AI Initiatives

The Division of Information Technology’s AI site will help the UMBC community with information on using artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI (GenAI), to support UMBC’s Administrative, Instructional, and Research efforts. This site has been created to help employees advance their use of GenAI.

We recommend that our UMBC community begin by visiting GenAI Tools, a page that highlights free resources and provides guidance on using GenAI while safeguarding UMBC institutional data safely.

For staff seeking support, we encourage people to look at Administrative AI, as a starting point. Our goal is to save folks time, improve the quality of their work, and increase productivity. We showcase tools that DoIT provides to support these objectives.

We have launched myUMBC Answers, an AI-supported search bar. We are seeking partners to expand this tool. The key to leveraging myUMBC Answers is providing validated and accurate content, such as annual FAQs or handbooks.

Faculty, are encouraged to explore Instructional AI and Research AI. The UMBC Center for AI in the College of Engineering is an excellent resource for AI-related research and innovation.  Stay informed by following the center’s social media chnnels on LinkedIn, Bluesky, X, and Facebook.

Members of the UMBC community can subscribe to the UMBC AI Group to receive email about AI-related news and events. If you have news to share with the UMBC AI community or suggestions or comments on the site, please send them to umbc-ai@cs.umbc.edu.

 

AI News

Showing items tagged ultra-update. Show All

Password protection & automated test feedback come to Ultra

Enhancements to Collaborate, gradebook & announcement tools

Password protection and automated feedback are two assessment tools coming to Ultra in September. These valuable features enhance the instructor's ability to secure assessments and provide...

Posted: August 31, 2020, 1:28 PM

Content Editor Updates Enhance Announcements, Embedded Media

Ultra journals now included in course copy

The August Blackboard update introduces an enhanced text editor to the Ultra course announcement tool, allowing faculty to add and display more types of content, embed web links and media, and...

Posted: July 28, 2020, 11:43 AM

Basic Journals Arrive to Ultra Courses in June

Tweaks include assessment feedback, course copy improvements

Next month's Blackboard update brings a frequently requested tool to Ultra courses: the Journal! Journals are a personal space for students to communicate privately with instructors or to reflect...

Posted: May 29, 2020, 10:07 AM

Updated Ally indicators for Ultra courses in February update

Tweaks provided for self-enrolled groups & discussion boards

This month's Ultra update focuses on increasing the visibility of Ally in Ultra courses. Faculty who upload files directly to the Course Content area or within folders and learning modules will...

Posted: February 7, 2020, 12:32 PM

New group enhancements scheduled for December Ultra update

Ungraded assignments also coming this month

Managing large numbers of students and groups is an important tool in Blackboard. In the current version of Ultra, faculty had to create assignments and discussions before they could create and...

Posted: December 3, 2019, 11:26 AM