Page 5 - OIT Progress Report: 2023 Edition

active participants, fosters inclusivity by connecting to diverse learners anywhere, and enhances accessibility by identifying and removing traditional educational barriers. The following are the main avenues through which Academic Technology Services has helped advance the goals of the SEI:
Deliberately fostering academic technology relationships: OIT and faculty often take for granted an awareness of “what is possible” with technology for teaching. To better model and demonstrate the benefits of collaborative partnerships between faculty and academic technology directors, each member of the SEI cohort
has been directly coupled with their school’s Academic Technology Services Director (ATSD) as a partner in this initiative. Purposefully partnering faculty with their dedicated specialists offers an invaluable and ideal union of pedagogical wisdom with technological know-how, fostering an enriched learning environment with SMU’s technologies. These partnerships cultivate trust, providing faculty with reliable and accountable contact points for navigating digital change.
Elevating the use of SMU’s Canvas Learning Management System (LMS): Another critical SEI technology goal involves expanding and elevating faculty capabilities in Canvas by promoting technology-enabled student engagement in numerous ways. Canvas hosts
a broad array of powerful teaching tools for delivering interactive course content; such as quizzes, discussion boards, and multimedia, that activate student attention and promote more active and substantive participation. With features like Canvas messaging, the new syllabus management platform Simple Syllabus, and integrated Zoom video conferencing, students can connect with each other as well as with instructors, fostering a sense of community and connectivity within each Canvas virtual classroom. Helping SMU faculty better-integrate Canvas features keeps students consistently engaged, informed, and connected throughout their journeys on the Hilltop.
AcAdEmIc TEchnOlOGy
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