Hello from your colleagues in CIT! Below, you’ll find announcements and events to assist you with teaching and learning needs.
Introducing Our New and Improved Newsletter!
Thank you to each and every one of you who participated in our recent CIT Newsletter Survey. Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping our revamped newsletter, and we’re thrilled to share the exciting changes with you!
What’s New?
Tailored Content: We’ve listened to your preferences and fine-tuned our content to better suit your needs. Whether you’re interested in technology policy updates, best practices, or monthly workshops, our newsletter now delivers exactly what you’re looking for.
Sleek Design: Our fresh design is not just eye-catching; it’s also user-friendly. Navigating through the newsletter is now a breeze, allowing you to focus on the content that matters most to you.
We believe in continuous improvement. Keep sharing your thoughts, and together, we’ll make this newsletter even better.
Thank you!
Ultra Good Summer!
Summer is a great time to explore Ultra or prepare to teach with Ultra in the fall! Request a live course or request a practice course if you need a space to build or play, and follow along in our Ultra Team as we share tips, tricks, and things to try in Ultra this summer. We’ll invite you to the Team when we create your course.
Changes Coming to Flip Discussion and Video Sharing App
Starting July 1, 2024, the Flip platform will no longer be available in mobile app stores, and the Flip website (Flip.com) will transition to view-only mode. Users will still have access to download existing Flip videos until September 30, 2024.
CIT is currently assessing how these modifications will impact UA instructors. Additionally, they are exploring alternative tools that can offer instructors similar functionality to what Flip provided.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out at cit@ua.edu.
There’s more to Learn with Ultra – Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
From the simple, modern, intuitive, and consistent interface across devices to the streamlined experience for instructors and students, there is more to Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View. Instructors of non-OTIDE courses can teach with Ultra now, and all Blackboard courses will be designed and delivered in Ultra by Spring 2026. Visit the CIT site to learn more about Ultra and request a practice course: Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
Ultra Good Features
You can allow anonymous discussion posts in ungraded discussions if you’d like students to feel freer to share their thoughts without judgment. You can turn anonymous posts on and off as the discussion progresses. Any posts made while anonymous keep their anonymity if anonymous posts are later turned off. Select the Discussion Settings button to customize your discussion.
Anonymous discussions
You can allow anonymous discussion posts in ungraded discussions if you’d like students to feel freer to share their thoughts without judgment. You can turn anonymous posts on and off as the discussion progresses. Any posts made while anonymous keep their anonymity if anonymous posts are later turned off. Select the Discussion Settings button to customize your discussion.
Printing for assessments
Instructors can now print assessments, a convenient solution for:
- Accommodating students with specific needs or limited technology access
- Providing a printed assessment for testing in designated centers
- Backup and record keeping
- Conducting offline assessment
- Documentation and compliance
- Maintaining security and integrity
The print option is available in Forms, Tests, and Assignments with questions. Printing also provides the option to save as PDF.
To print an assessment, from Content and Settings, select Print.
CIT Technology and Tool Highlights
Respondus
New Sensitivity Levels in Respondus Monitor
Controlling your sensitivities is a good thing. That’s especially so in Respondus Monitor. The flagging system in Respondus Monitor now supports three sensitivity levels: Strict, Standard, and Relaxed. The default setting is Standard, and it produces results like before. The Strict sensitivity setting detects when portions of the face have moved outside of the video frame, or when both eyes of the test taker aren’t visible. When this occurs, a Partial Missing flag will appear in the proctoring results.
With the Relaxed setting, what you’ll notice most is that it reduces the sensitivity of Missing flags. If the face or eyes are partially missing from the webcam video but Respondus Monitor can still detect the student is there, the Missing flag is less likely to trigger.
To learn more about Respondus, visit cit.ua.edu/technologies/respondus/.
How does the CIT User Support Services Team support the tool?
“Respondus Lockdown Browser creates a secure web environment for online tests. Instructors seem more comfortable allowing tests outside of the classroom when they require the use of this browser. Our support team can help students of instructors use this tool and troubleshoot any issues they are having.”
Erin Warner
Instructional Technology User Services Program Manager
Center for Instructional Technology
Upcoming Learning Opportunities
06.06 | Build a digital portfolio and personal website
06.12 | Live polling with Microsoft Forms
06.18 | Getting started with Panopto
06.20 | Meet the New Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Ultra Demonstration and Information Session
