alignment
● Creating Interactive Widgets using Lumi and H5P
● Video Resources

Instructors, instructional designers, and graduate students with teaching loads can all benefit from attending and learning about new services before fully solidifying their teaching plans for the spring term. Once registered, registrants will be added to the Teams site where the event will be held. Anyone with questions about this year’s TechXploration may contact UFIT’s Associate Director for Teaching and Learning Technology, Ryan Yang.

Increase Equitable Access: NameCoach

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Two of UF’s core values are inclusion and community and implementing NameCoach makes the UF community safer, more welcoming, and more inclusive. NameCoach is an online tool that provides students, faculty, and staff the ability to record the pronunciation of their names and enter their gender pronouns. Funding of this service is through the Technology Fee Academic Innovation Grant (“Tech Fee“) program, with an initial three-year campus-wide license.

Utilizing NameCoach is an opportunity to strengthen a sense of belonging and togetherness and makes UF’s learning environment more inclusive by honoring the differences in identities of the Gator community. Available in e-Learning, NameCoach enables correct name pronunciation–an important step for an institution with 15,000+ minority students and nearly 6,000 international students.

UFIT published a webpage with tips for using NameCoach. Instructional faculty who would like help incorporating NameCoach into a course may request a consultation with the Center for Instructional Technology and Training.

Showcase of Instructional Support Services

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On Tuesday, Oct. 18, UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology & Training (CITT) is showcasing its services for faculty. Faculty are invited to stop by the second floor of the Hub from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and talk to experts from the instructional design, instructional technology, learning analytics, video production, and web services staffs.

The CITT Open House will be held on the second floor of the Hub, located at 1765 Stadium Road. In addition to learning about services available, attendees can get new headshots taken or record a holiday themed message in UFIT’s multi-studio digital production facility, both offered free of charge. Faculty interested in a consultation for any of our instructional services can request one via this link on the CITT homepage. Consultations may be requested for multiple CITT services.

Stop by the CITT Open House and visit with staff dedicated to your teaching and learning success. Faculty can get a quick consultation or pick up a snack! Faculty with questions about the event or who cannot attend but would like to schedule a consultation or video studio time may complete the request form here (https://citt.ufl.edu/request-assistance/), or email Digital Production Services Manager Greg D’Angio.

Fostering Inclusive Communities for Learning

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Fostering Inclusive Communities for Learning is the third workshop in the Teaching for Inclusivity and Accessibility series. This workshop focuses on helping instructors strategize ways to build an online environment where all students feel safe, respected, and comfortable enough to collaborate and learn.

This workshop is asynchronous workshop and is held over a six-week period. Instructors enrolled in the workshop can expect a total time commitment of eight to 10 hours from Oct. 24 through Dec. 10. At the completion of this workshop, participants will have developed tools for effectively communicating with students, for facilitating positive interactions in their online courses, and gained additional tips for in-person class meetings. This workshop counts toward the Center for Teaching Excellence’s Passport to Great Teaching program.

Explore UFIT’s Teaching for Inclusivity and Accessibility workshop overview page to learn more and to register.

Learn to Use the Campus-Wide Calendar

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UF’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing (SCM) manages the campus-wide calendar. The URL is https://calendar.ufl.edu/ and available as a direct-link on the UF homepage. The calendar is a great promotional option available for departments and organizations to broadly advertise events.

Free training is being offered so faculty and staff can learn to manage event submissions, request a departmental calendar, and leverage all the features of the calendaring tool. The live, instructor-led webinar training will be held on:

Wednesday, Oct. 5, from 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Course Number: UF_ITT369_ILT
Register here

The university’s calendar provides a central system where events can be submitted for inclusion to maximize exposure. (Events will be reviewed for approval every one to two weeks by SCM.) Visit https://ufl.lwcal.com/submit/ to request an event be added. For questions about this training, please contact the UFIT Training team.

Expert Help with Thesis and Dissertation Submissions

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The UFIT Help Desk staff includes the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Support team (ETD), whose expertise can save you a lot of time and heartache. The ETD team’s goal is to help graduate students throughout the process of formatting their thesis or dissertation according to UF Graduate Editorial Office’s guidelines, and do so within a friendly and supportive environment. They also maintain Word and LaTex templates to use in the production of these documents. Dates to know for the Fall 2022 semester are:

Sep. 16: Degree Application
Sep. 30: Doctoral Dissertation Submission
Oct. 26: Master’s Thesis Submission
Nov. 18: Final Submission (all ETD students)
Dec. 17: Final Clearance
Jan. 6: Clear Prior (to the upcoming term)

Visit https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/ to book an appointment. The week leading up to each deadline is extremely busy, so students should plan ahead and make appointments as soon as they can. Students can also call (352-392-HELP/4357, and select option 5) or visit 132 Hub (between Starbucks and the UF International Center) to schedule an appointment.