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, this page will highlight what free resources are available to use and what options exist to use GenAI while safeguarding UMBC institutional data safely.

For staff providing support, we encourage people to look at Administrative AI, as a starting point. Our goal is to save folks time and improve the quality of their work, thus increasing productivity. We highlight some tools that DoIT is providing for support.

Additionally, we have launched an AI-supported search bar called myUMBC Answers.  We are seeking partners to work with DoIT to expand myUMBC Answers. The key to your office leveraging myUMBC Answers is providing validated and accurate content, such as FAQs or a handbook produced annually.

For faculty, we encourage you to also explore instructional AI and research AI. An excellent resource in the College of Engineering is the UMBC Center for AI.  You can follow news about the UMBC Center for AI on social media through its sites 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 blackboard. Show All

Reminder: Bb Courses Scheduled for Retirement from Server

AY14-15 & AY15-16 courses to be removed in late January 2020

As previously announced, Blackboard courses from AY14-15 and AY15-16 will be retired from our active production site by the end of January 2020.  The Blackboard system’s overall performance and...

Posted: October 4, 2019, 9:36 AM

Partial points coming to test questions to Ultra in October

Bulk download of student submissions also available

Calculating the grade on an Ultra tests becomes more flexible in the October update when the partial points feature is introduced. When creating a question in an assessment, instructors can enter...

Posted: October 2, 2019, 2:43 PM

Combining Machine and Human Intelligences for Interventions

Bb Predict and FYIs Inform Behavioral Nudges

Over the past three full semester terms, UMBC has implemented a predictive analytics pilot “nudge” campaign using Blackboard (Bb) Predict. Beginning in the Spring 2018 term, we selected high...

Posted: September 25, 2019, 3:11 PM

Self-Enrolled Groups Introduced to Ultra in September

Needs grading filter also available to Ultra gradebook

Group management is an invaluable resource in a Blackboard course, especially one with large enrollments. UMBC is closely monitoring the evolution of this important tool in Ultra as we continue...

Posted: September 4, 2019, 2:10 PM

Free Webinars from the Blackboard Innovative Teaching Series

September focuses on student success & retention

Next month, the Blackboard Innovative Teaching Series offers two free webinars focusing on student success and retention: Increase Student Success Using Analytics and Student Data Wednesday,...

Posted: August 30, 2019, 3:30 PM