A new learning management system as well as a number of new technology tools for instruction are available to faculty from Information Technology Services. In addition, ITS has a staff of Learning and Emerging technology specialists, located in Brace Hall that assist instructors incorporating technology into their curriculum.
“We’re excited what faculty are doing and will do with technology in the classroom,” says Marcia Dority Baker, Assistant Director of Academic Technologies for ITS. “We have several new services and we have resources to get instructors up and running."
Number one on the list is the transition to Canvas, which will replace Blackboard as the University’s learning management system. All courses will be offered in Canvas this Fall. Blackboard is available only by request and will be discontinued in the Summer of 2018. There are online Canvas starter resources, including videos from UNL faculty power-users. “Canvas has a true mobile presence and has garnered a lot of positive response from both students and faculty,” added Dority Baker.
Light Board is a new teaching device that allows the instructor to face the students while writing on a transparent glass board. It is currently available this summer to look at and try out in the Henzlik Hub One Button Studio. “Our A/V Design Build group constructed this prototype, which we are letting our faculty pilot, “ says Brad Severa, Academic Support Specialist. “It makes for a more unique and interactive presentation”
Severa added that there are a limited number of iPad Pro tablets with Apple Pencils for faculty checkout.
GP classroom remodeling is an annual summer activity. Two new spaces faculty should be aware of are the new Henzlik Hub and the Experimental Classroom in Brace 317. Henzlik features an open collaborative teaching space, while the Brace classroom features a completely re-configurable seating and multi-projection for individual and group discussion.
For more information on faculty technology: http://go.unl.edu/instructortech
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/instructortech