DTLT Newsletter: Preparing for Spring

Fall 2014 has been a bit of a whirlwind for DTLT. We’ve moved into the Information and Technology Convergence Center (ITCC) and spent a lion’s share of the last twelve weeks wrapping our collective heads around this new teaching and learning space. We are very excited about what this building makes accessible to all the faculty.

As a group, we want to make it as clear as possible the various spaces, resources, and technology in DTLT and at the ITCC that are here for you to use. And to that end, we want to delineate what DTLT can offer  so that you might consider exploring these resources as part of your Spring courses.

  • Digital Knowledge CenterThis fall, DTLT opened the Digital Knowledge Center which provides peer tutoring for UMW students on digital projects and assignments. Tutors at the Center can consult on a range of topics and systems, including UMW Blogs/WordPress, Domain of One’s Own and Canvas. Read more.
  • Domain of One’s Own: This initiative continues to build momentum, providing any and all students, faculty and staff with their own domain and web hosting. Currently we are hosting 1204 sites across 1071 domains. More than 70 faculty and 900 students have explored this space already, and we are always looking to support more. Read more. 
  • UMW Blogs: UMW Blogs has undergone many infrastructural changes to help the system scale going forward. We began experimenting with Amazon Web Services as a way to utilize cloud infrastructure to support a system like UMW Blogs this summer and migrated to a virtual server before the start of the semester. Read more.
  • Canvas: In our fourth year now using Canvas as our learning management system, we’ve reached a usage rate of 90%. This fall we have 878 active courses, and many committee and group workspaces as well. Read more.
  • Academic Media ProductionThe opening of the ITCC ushers in new possibilities for students to explore media production in spaces such as the Multimedia Editing Lab & Vocal Booth, as well as the Advanced Media Production Studio. Those spaces will allow the production of a wide range of multimedia projects. Read more.
  • Incubator Classroom: The opening of the IT Convergence Center this Fall has brought a wealth of opportunity for faculty thinking about how they might use technology and innovative learning spaces as a part of their course. The Incubator Classroom located in ITCC 407 is a space to explore those possibilities alongside DTLT in an informal and low-stakes fashion. Read more.
  • Preparing for Spring 2015As the Fall 2014 comes to a close, and you begin to turn your attention to the spring semester, here’s some information you may find useful. Read more.