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Back to School: Faculty & Staff Resources

Back to School: Faculty and Staff Resources

August 23, 2024

Rolling right into the next semester! 

OU IT wants faculty and staff to know the updates to classroom resources as we begin the Fall semester!



Classroom Technology

OU will see a total of 40 classrooms with updated technology this fall. This comes after a two-fold need for additional classrooms and a continued effort to standardize technology across all classrooms.

“Each year, we update the audio-video (AV) technology in numerous Central classrooms across campus,” James Taylor, OU IT Lead Audio Visual Specialist, said. “This can include TVs, document cameras, projectors, projector screens, speakers, wiring, touch panels and lecterns. It also involves programming and installing processing hardware that makes it all work and controllable from a touchscreen.”

In Norman, with the increase in enrollment, the campus found itself short of equipped classrooms for the incoming freshman class. 14 new classrooms have been opened up and outfitted by OU IT.

For classroom help and additional details on classroom technology please visit the link.ou.edu/classroomhelp.

The standardization efforts of each classroom is a project to help faculty spend less time worrying about technology in different classrooms.



Canvas

Faculty and students will see new features applied to Canvas. These upgrades happened over the summer.

“The development team at Canvas has been working to enhance users’ teaching and learning experiences,” Michelle Meazell, Instruction Technology Manager for OU IT’s Learning Spaces said.


Discussion
Redesign

“The Discussions redesign includes an updated UI and new features including course role labels, flexible viewing options for discussion replies (inline or split view), the ability to mention other users in a post, and the ability for individuals to quote other replies as a part of their discussion reply,” Meazell said.

Instructors can visit the Discussion Redesign as an Instructor Canvas article for additional details. Students can visit the Discussion Redesign as a Student Canvas article for additional details.


Announcements
Redesign

“The Announcement redesign enhances the experience of course announcements,” Meazell said.

The interface has been expanded for maximum space and responsive views for individual announcement topics. Like Discussions, course role labels are visible in Announcements to help students easily identify users with Teacher or TA-based roles in the course.

Instructors, for more information, please visit the Announcements Redesign Canvas article.  Students can review the Announcements Redesign as a Student Canvas article for more information. 


New
Analytics

“New Analytics is the updated version of the legacy course-level analytics feature,” Meazell said. “This will be enabled for all courses and gives instructors functionality, such as the ability to view student engagement weekly and message students that fall within various criteria (including grade or assignment status.)

Instructors, please visit the What is New Analytics Canvas article for more information.  Students can review the How do I view New Analytics in a course Canvas article.

These features were previously optional and have now been implemented for all users after July 20th, 2024.



TopHat Events

Top Hat, OU’s centrally supported student response system, leverages active learning technology to help professors engage students before, during and after class with interactive slides, graded questions, customized content, videos, discussions, and polls.

Are you an instructor who is new to Top Hat? Have you been interested in leveraging Top Hat in your course and want to know more?

You're in luck!

Top Hat will be hosting events on the Norman and HSC campuses in August and September; in these sessions, faculty can get information about how they can effectively utilize Top Hat features in their course design from the first day of class.


September 5th
12 PM-5 PM

  • Event: Open Hybrid Office Hours
  • Location: Learning Lab Classroom, Bizzell Library LL1, Norman Campus
  • Meeting Registration for Virtual Office Hours Attendees:
    https://tophat.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0uf-qtpjIqHNPKy07c1i6hNo7AMvr4S4vw

  • Info: Drop into office hours to meet with a Top Hat representative in-person or virtually (through Zoom) that can answer questions and help you get the most out of this technology! Whether you're a seasoned Top Hat user or just getting started, all levels of expertise are welcome. This hybrid session is a great opportunity to bring your questions and ideas or to seek clarification on any Top Hat topic.


September 6th
8:30 AM - 1:30 PM

  • Event: In-person Top Hat Multisession Workshop

  • Location: Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center, Rooms A, B & C, Norman Campus
  • Event Page and Registration Link: https://tophat.com/events/top-hat-on-campus-oklahoma

  • Info: In this one-day multi-session workshop, users will explore how they can use intentional course design to build connection and excitement—and get students invested in learning. Hear perspectives from Oklahoma students and faculty on what’s working, and what isn’t. Plus, roll up your sleeves and learn how to use Top Hat. 

Beginning Fall 2024, an OU enterprise license agreement allows all students to use Top Hat on their smart phones, tablets, and laptops without fees.

 If you need computer support, please contact the OU IT Service Desk on your campus. 
 

OU-Norman IT Service Desk
needhelp.ou.edu
(405) 325-HELP (4357)

OU-Tulsa IT Service Desk
ou.edu/tulsa/it/help
(918) 660-3550

OUHSC IT Service Desk
https://itservices.ou.edu
(405) 325-HELP (4357)


October 01, 2024

Faculty Technology Survey

How do you use technology in your teaching, learning, and research? The OU Teaching and Learning Technologies Advisory Committee wants to hear from you.


September 19, 2024

OU IT Virtual Town Hall

OU IT would like to invite OU faculty and staff to another virtual town hall on Wednesday, September 25th.


August 29, 2024

OU IT x SEC

This major change brings a lot of ‘new’ to OU and when it comes to OU Information Technology it ‘Just Means More’.