Open: Summer 2024 Canvas Course Requests

Faculty can now request Summer 2024 Canvas courses via ONE.UF using these instructions. Only instructors of record may use ONE.UF to request courses. Faculty or staff requesting on behalf of instructors will need to do so via myUFL.

If someone normally requests courses for you, please let them know you are handling your own course request. If you do not need a course in Canvas this summer, then follow the instructions above and find the “Exclude Section from Canvas” instructions.

Course auto-creation for all Summer 2024 courses begins Wednesday, May 8, at 12:00 p.m.  Courses not requested or marked as “Exclude Section from Canvas” by that date and time will automatically be created. Instructors who need sections combined into one shell are advised to make their course request before Wednesday, May 8. Any course section added to the Student Information System after auto-creation will still need to be requested.

As a reminder, instructors cannot use Canvas Announcements or Inbox to communicate with students prior to the start date of the course and the course being published. Instructors that want to communicate with students prior to the start of the Summer A/C 2024 semester (Monday, May 13), may use the Class Rolls feature in ONE.UF to do so. Full course rosters will not load into Canvas until after the auto-creation date.

The e-Learning Support team is offering one-on-one consultations to help prepare your course for the upcoming term. Please schedule an appointment at http://go.ufl.edu/CanvasHelp. The consultations will be conducted via Zoom. Please reach out to the e-Learning Support team with any questions:

Elevating Generative AI Recipes to Encourage Authentic Assessments

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.

Timely Topics the Focus of Teaching TechXploration

The annual Teaching TechXploration will be held on Thursday, Nov. 30, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. This virtual event is part of UFIT’s Tech Byte series and registration is free for the UF community. 

The virtual, conference-style Teaching TechXploration format features short presentations–or lightning rounds–on educational technologies and solutions to teaching challenges. Session topics include: 

  • A faculty panel on AI’s impacts on teaching 
  • Adapting assessments with AI in mind 
  • Tools available within Canvas to enhance your teaching 
  • Podcasting as teaching and assessment strategy 
  • Feedback from faculty using Feedback Fruits, a group evaluation tool 
  • Resources and services from campus partners 
  • Requesting new teaching tools and grants to fund those tools 

Instructors, instructional designers, and graduate students with teaching loads can all benefit from attending and learning about UF’s learning tools and services as you are planning for the spring semester. Once registered, you will be added to the Microsoft Team where the event will take place. Anyone with questions about this year’s Teaching TechXploration may contact UFIT’s Associate Director for Teaching and Learning Technology, Ryan Yang

Get Familiar with Classroom Technologies

UFIT is hosting two in-person sessions focused on using installed technologies in campus classrooms. The Tech Byte events will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 15 and Tuesday, Aug. 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Turlington Hall – Rm. 2319. All faculty are welcome.

The Tech Byte open house events are a great way for new and returning instructional faculty to become familiar with installed technologies in UF classrooms. At each drop-in session, instructional technology experts will explain the flexibility and capabilities installed in UF classrooms to enhance teaching and learning. Attendees will have the opportunity to try out available technology and resources including lecture recording options, cameras for Zoom/Teams sessions, microphones, pre-installed software, and digital annotation tools. Staff can also provide guidance on incorporating LinkedIn Learning and UFApps into your courses, and help connect you with any other technical assistance needed from UFIT. Faculty and staff can pre-register to attend either session. Or…just drop in!

Have questions about classroom technologies? Please do not hesitate to contact UFIT anytime before or during the semester, at classrooms@ufl.edu.

ChatGPT: Adapting Assessments with AI in Mind

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.

New Workshop: Applying Learning Analytics

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.

Available in Zoom: Translated Captions and Live Transcriptions

The Zoom translated caption and its live transcription service have been enabled for UF. Both the translated captioning and transcription features can be utilized for administrative and research meetings as well as classroom activities in Zoom.

As a global research university, UF currently has faculty, staff, and students from more than 60 countries. These Zoom features can help many in our community to review content in their native language. As of February 2023, the languages currently supported are: Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Ukrainian.

Information and step-by-step instructions on how to enable Zoom translated captions and/or the interpretive [live transcription] capabilities are available on these Zoom and UF links:

1. https://video.ufl.edu/conferencing/zoom/captions-and-live-transcription/
2. https://blog.zoom.us/translated-captions
3. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/6643177746829

Faculty and staff who need assistance with the new features or would like to acquire a license for the translated captions feature may contact the UF Computing Help Desk (352-392-HELP/4357, helpdesk@ufl.edu).

Course Design Assistance for Summer 2023

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

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/.

Tech Byte: 30-Minute Recipes to Increase Instructor Presence

Ready to see a cooking show like none other? UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology & Training is hosting a new type of Tech Byte event for faculty and staff. In this live one-hour cooking show, staff will present “30-Minute Recipes” using technology and tools to increase instructor presence in their courses.

Tech Byte: 30-Minute Recipes to Increase Instructor Presence
Virtual session on Monday, Aug. 22 │ 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Registration Link

Educational technologist Chris Sharp and instructional designer Leslie Mojeiko will explain the three dimensions of instructor presence, give demonstrations, and provide a cookbook handout at the end of the event so you can prepare these recipes on your own! Before the fall term begins, learn some quick and savory tips on using technology in your courses. This event is free for all UF faculty and staff.

This Tech Byte will provide some quick technology solutions that can help instructors increase their presence for students. After completing registration you will have access to the event’s Zoom link. Anyone with questions about the 30-minute recipes to increase instructor presence may contact Educational Technologist Chris Sharp.