A new app, OncCOVID, has been developed by data scientists and cancer doctors from the U-M Rogel Cancer Center and the U-M School of Public Health. The free app compares the long-term risks of delaying care for cancer patients to the additional risk of potential COVID-19 infection if they undergo surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation immediately. With healthcare systems… Read More »
The web tools will help state officials identify potential hotspots as they reopen Michigan to business. University of Michigan faculty, staff, alumni, and students have developed online tools designed to help local and state officials reopen the economy safely and gradually while allowing them to quickly identify and respond to potential coronavirus hot spots and outbreaks. The tools… Read More »
Increasingly specific social distancing questions are weighing on states and municipalities as they inch toward relaxing COVID-19 restrictions. Now, a team of computer science and medical researchers based at U-M is working on a tool that could provide more precise answers. The team is mashing up census data, virus transmission rates, and decades of social science research to… Read More »
Tandem, a research-based tool that supports students working in teams and the faculty who teach and mentor student teams, was one of five faculty projects honored with the 12th annual Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prizes. Tandem uses data gathered weekly to provide students with a graph that clearly shows how a team rates itself on key measures of team… Read More »
This month, I am sharing a few internet search services that focus on privacy. Yes, Google is a great way to find information on the internet. However, there are quite a few alternatives available that may produce similar/better results, do not store user data, provide identical results for all users (not personalized), and do not track you as… Read More »
A new app called kare is an anonymous wellness support platform recently launched by U-M students for college students. According to business junior Bennett Hilkert, chief executive officer and a co-founder of kare, the apps tagline (“because sometimes we don’t feel our best”) outlines the purpose of the company: to help connect students via an anonymous peer-to-peer support… Read More »
This month, I am sharing information on some providers that have extended their services and are offering free upgrades to help users being impacted by COVID-19. As you know, each day is different and companies are doing their best to keep up with demand. This list only covers some services that I am currently aware of, so keep… Read More »
The university recently entered into an agreement with Adobe that provides all faculty, staff and students on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses and at Michigan Medicine with access to Adobe Creative Cloud apps. The agreement advances an ITS initiative that is based on a desire to build partnerships that would benefit the entire university community. Previously,… Read More »
It might seem pretty safe to add an app that promises to help take control of your health. But doctors who appreciate the research potential of incorporating big data into medical care are also warning about the need to manage the risk of exposing such health data while it’s still possible to do so. “Some health data shared… Read More »
This month’s tip is a tool that I am using right now as I type this paragraph. It is LanguageTool, which I have installed as a browser extension, but it is also available for Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Android, as a desktop application, and more. The service is open source and can be used offline (the desktop app)… Read More »
On February 3, Logistics, Transportation & Parking (LTP) launched a new real-time bus information system. The new system will enable riders to see university bus locations in real-time and predicts precise arrival times for every campus route and stop. The old (DoubleMap) system will remain live until February 29, 2020. Riders will enjoy a number of new features,… Read More »
Gamut, a new suite of online learning tools from Academic Innovation are available for immediate use by any U-M faculty or instructional staff. Each tool is a standalone web application that uses a technology called the Learning Tools Interoperability protocol, which allows them to easily integrate into any course on Canvas, Coursera, edX, or FutureLearn. So far, the… Read More »
Packy, a furry, fun mascot is the symbol of the BackPac app created by U-M students to encourage others, particularly their peers, to spend some time volunteering in the community—especially during the holidays when the needs are great. “The number of volunteers has significantly gone down in the last decade,” said Gaurav Dhir, co-founder of BackPac and a… Read More »
The Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses project has agreed to incorporate ECoach, a learning tool developed at the University of Michigan, into new STEM courses at all participating institutions.
On October 15, LSA Technology Services hosted the second Technology Tools for Teaching event, where presenters demonstrated a variety of learning technologies. Over 100 participants visited 23 team stations set up in the Biological Sciences Building. LSA Technology Services partnered with Academic Innovation, The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), Information and Technology Services (ITS) Teaching and… Read More »
Perry Samson, U-M atmospheric science professor, has developed a backchannel tool to encourage his students to ask questions during class. He says this new participation model has increased the overall level of inquiry in his classes and has allowed underrepresented student’s voices to be heard.
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »