June features printer-friendly tests & new Courses page Language support for AI course tools, grading enhancements This June, Ultra users can look forward to updates that enhance user experience and functionality including a new language selector when generating content with the AI Course Design Assistant, printing capabilities for assessments, and an updated Courses landing page. Let's explore these updates and more.

Instructors can now select desired languages for generating course content using the new language selector in the AI Design Assistant. This new setting is available across all AI tools, allowing faculty who teach languages to generate test questions and rubrics (and more) in French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, German, Arabic, and a wide range of other languages. All AI tools are optional and the instructor is in full control of the settings with editing available to modify the output.

Image 1: Example of learning modules generated with Spanish set as the language
Image 1: Example of learning modules generated with Spanish set as the language

The Courses landing page is updated to remove the "carousel" approach for presenting courses by individual term. Instead, all users will find a term selector to use on its own or with other filters. Add text searches to further refine how the courses display on the page, but upcoming courses will only appear if you actually have courses scheduled in the future. You can even select "All terms" to see everything. Selections and filters are remembered automatically even after logging out or switching devices.

Image 2: Example of updated Courses landing page with new filter and search tools.
Image 2: Example of updated Courses landing page with new filter and search tools.

An exciting update to assessments allows instructors to print, supporting a variety of use cases including providing a paper test for accommodations or in-class testing if wifi fails. At this time, printing does not yet support question banks, answer keys, or mobile devices, but this is in development.
Image 3: Example of test in printer ready format.
Image 3: Example of test in printer ready format.

Assessment & Grading Enhancements
  • Instructors can add private grading notes after scores are entered. Grader notes are not visible to students, and will be archived with the course.
  • A new filter helps instructors focus on ungraded submissions by default, streamlining the grading process.
  • When editing a question, instructors can now access and edit the point value field with just two clicks. 
Student Assessment & Grading Improvements
  • A clear visual indicator for new grades helps students quickly see updates, while an adjustment in color for late submissions reduces anxiety.
  • Students can now return a true/false question to an unanswered state after choosing an answer. Students clear their choice by selecting the same option again. 
Announcements & Groups Improvements

  • Instructors can now post announcements as part of the drafting and editing processes. This one-click improvement makes the process of creating and posting announcements faster. 

  • Currently, at the end of the self-enrollment period, unassigned students are always distributed into groups. Instructors can now opt out of this behavior and manually add students to groups.

  • The list of students in groups is moved to a tab on the groups page rather than a peek panel. This tab includes tools for searching and sorting alphabetically. 

Faculty should see the latest updates in Ultra courses around June 6-7, 2024. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on June 11, 2024; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra. 

Connect with Instructional Technology
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Thumbnail-image: New to Ultra [decorative]
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The emails that were inadvertently quarantined earlier today have been restored to all accounts. 

If you have any questions or would like additional information about what occurred or any other part of the restoration process, please don’t hesitate to contact either me at damian@umbc.edu or Stacy Cahill at string1@umbc.edu. I would also like to thank the staff in DoIT who worked this afternoon to make sure every email was restored as quickly as possible and nothing was lost. 

Again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate everyone's patience as we restored the emails.


Damian Doyle

Deputy CIO and Senior Associate VP

DoIT

]]> The emails that were inadvertently quarantined earlier today have been restored to all accounts.  If you have any questions or would like additional information about what occurred or any other... https://dev.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/142244/guest@my.umbc.edu/c53bc3bd7330c364def39e16f707654c/api/pixel Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://dev.my.umbc.edu/groups/doit https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/original.JPG?1727453227 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/large.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/medium.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/small.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxsmall.png?1727453227 Division of Information Technology (DoIT) 0 0 false Wed, 29 May 2024 18:21:38 -0400 Email delivery issue today (May 29th) from 12-2pm Beginning at noon today, users may have noticed emails missing from their inboxes. While addressing another issue, a filter was applied that caused messages in many inboxes to be inadvertently quarantined. 

DoIT is in the process of restoring all emails to users' mailboxes as quickly as possible. 

Please note: New email is not impacted and is being delivered normally.

We are working with Google to expedite the restoration and we will send a follow up message when the missing emails are fully restored.

If you have any questions or would like additional information please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at damian@umbc.edu or Stacy Cahill, the Chief Information Security Officer, at string1@umbc.edu

We are sorry for the inconvenience and are working to ensure this does not happen in the future. 

Damian Doyle
Deputy CIO and Senior Associate VP
DoIT
]]> Beginning at noon today, users may have noticed emails missing from their inboxes. While addressing another issue, a filter was applied that caused messages in many inboxes to be inadvertently... https://dev.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/142242/guest@my.umbc.edu/8f47d01b29e6ec0781f1f51b22d2ac8f/api/pixel Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://dev.my.umbc.edu/groups/doit https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/original.JPG?1727453227 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/large.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/medium.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/small.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxsmall.png?1727453227 Division of Information Technology (DoIT) 6 0 false Wed, 29 May 2024 15:07:01 -0400 RT System Downtime - Tuesday, May 28 (Update - Postponed) To facilitate an upgrade to RT 5.0.5, there will be a minimal downtime tomorrow morning between 6:30 and 7 am. There aren’t any major changes in this release, and everything is anticipated to be fairly seamless in the upgrade. 

Update 5/28 - due to technical issues, the upgrade will be postponed. More information is coming soon! 
]]> To facilitate an upgrade to RT 5.0.5, there will be a minimal downtime tomorrow morning between 6:30 and 7 am. There aren’t any major changes in this release, and everything is anticipated to be... https://dev.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/142202/guest@my.umbc.edu/b528dcd9289da8ef330eadc20f06daac/api/pixel RT - Request Tracker https://dev.my.umbc.edu/groups/rt https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/xsmall.png?1343496195 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/original.png?1343496195 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/xxlarge.png?1343496195 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/xlarge.png?1343496195 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/large.png?1343496195 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/medium.png?1343496195 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/small.png?1343496195 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/xsmall.png?1343496195 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/434/608c52894a47a2e6e35b9c555500b1e8/xxsmall.png?1343496195 RT - Request Tracker 0 0 true Mon, 27 May 2024 22:27:36 -0400 Tue, 28 May 2024 07:03:06 -0400 New Voicethread launches May 27th for all UMBC users Enhanced commenting features and other changes

Starting May 27th all Voicethread users will experience the "new" Voicethread that includes enhanced features. These include:

  • One Conversation – A simpler-to-use conversation structure makes presentations much easier to build and use and conversations more natural and understandable to participants. 
  • Zoom & Pan – You can now zoom in and move around in an image during your comment, and everything you do will play back for your audience.
  • Jump Navigation – Open the new slide gallery and keep it open during your comment! This allows you to jump from slide 1 to slide 40 in a single click rather than flipping through them one by one. 
  • Bulk comment management options - You can delete any comment you created, and you can delete any comment no matter who recorded it from a VoiceThread that you own.

(To see the new commenting features in action, watch this video.)

Other new features include:

  • Audio descriptions of slides

  • Multiple closed caption tracks/languages for a single recording supported

  • Option to sort VoiceThreads by “most recently active”

  • Compact list of all VoiceThreads in the home page sidebar

  • Media sources included in the slide upload options inside an open VoiceThread

  • Ability to jump to another slide while commenting without having to flip through them sequentially

  • View assignment thumbnails in the course view

Users will also see some changes such as:

  • New version is fully accessible, so VT Universal is no longer necessary for screenreaders

  • Comment button moved to the left side of the page

  • Slide navigation buttons moved to the left side of the page

  • Increased visibility for closed captions

  • Comments timelines appear inside the comment window, not at the bottom of the thread

  • CC button moved to the bottom-right corner of the page

Connect with Instructional Technology
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Thumbnail-image: Voicethread logo [decorative]
]]> Starting May 27th all Voicethread users will experience the "new" Voicethread that includes enhanced features. These include: One Conversation – A simpler-to-use conversation structure makes... https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/142165 https://dev.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/142165/guest@my.umbc.edu/b568d8f6bf7a59841b4da44c99ad395e/api/pixel new-voicethread voicethread Instructional Technology https://dev.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703 Instructional Technology https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/xxlarge.jpg?1716484686 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/xlarge.jpg?1716484686 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/large.jpg?1716484686 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/medium.jpg?1716484686 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/small.jpg?1716484686 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/xsmall.jpg?1716484686 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/142/165/49ee70c2ff0f0396eb26adcc621bd025/xxsmall.jpg?1716484686 3 3 true Thu, 23 May 2024 14:10:42 -0400 Fri, 24 May 2024 18:06:43 -0400 Quarterly patching downtime - 5/23 & 6/1

As part of our ongoing commitment to security, the Unix Infrastructure group will be conducting its quarterly system patching on Thursday, May 23rd and Saturday, June 1st.  While many of the systems will be patched without any service disruption, there are some systems which require the downtime of key services.  The schedule below outlines which key services will be offline and for how long.

Thursday, 05/23/2024 between 5pm and 10pm (most systems will only be down for a short period during this time):

  • Access to Cyrus (legacy) email (accounts not migrated to UMBC Gmail)
    • All mail will be queued up and delivered after the server is patched
  • All HFS (afs) servers - gl.umbc.edu home directories will be offline
  • Between 9:00pm and 10pm only: Certain software licenses will be unavailable (autodesk, cadence, idl, schrodinger, xilinx, mathematica). 
  • Between 9:00pm and 10pm only: The web hosting environments (virthost) will be partially unavailable (pages will be available but any database calls will not work)
  • Between 5:00pm and 6:30pm only: LDAP-Master and Webadmin will be taken down for system maintenance.  During this time account creations and password changes will be unavailable.  Account authentication and logins will not be affected.
Saturday, 06/01/2024 between 7am and 9am (most systems will only be down for a short period during this time):
  • myUMBC lite page will be up resulting in reduced myUMBC functionality
  • wiki will be down for a short time for some pages


Please let us know if you have any concerns or questions.

Thanks!

Tim Champ

Assistant Director of Research and Enterprise Computing
]]> As part of our ongoing commitment to security, the Unix Infrastructure group will be conducting its quarterly system patching on Thursday, May 23rd and Saturday, June 1st.  While many of the... https://dev.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/142079/guest@my.umbc.edu/b4142f36412c796c3da1217789b17429/api/pixel Division of Information Technology (DoIT) https://dev.my.umbc.edu/groups/doit https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/original.JPG?1727453227 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xlarge.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/large.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/medium.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/small.png?1727453227 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xsmall.png?1727453227 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/021/d27760c5de12c74b73faec8d0e631acf/xxsmall.png?1727453227 Division of Information Technology (DoIT) 0 0 true Mon, 20 May 2024 09:52:48 -0400 Update - DocuSign Outage - 5/15
UPDATE - The DocuSign partial outage has been restored. If you are still having issues, please file a ticket at help.umbc.edu.

Previously - DocuSign is experiencing a partial outage today, 5/15. It seems to impact email delivery, as well as users are unable to see documents they know are waiting for them to sign but they do not get the Sign button from within DocuSign. 

I will update when we know more from DocuSign. https://status.docusign.com/incidents/xd25p09gbqm1
]]> UPDATE - The DocuSign partial outage has been restored. If you are still having issues, please file a ticket at help.umbc.edu. Previously - DocuSign is experiencing a partial outage today,... https://dev.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/142012/guest@my.umbc.edu/98ab676011eefc3ffddaf23096197860/api/pixel DocuSign https://dev.my.umbc.edu/groups/docusign https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/xsmall.png?1720464532 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/original.png?1720464532 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/xxlarge.png?1720464532 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/xlarge.png?1720464532 https://assets4-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/large.png?1720464532 https://assets2-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/medium.png?1720464532 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/small.png?1720464532 https://assets1-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/xsmall.png?1720464532 https://assets3-dev.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/319/63ea969223a3dc6eec7c5f3699d43f31/xxsmall.png?1720464532 DocuSign 0 0 true Wed, 15 May 2024 16:37:15 -0400 Wed, 15 May 2024 20:25:03 -0400 SP/SU2024 Instructional Technology Update

The UMBC Instructional Technology Update is provided by the Division of Information Technology for students, faculty and staff. If you have questions or need help, please consult the Blackboard Help FAQs or directly at www.umbc.edu/blackboard/help.  You can also contact the Technology Support Center at 410.455.3838 or submit an RT (Request Tracker) ticket via the myUMBC Help Menu or directly at my.umbc.edu/help.


HEADLINES

What’s New

Training & Professional Development (recording archive | view upcoming events)

In Case You Missed It: Recordings & Tips

Other DoIT & UMBC News

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Blackboard course shells for FA2024 were created on May 13, 2024 per our previous announcement to support faculty preparation for Ultra in advance of the fall semester. Ultra will be the default in Blackboard with nearly 70 percent of all UMBC courses using Ultra since spring 2024.

If faculty wish to “roll back” their Fall 2024 Ultra shells to Original, they can do so by RT ticket for this semester only; the last day we will support Blackboard Original is December 31, 2024. DoIT strongly recommends faculty request a roll back before the first day of classes to ensure sufficient time for course preparation. Please review the conditions for requesting a roll back.

Training & Support for Ultra

Plan your accessibility and Universal Design for Learning strategy before students begin working with course materials. Ally, an accessibility tool, is enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats, or attend a training session.

About Course Creation

Bb shells for FA2024 are available for all courses (designated as lecture, lab, field or discussion) listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), provided that there is an instructor of record listed. As new course sections and/or instructors are added to the SOC by Department Scheduling Coordinators, corresponding Bb shells are automatically generated overnight. 

Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard. NOTE: Courses should not be split after student grade data and engagement activity is recorded since it will be purged as part of the separation process.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

Connect with Instructional Technology

As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
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As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the digital learning environment and support accessibility, all media content must be hosted in Panopto rather than Blackboard as of May 23, 2024, starting with the summer term. Media content includes video, web conference recordings, audio clips, etc. Existing media should be migrated to Panopto as soon as possible, and new media can no longer be uploaded to Blackboard.

Blackboard is a useful system for course management and content delivery. However, it is not designed to perform as a media streaming service. DoIT introduced Panopto in 2018 to support video and media distribution following the discontinuation of TechSmith Relay. Media platforms like Panopto provide a better experience for faculty and students alike.
  • Optimize Media Streaming: Panopto and other media streaming platforms offer streaming capabilities that adjust to the bandwidth of each viewer, ensuring that all students, regardless of their internet speed, can access the content smoothly and without interruption.
  • Accessibility: Videos on streaming platforms provide more accessibility options including machine-generated captioning, adjustable playback speeds, notetaking, chapter breaks, searchable video, and transcripts.
  • Scalability: Media streaming platforms like Panopto can handle a wide range of large media files without impacting the Blackboard course quota. Video, for example, can be reused across multiple courses and terms or shared externally with non-UMBC viewers.
Video platforms, including Panopto, also offer tools for lecture capture, editing, quizzing, and student content creation for video assignments.

Options for Media Hosting

Instructional Technology offers extensive guides, training and support to faculty. Faculty can also request a consultation via RT ticket. 
  • Faculty and students have access to Panopto for uploading and sharing media content while affiliated with UMBC. 
  • Panopto can host a wide range of media content including video and audio.
  • Both Panopto and VoiceThread support media assignments and provide captioning.
  • Cloud storage is also available, but storage quotas should be considered before saving large video files. Additionally, cloud storage, like Blackboard, does not optimize the video for bandwidth. As such, Panopto is a better option for sharing media with students.
The shift towards using a dedicated media hosting platform reflects our commitment to providing the best possible tools and technologies for education at UMBC. By making this change, we ensure students have an experience with media that is accessible and reliable. 

Connect with Instructional Technology
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Thumbnail-image: Panopto logo [decorative]
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