The Cisco/Presidio Teaching with Technology Innovator Honorarium is awarded to an instructor demonstrating marked integration of technology into their teaching to mitigate common challenges and enhance student learning.
Lori Trimble, lecturer of biology and chemistry, was named the 2023 Cisco/Presidio Teaching with Technology Innovator Honorarium recipient. Congratulations, Lori!
Award recipient Lori Trimble giving her presentation, “Leveraging a Variety of Technology Tools to Help Students”.
The LTC would like to congratulate the other outstanding finalists, Brian Schanen, Dr. Courtney Powers, Dr. Jeanine Rowe, and Linda Amann for their exceptional work demonstrating technological innovation and creativity in the classroom. Thank you for your continued dedication to UW-Whitewater students!
Each finalist presented their technology innovations at the Celebrating Teaching and Learning conference on May 17th. This award is sponsored by Presidio and Cisco Systems in conjunction with ICIT and the LTC. Presidio and Cisco are proud of their work with institutions of higher education to inspire learning and connect campuses to enhance student outcomes. ICIT and the LTC are dedicated to working with instructors to understand teaching challenges, explore solutions, implement strategies, and evaluate their effectiveness.
Brian Schanen, lecturer of communication, delivered his presentation, “The Attendance Conundrum”
Dr. Courtney Powers, assistant professor of communication, gave her presentation, “Fostering Connections through an Innovative Teamwork Model”.
Dr. Jeannine Rowe, professor of social work, discussed, “Impact beyond Walls: Using Technology to Connect Students to the Community”
Linda Amann, lecturer of information technology and supply chain management, presented, “Interactive & Accessible Canvas: Learning in Action-Based Tasks”.
In an era where innovation propels us forward at an astonishing pace, staying up to date with the latest advancements can be a challenge. To help, the LTC has summarized some of the recent updates related to artificial generative intelligence (AGI).
General AI Updates
Key updates include the release of ChatGPT versions 3.5 and 4, Microsoft’s Copilot, and Google’s AGI, Bard. Tech companies are expected to continue ferociously to compete, with the AI landscape likely evolving by the Fall 2023 semester.
Incorporating AI into Assessments – UWW Event Recap
The LTC conducted a workshop on April 24th called “Incorporating AI into Assessments.” The workshop aimed to demonstrate how ChatGPT can be utilized to streamline the process, reduce instructor workload, and enhance learning objectives, assessments, and assignments. Led by Ted Witt and Ravneet Kaur, the LTC team guided instructors in real-time usage of ChatGPT, featuring practical demonstrations with real-life examples from various courses such as business, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The workshop also delved into the art of crafting effective prompts.
How ChatGPT and AI are Transforming Academia – UW System Event Recap
The UW System Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC) hosted two panel discussions on April 18th, 2023 centering on how AI is transforming education from both the student and instructor perspectives.
Watch the Student Panel to discuss how students are already using AI, including the benefits and potential pitfalls in and out of the classroom. Watch the Instructor Panel to explore how fellow instructors have already begun to incorporate AI into their courses and how it can be leveraged for future use.
TurnItIn Update
TurnItIn has launched an AI generated content detection feature on April 4th, 2023. It is integrated with the Similarity Report to show an overall percentage of the document that was likely AI generated. It is currently available to UW-Whitewater users.
A few key points regarding the AI detection feature:
Text that is flagged is 98% certain to be generated by AGI
False positives have been reported both by users and TurnItIn
Only instructors can see the AI detection indicator
The Spring 2023 WINS Grades Roster is open from Wednesday May 10, through noon on Tuesday May 16. The eGrading process allows instructors to transfer final grades from their Canvas Gradebook directly to their WINS Grade Roster.
Each semester, grades need to be entered into WINS. While many instructors do this manually, Canvas can help automate some of the steps for you. The Learning Technology Center is providing training on the three steps needed to push grades from Canvas so they can be accepted in WINS.
Please be mindful that any ungraded items can result in different final grades showing to Teachers, Students, and/or the Student Information System (WINS), depending on the settings used by each individual. Check here for information about ensuring Total Grades are as intended: https://kb.wisconsin.edudle/page.php?id=91483
Are you interested in enhancing or refreshing your online teaching skills?
Lecturer of Management Emily Iverson records her opening statements for the spring semester in her online business writing course. Lectures for the course are recorded in a studio at the Online Learning and Technology Center in Hyland Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)
The Summer 2023 Online and Blended Teaching Institute (OBTI) is now accepting applications from UW-Whitewater faculty and academic staff who want to develop and refine their online and blended teaching strategies.
This institute is designed to help you create engaging and effective online courses, while also providing you with the opportunity to collaborate and network with other instructors across UWW. Trainings will run from July 10th to July 24th, and will consist of a series of synchronous and asynchronous activities, including webinars, online discussions, and hands-on activities. More detailed information and full schedule available here.
For application information, submission, and any other inquiries, email Ted Witt at wittt@uww.edu by May 19th! Don’t delay!
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 17, in the University Center.
Our keynote speaker Dr Rebecca A. Glazier will present on “Centering Student Connection.” Rebecca is a professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a member of the Middle Eastern Studies Faculty.
The conference features a great keynote speaker, fantastic posters from the Incorporating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Academics Affairs (IDEIAA) project and showcases 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.
On Saturday April 15, Instructure deployed the latest release to the Canvas environment, and the final one before Summer 2023. The highlights of this release are listed below. The full release notes are also available.
Gradebook – Submit Assignment on Behalf of Student: instructors can submit a file upload assignment on behalf of a student in the Gradebook. The submission includes the timestamp and who submitted the assignment. Additionally, the instructor can submit multiple files at a time for a single student and submit beyond the availability date.
Gradebook – Sort Assignments by Excused Submissions and Unposted Grades: In the Gradebook, instructors can sort individual assignment columns and rows by excused submissions and unposted grades.
Equation Editor – Equilibrium Button: In the Rich Content Editor Equation Editor, an Equilibrium button is available.
Pages – Schedule Page Publication: When editing an unpublished Page, instructors can set a publication date. Scheduled pages remain invisible to students until the publish date and time.
New Quizzes Improvements: While New Quizzes has been available for several years now, many instructors still opt to use Classic Quizzes. Multiple updates have been made to improve New Quizzes, which will not be made in Classic.
New Quizzes – Allow Clearing of Multiple Choice Question Answers: In the New Quizzes settings, instructors can enable Allow Clearing Selection (Multiple Choice) allowing students to clear multiple choice answers.
New Quizzes – Fill in the Blank with Multiple Word Bank Improvements: In New Quizzes, when building a Fill in the Blank question with multiple word bank choices, distractor words display in a separate section for instructors. Also, word choices can be used more than once when Allow Word Bank Choices to be Reused is selected and duplicate answer choices are graded correctly. Additionally, for students, Fill in the Blank questions with multiple word banks display all word bank choices in the answer blank drop-down menu.
New Quizzes – Grade by Question in SpeedGrader: SpeedGrader supports grading one question at a time in New Quizzes. When in Grade by Question mode the question navigation bar is available and the Update score button location has been updated. Additionally, hyperlinks have been added to questions requiring manual grading
New Quizzes – Share Item Bank to Current Course Checkbox: When creating a new item bank in the New Quizzes Build page, instructors can share the bank to the current course. This change reduces extra steps to share an Item Bank and improves instructor workflows when building New Quizzes.
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.
The LTC has the pleasure of announcing the finalists for the 2023 Cisco/Presidio Teaching with Technology Innovator Honorarium. This prestigious award recognizes excellence in the use of technology in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.
After a rigorous review of numerous outstanding applications, the following individuals have been selected as finalists:
Mr. Brian Schanen, Lecturer of Communication
Dr. Courtney Powers, Assistant Professor of Communication
Dr. Jeannine Rowe, Professor of Social Work
Ms. Linda Amann, Lecturer of Information Technology and Supply Chain Management
Ms. Lori Trimble, Lecturer of Biology and Chemistry
These finalists have demonstrated exceptional use of technology in their teaching, showing a dedication to innovation and creativity in the classroom. Their commitment to leveraging technology to improve student engagement, learning outcomes, and overall teaching effectiveness is truly commendable.
The winner will be announced at the Celebrating Teaching and Learning Conference on May 17th, 2023. The conference will feature a range of expert presentations by fellow educators – this is an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest trends and best practices in using technology to enhance teaching and learning within the UW-Whitewater community.
As campus and some of the city of Whitewater has no power, we are regrettably rescheduling our Incorporating AI into Assessments Workshop, originally planned for today, April 19th at 3:30pm.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We have rescheduled the workshop for Monday, April 24th at 3:30pm in McGraw 19A or Webex. If you have already registered, the Webex link will remain the same. If you weren’t able to attend, now is your chance – register here! As before, the workshop will be recorded for those unable to attend.
Thank you for your understanding – we hope you are able to join us for the rescheduled workshop. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us at ltc@uww.edu.
Help us better understand campus technology needs and develop resources to support your work by completing the 2023 Technology Resource Survey. This brief questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes and is open to all current UWW employees.
To show our appreciation for your time, you’ll have the opportunity at the conclusion of the survey to enter a drawing for several prizes, including a Technology Surplus Sale Early Access Pass*, an iPad, and gift card!
All responses will remain anonymous; we appreciate your candor. We suggest you complete the survey with a computer to make text responses easier.
The deadline to complete the survey is May 1 at 11:59 pm. *To enter to win a Technology Surplus Early Access Pass, the survey must be completed by 4/16 at 11:59 pm; recipients of Early Access Passes will be notified on 4/17 on how to pick up their pass.
Thank you for your participation in this survey! If you run into any technical issues or have trouble completing the survey, please e-mail ltc@uww.edu.
Artificial Intelligence tools continue to generate exciting — and nervous — discussion. Both the UW System and UWW are offering opportunities to explore and share experiences with AI.
Are you curious about how AI can save you time and improve your work? The Learning Technology Center (LTC) is excited to host a workshop on how AI can revolutionize the work of designing assignments for instructors across all disciplines.
In this interactive workshop, LTC experts will:
Demonstrate specific use cases for using AI to generate ideas for assessments
Discuss strategies on how to implement these ideas directly into your assignments
Provide hands-on exercises for participants to practice their new AI skills
Field live examples from participants to showcase the power of AI
Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to expand your knowledge and gain valuable insights! Register now!
AI Panel Discussions – UW System Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC) April 18th, 2023 – 10:15 to 11am and 11:15am to 12pm – Zoom
The public debut of AI spawned a lightning reaction across educational technology; some are integrating AI driven chatbots into multiple applications, while others focused on academic integrity are rushing to install detection services. Where does this leave students, instructors and administrators? Is AI an industry changing tool threatening to change higher education forever? Or simply “spicy auto-complete”?
To discuss these and other questions, the LTDC has put together two panels of experts from across the UW System. Tune into to one or both sessions via Zoom. To participate, you will need to self-register in the LTDC Canvas Course. The Zoom links to each meeting are available in the course.
10:15 to 11:00 am – Student Panel
Listen and interact with a panel of students to explore how they are already using AI! The discussion will delve into how students are applying AI to daily life, including the benefits and concerns they have regarding usage.
11:15 am to 12 pm – Instructor Panel
Consult with a panel of instructors to explore how they are already using AI and ChatGPT! Ask questions related to their concerns, academic integrity, or changes to fundamental subjects. What does the future of digital literacy and artificial intelligence look like? What can we learn from those who have already recognized ways to save time and improve student outcomes?
