Category Archives: For Staff

A Call for Builders!

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Come Build with the Learning Technology Center as we discuss the Educause 2023 Top 10 Information Technology Issues this Spring. Image by Wokandapix
Come Build with the Learning Technology Center as we discuss the Educause 2023 Top 10 Information Technology Issues this Spring. Image by Wokandapix

The Educause Top 10 IT Issues describe the foundation models that colleges and universities will develop next year and beyond, acting on what was learned in the pandemic and framed by the three building blocks of leadership, data, and work and learning. In 2023, thinking is giving way to doing. The old foundations—from enrollment to credentials to the campus to decision-making—are showing signs of wear. Existing foundations need to be examined and strengthened. New foundations may need to be developed. Institutional and technology leaders are building solid foundation models for higher education.

Come build with the LTC this Spring as we do a focused study of portions of the report to explore these new foundation models: leadership (Leading with Wisdom); data (the Ultra-Intelligent Institution); and work and learning (Everything is Everywhere). The Educause Top 10 IT Issues 2023: Foundation Models, are Builders Group modeled on a book club format; participants are expected to come prepared to discuss short key readings inspired by the Top 10 IT issues to explore these foundation models, tackle challenges, develop recommendations, and craft solutions.

This series is appropriate for educators, leaders, administrators, and technologists. By the end of our sessions together we hope to foster cross-campus communication and networking while providing feedback to help shape the future of Whitewater’s technology strategy. We hope that you will be able to apply what you have learned to your teaching or administration. While each session is connected, it is not required to attend them all. Anyone with interest can join as few or as many as able.

Wednesdays 3:30 – 4:30 pm
McGraw Hall 19A and Online via Webex

February 8. Educause Top 10 IT Issues: Foundation Models
February 22. Leading with Wisdom
March 8. The Ultra-Intelligent Institution
March 22. Everything Is Anywhere
April 12. Solving Challenges: What Can We Do Now?
April 26. Applications: Recommendation for the Future and Foundations to Build.

LTC Construction crew:
Eric Loepp, Director of Learning Technology
Dana Wagner, Assistant Director, Learning Technology
Ted Witt, Teaching Learning and Technology Consultant

2023 Course Prep Boot Camp

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Strapped for time and looking for a guiding hand on all the things you need to do to get a Canvas course up and running for Spring?  Now is your chance! Join us for hands-on workshops broken up between quick demonstrations and supported work time.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels

These sessions are designed for instructors looking to get their Spring 2023 course up and running but all faculty and staff are welcome. Come with previous content ready to be updated or moved from paper into Canvas (e.g. moving a quiz or rubric into a digital form). This series of workshops will provide you the know how and time to complete specific tasks to get your course set up. Enroll in one, a handful, or all of them; even if it is just for a way to schedule your work time.

Getting Started

Tuesday, January 3: Noon-1:00 p.m. | Signup

Building Your Content

Wednesday, January 4: Noon-1:00 p.m. | Signup

Assignments and Setting Up Grades

Thursday, January 5: Noon-1:00 p.m. | Signup

Accessories

Tuesday, January 10: Noon-1:00 p.m. | Signup

Collaborations

Wednesday, January 11: Noon-1:00 p.m. | Signup

Wrapping Up

Thursday, January 12: Noon-1:00 p.m. | Signup

Self-Paced Online and Blended Teaching Institute

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The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to announce registration is now available for a self-paced asynchronous version of our Online and Blended Teaching Institute (OBTI) for Spring 2023.

OBTI aligns quality Canvas course design with best practices for teaching in a variety of modalities.  Upon completion of OBTI, faculty and instructors will be well-prepared to design and develop their own courses, prepared with tips to continue the iterative process for future academic terms. This course is most useful for people thinking about teaching in the summer or fall.

Online and Blended Teaching Institute
Online and Blended Teaching Institute now available in a self-paced format.

The Online and Blended Teaching Institute offers an independent, online, self-paced experience combined with full support and contact with the Learning Technology Center.  It showcases the work of Whitewater instructors and staff, allowing participants an opportunity to explore what has worked for their colleagues.   After an initial consultation, participants will complete a series of short online assignments, be provided a sandbox to design content, and develop objectives and activities to serve as an exemplar module.  This course will take an estimated 30 hours to complete during the Spring semester.

For more information or to enroll in this exciting training, contact Ted Witt at wittt@uww.edu. 

[RESOLVED] Canvas Unplanned Outage (09/21/2022)

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RESOLVED: Between 1:00 PM and 1:45 PM on Wednesday, September 21st users may have had issues accessing Canvas. The issue has been resolved. Please reach out to Canvas 24/7 support for any additional issues.

Beginning at roughly 1:00PM on Wednesday, September 21st users may have started receiving timeout and gateway errors when accessing Canvas. The vendor was aware of the issue and promptly began investigating.

Resolved: 1:45PM the issue was resolved, and service was restored.

Registration Open! Celebrating Teaching and Learning Conference May 18

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The Learning Technology Center, LEARN Center and Office of Academic Assessment invite you to register for the Celebrating Teaching and Learning Conference on Wednesday, May 18, in the University Center.

The conference features a great keynote speaker and showcases 16 concurrent sessions full of interesting teaching and learning initiatives that are active at UW-Whitewater.

The event is FREE, and includes breakfast, lunch and snacks.

Don’t delay, register today! Registration ends May 10.

Celebrate April Fools Day with LinkedIn Learning

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Looking to have some fun and learn how to harness humor as a skill to relieve tension, shift perspectives, and bring people together? Look no further!

Dive into these bite-sized tips and tricks to get started:

Want to know more? Check out the full course: Humor in the Workplace (Full course 45 min)

April 2022 @ LTC – General Campus Technology

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Google Workspace

“Google Drive and Apps Essentials” – April 8 at 9:00AM

Learn about how to effectively use Google Drive and Apps for collaboration and file-sharing. This workshop offers an overview of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Presentations, Forms, Drawing, and Sites. Learn the basics of each program to get you up and running quickly with Google applications as well as some helpful tips and tricks!

Interactive Polling with Slido

April 12 at 9:00AM

Webex Meetings now has an interactive polling feature built right into the meeting so you can easily engage with your participants. In this session, you will learn: how to create, activate, and share content; view results; add collaborators; and more!
Access your Slido account from https://slido.com 

Suggestions for Effective Online Meetings & Webinars

April 19 at 9:30AM

Do you know how to schedule a Webex Meeting and/or Webinar, but are looking to make them more smooth, efficient, productive, and comfortable? We’ll cover some pre-meeting details that can help as well as and facilitation techniques to help you and your attendees have better virtual meeting experiences. We’ll focus on tips and tricks for Webex Meetings and Webinars to take your baseline skills to the next level.

New to Campus? Need a refresher?

“Campus Technology: Resources to Help You Succeed” – April 14 at 1:30PM

The goal of this session is to create awareness of the campus-supported communication, collaboration, and work productivity tools that apply to all staff and introduce participants to support resources.

Can’t make it at the scheduled time? Check out our on-demand technology orientation!

Getting Started with Webex

April 26 at 10AM

Webex, formerly known as Webex Teams, is ideal for ongoing communication and collaboration among teams, departments and work groups. Interested in learning how to utilize Webex? This session will help you understand the basics of Webex (Teams) including the new Calling features, best practices for use, and how to get others on board with using it.

Microsoft Outlook – Tips and Tricks

“Outlook Email/Calendar Basics (and Tips & Tricks)” – April 27 at 9:30AM
Open to both Windows and Mac users, this training will cover strategies to manage email messages, calendar scheduling, and more!

Canvas Update (03/19/2022)

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On Saturday March 19, Instructure deployed the latest release to the Canvas environment. The highlights of this release are listed below. The full release notes are also available.

  • Gradebook – Enhanced Gradebook Filters:  When the Enhanced Gradebook Filters feature preview is enabled for a course, instructors can create filters that can be saved or used one time.
  • Rich Content Editor – Equation Editor Update: When a user creates equations in the Rich Content Editor, the Equation Editor displays an updated user interface.
  • New Quizzes – Item Bank Filtering Terminology Adjustments: In New Quizzes item banks, the All My Banks and All My Course Banks filters have been replaced as the All Banks and Banks Shared to Course filters. Additionally, the This Course filter has been added to the filter options.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, or even just curious about how they can help you, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

March “Teaching and Learning” Madness @ LTC

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March will be another busy month at the LTC as we reach the mid-point of the academic You’re at the mid-semester! This March, the LTC will focus on assessment and student feedback which are critical components of any course.

Faster, Easier Grading

Grading can take a long time, but it does not always have to. Learn how to easily create and consistently use rubrics in Canvas to streamline evaluation of student work, especially compositions and mid-term papers.

Canvas Lab: Rubric and Quiz Building, March 2, 2022 at 9am (online)

Canvas Open lab: Check Your Gradebook Settings!

Meet with our team to verify the numerous settings within your Canvas Gradebook to make sure everything is set as intended. Drop in to our any of our Canvas Grading Labs:

Learning Analytics to Support Student Success

A screenshot showing the banner of Canvas New Analytics

Learn the basics or dig deeper with Canvas Learning Analytics. Canvas Learning Analytics offer instructors detailed insight into student performance and engagement, especially useful to connect with under-performing students before it is too late.

Rethinking Design with “Universal Design for Learning”

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guides the design of learning experiences to proactively meet the needs of all learners. When you design through UDL, you assume that barriers to learning are in the design of the environment, not in the student. 

Read more about this series and register in advance for a presentation session!

More Information

The LTC offers individual and small group consultations on a variety of topics and services, please email ltc@uww.edu to learn more and get started! Subscribe to our blog for frequent technology updates and information about our workshops, campus events, and other announcements.

If you require assistance or have questions on campus technology, please feel free to contact the Help Desk. Outside of Help Desk hours, we invite you to search our Knowledge Base for helpful articles on using and troubleshooting campus technology.

March 2022 @ LTC – General Campus Technology

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Whether you’re new to campus or need a refresher on general campus technology tools and resources, the LTC is here to support you!

Transition from Cisco Jabber to Webex

With the upcoming transition from Jabber to the Webex App (formerly Webex Teams), you may want to learn how to Get Started with Webex!

General Campus Technology

Join our Campus Technology Orientation (in-person or online) to learn about the wealth of resources available to you. Can’t make it? Check out our on-demand technology orientation to get you started strong at UW-Whitewater!

Microsoft Outlook

Learn time-saving strategies to manage email, add attachments, create calendar appointments and more! This session is useful for both Mac and Windows users.

More Information

The LTC offers individual and small group consultations on a variety of topics and services, please email ltc@uww.edu to learn more and get started! Subscribe to our blog for frequent technology updates and information about our workshops, campus events, and other announcements.

If you require assistance or have questions on campus technology, please feel free to contact the Help Desk. Outside of Help Desk hours, we invite you to search our Knowledge Base for helpful articles on using and troubleshooting campus technology.