In the early days of the internet, U-M student Jeff Masters and Perry Samson, his College of Engineering professor, developed an idea to bring real-time weather information to our daily lives through an online resource that would come to be known as Weather Underground. It all started in 1991 with Hurricane Bob and a single Sun 4/110 workstation… Read More »
Parents can toss out the owner’s manual for that new smartphone or tablet—they can get all the digital assistance they need from their teens. According to Jan Van den Bulck, professor of communication studies at U-M, more children are guiding their parents on how to use digital media, especially newer media forms such as smartphones, tablets and apps. But… Read More »
James DeVaney, associate vice provost for academic innovation, explores how U-M’s new Teach-Outs might represent the next step in developing an online education model that moves beyond MOOCs to create a “compassionate public square for the information age.” In his guest commentary for Inside Higher Ed, Devaney writes: “While I continue to encourage patience to those who care to… Read More »
Newspapers have tried various ways to monetize online content, with many turning to paywalls, which require readers to buy a subscription to read stories online, sometimes after a set number of free articles. A new study by Ross School of Business researchers Puneet Manchanda and S. Sriram takes a deep dive into all of the side effects of online… Read More »
Delivering bad news in a caring way — and coping with a patient’s reaction — is a key skill for doctors. Researchers at U-M and Medical Cyberworlds, Inc. are studying how virtual human technology helps medical students learn the best approaches. MPathic-VR, a computer application, allows students to talk with emotive, computer-based virtual humans who can see, hear, and react… Read More »
A sweeping study by U-M researchers of an internet communication mechanism common in mobile devices has revealed that so-called ‘open ports’ are much more vulnerable to security breaches than previously thought. The vulnerability is most pronounced in Android apps that let users share data across devices and connect to their phones from their computers. One app, called Wifi… Read More »
Buckle up your backpack for a futuristic ride through U-M’s new world of cyber-learning. Imagine being able to predict how students will perform in class and then helping them achieve more. Picture students learning policy development by acting as stakeholders in simulated political events. Envision an online platform that can mentor a whole new generation of civil rights… Read More »
Health Professions Education Day 2017 (HPE Day) engaged faculty, students, and staff across all three campuses and ten health science schools on April 13 at the Michigan League. The result: collaboration and networking that will inspire future research and practices for educational efforts across all of the health professions schools at U-M. Staff from the HITS Education &… Read More »
Pauline Jones, director of the U-M International Institute, is passionate about the need for education around some of the most complex topics in the world, like Islam. “Islam is much more than a religion. It’s also a civilization, a variety of cultural traditions and sometimes a basis for political ideologies,” said Jones. “Its diversity, complexity, and geographical expansiveness makes it… Read More »
All U-M faculty and staff are invited to the annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day at Computer Showcase on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. This special sale features the year’s best discounts on select Apple products and much more. Qualifying products will include the new iPad, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, Mac Pro, Beats by Dr. Dre and… Read More »
A cardiologist created a computer simulation of a patient’s blood flow, helping surgeons locate the best placement of a stent to address her rare heart condition. Students and faculty developed a mobile app that helps predict which Flint neighborhoods are at high risk of having lead-contaminated water. And an engineer is using predictive models based on high volumes… Read More »
Barry Fishman, known for his gameful learning approach to teaching, has been named Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Michigan Association of State Universities. Fishman, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Learning Technologies, teaches in both the School of Information and the School of Education, and is director of the Undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Information Program.… Read More »
Jarrod Sandel (Michigan Medicine IT service desk manager), Lisa Callihan (LSA IT customer experience manager) and DePriest Dockins (ITS Identity and Access Management assistant director) participated in the Help Desk Institute (HDI) “Motown Summer Internships, Co-Ops and Mentoring the Next Generation” panel discussion. The meeting, which took place March 9 in Southfield, focused on creating a learning opportunity for all… Read More »
A consortium of Michigan universities and community colleges — including U-M — was awarded a five-year, $4.25 million grant by the National Science Foundation to help increase participation and graduation rates among underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Derrick Scott, director of inclusion and multicultural engineering programs for the Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach at… Read More »
According to U-M researchers, hospitals that voluntarily participated in value-based health care reforms, such as the Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records program, were better at keeping patients from returning to the hospital within 30 days for three common diagnoses than the government’s mandatory program that penalizes acute care facilities for high readmission rates. Andrew Ryan, associate professor in the School… Read More »
Mr. Trump’s personal Twitter account has found itself at the center of a number of controversies and attracted the attention of traditional media, critics, and supporters alike, says Josh Pasek, a U-M communication studies professor. Now, the National Archives and Records Administration has confirmed that President Trump’s tweets will be preserved for posterity, in keeping with the Presidential Records Act. Traditionally, the president speaks to… Read More »
In just a decade, Netflix has grown from a video service with seven million U.S. subscribers to one that reaches 93 million people worldwide. In her book, Portals: A Treatise on Internet-Distributed Television, U-M communications professor Amanda Lotz explores how Netflix and other internet-distributed video services forced the existing television industry to radically change its practices. During the early 2000s,… Read More »
The U-M Center for Health Communications Research and the National Cancer Institute have developed a text messaging program called Tips4Health that aims to promote healthy habits in people that sign up. The U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center is using the service to deliver behavioral interventions for smoking cessation, healthy eating, and physical activity. A text messaging program to encourage colon cancer screening… Read More »
The Bentley Historical Library has unveiled 12 decades of Michigan Daily history through a new online database that contains searchable digital copies of the historic newspaper. The first online search of the digitized Daily was performed by President Mark Schlissel during a reception Thursday at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. “This effort celebrates and preserves 125 years… Read More »
Social media is an ever-changing landscape of exciting options. There’s Friendster, Orkut, Vine, and Yik-Yak just to name a few. But no social media platform is as leading edge, new, and cool as Myspace. That’s why the Michigan IT Steering Committee has created a Michigan IT Myspace account! Some of the standout features of Myspace include: Friends — Connect with… Read More »