In Fall of 2022, the IDEAS team conducted a needs assessment with the goal of better understanding instructor needs and preferences related to technology training at UMass Amherst. One aspect of the needs assessment was a survey for instructors and teaching assistants, which was included in the IDEAS newsletter in November and December of 2022.…
Zoom Updates for Instructors
This month’s Blackboard news include Requesting Blackboard and Echo360 courses, Blackboardd Tip of the Month, Blackboard updates and downtimes, and Blackboardd Help and Resources.
February 2023 Blackboard News
This month’s Blackboard news include Requesting Blackboard and Echo360 courses, Blackboardd Tip of the Month, Blackboard updates and downtimes, and Blackboardd Help and Resources.
February 2023 Moodle News
This month’s Moodle news include Requesting Moodle and Echo360 courses, Moodle Tip of the Month, Moodle updates and downtimes, and Moodle Help and Resources.
New! Digital Accessibility Toolkit: Spring Makeover Challenge
Join the Spring Makeover Challenge! This is an asynchronous workshop that will be available during the Spring semester through the Canvas learning management system. Join the challenge to explore accessibility strategies and apply them to one small chunk of content in your course. We also encourage you to share your reflections, strategies, and examples with…
Creative Assessments and Student Collaboration
Interested in learning about student engagement and collaborative tools or ways to make your classroom projects meaningful and impactful? The UMass Amherst instructors shared what they do during the third meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF).
Creative Teaching Methods from the IFF
From FlipGrid to ScreenToGif to ‘ungrading’, three Innovation Fellows presented their ideas of creative teaching methods through exploring new technologies at the second meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship.
January 2023 Blackboard News
This month’s Blackboard news include Requesting Blackboard and Echo360 courses, Blackboardd Tip of the Month, Blackboard updates and downtimes, and Blackboardd Help and Resources.
January 2023 Moodle News
This month’s Moodle news include Requesting Moodle and Echo360 courses, Moodle Tip of the Month, Moodle updates and downtimes, and Moodle Help and Resources.
Wrapping up your Fall 2022 semester
At the end of each semester, we recommend instructors take steps to preserve their course contents from the Learning Management System (Moodle or Blackboard), and archive student work and grades. Download any Zoom recordings Zoom recordings are only kept within the system for 120 days after they were made. To keep them longer, you’ll need…
IDEAS Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF) launched!
The Instructional Design, Engagement and Support (IDEAS) team launched the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF) in October 2022. The fellowship opportunity is offered to all UMass instructors who are engaging in innovative teaching practices to share their ideas with (and learn from) other UMass instructors. Ten instructors from departments across campus are meeting monthly to share resources and ideas. We will extend these innovative ideas to the wider university community through the Instruct at UMass Blog
Share with students: Seeking Student Applications for $2500 Digital Storytelling Scholarship
Please share this widely with your students. Students can submit their applications now. The application period closes Tuesday, December 13. The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s UMass Flex Initiative is pleased to kick off the Student FLEXperience: Amplifying Student Voices through Digital Storytelling in 2022-2023. All matriculated UMass Students are invited to propose Digital Stories to…