News Staff

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Author Archives: News Staff

University expands online course portfolio with FutureLearn

By | October 1, 2019
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The University of Michigan’s mission to share knowledge across the globe and shape the future of learning is further enriched through a new partnership with the U.K.-based social learning platform FutureLearn. With the Sept. 24 announcement of the partnership, U-M is reinforcing its commitment to fostering open, global, diverse, flexible and inclusive learning environments. FutureLearn’s diverse community includes… Read More »

DOD brings AI hackathon to U-M

By | September 26, 2019
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African-American man wearing JAIC sweatshirt giving a presentation.

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) partnered with the National Security Innovation Network (NISN) Sept. 20-23 to host a hackathon at the U-M School of Aeronautical Engineering aimed at using AI tools to evaluate maintenance data for military aircraft. The event brought together more than 50 hackers from academic institutions and commercial industry across the greater Detroit metro… Read More »

User feedback key to Problem Roulette study app expansion

By | September 25, 2019
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Problem Roulette, a digital study tool developed at the Center for Academic Innovation, offers students access to practice questions from previous exams in a points-free environment. Since its launch in 2016, more than 11,600 students have completed more than 2 million problem attempts using the tool. Problem Roulette is now available in 12 active courses across seven subject… Read More »

New portal for faculty, staff textbook adoption coming

By | September 24, 2019
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laptop with images of books on the screen

U-M faculty, instructors and staff will soon transition to a new online textbook and course material selection platform designed to personalize the process and promote more affordable alternatives for students. The site, operated by Barnes & Noble College (BNC), will launch Oct. 2 and replace the textbook data entry pages on Wolverine Access. The platform, developed with significant… Read More »

Ross School of Business announces new fintech initiative

By | September 18, 2019
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Stephen M. Ross School of Business building exterior

A new Fintech Initiative at the Ross School of Business aims to develop students’ knowledge in financial technology. In an email sent to Business students, Business Dean Scott DeRue wrote that the initiative will support the development of educational offerings at the school. “Students will learn how the domains of finance and technology are coming together and dramatically… Read More »

Provost announces XR initiative to spur collaboration, innovation

By | September 17, 2019
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Woman wearing VR/AR goggles, holding controllers.

U-M will advance its work in extended reality, or XR, through a major campuswide initiative announced Sept. 16 by Provost Martin Philbert. The three-year funded commitment led by the Center for Academic Innovation will leverage emerging XR technologies to strengthen the quality of a Michigan education, cultivate an interdisciplinary scholarly community of practice, and enhance a nationwide network… Read More »

U-M experts wary of digital monitoring of mental health to help stop gun violence

By | September 16, 2019
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illustration of two people assembling a puzzle image of a person's head

A lack of evidence that mental illness is to blame for the U.S.’s spate of mass shootings has not deterred the Trump administration from considering proposed solutions to gun violence based on that belief. A recent one, called SAFEHOME, would use “real-time data analytics” and information gleaned from personal digital devices to identify individuals who might become violent. … Read More »

Introducing the new AIM Event Series

By | September 16, 2019
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Aim Event Series

The Center for Academic Innovation recently announced the launch of the Academic Innovation at Michigan (AIM) Event Series. The series will include the following subgroups or themes for the fall 2019 semester: AIM for DEI will explore issues at the intersections of teaching and learning; technology; and diversity, equity, and inclusion. AIM Research (formerly AIM Analytics) is a seminar series for… Read More »

Tool promotes internal funding opportunities for research, scholarship

By | September 13, 2019
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A new tool curated by the Office of the Vice President for Research promotes internal funding opportunities from across campus so faculty can generate support to advance research and scholarship. Research Commons, which launched this month, provides a unique shopping experience for researchers to identify internal funding opportunities in one space without having to navigate multiple websites. “We… Read More »

Verizon brings 5G to Mcity auto test facility

By | September 13, 2019
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On Sept. 10, Verizon announced that its 5G Ultra Wideband network is now live at U-M’s Mcity test facility, where they’re using various 5G solutions designed to improve pedestrian and auto safety. That includes 5G-connected cameras installed at intersections inside the Mcity test track to help identify traffic and pedestrian patterns to prevent collisions. Signal controllers were installed at… Read More »

SI’s Ericson talks women in computer science with BBC

By | September 12, 2019
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Barbara Ericson

In the movie “Hidden Figures,” the computing power of a group of women drove successes in the early space program. In fact, the early history of computer science is filled with stories of the accomplishments of women. So why aren’t more women interested in computing careers? UMSI assistant professor Barbara Ericson has some thoughts. Much of her research has centered on… Read More »

Introducing AIM Communities

By | September 11, 2019
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Classroom with projection on wall

The Center for Academic Innovation collaborates with faculty and staff from across the university to build and support a culture of innovation. One of the ways it does this is through the development and support of Academic Innovation at Michigan (AIM) Communities. This fall, AIM will reboot the “Simulations Community of Practice” to focus more deeply on role-playing… Read More »

School of Nursing launches 3 online master’s programs

By | September 11, 2019
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laptop on table with books and paper, image of nursing webpage on the laptop screen

The U-M School of Nursing is now offering three of its Master of Science in Nursing degree programs online. Courses will begin in fall 2020 for Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and Leadership, Analytics and Innovation. These specialty programs were identified for development in a digital framework because they cross the spectrum of nursing education. The new… Read More »

Evolving and rebranding ART 2.0 to Atlas

By | September 10, 2019
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Atlas logo

With 19 schools and colleges as well as 277 degree programs, U-M provides a diverse range of academic opportunities. Navigating through this expansive academic world can be challenging, but the navigation is simplified with the Academic Reporting Tools platform (ART 2.0) — now called Atlas. David Nesbitt, software portfolio manager at the Center for Academic Innovation, said renaming the… Read More »

Millennials are the most tech-saturated generation of parents yet

By | September 4, 2019
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laptop screen that says "parenting" with image of graph

The spectrum of digital child-rearing resources for millennial parents is huge. Beyond social media and forums and Google, there are smartphone apps that log the duration of every breast-feeding session, record an infant’s nap times to the minute, and send push notifications reminding parents of upcoming developmental milestones. Those tools can be useful. But when it comes to… Read More »

Knox Center celebrates five years in expanded location

By | September 3, 2019
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wall of Knox Center showing images of James Knox

Although many features of Sites computer labs are responsive to the needs of disabled students, there are some types of accommodations that can best be provided from a customized location. This location is the James Edward Knox Adaptive Technology Computing Site, commonly known as the Knox Center, which completed its move to the second floor of the Shapiro… Read More »

Protecting your privacy in the wake of FaceApp

By | September 2, 2019
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FaceApp page on app store

In an interview with “Kiplinger” magazine, Florian Schaub, assistant professor in the U-M School of Information, discusses how to protect your data given recent concerns about FaceApp, a Russia-based photo manipulation app whose privacy policy made broad claims about how they might reuse images. According to Schaub, unbundling specific aspects of opt-in privacy policies would provide users more… Read More »

Upcoming Dissonance events explore the intersection of technology, art, and the environment

By | August 30, 2019
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Neil Harbisson & Moon Ribas

September 12, 2019: Cyborg Arts The Penny Stamps Speaker Series, along with co-sponsor Dissonance, presents Cyborg Arts, with Neil Harbisson and Moon Ribas. The artists ask us to consider: “What separates human beings from the technology we create and use?” The Catalan-based artists and self-identified cyborgs are influencers in the global cyborg art movement who use the internet as a sense to… Read More »

Reclaiming indigenous forms of knowledge through “ethno-computing”

By | August 29, 2019
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Ron Eglash in his office, alongside examples of fractals he's studied.

Ron Eglash, professor of information and of art and design, was recently featured in a wide-ranging interview on NPR affiliate WBEZ’s program Worldview. Eglash discusses his passion for bringing the sophisticated math and computing ideas at the center of cultural traditions to classroom settings to inspire underrepresented students to pursue studies in STEM fields.  According to Eglash, indigenous… Read More »