Event Highlights:

• Interactive Discussions: Engage with the Science of Teaching and Learning Team about your research interests, explore potential collaborations, and learn how we can support your teaching and learning projects.
• Technology Demonstrations: Discover innovative tools such as virtual reality, eye-tracking, facial expression analysis, and more.
• Networking Opportunities: Connect with fellow educators and researchers who are passionate about advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning.
• Light Refreshments: Enjoy coffee, tea, and cookies while you mingle and explore the space.

Location: Lower Level, 65 Dafoe Road

Don’t miss this opportunity to begin—or continue—your journey with a dynamic and forward-thinking teaching and learning research community. We look forward to seeing you there!

You are encouraged to attend one of four 90-minute town halls to share your views. Your participation is important because your feedback and suggestions will inform the committee’s report and recommendations on the future of technology, teaching and learning at our university.

The town halls will be specifically seeking answers to the following questions:

• Question one: What is your experience with online (DE), hybrid, or blended forms of course delivery modes at UM and what have the impacts been for your teaching, research and service?
• Question two: What are your concerns about any future teaching or learning using online, blended, distance and hybrid modes of delivery?
• Question three: On what criteria and through what process should decisions about mode of delivery be made at UM?
• Question four: If you were to teach using one of these delivery modes, what supports would you want to see in place?

Town hall schedule

Fort Garry

Thursday, November 17, 2022
2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
EITC E3 262 (Senate Chambers)
Engineering and Information Technology Complex
75 Chancellors Cir, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6

Monday, November 21, 2022
1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
EITC E3 262 (Senate Chambers)
Engineering and Information Technology Complex
75 Chancellors Cir, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6

Bannatyne

Friday, November 25, 2022
12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Basic Medical Sciences Building, Theatre C
745 Bannatyne Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W2

Online

Tuesday, November 22, 2022
5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Zoom – please register here for this session

If you are unable to attend a town hall, responses to the questions can be submitted to digital.teach@umanitoba.ca by November 25, 2022.

Mark Meagher, educational developer for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and sessional instructor in the Faculty of Architecture, has participated in helping renovate older classrooms and upgrading their capabilities to fit a more modern way of learning. Many of the upgrades have been focused on improving the functionality of the classroom and making digital content more accessible and useful. 

“I think a lot of these changes are enabling new ways for students to engage with learning and providing new opportunities for instructors,” Meagher says.

Informing many of the classroom renovations has been the concept of “blended learning” – an educational approach combining digital content and face-to-face teaching, allowing students to engage with the material in and outside of the classroom. To make digital content more accessible within the classroom, CATL has partnered with IST and Architectural and Engineering Services to support upgrades to classroom audio and video capabilities, and expanded student access to power outlets for their devices. 

“These are simple things, but they do make a big difference in terms of being able to use digital materials in teaching.” Meagher says.

The task of modernizing older classrooms has been a catalyst for rethinking the way the rooms should be used, Meagher says, taking classrooms that may have been designed for a lecture-based approach and looking at how the classroom can be used in other ways. This can include introducing more active learning and small group activities, increasing student engagement, and providing more opportunities for participation and learning than a lecture format.

“Every time that there is a classroom renovation, there is input from faculty in the department,” Meagher says. “There’s always an effort that’s made to understand how faculty are teaching in that space, what is/isn’t working currently, what the needs are. We’ve seen needs change a lot over the last few years. There was a lot of change happening pre-pandemic and then during and since the return to face-to-face teaching there’s been real acceleration of change, in terms of how people are teaching, how faculty are thinking about student engagement and using technology in the work that they do, and so classrooms are having to adapt to those needs.”

Although the pandemic-informed period of remote teaching and learning has been difficult for many faculty and students, Meagher says many students have also benefitted from the flexibility of remote learning and the ability to participate from more than one location and learn in more than one format.

“Just the way that technology and resources were used were accelerated during the pandemic,” Meagher says. “For example, the use of UM Learn as a platform for distributing information to students, course information, readings and other course materials. There was a huge increase in the uptake of these tools, which I expect will continue post-pandemic.”

Josiane Kroll, learning technologies trainer at CATL, says the upgrades and renovations made by the UM have had a profound impact on her classroom, her students and her approach to teaching.

“The adoption of technology in the classroom has changed the way that I teach, and how students learn. We are connected 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, through online platforms,” Kroll says. “Students feel more engaged in the class when I use technologies to explain the content and collect feedback. I use several technologies to teach my classes and the result is students are more connected, engaged, and motivated to learn.”

Computer science student and teaching assistant Bhautik Sojitra says the upgraded software technology has increased efficiency in the classroom for both students and teachers and made communication and discovery simpler and easier.

“Technologies such as Crowdmark and UM Learn, which support online submissions of assignments and quizzes, have reduced the amount of work needed for both students and graders,” Sojitra says. “Students can easily communicate with professors and classmates via Piazza and Discussion boards (UM Learn) and discover answers without even asking questions.”

While the period of remote learning and teaching may be over, Meagher says the modernized classrooms and upgraded technology allows teachers to have the best of both worlds, integrating the most effective components of both formats of teaching.

“A lot of what we’ll be working on [at CATL] is looking at how to keep what was successful in remote teaching and learning and combining that with the best of what we know already works in the classroom,” Meagher says.

For instructors who have questions about recent classroom improvements or who are looking for direction on how to integrate these new technologies and methods of teaching into their own classrooms, there will be a range of upcoming workshops available to faculty members, covering a range of topics such as ‘blended teaching and learning’, ‘the flipped classroom’, assessment and student engagement, active learning focused on the classroom environment and the use of technology in the classroom environment.

“Our focus now is on supporting faculty in our return to the classroom,” says Meagher. “We’ll be looking at a whole range of workshops that promote pedagogical methods and technologies that support that return.”

Visit The Centre’s workshop page to check out learning technologies workshops

New Webex app launches – make sure to update before the first day of class

Beginning May 2, 2022, the Webex Meetings app will be replaced by the new Webex app. The new Webex app allows you to continue attending or hosting Webex meetings, plus enjoy other features like chat and customizable layouts. The Webex app delivers the best continuous collaboration experience across meetings, messaging, calling, polling, Q&A and webinars.

Please make sure that after May 2, you access Webex before the first day of class. Updating to the new Webex app can take 5 to 10 minutes or longer depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Check out our guide to learn more about the new Webex app and review how you can join or host meetings.

Need help?

For more personalized help, you can book a one-on-one ask an expert session or if you have any problems with your Webex update or iClicker improvement, reach out to the Service Desk at 204-474-8600, or email servicedesk@umanitoba.ca.

It will help you:

• create and participate in more accessible videos through its captioning and transcription capabilities
• split out into individual teams and keep engaged with video quizzes and post interactive comments
• create and share quality videos without advertising interruptions
• protect your intellectual property

Yuja Video is available as a menu option under the “Integrations” navigation heading in UM Learn.

Get started

Check out this YuJa introductory video to find out everything Yuja Video can do and how to get started.

YuJa Video support

Help accessing:  Our IST Service Desk is here to help you with any problems you may have accessing YuJa Video with your UM net ID and using YuJa Video through UM Learn.

Technical help: The team at YuJa are the experts in using YuJa Video so they will help you with any technical problems you face using the platform.

If you have any questions about using YuJa Video, please contact YuJa Inc. directly.

The fourth-year students will use Planmeca Emerald intraoral scanners to create 3D models of patients’ teeth and gums. This process eliminates the need for creating the more time-consuming, traditional alginate impressions.

Instead, the students will use a handheld wand connected to a computer to scan the teeth and gums of a patient. A computer program then creates a 3D model of the mouth that will be used by a lab to develop a crown.

Dr. Charlene Solomon, assistant professor, division head prosthodontics, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, said there are plenty of benefits to using intraoral scanners including patient comfort.

With intraoral scanning, the alginate used to make the traditional impression does not need to be placed in patients’ mouths, which, she said, can cause some people to gag.

Another advantage is that if a student needs to implement any changes to a preparation, the patient isn’t required to return to the clinic for another appointment. Solomon said that because they have an immediate digital image of their preparation, the student can easily make corrections at the chairside and immediately rescan the preparation.

“Digital dentistry has really revolutionized how we do things and it needs to be incorporated into the curriculum,” Solomon said. “Students thrive on this. The young people love digital technology. They get excited when they use scanners, and that translates to patients getting excited about the process.”

Fourth-year student Derek Oryniak is one of the learners looking forward to gaining clinical experience with the state-of-the-art intraoral scanners.

“Our hope is that learning these techniques in school under the supervision of expert instructors will help us gain insight into these techniques and their appropriate application,” Oryniak said. “Having this option available for patients will provide them additional choices and hopefully enhance their experience.”

Dr. Rene Chu, assistant professor, department of restorative dentistry, and digital dentistry advisor, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, said that the college has used intraoral scanners in the past for training students before they enter the clinic. While he said they were good for learning, the technology has advanced in the past five years to where they can use the new scanners in the clinic because they are much faster.

“All of dentistry is moving towards greater and greater inclusion of digital technologies,” Chu said. “For the school to stay up to date and continue to be a leader in dentistry we have to incorporate these technologies, so our students have access to it. Upon graduation, many of the students will work in environments with access to advanced digital dentistry and we are happy to provide the foundational training for their future successes.”

The college purchased three intraoral scanners as part of the Dr. Gerald Niznick Advancement of Implant Medicine fund to introduce digital dentistry into the college’s dental clinics.

“As remote learning during the pandemic continues, we know that more data and reliable service are still important for our students,” says Laurie Schnarr, Vice-Provost (Students). “That’s why we’ve extended our partnership with Bell MTS and are once again providing students with affordable Mobile Internet service, including reduced cost on select Mobile Internet devices and bonus data on select plans.”

From now until February 28, all UM undergrad and graduate students will be eligible to receive 10GB of bonus data on a flex Data Mobile Internet plan at no extra cost. As part of the discounted offer, students are also eligible to purchase select Mobile Internet devices at a reduced rate.

To sign up for these Mobile Internet offers, students must visit one of the six following Bell MTS locations and show their UM student card:

• St. Vital Shopping Centre, 1225 St. Mary’s Rd, Winnipeg, MB
• 2795 Pembina Hwy, Winnipeg, MB
• 481 River Ave, Winnipeg, MB
• CF Polo Park, 1485 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB
• Otineka Mall, Hwy 10 N, Opaskwayak, MB
• 50 Selkirk Ave, Thompson, MB

More than 150 middle-and-high school learners met with climate researchers on March 5 for Arctic Science Day. Students learned how new knowledge is developed from working in Arctic conditions, and how the learning process can be a lot like playing video games.

Arctic Science Day is a partnership between FortWhyte Alive and the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba. It connects students from grades 6-12 with climate scientists involved in various forms of environmental research, from physics to chemistry to playing with video game joysticks.

But first, the kids had to learn the basics.

Over 100 grade 6-8 students from three schools learned about the challenges of oil spill clean-up in the Arctic. After PhD candidates introduced students to the interactions between freshwater and saltwater in the Arctic Ocean, students got engaged in an oil-spill response workshop.

Next, Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr. Michelle McCrystall initiated the youth with climate models with a computer simulation. “Climate modelling is the process which aims to allow us to further understand important interactions in the climate system and to project these in to the future to predict potential changes in Earth’s climate,” she says.

“The predictions are based on a number of factors such as future energy sources, population size, projected socio-economic growth and land use change of varying degrees to give a range of possible future climate scenarios,” Dr. McCrystall adds.

More than 60 high school students from 15 schools spent the day visiting research stations on FortWhyte’s Lake Cargill, learning about sunlight reflection and absorption through sea ice, remote sensing of ice thickness, and how to take ice core samples.

Students also learned how to age a narwhal by counting the growth lines on its tusk, and about technology used in marine mammal research. Other topics included impacts of ocean acidification and contaminants like methylmercury.

Research Associate Maddie Harasyn showed how drone piloting is part of collecting climate data through remote sensing. Harasyn operates a drone like a real-life video game to collect land surface data.

“The students were really interested in the technology, and how cool and exciting drones are. And then they were even more excited to learn about how scientists apply the data to mapping vegetation or finding caribou in the forest,” Harasyn says.

Maddie Harasyn showing the sensors on a drone used in Arctic research

It’s not only drone pilots like Harasyn who get to operate joysticks for science. High-scoring gamers couldn’t help but hear PhD candidate Lisa Matthes compare the underwater navigation methods of her research to playing a video game.

“When we visit the North for field measurements, we no longer only drill small ice holes for single measurements. We want to study larger scales to understand what is happening to the Arctic sea ice under a climate change scenario. To do so we use underwater drones, called remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, that are equipped with large sensor arrays and can be driven below the ice for hundreds of meters. ROVs are connected through a long tether to a computer and a joystick, sitting in a tent on top of the ice,” Matthes explains.

“My job as a researcher is now to play a three-dimensional underwater video game by driving a very expensive ROV along sampling transects without bumping into ice chunks or getting off-course.”

Students left 2020’s Arctic Science Day with a sense of some of the career opportunities in Arctic science – and not just the ones related to gaming.  In the words of some inspired high school students:

“I learned how many different branches of science are present in Arctic research –a wide variety of careers.”

“Environmental science must be studied from different angles – biology, chemistry, physics – to gain a full understanding.”

“I realized that Arctic research is going to be forever on-going and with the research we are doing today, we can use it to determine how we should be acting or supporting actions around climate change.”

As Steve Jobs put it, “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”

As a student in the Faculty of Arts you are gaining many marketable skills from your degree. If you are interested in both the liberal arts and technology, keep reading to learn about four tech industry occupations filled by Arts graduates.

1. Senior Recruiter – Apple Inc.
   When scrolling through Linkedin and viewing the profiles of people who are employed by Apple, you can see multiple Linkedin members who have earned a Bachelor of Arts, including a Senior Recruiter who majored in Economics.

Learning to code can boost your resume and develop your skills.

2. Technical Writer – Google LLC.
   Google’s online Careers page shows that they also hire Bachelor of Arts graduates with a major in English for the position of Technical Writer. Candidates need to have some knowledge of coding but, it is the English major that is the primary focus.

3. Corporate Affairs Manager – Microsoft Corp.
   Microsoft’s online job postings show that they employ Bachelor of Arts graduates with majors in Economics and Political Studies as Corporate Affairs Managers. These individuals are responsible for creation and management of Microsoft’s Constituency Relations Program working with civic associations and advocacy organizations, with the purpose of supporting underrepresented communities.

4. Language Manager – Google LLC.
   Google’s online career page shows that they hire people with Masters Degrees in Linguistics as Language Managers. One aspect of this position is to develop innovative terminology for features and products that Google is developing.

Hopefully these occupations caught your attention because these jobs are just a sliver of what is out there. Here are three easy ways to learn more about jobs in the tech industry for B.A. graduates:

1. Use Linkedin to view employees who are employed by tech firms. Take note of their education and experiences to get insight into how they developed the necessary competencies to secure that job.
2. Look at job postings for tech companies and scan the knowledge, skills and attributes the organizations are looking for.
3. Check out Career Services’ online job search resources – or attend a Job Search or Linkedin workshop. Register on careerCONNECT to attend workshops.

Think critically about your coursework in Arts and the skills you are developing that apply to jobs within the tech industry. Enhance your classroom learning by getting relevant part-time or summer work, and if available, apply to the Faculty of Arts co-op education program. Joining a student club on campus is another great way to gain experience. Volunteering on campus or in the community can also help you create professional connections and give you a low-risk taste of an occupation you are considering. 

Take time to reflect on your experiences both inside and outside the classroom and what you have learned. Participating in experiential opportunities will not only help you make informed decisions, you will also develop the skills employers are looking for.

If you need help with career planning, exploring your career options or developing a plan to reach your goals, visit Career Services at 474 UMSU University Centre and speak with a Career Consultant. For help in planning a course of study congruent with your goals, visit the Arts Academic Advisors at 134 Fletcher Argue Building.

That’s when the university’s website was last redesigned. Technology and the way we interact online has progressed considerably since then.

In today’s world where everything is online, the university’s website is our most important tool for communicating with students, faculty, alumni, donors and our broader community. A platform built in 2010 wasn’t built to meet the changing needs of our audience.

Today, that’s about to change.

DEFINING OUR DIGITAL FUTURE

In fall of 2017, a working group met to discuss their vision for a new umanitoba.ca – a website that would not only bring us up to speed and continually evolve, but also establish UM as a leader in accessibility and digital communication.

Led by project sponsor John Kearsey, Vice-President (External) and project executives Lori Yarchuk, Associate Vice-President, Marketing Communications and Mario Lebar, Chief Information Officer, this cross-functional team included representation from Faculty of Arts (Greg Bak), Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (Mark Torchia), Human Resources (Darlene Smith), Indigenous Engagement (Christine Cyr, Ruth Shead), IST (Adam Gerhard), Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management (Doug Brown), Libraries (Lisa O’Hara), Marketing Communications Office (Paul Lacap), Rady Faculty of Health Sciences (Reg Urbanowski), Research and International (Jay Doering), Faculty of Science (Ben Li), Student Affairs (Jeff Adams), UMGSA (Carl Neumann, Ehsan Tahmasebian), and UMSU (Owen Black , Kyra Fanning, as of May 1, 2019).

Over the last year, more than 1,000 prospective and current students, as well as staff and faculty members, participated in workshops to explore possible website features, information architecture, wireframes, intranet and content lifecycle. Close to 700 provided further feedback through extensive online testing.

Indigenous stakeholders from across campus, as well as donors and alumni, also played a key role in discussions on discovery, design and development.

THE CHANGES YOU’LL SEE

A clear picture of our digital future began to emerge.

Our UM community told us that our new website needed to be:

• User-centred, with improved navigation and search
• Mobile-friendly
• An accessible experience
• Visually appealing with a common look and feel
• Easy to update for content creators
• Improved performance management and measurement capabilities

To deliver on all our priorities, the university partnered with Domain7, a digital design firm with extensive experience working in the higher education sector.

We also adopted a new content management system, Drupal, and will be parting ways with our current, outdated, platform RedDot. Drupal is popular in the higher education sector, widely used across the U15 and at top colleges in the U.S. It works with any modern browser, and allows authors to easily update content and configure their sites with additional functionality to meet specific requirements.

Drupal is also designed to support accessibility standards WCAG 2.0 and ATAG 2.0. Also, accessibility standards will be included in content guidelines to ensure everyone keeps accessibility top of mind when creating web content.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

August 8, 2019 is the start of our new digital journey together. Today, the university launches phase one of the new site with top-level webpages aimed at guiding students, faculty and staff through the new academic year beginning this fall.

The remaining webpages will continue to migrate to the new site in stages, with faculty and department content moving over within the next 18 months.

“Congratulations to the Next Generation Web Experience board and project team, and to all of our community members who have been instrumental in this digital transformation,” says Kearsey. “The results of your efforts are outstanding, greatly improving our website for the benefit of our entire community.”

As with any exciting new venture, umanitoba.ca is a work in progress and will be updated continually with improvements based on feedback from our community.

Join us, as we welcome and embrace this new digital journey together.

We want to know what you think – please leave your first impressions of our new website in the comments below.

Frequently asked questions:

WHAT IS THE TRANSITION PROCESS FOR THE NEW WEBSITE?

The NGWE project contains five phases. We are currently in phase 3.

Our approach has been to focus on the university’s strategic priorities, transitioning to the new website in a gradual staged approach.

On Thursday, August 8 we will reveal the first phase of the new site, reflecting a select number of top level pages.

Following this initial launch we will gradually migrate content in stages. Faculty and department web content will move to the new website over the next 18 months.

As we transition, RedDot and Drupal will run in tandem.

Following is a tentative release schedule with Release 1 being migrated in the fall of 2019. This is a draft schedule. The project team will work with each unit to refine the release migration plan.

DOES THE NGWE PROJECT INCLUDE INTRANET?

Much of the content currently published on umanitoba.ca is for an internal audience. To better meet the needs of all of our audiences, an Intranet solution is being explored as an initiative in parallel to the umanitoba.ca website.

HOW IS CONTENT FOR THE NEW WEBSITE BEING CREATED AND/OR MIGRATED?

The process for content creation and migration includes the NGWE project team, the Marketing Communications Office (MCO), Information Services and Technology (IST), our campus partners and –– for the Initial Site –– our partner vendor Domain7. After Initial Site launch, and for the duration of the site migration, content creators and quality assurance experts on a newly formed NGWE Site Migration team will be supporting new content creation and migration.

All content created for the website during the NGWE project will be reviewed within the Marketing Communications Office (MCO) and by the respective faculties and units before publication.

IF I’M A CONTENT CREATOR, HOW DOES THIS IMPACT MY WORK?

The new content management system, Drupal, is easy to use. The transition from Reddot to Drupal will simplify your web content updates and also make is easier for our students and researchers to access information. We ask for you to be patient and keep an open mind on how we can use these tools to best support learning and research as we develop the new content together.

WILL TRAINING BE PROVIDED?

Yes. The NGWE project team is currently developing a training strategy and plan.

WHO DO I ASK TO MAKE A CONTENT UPDATE?

Feel free to reach out to your contact in the Marketing Communications Office or the site migration team.

WHAT ABOUT TEMPLATES?

The new website is being built using a Design System that includes a large Component Library and guidelines around those components. There will be an ability for units to create pages that align with their specific content needs and priorities.

THE NEW WEBSITE IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE IMPROVED SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY BUT THE SEARCH ISN’T WORKING WELL. WHY ISN’T SEARCH IMPROVED?

The search functionality is currently based on Google Search tools which are continually crawling through the internet to find new content. A copy of this content is then saved and used for Search. It often takes a couple weeks for new content to be incorporated into search tools.

WHERE DID PEOPLE SEARCH AND RESEARCH EXPERTS SEARCH GO? WHY IS IT NO LONGER ON THE HEADER?

People Search and Research Experts Search has been moved to the Footer of the main page. This tool has been moved making it still accessible to those who need it while minimizing use by those accessing it to solicit staff and students.

HOW AM I SUPPORTED?

Questions, or Feedback: Connect with the project team through NGWE [at] umanitoba [dot] ca

Technical Issues with the Website: for example, error 404 page not found? Please contact the IST Service Desk to report the issue.