Category Archives: Features

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U-M develops innovative student learning tool with Unizin Consortium and Google Cloud

By | October 29, 2020
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Unizin logo: purple grapes, green leaves, black text that reads "Unizin"

Using the Unizin Common Data Model to standardize course data, an ITS team built a scalable, open source tool for students to visualize their own learning. “The UDP and public cloud present interesting opportunities for us. They offer foundational infrastructure, technical innovation, and data security at consortial scale,” Sean DeMonner, executive director of ITS Teaching and Learning. Working… Read More »

Bring the power of the HPC clusters to your laptop

By | October 2, 2020
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glowing lights and cables from server rack

Open OnDemand (OOD) is a tool that brings to researchers and students the power of Great Lakes, the university’s flagship open-science, high-performance, computing cluster.  Open OnDemand is a way for researchers and students to use a web interface to access the Advanced Research Computing – Technology Services (ARC-TS) Great Lakes and Lighthouse High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources. Because users… Read More »

New version of Wolverine Access launched

By | September 29, 2020
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new Wolverine Access home page

Visitors to Wolverine Access experienced a new gateway to university systems and resources beginning September 27. The new Wolverine Access makes it easier to find and “bookmark” frequently-used tools and resources within the U-M digital universe, has a mobile-friendly design that is easy to use on all devices, and is built on a more modern and secure platform… Read More »

Ross IT supports hybrid “public health-informed” return to campus

By | September 29, 2020
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A classroom at the Ross School of Business that includes an instructor's desk in the middle, rows of desk on either side of instructor's desk, and two screens that display classroom content.

After supporting the move of students, faculty, and staff to remote learning and working, Ross IT developed plans for a “public health-informed” return to campus for the fall semester. Ross IT engaged with the Ross community to prepare how to transform the classrooms to meet the hybrid academic requirements. The approach involved three principles for design: consistent, standardized,… Read More »

MyLA analytics tools support student learning experiences

By | September 28, 2020
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MyLA logo

Supporting student motivation and self-regulation through online tools has become more important than ever with the shift to remote learning for fall, and My Learning Analytics (MyLA) is ready to help. Designed by U-M faculty Stephanie Teasley and Matt Kay from the School of Information and Stuart Karabenick from the School of Education, in collaboration with Information and… Read More »

Dearborn ITS creates innovative building access screening system

By | September 22, 2020
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Hallway at UM-Dearborn with temperature check station in the foreground and people in the background

As summer wound down, campus got ready for the fall semester at UM-Dearborn. An Emergency Operations Center directive necessitated restricting campus access to only those students with an on campus class—around 15% of our schedule. To do this efficiently and minimize health risks by reducing time standing in line, we turned to technology. Our reporting tool, WebFocus, produces… Read More »

U-M to retire BlueJeans in 2021

By | September 16, 2020
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young woman on bluejean interface screen

In spring 2020, ITS deployed Zoom videoconferencing to campus and later added large event support, captioning, and PHI-compliant Zoom for Health. Since then, adoption of Zoom has grown exponentially, while the use of BlueJeans has fallen significantly. Additionally, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams are available as part of the U-M academic collaboration suite at no additional cost and… Read More »

Laptop loaner program brings Computing Sites to students

By | September 9, 2020
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An open laptop on a table. Text on the right reads, " Sites @ Home laptop loaner program."

The pandemic has created new and unique challenges for students. To support a culture of caring and to create safe computing options, ITS developed a new laptop loaner program called “Sites @ Home.”  The program provides the best that ITS has to offer: Campus Computing Sites with access to specialized software, a Windows PC, and computers with higher… Read More »

LSA Technology Services enables hybrid teaching for fall 2020 and beyond

By | September 7, 2020
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Since late June, when the university announced its decision to have students on campus and enable a combination of in-person, hybrid, and remote classes, LSA Technology Services quickly took action to enable an unprecedented delivery of the LSA liberal arts mission. In two short months, we’ve invested, improved, and implemented technology and services to not only meet the… Read More »

3-2-1…blast off! COE students use ARC-TS HPC clusters for rocket design

By | August 31, 2020
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The MASA team

The Michigan Aeronautical Science Association (MASA) is a student-run engineering team at U-M that has been designing, building, and launching rockets since its inception in 2003. Since late 2017, MASA has focused on developing liquid-bipropellant rockets—which are rockets that react to a liquid fuel with a liquid oxidizer to produce thrust—in an effort to remain at the forefront… Read More »

Upgraded QTO System is more secure and easier to use

By | August 28, 2020
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A woman looks at a laptop.

A more secure and user-friendly version of Procurement Services’ Quote-to-Order (QTO) System is now available for the university community. The QTO System allows university employees to, among other things, easily and conveniently obtain estimates—and place orders—from multiple strategic suppliers for a variety of products and services, including printing/mailing, web design, and IT temp staffing. The security enhancements to… Read More »

MIND: Paving the way for a more data-informed campus

By | August 18, 2020
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brain on computer screen

With COVID-19 changing the landscape of how higher-education and other areas of our society operate, gaining important insights from data is more important than ever. As U-M begins a historical public health-informed in-residence semester, the Michigan Insights on Demand (MIND) team at Information and Technology Services (ITS) continues to make strides in building and enhancing the ecosystem needed… Read More »

Save the date! 2020 Michigan IT Virtual Symposium

By | July 15, 2020
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Michigan IT Symposium - innovative solutions to support the university's mission

Mark your calendars for the Michigan IT Virtual Symposium, November 10-12, 2020. That’s right. “Virtual.” The pandemic has changed our approach in planning for the 2020 Michigan IT Symposium. Due to constraints regarding a face-to-face event, the planning committee has worked with the Michigan IT Steering committee to develop the framework for a rich and rewarding virtual experience. … Read More »

What to do if you’re in a meeting that gets Zoombombed

By | July 14, 2020
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hooded hacker behind wall of digital numbers

Most people by now are familiar with the steps necessary to make their own videoconferences secure. But what should you do if you happen to be participating in a videoconference that experiences some type of interruption, such as a Zoombomb.  Disruptions can include anything from the mundane – barking dog or crying children, unintentional screen sharing, or dissonant noises… Read More »