Academic and Collaborative Technologies

Through faculty consultations, training, resource development and service responses, Academic & Collaborative Technologies (ACT) Support staff provide strategic and operational leadership on the innovative use of teaching technologies. Whether responding to a help desk request regarding U of T’s Quercus, delivering a workshop or webinar, or providing in-depth consultation, ACT Support assists faculty, graduate students and staff to enrich the learning experiences of students at U of T.

Highlights

COVID-19 Response

When the University moved to the online/remote learning environment in 2020 due to COVID-19, the ACT team accelerated resource production with tip sheets, videos and online guides to help ease the transition for faculty and students. New webinars and programming options were developed and delivered through the transition period and continued throughout the summer and fall terms.

For a complete list of support resources developed and webinars offered during this period, please see Appendix A (coming soon).

Expanding the Academic Toolbox

U of T’s Academic Toolbox provides integrated apps and educational technology tools for Quercus, our online learning management engine. Over the past year the ACT team has:

  • Worked with Divisions to integrate tools (like, the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Registrar Advisor app and the Canvas Blueprint app that allows sub-accounts (divisional ‘sub-domains’) to manage the default course templates in Quercus) that are specific to their needs.
  • Collaborated with the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) on LibApps that allow discipline-specific library resources (also known as research guides, or libguides) to automatically appear in a Quercus course.
  • Continued development work on new tools like the New Canvas Gradebook, New Quizzes and the U of T Quercus Administrator Toolkit that will allow administrators to manage enrollments via a batch process that serve the entire University.

Educational Development & Innovations

Through the Instructional Technology Innovation Fund (ITIF), ACT staff:

  • Worked with UTL to develop a set of self-moderated Library Literacy Skills Modules for incoming U of T students and high school students
  • Worked with Chemistry faculty members and the Mobile Application Development (MAD) Lab to develop an innovative new tool called ARChemy, a mobile Augmented Reality app designed to teach Chemistry with 3D visualizations

In all these instances the ACT Team worked with web developers, faculty, Divisional staff and educational developer professionals to ensure a smooth integration and to make certain that all supports are in place when the tools are made available to the University.

Resources, Consultations and Events

Throughout any given year, the ACT team produces resources and tip sheets for new or updated Quercus tools and best practices.

This past year, ACT team members:

  • Contributed to CTSI resources on active learning in classrooms and student engagement in the online learning environment and helped develop and deliver CTSI programming (see Appendix C for details – coming soon)
  • Wrote for the Quercus for Students Blog, contributing high-interest posts focusing on new apps, some basic trouble shooting, and tips on post-holiday prep for students
  • Continued to contribute and update resources to the Ed Tech Admin Support Resource & Development Hub, a support resource on Quercus best practices and a staging environment for designing and sharing Quercus training and support materials for Educational Technology Support staff

The ACT team also provided consultations (received through CTSI General Inquiries, Quercus Help, and individual staff emails) for U of T faculty and staff. These consultations are captured in Appendix G (coming soon).

Technical Operations and Support

As the University moved to a remote working and online learning environment, the ACT team worked to enhance online tools and features to improve this experience, including:

  • Microsoft MS Teams Meetings. Users can now schedule a MS Teams meeting from Quercus and provide invitation information on how to join to students
    • Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
    • Telephone local phone number. A local 416 teleconferencing number is available to join a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra session. Long-distance charges may apply if users are calling in from outside of the GTA
  • Large Scale Events. All users can create a session in webinar mode and allow 250+ attendees to join

The ACT team also provided on-call consultations during the first initial, high pressure weeks of working remotely. Through multiple live Q & A sessions held at various times during the day – including on a few weekends – the ACT Support team responded in real time to Quercus Help and Service Now email requests and followed up with multiple additional scheduled consultations throughout the transition period.

Academic Toolbox: New Tools

The U of T community can suggest a new tool for Quercus or see the list of tools currently under review by visiting ACT’s View Ideas. Tools that have been approved and are in the implementation and testing phase can be viewed on Projects.

Intersections

The ACT Support team’s work is deeply intertwined with the work of other CTSI teams, when it comes to programming, resources and communication, in particular. The UDL+Q series was a joint effort between ACT and the Teaching Assistants’ Training Program (TATP), with contributions from the Programming and Communications team, and the University of Toronto’s Accessibility Office. CTSI’s response to COVID-19 was reliant on ACT’s expertise and knowledge concerning online and remote teaching and using tools within Quercus. The long-established relationships and processes of working with each other internally within CTSI, and across the University with other units, allowed this shift to happen quickly and efficiently. The team’s connection to educational technology professionals and IT support on all three campuses made for a much smoother and more fruitful transition.

To connect the programming of offices and Divisions across the University, the ACT team worked with the office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education (VPIUE) to create the Global Calendar to Support Online/Remote Teaching. This events calendar provides registration information for webinars from all three campuses using EVE, their in-house developed events and participant tracking system.