Google and Amazon both recently announced that their voice assistants will respond to requests that end in “please.” Parents are worried that because their children are commanding information from these devices, they are not learning manners. To counter this anxiety, Google’s Assistant will now have a “Pretty Please” feature reminding kids to “say the magic word” before responding.… Read More »
The Office of Academic Innovation launched an edtech accelerator that’s building and scaling digital pedagogy within and beyond the university. Previously, the issue with edtech was that it did not extend beyond the initial department it was used for, but the Office of Academic Innovation is providing the infrastructure to support and scale it. This process involves software… Read More »
This year’s Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day is also the Grand Opening of the new Computer Showcase Central Campus location in the Shapiro Library. Join us at either location 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30 for one-day-only incentive offers and discount pricing on an expanded selection of our most popular products. Advance product reservations are… Read More »
Is it an invasion of your child’s privacy to take their picture and post it on social media? Sarita Schoenebeck, assistant professor at the School of Information, is an expert on how families use technology. She suggests that parents should respect their children and keep their feelings in mind before posting their pictures. A survey of 331… Read More »
Adam Skoczylas, program manager for the Center for Educational Outreach, was named the individual winner of the 2018 President’s Staff Innovation Awards. Skoczylas received the award for his leadership in the creation of Youth Hub as well as the redevelopment of Children on Campus program registry, including a shared database of these programs. Youth Hub is a technology infrastructure… Read More »
The U-M Exercise and Sport Science Initiative awarded $800,000 in funding to six teams as part of its second round of pilot grants. The winning projects include: Sensor technology and complex analytics to assess, monitor and predict injury in elite baseball pitchers A data-driven, non-invasive approach for monitoring hydration status in athletes A projection-based augmented reality system for… Read More »
Michigan Medicine received $440,000 in invoice credit from its electronic health record vendor for taking steps to support continuous improvements in patient outcomes, quality of care, workflow efficiency, and financial performance. Epic recently awarded Michigan Medicine with Magna Cum Laude status in its Honor Roll Program. The recognition program is based on achieving continuous improvements in patient outcomes,… Read More »
Researchers from Germany and the University of Michigan have recently demonstrated in a study that infrared laser pulses can shift electrons between two different states, 1 and 0, in a sheet of semiconductor. Their research could help make quantum computing devices, which operate millions of times faster than a conventional computer, a reality. “Ordinary electronics are in the… Read More »
In recognition of World Intellectual Property Day, the U-M Office of Tech Transfer recently recognized the achievements of U-M faculty and researchers, who, since 2011, have been responsible for more than 900 patents—laying the groundwork for dozens of products, services and startup companies that are already contributing toward the betterment of society. Following the lead of the World… Read More »
The Ross School of Business is getting on the data analytics train. The school announced recently that it will offer a new MBA concentration focused on business data and analytics beginning in the fall 2018 semester. The concentration, says Brad Killaly, associate dean of full-time and global MBA programs, is designed for MBA students looking to hone their… Read More »
Coursera recently named Christopher Brooks, assistant professor at the School of Information, a winner of its Outstanding Educator Award for Innovation for his teaching strategies in the online Applied Data Science with Python Specialization. His approach allows students are to use actual data in a low-stakes environment to solve problems that are relevant to their own communities,… Read More »
Information and Technology Services has received funding approval to install WiFi in portions of the Diag. In September 2017, Central Student Government President Anushka Sarkar and CSG Vice President Nadine Jawad announced an initiative outlined as part of their platform to install WiFi on the Central Campus Diag. At the request of students and with the support of… Read More »
ITS Information Quest is pleased to announce the formation of the M-Reports User Group. This group’s purpose will be to share information about upcoming changes in M-Reports and also to receive feedback about what could be improved. We will attempt to meeting every few months, while being sensitive to other BI User Groups and Communities of Practice meetings.… Read More »
Erin Dietrich joined Health Information Technology & Services (HITS) as the new senior director for Research Applications & Advanced Computing in March. As a member of the HITS senior team, Erin provides leadership for operational coordination and strategic guidance of the information technologies and services that support the research mission of Michigan Medicine. She works with U-M… Read More »
A recent “Inside Higher Ed” article examines how colleges, including U-M, are committing considerable resources to keep up with students’ expectation that wireless internet should be free, fast, and everywhere. The U-M Ann Arbor campus embarked on an ambitious Wi-Fi upgrade five years ago that required meticulous planning. In some areas the wired network had to be extended, and new wireless… Read More »
Four U-M research teams will receive support for projects that apply data science tools to the study of music theory, performance, social media-based music making, and the connection between words and music. The funding is provided under the Data Science for Music Challenge Initiative through the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS). The projects include digital analysis of… Read More »
Getting help in programming courses outside of instructors’ office hours can be difficult, but a new tool called “chat.codes” may help change that. Steve Oney, assistant professor of information at the U-M School of Information (UMSI) and of electrical engineering and computer science at the College of Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation grant of $174,981 for his… Read More »
When LSA English professor Anne Curzan became associate dean for humanities several years ago, she—like many professors who take on administrative roles—was overwhelmed by the uptick in email traffic she faced. It also became clear that the majority of people in the dean’s office were swimming in email as well, spending hours every evening dealing with messages that had… Read More »
Campus Mind Works, a student wellness group that promotes mental health education and provides support through the U-M Depression Center, recently held a seminar on the potentially harmful effects of a world increasingly dependent on technology. Held in partnership with the College of Engineering, the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center, and clinical staff affiliated with the Department of… Read More »
Earlier this year U-M was invited to participate in the informal Esri Development Center (EDC) program. We join a small number of universities recognized as leaders in GIS teaching and research. While the EDC program was initially conceived with a focus on development in the traditional sense—coding and programming of geographic information system (GIS) solutions—U-M was identified as… Read More »