Category: Enable Student Success

Building the State-of-the-Art Atlas Lab

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

Social media is a primary channel for our civic and commercial dialogue, and a powerful communications platform in advertising, news, and public relations. To prepare students to succeed in that environment, the College of Journalism and Communications (CJC) has created the Atlas Lab to focus on better understanding this important field.

“Lon Vance and the A/V Design and Installations group brought our vision for the lab to life,” said Janet Coats, managing director of CJC’s Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology. “Lon helped us understand how the technology could be shaped to meet our needs, then helped us learn how to use it. Working with the UFIT team was a model of effective collaboration.”

The Atlas Lab is powered by sophisticated, AI-driven social media analysis tools. The technologies in the Lab provide students with real-world experience in data analytics, and researchers with a treasure trove of data to develop new insights for industry. To bring the data to life, students access dashboards with visualizations of how conversations are evolving and moving in real-time and customized to show many different views simultaneously. UFIT created a monitor wall (pictured) to surround students with a dynamic presentation of the data they are examining. The 46 monitors can be configured to show data dashboards, live television, and faculty presentations to create a fully immersive experience. Anyone with questions about the Atlas Lab is welcome to email Professor Coats.

Submitting Grades for Spring 2023

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

The Spring 2023 grading period opens Friday, April 28, at 8:00 a.m. and closes Monday, May 8, at 12:00 p.m. There are many online resources available to help faculty and staff who enter final grades.

1. Use these instructions to finalize gradebooks. The instructions will help ensure that the grades displayed in Canvas matches what is sent to ONE.UF.

2. The UF Human Resources’ Grades Toolkit provides excellent instructional video and PDFs for faculty and staff who enter grades in ONE.UF and myUFL.

3. UFIT has a 50-minute webinar available that covers finalizing a gradebook and sending grades to ONE.UF through Canvas. Faculty and staff can also request a consultation with e-Learning Support staff for assistance with sending their gradebook to ONE.UF.

4. For questions regarding UF’s e-Learning environment, please do not hesitate to contact learning-support@ufl.edu. For questions about entering grades in ONE.UF faculty and staff should contact the Office of the University Registrar, grades@registrar.ufl.edu.

Introduction to Data Graphics and Analysis

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

UF Information Technology is offering an eight-module course on R Programming this summer. All faculty, postdoctoral associates, TA’s, graduate students, and staff are welcome to enroll. The Summer 2023 offering of R Programming will take place May 15 to July 21. Enrollees must have successfully completed at least one graduate-level course in statistics prior to the May 15 training start. R Programming is offered in an online, self-paced format. The course is free but pre-registration is required. Visit the R Programming training page to register. The full syllabus for the Summer 2023 offering is also available on this page. The course’s eight modules are:

• Introduction to R
• Data Preparation
• Exploratory Data Analysis
• Mean and Median Comparison
• ANOVA, Correlation, and Linear Regression
• Multiple Linear Regression
• Proportion Comparison
• Logistic Regression

Anyone with questions about UFIT’s R Programming training is welcome to email the instructor, Dr. Jose Silva-Lugo.

Developing Courses for Fall 2023

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

Instructors: it’s that time of semester! Faculty who would like to work with UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology & Training (CITT) to develop or revise a course for Fall 2023 should contact the CITT by Friday, April 28. The instructional design staff would love to work with you to develop or revise a traditional, flipped, hybrid, or online course, or a flipped advising site.

If you are teaching this fall but cannot commit to a full course development, you can work with an instructional designer to develop or revise some aspects of your course. The CITT will help you to create a custom plan for just the items you want to focus on. Customization will enable you to work with an instructional designer for a week or two, or a few months–whatever time you have to commit, our staff can commit to you! Let the CITT experts help you develop assessments, course content, videos, or any combination of services offered.

To start working with the CITT, just complete the assistance form and a staff member will follow up ASAP to schedule an appointment.

ChatGPT: Adapting Assessments with AI in Mind

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

ChatGPT is the “water cooler” technology buzz of Spring 2023. What is it? And how will ChatGPT impact teaching and learning? Learn more by attending UFIT’s Tech Byte event, Adapting Assessments with AI in Mind:

Tuesday, April 11
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Via Zoom – Registration Link

ChatGPT and other generative AI tools have led to questions about academic integrity and how AI can transform teaching, learning, and assessment. The goal of this Tech Byte event is to lay the foundation of knowledge about ChatGPT (and its competitors) and enlarge the conversation about the technology in UF’s teaching community. Tech Byte attendees will receive a brief overview of ChatGPT’s capabilities, consider course design strategies, learn how to modify assessments to be less susceptible to AI generated content, and discuss new types of assessments made possible with AI. A conversational focus will be on continuing to weigh the value of assessments and their relationship to measuring student learning outcomes. Participants will have the opportunity to share existing assessments from courses they teach or work with to see how they could be improved considering the capabilities of AI.

Register today! Anyone with questions about this Tech Byte event is welcome to contact UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology and Training.

iClicker Cloud Training Offered March 23

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

UFIT is coordinating an iClicker Cloud training, open to both novice and seasoned users. Taught by an iClicker company representative, this FREE training is open to all UF faculty:

iClicker Cloud Training
Thursday, March 23
10:00-11:30 a.m. (via Zoom)
Registration Link

iClicker Cloud is a learning platform that improves student engagement in a variety of ways. The learning tool includes both synchronous and asynchronous options such as polling, quizzing, and assignments, and seamlessly integrates with Canvas. Regardless of class size or delivery method, iClicker can help instructors increase attendance and participation, provide instant feedback, and identify knowledge gaps in real-time.

Please email ufit-training@ufl.edu for more information about the iClicker Cloud training or about any other offering on the UFIT training schedule.

New Workshop: Applying Learning Analytics

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

As part of the university’s ongoing efforts to enhance student success, UFIT created a new unit whose sole focus is on learning analytics and assessment. One of the first outputs of this unit is a new workshop highlighting how learning analytics tools can be utilized to enhance student outcomes.

Registration is now open for the Applying Learning Analytics workshop. The online workshop was developed with fellow Unizin member institutions as a cross-institutional effort to prepare faculty to use learning analytics data ethically, effectively, and equitably. It has been added to Canvas Commons as an open educational resource and is being piloted at several institutions, including UF. The workshop introduces instructors to course-level learning analytics data in Canvas and other educational tools. Participants will learn how analytics can inform changes in their course design and provide customized student guidance during the learning process. Over a three-week period (March 30-April 13), participants are required to attend two 90-minute synchronous sessions (Zoom available). There is an option for an additional 90-minute synchronous or asynchronous session. All synchronous sessions are held on Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Instructors with questions about the new learning analytics and assessment unit or the workshop are welcome to email Dr. Heather Maness, assistant director of the Center for Instructional Technology and Training.

AI Resources for Students Spotlighted at 2023 Tech Fair

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

More than 2,030 student interactions were one outcome of the 2023 Tech Fair. Another outcome is that many students learned about some of the technology resources and services available to them at UFIT’s largest outreach event. Veronica Rams is a student who stopped by the event.

“GitHub Web Flow is so cool and useful when it comes to learning how to make a good website, since learning HTML was a bit hard,” Rams said.

This year’s Tech Fair focused on helping students utilize AI and online tools while completing their undergraduate degrees to help them achieve their academic and professional goals. Students learned how to use LinkedIn Learning’s Learning Paths, tried out new AI drawing software with the help of UFIT’s instructional designers, and got their tech issues solved from the expert staff in the UFIT Help Desk tent. Students also also learned how AI evaluates their resumes, courtesy of the Career Connections Center. Marston Science Library brought out 3D printers and rentable technologies available. Victoria Garcia, an Innovation Academy student, appreciated the display.

“I learned about 3D printing and where they have printers which are helpful for my classes.”

For any questions about Tech Fair, email UFIT Communications at it-comm@ufl.edu!

Course Design Assistance for Summer 2023

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

It’s that time of semester again! Instructors: please contact UFIT as soon as possible if you’d like to work with an instructional designer (ID) at the Center for Instructional Technology & Training to develop or revise a course for Summer 2023. Our IDs would love to work with you to develop or revise a traditional, flipped, hybrid, or online course or flipped advising site.

If you would like to develop some aspects of your course but can’t commit to a full development, UFIT will work with you to create a custom development plan for just the items you want to focus on. The CITT staff can work with an instructor for a week or a few months–we’ll maximize the time you have available–to develop assessments, course content, videos, or any combination of our services.

Visit UFIT’s instructional design page to learn about the CITT services, or complete the “request assistance form” if you’d like an ID to contact you.

Classroom Technology Tech Byte – Dec. 8

Posted on by tgale@ufl.edu

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/.