July 11 Instructional Technology News

July 11th, 2023
in Instructional Technology News

Hello from your Center for Instructional Technology! Below, you’ll find announcements and events to assist you with teaching and learning needs.

Collaborate End of Use

On August 1, 2023, Class Collaborate will be deactivated and no longer available to use at UA. This change does not affect the Blackboard Learn system, only the virtual web conferencing tool, Collaborate. Instructors and program managers should download any needed recordings from Collaborate by August 1, 2023. CIT suggests instructors use Zoom or Teams for synchronous class meetings and Panopto for lecture capture.

Embed video of possible: Using MS Teams and Zoom conferencing for online sessions in your courses

Changes to Third-Party Integrations in Blackboard Learn

We continue to make the changes necessary to connect third-party tools to Blackboard Learn. We are working closely with each vendor to document any changes in the workflow or appearance of these tools.

Stay up to date as we make these changes by subscribing to the CIT Announcements page.

Upcoming Learning Opportunities

Teaching with Blackboard Sessions

These CIT-led workshops and webinars aim to help you get started with and get the most out of Blackboard Learn, UA’s learning management system. Upcoming sessions include:

Teaching with Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Basics, Thursday, July 13, 11:00 am-12:00 pm, Online via Microsoft Teams
Teaching with Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Basics, Wednesday, July 26, 2:00-3:00 pm, A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Zoom Basics

Monday, July 25, 10:00-11:00 am

Learn the basic features for conducting a zoom meeting including an overview of Zoom’s web portal and desktop client, how to schedule a meeting and invite others, and a review of the in-meeting host and participant controls.

Flip Basics

Tuesday, July 25, 11:00 am-12:00 pm

Explore the features inside Flip and learn how to level up the ways your scholars communicate and share their learning.

Register for Flip Basics

Zoom Advanced

Tuesday, July 26, 10:00-11:00 am

This CIT instructor led session will explore Zoom features including recurring meetings, breakout rooms, polls, and reports.

Adobe Professional Faculty Training

Thank You for responding to the Interest Survey! Based on your feedback, we plan to offer ALL the sessions listed in the survey. Here’s what’s on the calendar so far:

Academic Faculty Taster Session – August 14, 11:00 am -12:00 pm (in person + virtual)
Storytelling with Video – August 18, 10:00 – 11:00 am (virtual only)
Student Research Journals Workshop – August 31, 10:00 – 11:30 am (virtual only)
Create Visuals in Express and Illustrator – Sept. 8, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm (in person +virtual)

Simple Syllabus Information Session

Multiple dates in August

In-Person Session (Gordon Palmer, A232) and Virtual

In this one-hour session of UA’s new syllabus platform, Simple Syllabus, we’ll cover:

How to access Simple Syllabus
How to navigate and edit the syllabus
UA statements included on the syllabus
Required items to be completed by the instructor
How to add items to the syllabus
How to save and submit the syllabus
How to access the syllabus from Blackboard Learn.

Fall 2023 Faculty Prep Days

SAVE THE DATE! Time to get your Fall courses polished and ready to go. CIT is hosting two days of workshops and one-on-one technical and pedagogical assistance to get you ready for the Fall semester.

Workshop offerings along with dates, times and registration information will be posted later this month.

Wednesday, August 16, 9:00 am – 4:45 pm
Thursday, August 17, 9:00 am – 4:45 pm

Check out more instructional technology workshops at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/

Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders

The CIT Knowledge Base is your clearinghouse for tutorials, known issues, and best practices.

Ultra Course View Pilot Continues

Instructors interested in teaching with Ultra Course View in an upcoming academic term should submit a request via the CIT portal: Blackboard Learn Ultra LIVE Course Pilot Request.

Cleaning Out Older Blackboard Courses

Academic courses in Blackboard Learn are subject to removal two (2) years following the end of the semester in which they are taught per UA’s LMS Course Retention Policy. For example, courses taught in Spring 2023 will be removed after May 2025. Fall 2021 and prior courses are being removed in May 2023. Non-academic courses, referred to as non-integrated courses, are subject to removal following two (2) years of inactivity.

Instructors should save any needed course content or student grades. Students should save any necessary coursework as well. Steps to save content are linked below.

More information on the policy and instructions for backing up Blackboard content are available in the LMS Course Retention Policy FAQ.

As always, we are available Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:45 to help you. We look forward to working with you soon.

Email – cit@ua.edu

Phone – 205-348-3532

Website and Knowledge Base – http://cit.ua.edu

Simple Syllabus login errors

June 28th, 2023
in Known Issues

Update 6/28/23: We are still working with the vendor to resolve the issue. In the meantime, users should be able to access Simple Syllabus by adding a tool link in their Blackboard course. Follow the instructions below or visit our knowledge base article:

In your Blackboard course, click on the + icon at the top of the side menu bar and click Tool Link.
Name the Tool Link (example: Course Syllabus).
Select Simple Syllabus from the Type drop-down list.
Select the check box if you wish to make the syllabus available to student users. This can be changed later, if desired.
Click Submit.

The link is added at the bottom of the course menu. Drag/drop to the desired location anywhere on the menu. Click the Syllabus link you just created to begin reviewing and editing the syllabus.

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A small number of users are receiving account not found errors when attempting to access Simple Syllabus via myBama or direct login at ua.simplesyllabus.com. UA’s IT team is working with the vendor to resolve the issue. Report any access issues and error messages to CIT – cit@ua.edu or call 205-348-3532.

Turnitin AI Detection report launches April 4

April 4th, 2023
in Announcements, Turnitin

Turnitin has announced the launch of its AI writing detection capabilities, available starting Tuesday, April 4, 2023. This feature will help you as instructors identify when AI writing tools such as ChatGPT may have been used to write any part of the content submitted in a student’s assignment. It will be automatically available within Turnitin. Bear in mind that the AI detection results will not be visible to students; only instructors and administrators will be able to see it.

Additionally, Turnitin will only be able to process submissions written in long-form English for AI detection. AI detection has been added to the Turnitin Similarity report -this means that your existing workflow will remain unchanged.

In-product guidance and access to product help resources will be at hand to explain the feature. In addition, to prepare you further for the use of this feature and to help you understand how you should interpret the results, we’ve put together some guidance and resources.

Turnitin is hosting two sessions for Using Turnitin Tools to Mitigate Student Use of AI Writing Tools

Wednesday, April 5th at 11:00 am CST register for April 5^th session here
Thursday, April 13th at 1:00 pm CST register for April 13^th session here

As always, we are available Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:45 to assist you.

Email – cit@ua.edu

Phone – 205-348-3532

Website and Knowledge Base – http://cit.ua.edu

Faculty Prep Days a SUCCESS!

January 20th, 2023
in Announcements, Instructional Technology News

CIT Faculty Prep Days Need assistance setting up your course(s) for Spring Semester? We can help! Drop By the CIT for instructional technology guidance. Our doors will be open and refreshments will be served. Friday, Jan 6, 9-11AM and 2-4PM. Monday, Jan 9, 9-11AM and 2-4PM. Gordon Palmer Hall, Room A232. cit.ua.edu

The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) kicked off the Spring semester with two Faculty Tech Prep Days on January 6th and 9th. We were excited to work with colleagues from Arts and Sciences, Communications, Culverhouse, Education, Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences, and Law.

Common topics related to

adding publisher resources to courses,
setting up attendance options: Blackboard Learn, Zoom
exploring grade center tools, and
learning how students interact with Blackboard Learn.

Audio Visual Solutions (AVS) representatives answered questions related to classroom tech needs, and OIT Security squad addressed email and account security questions.

If you couldn’t make it to the event, no problem! We offer the same support Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 4:45 pm in A203 Gordon Palmer Hall. Drop-ins are welcome. 205-348-3532, CIT@ua.edu.

Instructional Technology News

December 1st, 2022
in Announcements, Instructional Technology News

Hello from your colleagues in CIT! Below you’ll find resources to help with finals and grading. If you need help with instructional technology, including assistance with your exam and grading setup, please contact cit@ua.edu.

Resources for Exams and Grading:

Testing Tips for Instructors, including ways to avoid common issues
Add Accommodations to a Blackboard Test, to allow extended time or other accommodations
Testing Tips for Students, including setup and tech guidance
Grading in Blackboard, including downloading and managing submissions and grades
Grade Reporting at UA to import grades into myBama, locate last activity dates, and review Registrar information. Final grades are due Tuesday, Dec 13, by 11:59 PM.

Explore Blackboard Ultra

Curious about Blackboard Ultra Course View? Learn about UA’s Ultra pilot and request a practice course: Ultra Course Pilot Information.

Author: admin