We hope you’re all relaxing and enjoying the holiday season! To end the year, we wanted to share that the 2018-2019 ITS Annual Report 
is available for you to review. Here is a quote from the report on a big ITS project (ServiceNow) that involved all of campus from J. Michael Barker, Interim Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer:
We showed, together, an ability to lead, to listen, to act, to deliver, to see uncertainty as an opportunity to learn, to experiment and adjust according to results, and to take on organizational change with optimism.
Keep reading to learn about some Teaching & Learning highlights from the past year. You are welcome to view the full 2018-2019 ITS Annual Report !
Faculty Feedback
Here are a couple quotes included in the report from faculty on receiving support on learning technologies.
Jeannie Loeb , Director of Undergraduate Students and Teaching Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience:
I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful and amazing ITS is in supporting instruction…I can’t imagine teaching without them.
Heather Knorr , Teaching Assistant Professor of Romance Languages:
I have received extensive support for Sakai from Morgon Haskell, Marla Sullivan and Thao Nghi Tu. They are fabulous and always support me with any questions I have…I appreciate all they do and how knowledgeable, thorough and fast to reply they are.
By the Numbers
Teaching & Learning stats:
- Virtual Lab hours usage: 147,372
- Virtual Lab Sessions: 137,340
- Polls created on Poll Everywhere: 14,497
- VoiceThreads created: up 60% from previous year
- Sakai course sites created: 7,559
- Viewers of videos hosted on Warpwire: 51,843
- Pages printed using CCI printers: 6,617,881
Expanding Availability of UNC Check-In App
When I contact students about missing [class], they’ve been surprised that I’d do so given the size our class. They are genuinely touched that the instructor would reach out to them individually to check on them.
This is what Viji Sathy, Teaching Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, shared in regards to the attendance checking app called the UNC Check-in App . Students download the app and check into class when they are by the bluetooth beacon in the classroom. Find out what enhancements we anticipate in the future!
10-Year Partnership with the CFE
We have worked closely with the Center for Faculty Excellence “over the past decade to innovate and experiment with new technology-supported approaches in the classroom.” With this partnership, we are better able to provide instructional support as the “CFE helps provide a goals-focused context for the use of ITS-supported technologies,” said Bob Henshaw, liaison between our two teams. “When instructors have easy access to all teaching options, students stand to benefit the most.” View the article to learn about our ongoing projects!
Modernizing the Classrooms
Announced by Provost Robert Blouin back in February, the Flexible Learning Spaces Initiative will modernize 50 general-purpose classrooms , over the next five years. A vital part of this initiative is the Classroom Hotline staff, who serve on the planning and implementation teams to ensure the updates happen quickly and are based on input from campus stakeholders.
There are several other stories on our Teaching & Learning team and all of Information Technology Services. We invite you to check out the full report !
We wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday season. See you in 2020!