December 1 – Instructor News from the Center for Instructional Technology 

• December 1st, 2023
• in 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 19, by 11:59 PM.  

A Simpler, More Modern Blackboard is Here 

UA instructors can now explore—and teach with—Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View. 

An alternative to the traditional Blackboard Learn experience, “Ultra” offers a simple, modern, intuitive, and consistent interface across devices and a more streamlined experience for instructors and students. CIT and the Office of Teaching Innovation and Distance Education (OTIDE) have established a goal of having all courses designed and delivered in Ultra by Spring 2026. 

See Ultra for yourself and start to prepare: Request a Blackboard Ultra Practice Course  

Like what you see? Instructors of non-OTIDE courses may now teach with Ultra. Request a Blackboard Ultra Course View LIVE Course and CIT will help you determine whether Ultra meets your needs. 

Learn more about Ultra and UA’s plans: Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Pilot

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Upcoming Learning Opportunities  

New to one of our instructional tech. tools? We would love to guide you step-by-step or provide tips and ideas for using it in your class. Just let us know how we can help!  

  A few workshops are highlighted below.  Keep up to date on all the training sessions at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/  

  

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  

• • Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 10:00 –11:00 AM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall  
  • Thursday, December 14, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams  

• Teaching with Blackboard: Creating Accessible Course Content  

• • Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams  

• Teaching with Blackboard: Fostering Student Engagement in Learn Original  

• • Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall  

 

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Blackboard workshops and webinars.  

  

Teaching with Turnitin Sessions  

Turnitin provides tools for grading and peer review and helps deter and prevent plagiarism by checking student-submitted work against an extensive online database. Learn more in these upcoming sessions:  

• Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics  

• • Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall  
  • Thursday, December 7, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams  

• Teaching with Turnitin: Understanding Similarity Reports and Scores  

• • Thursday, December 7, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams  
  • Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall  

 

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Turnitin workshops and webinars.  

 

People.ua.edu Workshops 

Wednesday, December 6, 1:00 – 2:30 PM (virtual) 

Tuesday, December 12, 10:00 – 11:30 AM 

Create your professional faculty website using our easy, drag and drop web platform. In this session, you’ll learn how to add text and pictures, create column layouts, add video, audio, and hyperlinks, and add and rearrange pages. 

Register for a People.ua.edu workshop.  

 

  

Gradescope for Final Exams (partner event) 

Friday, December 1, 12:00 – 1:00 PM 

Gradescope helps instructors quickly grade and provide feedback on online and in-class assessments. This workshop, led by the Gradescope team, will offer guidance of assignments that are paper-based. They will also cover the grading and rubric-building workflow on Gradescope and walk attendees through the instructor interface for creating an assignment and student interface for viewing feedback. 

Register for the Gradescope for Finals Workshop  

 

Gradescope Bubble Sheets (partner event) 

Tuesday, December 5, 10:00 – 11:00 AM 

Gradescope helps instructors quickly grade and provide feedback on online and in-class assessments. This workshop, led by the Gradescope team, will offer guidance on using Gradescope Bubble Sheets (as a scantron replacement). You will learn how to digitally create answer keys, easily edit bubbling mistakes electronically, provide students with feedback, and return graded work electronically.   

Register for the Gradescope Bubble Sheets Webinar  

 

Simple Syllabus Overview 

Tuesday, December 5, 10:00 –  11:00 AM 

Learn how to navigate and add your Spring 2024 syllabus content to Simple Syllabus, UA’s new syllabus tool. By default, Simple Syllabus will populate section information and materials, as well as instructor information, from other UA systems, such as CourseLeaf and Banner.  

Register for the Simple Syllabus Overview Webinar  

 

Live polling with Microsoft Forms 

Thursday, December 7, 3:00 – 4:00 PM 

In this introduction to polling with Microsoft Forms workshop, users will learn how to create surveys, quizzes, and polls for both synchronous and asynchronous classes. Instructors can see and/or present real-time polls results as students respond using almost any web browser or mobile device. Results can be exported to Excel for further review. 

 In this session, we’ll cover: Quiz and poll creation, sharing options, permission control, and result options.  

Register for Live polling with Microsoft Forms  

 

Build a digital portfolio and personal website  

Thursday, December 14,  2:00 – 3:00 PM 

 Join CIT as we explore tools and strategies to setup up digital portfolios and personal websites.  Learn how to easily build creative webpages and portfolios using Adobe Portfolio and Microsoft Sway to capture, edit and publish a unique website.   

Register for Build a digital portfolio and personal website.    

 

   

Digital Storytelling for the Classroom 

Thursday, December 21, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM 

Explore tools and strategies to setup up digital storytelling assignments for your class.  Learn how to develop the steps for implementing creative webpages and portfolios in your course and of course the software and hardware tools to capture, edit and publish the final products. 

In this course we will take a look at Adobe Express Pages, Adobe Portfolio and Microsoft Sway.   

Register for the Digital Storytelling for the Classroom webinar.  

 

November 1 Instructor News from the Center for Instructional Technology

• November 1st, 2023
• in Instructional Technology News

Below, you’ll find announcements and events to assist you with teaching and learning needs. As always, email cit@ua.edu, call 205-348-3532, or stop by A203 Gordon Palmer Hall for assistance with UA’s instructional tech tools. 

 Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders 

The CIT Knowledge Base is your clearinghouse for tutorials, known issues, and best practices. The Blackboard Browser Checker and CIT’s How-To Articles can help you use instructional technology with fewer headaches and hiccoughs. 

 

New Zoom cloud recordings will also be saved to Panopto  

Beginning Oct. 27, 2023, a copy of all new Zoom sessions recorded to the cloud will automatically be saved to Panopto, UA’s media manager and lecture capture tool. Users will experience no changes to their Zoom account and will continue to have the options to store recordings on their computer or in the cloud. Sessions recorded to Zoom Cloud prior to Oct. 27 will not be affected.  

• New Sessions Only: This automatic process only applies to new sessions recorded to Zoom Cloud.  
• Zoom meeting hosts who save recordings to the cloud will continue to receive a view link email notification from Zoom once the session has ended.  
• A copy of new Zoom sessions recorded to the cloud will be saved to a “Meetings Recordings” folder within a user’s “My Folder” in Panopto.  
• Zoom cloud recordings are only saved to the Zoom cloud for a limited amount of time. Saving a copy of recordings to Panopto will ensure long term storage. 

 

Anthology Community & Idea Exchange  

We’re highlighting two opportunities to share Blackboard Learn best practices and ideas: The Anthology Community and the Anthology Idea Exchange. Anthology is the company that owns Blackboard Learn.  

Join the Anthology Community to ask and answer questions, connect with other Blackboard Learn users, engage in user groups and programs, and submit product feedback.  We encourage you to create a Community account and participate in Teaching & Learning discussions, join product or user groups, and subscribe to blogs.  

 

The Anthology Idea Exchange allows you to submit an idea and share, like, vote, and comment on ideas shared by other Anthology clients. Are you seeking solutions for attendance in larger courses? Would you like to print tests or filter and search course messages? Perhaps you have an idea of your own! Join the Teaching & Learning Idea Exchange to make your voice heard.  

  

Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Pilot 

 
UA instructors can now explore Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View, a simpler and more modern course experience. Learn more and request a practice or developmental course: Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Pilot  

Workflows and tools are easy to find and use in Ultra Course View. You can quickly add content to your course, check the course calendar, drop in on class discussions, access the course gradebook, send a message, take a look at your course analytics, and more. We also like Ultra’s responsive design, continuous updates, Flexible Grading, Course Activity Report, and course content search, and so much more.   

 See Ultra in action: Introduction to Blackboard Learn (Ultra Course view starts at 1:00).  

   

Tech Highlight – Hypothesis for Social Annotations 

Hypothesis is a relatively new tool to UA that can turn any piece of digital content into a collaborative learning experience. Online annotation helps to improve reading proficiency and critical thinking skills. Plus, it easily integrates into Blackboard courses assignments. Check out the great learning resources by Hypothesis and add a social annotation assignment to your course! 

 

Upcoming Learning Opportunities 

New to one of our instructional tech tools? We would love to guide you step-by-step or provide tips and ideas for using it in your class. Just let us know how we can help! 

A few workshops are highlighted below.  Keep up to date on all the training sessions at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/ 

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 

• Wednesday, November 1, 10:00 – 11:00am – Meets online via Microsoft Teams 
• Thursday, November 9, 3:00 to 4:00pm – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall  

• Teaching with Blackboard: Creating Accessible Course Content 

• Thursday, November 16, 11:00am – 12:00pm 

• Teaching with Blackboard: Grading and Managing the Gradebook in Learn Original 

• Wednesday, November 1, 2:00 – 3:00pm 
• Thursday, November 30, 3:00 – 4:00pm 

• Teaching with Blackboard: Creating Assessments in Learn Original 

• Thursday, November 2, 3:00 – 4:00pm 

• Teaching with Blackboard: Fostering Student Engagement in Learn Original 

• Wednesday, November 8, 2:00 – 3:00pm 

• Teaching with Blackboard: Using Groups in Learn Original 

• Wednesday, November 15, 10:00 – 11:00am 

 

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Blackboard workshops and webinars. 

 

Teaching with Turnitin Sessions 

Turnitin provides tools for grading and peer review and helps deter and prevent plagiarism by checking student-submitted work against an extensive online database. Learn more in these upcoming sessions: 

• Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics 

• Thursday, November 2, 11:00am – 12:00pm 

• Teaching with Turnitin: Understanding Similarity Reports and Scores 

• Thursday, November 9, 11:00am – 12:00pm 
• Wednesday, November 29, 2:00 – 3:00pm 

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Turnitin workshops and webinars. 

 

Hypothesis – Social Annotation 

Hypothesis is a social annotation tool installed directly in Blackboard. Adding Hypothesis to readings in your course supports student success by placing active discussion right on top of readings, enabling students and teachers to add comments and start conversations in the margins of texts. 

 

To learn more about making reading active, visible, and social using Hypothesis, please join us in one of our upcoming workshops. Click on each link to learn more and register. 

• Social annotation to foster equity and belonging – Friday, November 3, 1:00-2:00 pm 
• Creative ways to use social annotation in your courses – Tuesday, November 7, 3:00-4:00 pm 
• Social annotation for STEM subjects – Tuesday, November 28, 3:00-4:00 pm 

 

Capture your Classes: Classroom Recording with Panopto 

OIT’s Audio/Visual Solutions (AVS) team for a special Panopto workshop on how to easily record lectures in the classroom using Panopto.  

•  Thursday, November 2, 3:30 -4:30pm – College of Arts & Sciences  
• Monday, November 6, 1:00pm – 2:00pm – College of Education 
• Monday, November 6, 3:30 – 4:30pm – College of Communication and Information Sciences  
• Friday, November 10, 2:00 – 3:00pm – College of Engineering  

Register for CIT-led Capture your Classroom Recording with Panopto 

 

Zoom Basics 

Tuesday, November 21 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 we’ll review the in-meeting host and participant controls. 

Register for Zoom Basics 

 

Zoom Advanced 

Wednesday, November 22 10:00 – 11:00 am  

This webinar session builds on the Zoom Basics workshop. We’ll explore how to set up recurring meetings, breakout rooms, polls, and reports. 

Register for Zoom Advanced 

  

Flip Basics  

Monday, November 13 11:00pm to 12:00am 

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

Flip is a free app from Microsoft where educators create safe, online groups for students to express their ideas asynchronously in short video, text, and audio messages. 

Register for Flip Basics  

 

Creating and Editing Videos in Rush Webinar 

Tuesday, November 21 2:00 – 3:00pm 

Learn the essentials of creating movie presentations using images, video and audio in Adobe Rush. Develop your storytelling skills whether it be for a class project, department presentation or personal story. Register for Creating and Editing Videos in RushRegister for Creating and Editing Videos in Rush 

  

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

 

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 

New Zoom cloud recordings will also be saved in Panopto

• October 26th, 2023
• in Announcements

October 10 Instructor News from the Center for Instructional Technology

• October 10th, 2023
• in Instructional Technology News

Happy Fall!  

Below, you’ll find announcements and events to assist you with teaching and learning needs. As always, email cit@ua.edu, call 205-348-3532, or stop by A203 Gordon Palmer Hall for assistance with UA’s instructional tech tools. 

 

Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders 

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

Getting Started with Blackboard (includes helpful links for start of semester) 

Blackboard Browser Checker 

 

Midterm grades due Wednesday, Oct 11 at 11:59 PM  

Midterm grades are required for 100- and 200- level courses. For more information, visit Grade Reporting – Registrar’s Office. If there are discrepancies between course rosters in myBama and in Blackboard Learn, contact cit@ua.edu. 

Grade Center Assistance 

• Resources about Grading in Blackboard   

• How do I create/edit the letter grading schema in Blackboard?   
• How do I download the Grade Center from Blackboard?     
• Enter Midterm grades in Blackboard  
• Import Midterm grade into myBama   

Test and Exam Assistance 

• Testing Tips for Instructors   
• How do I create a test in Blackboard?   
• How do I deploy a test in Blackboard?   
• How do I add extended time or provide another test accommodation in Blackboard?
   

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. 

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Upcoming Learning Opportunities 

New to one of our instructional tech. tools? We would love to guide you step-by-step or provide tips and ideas for using it in your class. Just let us know who we can help! 

 A few workshops are highlighted below.  Keep up to date on all the training sessions at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/ 

 

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 

• Wednesday, October 11, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams 
• Thursday, October 19, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall 
• Wednesday, October 25, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams 

Teaching with Blackboard: Creating Accessible Course Content 

• Thursday, October 12, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams 
• Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall 

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Blackboard workshops and webinars. 

 

Teaching with Turnitin Sessions 

Turnitin provides tools for grading and peer review and helps deter and prevent plagiarism by checking student-submitted work against an extensive online database. Learn more in these upcoming sessions: 

Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics 

• Wednesday, October 11, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams 
• Thursday, October 19, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall 

Teaching with Turnitin: Understanding Similarity Reports and Scores 

• Thursday, October 12, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall 

• Wednesday, October 25, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams 

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Turnitin workshops and webinars. 

 

Introduction to Panopto  

Tuesday, October 10, 2:00 – 3:00pm 

Join CIT for a webinar that covers the basics of using the lecture capture and video platform, Panopto.   

Register for introduction to Panopto  

 

 

Zoom Basics  

Tuesday, October 24, 10:00-11:00 am

In this CIT let webinar, you’ll 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 we’ll review the in-meeting host and participant controls. 

Register for Zoom Basics 

 

Zoom Advanced 

Wednesday, October 25, 10:00-11:00 am

This webinar session builds on the Zoom Basics workshop. We’ll explore how to set up recurring meetings, breakout rooms, polls, and reports. 

Register for Zoom Advanced 

 

Build a digital portfolio and personal website 

Join CIT as we explore tools and strategies to setup up digital portfolios and personal websites.  Learn how to easily build creative webpages and portfolios using Adobe Portfolio and Microsoft Sway to capture, edit and publish a unique website. 

• Wednesday, October 18, 11:00am – 12:00pm
• Thursday, October 26, 9:00 -10:00am
• Monday, October 30, 2:00 – 3:00pm

Register for Build a digital portfolio and personal website.   

Microsoft Teams meetings for virtual class sessions 

Friday, October 13, 10:00 –11:00am

Microsoft Teams is a digital hub that brings conversations, content, assignments, and apps together in one place. Learn how to use meet now and how to schedule a virtual class meeting, meeting tools, and settings to further control and manage your virtual class meetings. 

Register for Microsoft Teams meetings for virtual class sessions 

 

 

Using Adobe Portfolio in the classroom for any academic subject 

Give your students the creative tools they need to build unique student portfolios in your classroom. Join the Center for Instructional Technology for an overview of Adobe Portfolio. Learn how students can easily create and optimize an online portfolio to fit your class requirements. Adobe Portfolio enables students to quickly and simply build a website to showcase their work. No web design knowledge required. 

Register for Using Adobe Portfolio in the classroom for any academic subject session 

 

 Boosting Comprehension with Social Annotation – (Hypothesis) 

Thursday, October 19, 12:00 – 1:00 pm 

Join us for an exploration into the groundbreaking research from Nicholas Denton, senior lecturer of pharmacy education and innovation at Ohio State University. During this episode of Liquid Margins, we’ll traverse the challenges Professor Denton faced with his students, especially when confronted with intricate research-oriented texts, and their imperative need for research literacy. We’ll dive deep into the transformative influence social annotation had that not only shattered barriers of complex jargon but also created an environment where undergraduate students achieved an impressive 2x increase in graduate-level comprehension. 

Learn more and register at UA Calendar – Boosting Comprehension with Social Annotation  

 

Flip Basics  

Friday, October 20, 10:00 – 11:00am 

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

Flip is a free app from Microsoft where educators create safe, online groups for students to express their ideas asynchronously in short video, text, and audio messages. 

Register for Flip Basics.  

 

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

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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 

September 19 Instructional Technology News

• September 19th, 2023
• in Instructional Technology News

Greetings from your Center for Instructional Technology! Below, you’ll find announcements and events to assist you with teaching and learning needs. As always, email cit@ua.edu, call 205-348-3532, or stop by A203 Gordon Palmer Hall for assistance with UA’s instructional tech tools.

Fall 2023 Faculty Prep Days

Thank you to all who attended the Fall 2023 Faculty Prep Days on August 16 and 17. We had a wonderful time teaching workshops for several instructional tools as well as hearing how our faculty plan to use these tools in the classroom this fall. Below is a recap of this year’s event:

• 38 Attendees
• 7 colleges represented
• 11 Instructional tech tools presented
• 27 Professional development sessions

The recorded sessions can be viewed on our website at Faculty Prep Days.

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Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders

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

• How do I organize my list of courses?
• How can I remind students to submit an assignment?
• How do I add extended-time or provide another test accommodation in Blackboard?
• Blackboard Browser Checker

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.

Mediasite video services for fully online UA classes update Sept. 23

Mediasite Video Cloud, used to provide media to fully online UA classes, will be updated to the latest release during a scheduled maintenance window on September 23, between 12:01 AM and 4:00 AM CDT. Extended downtime is not expected. However, Mediasite videos may be unavailable for brief periods during this time. Questions can be directed to OTIDE tech support at techsupport@ccs.ua.edu.

Midterm Grading

Midterm grading for Fall 2023 is now available in myBama and will be open through Wednesday, Oct. 11 for the purpose of non-attendance grade reporting. Instructors are asked to report students who either never attend or stop attending class, including any online classes for which the student has never signed-in via the web or has stopped participating. To accomplish this, faculty should assign a grade of “F” (or “NC” if applicable) with a reason of “Never Attended” or “Stopped Attending” as soon as it becomes evident that the student has never attended or stopped attending class. Failing grades assigned due to “Stopped Attending” will also require the submission of a Last Attend Date.

 Visit this tutorial for step-by-step instructions to enter non-attendance grades.

Anthology Digital Teaching Symposium

Join Anthology on Nov. 2, 2023 for the seventh Digital Teaching Symposium. This annual symposium brings educators together to share and discover innovative uses of technology in an ever-changing teaching environment. At the Digital Teaching Symposium, uncover the latest strategies to help you navigate, excel, and thrive in a shifting higher education landscape.

Join online for a full day of free, peer-led virtual sessions on digital teaching strategies for the unique needs of 2023 and beyond.

More information can be found online at https://www.anthology.com/digital-teaching-symposium.

Using Hypothesis with JSTOR

Instructors at UA are now able to create Hypothesis assignments in Blackboard using documents from JSTOR’s extensive collection of texts and ebooks. Use this guide to get started using Hypothesis with JSTOR.

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Upcoming Learning Opportunities

We have been hard at work putting together workshops and webinars to meet the needs of UA faculty and instructors! Select upcoming sessions are listed below, but keep up to date on all the training sessions at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/.

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 

• • Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
  • Thursday, September 28, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams

Teaching with Blackboard: Creating Assessments in Learn Original

• •  Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
  • Thursday, September 21, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Teaching with Blackboard: Fostering Student Engagement in Learn Original 

• • Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
  • Thursday, September 28, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

 Register for CIT-led Teaching with Blackboard workshops and webinars.

Teaching with Turnitin Sessions

Turnitin provides tools for grading and peer review and helps deter and prevent plagiarism by checking student-submitted work against an extensive online database. Learn more in these upcoming sessions:

Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics 

• • Thursday, September 21, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams

Teaching with Turnitin: Understanding Similarity Reports and Scores 

• • Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Turnitin workshops and webinars.

Introduction to Panopto 

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 2pm to 3pm 

Join CIT for a webinar that covers the basics of using the lecture capture and video platform, Panopto.

Register for introduction to Panopto

Zoom Basics  

Tuesday, September 26, 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 we’ll review the in-meeting host and participant controls.

Register for Zoom Basics

Zoom Advanced 

Wednesday, September 27, 10:00-11:00 am

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

Register for Zoom Advanced

People.ua.edu – Getting Started 

Friday, September 22, 10:00-11:30 am 

Tuesday, October 10, 10:00-11:30 am 

Create your professional faculty website using our easy, drag and drop web platform. In this session, you’ll learn how to add text and pictures, create column layouts, add video, audio, and hyperlinks, and add and rearrange pages. Pre-registration required at http://people.ua.edu.

Leveraging Social Annotation in the Age of AI 

Tuesday, October 3, 11:00am -12:00 pm 

The emergence of cutting-edge technologies, like ChatGPT, has sparked a critical conversation throughout the education industry. In this workshop, the Hypothesis team will show you how to leverage social annotation to encourage authentic, process-oriented engagement with your course materials. They’ll  also share best practices for using social annotation with AI writing tools and demonstrate how to set up Hypothesis-enabled readings in your LMS. Participants can expect to leave the webinar armed with concrete assignments to implement in your courses right away.

Register for Leveraging Social Annotation in the Age of AI

Social Annotation to Foster Equity and Belonging in Education 

Wednesday, September 27, 12:30-1:30 pm 

The Hypothesis team will share how instructors can implement Hypothesis social annotation into their courses in order to increase equity and belonging amongst students. Participants can expect to come away from the workshop with concrete assignment ideas for using Hypothesis social annotation with equity and belonging in mind.

Register for Social Annotation to Foster Equity and Belonging in Education

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

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

Be sure to follow CIT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for news, technology tips, and more!

Email – cit@ua.edu

Phone – 205-348-3532

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

August 24 Instructor News from the Center for Instructional Technology 

• August 24th, 2023
• in Announcements

Welcome to Fall 2023 from your Center for Instructional Technology! Below, you’ll find announcements and events to assist you with teaching and learning needs. As always, email cit@ua.edu, call 205-348-3532, or stop by A203 Gordon Palmer Hall for assistance with UA’s instructional tech tools. 

Simple Syllabus –Per the UA Syllabus Policy, Fall 2023 syllabi must be published by August 23. Visit UA Simple Syllabus support site for workshops, and other resources.  

• Need help getting started with Simple Syllabus? Getting Started with Simple Syllabus 
• Need help publishing your syllabus? Publish the syllabus 
• Need help adding your syllabus to a course? Add a syllabus link to your Blackboard course 
• Issues with course materials listed in Simple Syllabus? Confirm that the right texts are listed with University Supply Store, textbook@ua.edu. If the correct materials are listed with the SUPe Store, they will update in Simple overnight. Email cit@ua.edu if they do not update in Simple. 
• Effective Fall 2023, two new optional components have been added to Simple Syllabus. Instructors may include one or both of the following on their syllabi as they deem appropriate. These optional items will not display on the syllabus if no information is entered in the respective components. 
  •  Generative AI Tools: Instructors may include a syllabus statement regarding the use of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT. In the Help section of this syllabus component, instructors may review and select one of three suggested statements to be included on the syllabus based on their preference. These statements can be copied and pasted into the component text box.  
  • Controversial Topics: Instructors may also include a statement in the syllabus if they believe there are topics in the course which may be considered controversial. The sample statement listed in the Help section of this component may be copied and pasted into the component text box. 

 

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Changes to Third-Party Integrations in Blackboard Learn 

Several publisher and other third party tools have a new method of working within Blackboard Learn and may have slightly different steps. We have worked closely with each vendor to document any changes in the workflow or appearance of these tools. Instructors may also be contacted by textbook providers if adjustments are needed to the steps instructors must follow to use these digital resources in Blackboard Learn. 

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

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Collaborate End of Use 

Class Collaborate was removed from Blackboard Learn on Aug 10. UA departments using Class Collaborate OUTSIDE of Blackboard may still access Class Collaborate until Sept 30. CIT suggests instructors use Zoom or Teams for synchronous class meetings and Panopto for lecture capture. 

Using MS Teams and Zoom conferencing for online sessions in your courses 

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Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders 

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

Getting Started with Blackboard (includes helpful links for start of semester) 

Blackboard Browser Checker 

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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. 

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Upcoming Learning Opportunities 

We have been hard at work putting together workshops and webinars to meet the needs of UA faculty and instructors! Select upcoming sessions are listed below, but keep up to date on all the training sessions at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/ 

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, August 31, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 pm – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall
  • Wednesday, September 6, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 pm – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall
  • Thursday, September 14, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

• Teaching with Blackboard: Grading and Managing the Gradebook 
  • Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 am – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
  • Thursday, September 14, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 pm – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Blackboard workshops and webinars.

Teaching with Turnitin Sessions

Turnitin provides tools for grading and peer review and helps deter and prevent plagiarism by checking student-submitted work against an extensive online database. Learn more in these upcoming sessions:

• Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics 
  • Thursday, August 31, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
  • Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 pm – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

• Teaching with Turnitin: Understanding Similarity Reports and Scores 
  • Thursday, September 7, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Meets online via Microsoft Teams

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Turnitin workshops and webinars.

Adobe Professional Faculty Training

These training opportunities, led by Adobe experts, are provided exclusively to UA instructors.

• Student Research Journals Workshop
  • Thursday, August 31, 10:00 – 11:00 am (virtual only) – Discover 10 simple steps to create research journals, digital papers, reports and presentations. Learners explore options to create and share their work as an Adobe Creative Cloud Express web page instead of using a word processor or slide deck. 90-minute session.

• Create visuals in Express and Illustrator
  • Friday, September 8, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm (in person + virtual) – This workshop is a excellent professional development solution to help faculty enhance their students’ communication skills with Adobe Express and Illustrator. We’ll share ideas and resources for infusing creative thinking, communication, collaboration and project-based learning into your classes, and show you how your students can quickly and easily transform essays, student writing, lab reports, posters, worksheets, presentations, and other common classroom projects into creative digital images, dynamic web pages, infographics, videos, posters, visual reports and more. Participants will leave with ready-to-use resources and ideas for the classroom.

Register for Adobe sessions

Simple Syllabus 

Multiple dates in August offered both in-person (Gordon Palmer, A232) and virtually

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.

Register for an upcoming session

Flip Basics  

Explore the features inside Flip, UA’s video discussion tool, and learn how to level up the ways your scholars communicate and share their learning.

Wednesday, September 6, 10:00 – 11:00 am 

Zoom Basics  

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 we’ll review the in-meeting host and participant controls.

Monday, August 28, 10:00 – 11:00 am 

Zoom Advanced 

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

Tuesday, August 29, 10:00 – 11:00 am 

Introduction to Panopto 

Join CIT for a webinar that covers the basics of using the lecture capture and video platform, Panopto.  This webinar is designed for new users and beginners who would like to learn how to use the Panopto interface and recording features.

Tuesday, August 29, 1:00 – 2:00 pm 

Monday, September 11, 10:00 – 11:00 am 

Doing more with Panopto  

Join CIT for a webinar that covers features that extend beyond the introductory Panopto class.

Tuesday, September 5, 1:00 – 2pm

Tuesday, September 19, 10:00 – 11:00 am 

Hypothesis: Annotation Starter Assignments  

This 30-minute workshop is ideal for instructors who are interested in using social annotation in their courses but aren’t exactly sure how to provide guidance to students. The Hypothesis team will review ideas for annotation starter assignments and provide you with ready-to-use instructions for a variety of disciplines and modalities. It doesn’t matter if you’re teaching humanities, business, STEM, or the health professions, or if you’re teaching face-to-face or online — you’ll get strategies from this workshop that you can add immediately to an assignment in your course.

Thursday, August 31, 12:00 – 12:30 pm 

Hypothesis – Activating Annotation in Blackboard   

The Hypothesis team will share how teachers are using annotation-powered reading to help students develop foundational academic skills like deep reading and persuasive writing.

Thursday, September 7, 2:00-2:30 pm 

Annotate Your Syllabus with Hypothesis   

Asking your class to annotate the syllabus allows you to introduce students to social annotation in a low-stakes way. Even better, you’re providing them with an opportunity to engage with the syllabus, to share ideas and to ask questions about the course in a way that sets the tone for engagement throughout the term. In this workshop, the Hypothesis team will review ideas and guidance for the collaborative syllabus annotation assignment.

Tuesday, September 12, 12:00-1:00 pm 

Microsoft Teams meetings for virtual class sessions 

Learn how to use “meet now” and how to schedule a virtual class meeting, explore meeting tools, and examine settings to further control and manage your virtual class meetings.

Thursday, September 7, 3:00 – 4:00 pm 

People.ua.edu – Getting Started   

Create your professional faculty website using our easy drag-and-drop web platform. In this session, you’ll learn how to add text and pictures, create column layouts, add video, audio, and hyperlinks, and add and rearrange pages.

Pre-registration required at http://people.ua.edu.

 

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

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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 

August 3 Instructor Technology News

• August 3rd, 2023
• in Instructional Technology News

Fall 2023 Faculty Prep Days

Join the Center for Instructional Technology August 16 and 17 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. Register for a session(s) you would like to attend or drop by and receive one-on-one help setting up your courses. All sessions will take place in Gordon Palmer Hall, Room A232, A236, and A204. Refreshments will be served all day.

Registration is appreciated, but it is not required to attend. Questions? Contact us at 205-348-3532 or cit@ua.edu.

View the complete schedule and register online at https://cit.ua.edu/fall-2023-faculty-prep-days/.

Changes to Third-Party Integrations in Blackboard Learn

We continue to make the necessary changes to third-party tools in Blackboard Learn, including several textbook publisher tools. We are working closely with each vendor to document any changes in the workflow or appearance of these tools. Instructors may also be contacted by textbook providers if adjustments are needed to the steps instructors must follow to use these digital resources in Blackboard Learn.

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

Collaborate End of Use

Class Collaborate will be removed from Blackboard Learn on Aug 10. UA departments using Class Collaborate OUTSIDE of Blackboard may still access Class Collaborate until Sept 30. CIT suggests instructors use Zoom or Teams for synchronous class meetings and Panopto for lecture capture.

Join CIT for the Using Microsoft Teams Meetings for virtual class webinar on Monday, August 7 at 12:00pm.

Using MS Teams and Zoom conferencing for online sessions in your courses

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Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders

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

Getting Started with Blackboard (includes helpful links for start of semester)

Blackboard Browser Checker

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.

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Upcoming Learning Opportunities

We have been hard at work putting together workshops and webinars to meet the needs of UA faculty and instructors! Most August sessions are listed below, but keep up to date on all the training sessions at https://cit.ua.edu/workshops/

Teaching with Blackboard

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, August 3, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
• Teaching with Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Basics, Wednesday, August 9, 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall
• Teaching with Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Basics, Thursday, August 10, 2023, 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Blackboard workshops and webinars.

Teaching with Turnitin Sessions

Turnitin provides tools for grading and peer review and helps deter and prevent plagiarism by checking student-submitted work against an extensive online database. Learn more in these upcoming sessions:

• Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics, Wednesday, August 9, 2023, 2:00 – 3:00 PM – Meets online via Microsoft Teams
• Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics, Thursday, August 10, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Meets in A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Register for CIT-led Teaching with Turnitin workshops and webinars.

Adobe Professional Faculty Training

These training opportunities, led by Adobe experts, are provided exclusively to UA instructors.

• Academic Faculty Taster Session – August 14 (in person + virtual) – explore how you can supercharge your creativity in Higher Education and learn the essentials of digital creativity, focusing on presentations, podcasting, video, data visualization, and how Adobe tools can support student outcomes. This introductory interactive session will incorporate hands-on learning and live feedback.
• Storytelling with Video – August 18 (virtual only) – This course is perfect for the beginner or as a refresher for anyone wanting to discover how Adobe Premiere Pro can enrich your learners’ creative communication and digital skills. Using storytelling principles and visual language can help convey complex ideas, or explain a strategy, philosophy or method which, in turn, can generate understanding, support, extra funding or further advocacy. During the workshop you’ll create and complete inspiring projects you can take back to the classroom, through active, hands-on learning guided by our expert tutors.
• Student Research Journals Workshop – August 31 (virtual only) – Discover 10 simple steps to create research journals, digital papers, reports and presentations. Learners explore options to create and share their work as an Adobe Creative Cloud Express web page instead of using a word processor or slide deck. 90-minute session.
• Create visuals in Express and Illustrator – Sept. 8. (in person +virtual) – This workshop is a excellent professional development solution to help faculty enhance their students’ communication skills with Adobe Express and Illustrator. We’ll share ideas and resources for infusing creative thinking, communication, collaboration and project-based learning into your classes, and show you how your students can quickly and easily transform essays, student writing, lab reports, posters, worksheets, presentations, and other common classroom projects into creative digital images, dynamic web pages, infographics, videos, posters, visual reports and more. Participants will leave with ready-to-use resources and ideas for the classroom.

Register for Adobe sessions.

Simple Syllabus 

Multiple dates in August offered both In-Person (Gordon Palmer, A232) and Virtually

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.

Register for an upcoming session

LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests

This comprehensive training webinar, led by Respondus experts, is intended for instructors who plan to use LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor with online exams. The session provides a detailed demonstration of both applications, including enhancements that make Respondus Monitor even more effective and easy to use.

• Tuesday, August 8, 12:00-1:00 pm
• Tuesday, August 15, 2:00-3:00 pm
• Thursday, August 17, 1:00-2:00 pm

Register for LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor

Respondus 4.0 and the Test Bank Network: Quickly Create Online Exams

Wednesday, August 16, 2:00-3:00 pm

Find out how Respondus 4.0 allows you to create and manage exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to your LMS, and how the Test Bank Network enables instructors to create online tests from official publisher test banks.

Register for Respondus 4.0

Flip Basics  

Thursday, August 24, 12:00-1:00 pm

Explore the features inside Flip, UA’s video discussion tool, and learn how to level up the ways your scholars communicate and share their learning.

Register for Flip Basics

Zoom Basics  

Monday, August 28, 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 we’ll review the in-meeting host and participant controls.

Register for Zoom Basics

Zoom Advanced 

Tuesday, August 29, 10:00-11:00 am

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

Register for Zoom Advanced

Introduction to Panopto 

Tuesday, August 29, 1:00-2:00 pm

Join CIT for a webinar that covers the basics of using the lecture capture and video platform, Panopto.  This webinar is designed for new users and beginners who would like to learn how to use the Panopto interface and recording features.

Register for Introduction to Panopto

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

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

Be sure to follow CIT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for news, technology tips, and more!

Adobe Professional Faculty Training

• July 25th, 2023
• in Announcements

This fall, the Center for Instructional Technology is partnering with Adobe to offer four customized Adobe training sessions exclusive to UA faculty members. Each session is instructed by an Adobe certified trainer and designed to share ideas and resources for infusing creative thinking and communication in the classroom. Participants will receive a certificate and digital badge for professional development.

Register for a session(s).

Watch the UA Events calendar for additional sessions coming later this fall. In addition, all UA faculty and instructors have access to the Adobe Education Exchange, a comprehensive library of training, resources, and guides. To access this free resource, visit https://edex.adobe.com/ and log in using your @ua email address and myBama password.

If you have any questions or need additional help accessing desired Adobe trainings, contact CIT at cit@ua.edu or 205-348-3532.

Fall 2023 Faculty Prep Days

• July 6th, 2023
• in Announcements, Instructional Technology News

Registration is appreciated, but it is not required to attend. Questions? Contact us at 205-348-3532 or cit@ua.edu.

Schedule of events: 

Faculty Prep Day 1 Sessions – Wednesday, August 16

LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor | 9:00 – 9:45 AM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics | 9:00 – 9:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Introduction to Panopto | 10:00 – 10:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Hypothesis 101: Learn More About Social Annotation | 10:00 – 10:45 AM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Using Gradescope with Blackboard | 11:00 – 11:45 AM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Digital Storytelling for the Classroom | 11:00 – 11:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Simple Syllabus Info and Support Session | 1:00 – 1:45 PM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn 101 | 1:00 – 1:45 PM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Teaching with Blackboard Ally: Creating Accessible Course Content | 2:00 – 2:45 PM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn: Grading and Managing the Gradebook | 2:00 – 2:45 PM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn: Creating Assessments | 3:00 – 3:45 PM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Flip Basics | 3:00 – 3:45 PM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn: Fostering Student Engagement | 4:00 – 4:45 PM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Using PointSolutions for Polling in the Classroom | 4:00 – 4:45 PM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

g

Faculty Prep Day 2 Sessions  – Thursday, August 17

Blackboard Learn 101 | 9:00 – 9:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Teaching with Blackboard Ally: Creating Accessible Course Content | 9:00 – 9:45 AM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Using PointSolutions for Polling in the Classroom | 10:00 – 10:45 AM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn: Grading and Managing the Gradebook | 10:00 – 10:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn: Creating Assessments | 11:00 – 11:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Flip Basics | 11:00 – 11:45 AM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Blackboard Learn: Fostering Student Engagement | 1:00 – 1:45 PM. –  A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor | 1:00 – 1:45 PM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Hypothesis 101: Learn More About Social Annotation | 2:00 – 2:45 PM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Introduction to Panopto | 2:00 – 2:45 PM. –  A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Using Gradescope with Blackboard | 3:00 – 3:45 PM. –  A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

Digital Storytelling for the Classroom | 3:00 – 3:45 AM. – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Teaching with Turnitin: Turnitin Basics | 4:00 – 4:45 AM. – A236 Gordon Palmer Hall

June 9 Instructor Instructional Technology News

• June 9th, 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.

Changes to Third-Party Integrations in Blackboard Learn 

Anthology, Blackboard’s parent company, has announced a major change in the methods used to connect third-party tools to Blackboard Learn (examples: publisher resources, digital textbooks, and most other non-Blackboard tools accessed via Blackboard). Because of this change, many of the third-party tools must move to a newer integration method in Blackboard Learn by the end of 2023. The move to a new integration method will work differently for each of the third-party tools and services.

In some cases, instructors and students will not experience any differences in how they use the third-party tools. In other cases, the third-party tool may have a different workflow or changes in available functions.

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.

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Adobe Professional Faculty Training 

BRAND NEW and EXCLUSIVE! 

Adobe has invited the University of Alabama to participate in an exclusive opportunity for custom faculty training. We value your opinion and request your participation in a brief interest survey to help shape this program. The survey includes a schedule of training sessions planned for August and September, along with a list of potential course offerings. Your input is crucial in determining which sessions will be included in the program. Please take a moment to provide us with your valuable feedback. We sincerely appreciate your time.

Please fill out this Microsoft Form to provide your feedback.

(Please complete by 5:00 pm, Friday, June 23, 2023)

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Upcoming Learning Opportunities 

Simple Syllabus Information Session 

Tuesday, June 13, 10:00-11:00 am | 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.

Register for this session or an upcoming session

Getting Started with Gradescope 

Thursday, June 15, 12:00-1:00 pm 

This one-hour virtual workshop is led by a Gradescope expert! It will focus on how you can use Gradescope to deliver and grade your assignments that are paper-based, fully online, and a combination of the two.

Register for Getting Started with Gradescope

Zoom Basics

Monday, June 19, 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 we’ll review the in-meeting host and participant controls.

Register for Zoom Basics

Zoom Advanced 

Tuesday, June 20, 10:00-11:00 am

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

Register for Zoom Advanced

People.ua.edu workshop 

Wednesday, June 21, 10:00-11:30 am

Create your professional faculty website using our easy, drag and drop web platform. Pre-registration required at http://people.ua.edu.

Teaching with Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Basics 

Webinars Wednesday, June 21, 2:00-3:00 pm and Tuesday, June 27, 11:00 am-12:00pm

Classroom sessions Thursday, June 22, 11:00 am-12:00 pm and Wednesday, June 28, 2:00-3:00 pm

This fast-paced session provides a high-level overview of Blackboard Learn, UA’s learning management system. Learn the basics of navigating, creating course content, communicating and interacting with students, conducting assessments, managing grades, utilizing integrated instructional technology tools, and more.

Register for CIT-led Blackboard Learn Basics workshops and webinars.

NEW WORKSHOP ALERT!!

Using Adobe Portfolio in the classroom for any academic subject 

Thursday, June 22, 1:00-2:00pm 

Give your students the creative tools they need to build unique student portfolios in your classroom. Join the Center for Instructional Technology for an overview of Adobe Portfolio. Learn how students can easily create and optimize an online portfolio to fit your class requirements. Adobe Portfolio enables students to quickly and simply build a website to showcase their work. No web design knowledge required.

In this workshop you will:

• See examples of how students are using Adobe Portfolio for education
• Discus suggested steps for incorporating the use of Portfolio in the classroom
• Learn the basics to getting started with using Adobe portfolio and follow along as the presenter creates and publishes a Portfolio

Register for Using Adobe Portfolio in the classroom

Check out more instructional technology workshops online at cit.ua.edu.

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Instructional Tech Resources and Reminders

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

Summer and Fall 2023 Syllabi in Simple Syllabus  

UA’s new online syllabus platform, Simple Syllabus, launched April 17. All sections must have a syllabus published in Simple by the first day of classes. Instructors will receive reminders to complete their syllabi a week before and on the first day of the term. Syllabi include required course and section information, as well as institutional and, in some cases, college-specific statements and policies. Instructors should add and edit section-specific information using Simple’s built-in editor, which allows for text formatting, links, videos, images, tables, and more. Simple Syllabus is available through myBama, Blackboard Learn, or direct login. For information about creating and sharing a syllabus, adding Simple Syllabus to Blackboard Learn, or registering for a support session, visit CIT’s Simple Syllabus support resources.

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.

• Save content – Students
• Save content – Instructors

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

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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