Tag Archives: Academic Innovation

Atlas: Charting a course to help every U-M student navigate their academic world

Putting together a schedule can be one of the most stressful times of year for a University of Michigan student. Balancing multiple factors while staying on track with all required courses and banking on favorite classes not filling up before being able to register. As they work through this tangle of priorities, students face uncertainty, frustration and have… Read More »

U-M partners with Google to offer job-ready tech skills program

A new flexible online training program on data science will prepare job-seekers in Michigan and beyond to quickly enter one of the fastest-growing labor markets and advance their careers. The Center for Academic Innovation created the program, “Data Analytics in the Public Sector with R,” for data science and other professionals interested in how public data sets can drive decisions and policymaking in the public sector.

Academic Innovation, Coursera to team up for 10 XR-enhanced courses

The University of Michigan’s Center for Academic Innovation and the online learning platform Coursera are partnering on ten new courses enhanced by extended reality technologies. In these new courses, learners will be able to develop skills critical to the future of work and society and leverage XR technology to provide a level of immersion only possible in virtual,… Read More »

Profiles in IT: Lauren Atkins Budde—Delightful director

Lauren Atkins Budde is the director of Open Learning Initiatives with the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI). In her role, she oversees the strategy, support, evolution, and delivery for multiple online learning opportunities, including non-credit massive open online courses (MOOCs), free and open online learning events called Teach-Outs, short-form video content, and educational podcasts.

GradeCraft helps UROP students become more curious and better researchers

By | February 15, 2021

For more than 30 years, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program has been a conduit connecting researchers, undergraduate students, and community partners and organizations. In 2019, new associate director of curriculum and retention Chris Bohle was tasked with reinvigorating the program with a fresh take on its curriculum.  Adopting the philosophies of gameful learning, Bohle decided the more autonomy… Read More »

Patient rounds: Ages-old care & learning concept gets technology upgrade, international collaboration

By | December 24, 2020

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical rotations were halted for medical students, which meant they could not participate in patient rounds—those bedside consultations with seasoned medical staff to discuss and learn about a patient’s condition. This led Mark Cohen, a professor of surgery and pharmacology who runs the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the Medical School to think… Read More »

XR Initiative at 1: Milestones met as pandemic brings new challenges, opportunities

By | December 22, 2020

When leaders at the Center for Academic Innovation announced an XR initiative a little more than a year ago, they knew there was a hunger from a growing segment of campus to advance teaching through the development of augmented and virtual reality technologies. They couldn’t have anticipated, however, that a global pandemic would so disrupt education that faculty… Read More »

Extended reality: U-M online courses make XR accessible to everyone

By | December 15, 2020

A new three-course online specialization on extended reality developed by Michael Nebeling, an assistant professor with both the School of Information and the College of Engineering, and a team at the U-M Center for Academic Innovation has something for everyone—from novices to the most advanced users, designers, and developers. Extended reality, or XR, is the term for technology… Read More »

Epic MegaGrant will support development of XR projects

By | November 18, 2020

U-M’s Extended Reality (XR) Initiative, a part of the Center for Academic Innovation, received $120,000 from an Epic Games MegaGrant. CAI will use the funds to hire 20-30 student fellows over the next two years and educate them in different tools and processes like Unreal Engine, a game engine developed by the company Epic Games. “While the university has… Read More »

Experience immersive XR as a teaching tool

By | September 30, 2020

Extended reality holds immense potential as a teaching tool, especially in today’s increasingly online instructional environment. On Thursday, October 29 from 1-2:30 p.m., Academic Innovation at Michigan (AIM) will feature an immersive experience using the virtual platform, VirBELA. AIM Extended Reality (XR): Developing a Chemotherapy Treatment Simulation in Virtual Reality with Professor Michelle Aebersold will share her experience working in virtual… Read More »

High school teacher uses U-M developed role playing simulation tool to keep students engaged

By | September 16, 2020

New York-based high school teacher Sean Swider knew he had to develop a creative project to keep his advanced history students engaged, especially after a transition to remote learning. Swider then discovered the U-M role-playing simulation tool ViewPoint and decided to simulate an oil spill disaster. Modeled after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, Swider created the… Read More »

Disinformation, misinformation, and fake news Teach-Out

By | September 11, 2020

In a new Center for Academic Innovation Teach-Out, Ben Nimmo, director of investigations at Graphika, an online social media monitoring company, outlines tactics everyday people can use to anticipate, spot, and react to disinformation from potential “threat actors.” He calls it the “Four D’s” — Dismiss, Distract, Distort, and Dismay. The Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News Teach-Out helps people understand the… Read More »