NEW ETO STAFF MEMBER
Meet Inga Breede!
 Inga joins the EdTech Office as our new Senior Instructional Technologist, Content Production. She will be leading the team's media production efforts as well as supervising the Lecture Capture and Remote Editing Services. Inga is a media professional who has pursued a broad and deep range of experience throughout her career of over 15 years, spanning acting on screen and stage, producing content for broadcast, overseeing creative services for film marketing, and client-work in advertising, corporate communications and marketing.
In 2019, she began to explore the ways in which storytelling can transform into storyliving. Read more!
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ONLINE ASSESSMENTS
It's Assessment Season!
Thinking about academic integrity?
 Before tackling the technical side of assessment-y things, you might check out a new student-driven campaign designed to promote academic integrity. The materials are intended for sharing directly to students (e.g. via your Quercus course or during a discussion). The #LearnWithIntegrity campaign has two main messages:
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Providing Help and Resources, which encourages students to ask for help and make use of available resources when they aren’t sure of academic integrity expectations.
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What is Academic Integrity? Here, examples of behaviours that could lead to an academic offense are illustrated in order to encourage students to think more about academic integrity in the online environment.
You can download the campaign materials from the project's OneDrive folder and review materials as needed. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Innovation Hub (innovationhub@utoronto.ca). Our Faculty’s Academic Integrity Office (academic.integrity@ecf.utoronto.ca) can also support your efforts. For even more ideas, see the EdTech Office's guide to promoting Academic Integrity. |
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How can instructors prepare?
We have two big things instructors can do. First, schedule an assessment review (30-minute session). This is especially relevant for those running off-hours (after 5 pm, weekend or even extended assessments where students might be interacting with the assessment during hours of limited support). After you've built your assessment, we walk through it with you to ensure that you've configured everything optimally and that you're comfortable with commonly implemented live changes (e.g. extending writing time).
Second, develop (and communicate!) a contingency plan. This guide details some elements you might communicate to students in advance of an assessment, should they run into technical issues during the assessment. This could range from alternate mechanisms to submit the assessment (e.g. email) to how to communicate the issue to you (do they need to provide some proof of the issue? What would that look like?). When delivering online assessment, it’s important to take advantage of before the assessment practices (like ensuring that your files have been shared securely) that can make the assessment go as smoothly as possible. It’s equally important to have a backup plan in case things don’t work out as anticipated during the assessment.
How can students prepare?
We've authored a student facing guide, "Am I ready for my online assessment?" that extensively covers what students can do to prepare for an online assessment. If you are taking an online assessment (test, quiz, exam) in Quercus, there are some technical strategies you can take advantage of to make the assessment-taking process go as smoothly as possible. Many of these tips involve preparation and your best strategy is to spend some time well before the scheduled assessment to ensure you're prepared to take the assessment. If you're an instructor reading this newsletter, consider sharing this guide in your Quercus course. |
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Low Effort, Big Impact Tips:
Share a Quercus page by sending to colleagues!
Don't rebuild! As an instructor, you can use the 'send to' feature to share individual pages in your course with other instructors at your institution. When you share a page, any assets within that page (images, files, etc.) will be included in the shared file. If you've seen a great homepage or layout, ask them to send you a copy and you can use it within your own course. You can also copy an individual page into another course.
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EDTECH WORKSHOP 2021
Review the EdTech Workshop 2021 sessions!
While we are still collecting session information from our pretty awesome group of speakers, you can see where we are at on the EdTech Workshop 2021: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Session overview. |
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We're about to spice up our Twitter account (above are some of our recently featured speakers), so if you'd like the most up to date info about the EdTech Workshop 2021's new tricks, follow us @fase_eto! |
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Sign up for Multi-factor Authentication!
 The FASE IT Office has identified configuring your multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your UTOR account as a major cybersecurity initiative, especially since we are working from home. For instructions on how to set this up, visit the Systems Access, eTokens & UTORMFA page on the Engineering Hub.
What is Multi-Factor Authentication? Verifying your identity using a second factor (like your mobile device) prevents anyone but you from accessing your accounts, even if they know your password.
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EDTECH OFFICE BLOG
Recent blog posts
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 Building ECE241 for Online Learning
By Kate | March 23, 2021
You make the content, we do the building! Let's explore how the ETO provided technical support to create the Quercus course for ECE241 - Digital Systems. |
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 Six Key Takeaways from the ETRAC Survey
By Anna | March 12, 2021
Explore 6 Key Takeaways from the Educause Technology Research in the Academic Community (ETRAC) U of T Student Survey. |
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 Managing Difficult Conversations Online
By Priscilla | February 23, 2021
Discussing difficult subjects is challenging in both face-to-face and online/remote teaching contexts, but when done well, can result in a meaningful learning experience. |
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 Microsoft O365 for Teaching and Learning
By Kate | February 23, 2021
University of Toronto's Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) has a 5-part webinar series on using Office 365 for teaching and learning online. |
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TRAINING AND SUPPORT
This week's top EdTech questions
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How can I assign multiple versions of a quiz to different groups of students? There are several reasons why you may want to assign multiple versions of a quiz to different groups of students. For example, you may want to increase academic integrity, assign a different quiz to a group of students in a specific time zone, or provide an academic accommodation. Please note that Quercus Quizzes cannot be assigned to groups, but can be assigned to sections. This guide shows you how to create groups, clone them into sections and assign these specific sections to your quiz.
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How do I get support to build assessment accommodations? When building an assessment (Quizzes or Assignments) in Quercus, you will sometimes get requests for accommodations for specific students (or groups of students). Often, this takes the form of extended writing periods, alternate submission types, or other variances to the assessment as originally designed. Accommodated Testing Services (ATS) coordinates quiz, term test, final exam, and online assessment accommodations for St. George Campus students with documented disabilities who are registered with Accessibility Services. The ATS supports both on-site assessment accommodations and online assessment accommodations. The ATS has been granted access to input accommodations into Quercus (with written permission of the instructor). This support includes extending times for individual students. Note that the assessment needs to be created and published first.
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FASE EDTECH OFFICE SERVICES
How else can the EdTech Office help?
Check out our service catalogue to get started:
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Book a consultation - We're happy to meet with you to discuss any element of your course (related to technology, of course!). We can help with your Quercus course, planning your online assessments, setting up your home recording station and more!
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Request a new Quercus course - We can create courses for both academic and administrative purposes (thought you might also consider a Microsoft Team). If you're running a program, committee, group (especially one that has students), this might be a great hub for your work.
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Request guest Quercus Accounts - These can be used to provide access to external guests or to be used in testing.
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Participate in the Remote Editing Process - We've designed a remote editing process that you allows the Education Technology Office to provide editing services for your self-captured video content. This program will only be offered during the Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 terms.
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Looking for 1-1 support? We're happy to schedule individual (or teaching team) consultation(s) to review your course and current stage of design. You can also email us to get started! |
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