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 ultra-experience. Show All

Ultra Courses to Support Additional Level of Nested Folders

Availability to begin after spring break

Designed for mobility, Ultra supports a condensed hierarchy for content nesting on the main course content page. Student preference and support were the primary purpose for Blackboard to reduce...

Posted: March 7, 2024, 9:19 AM

Gradebook statistics coming to Ultra courses in March

Additional features include AI enhancements, new settings

In continuous effort to improve the digital learning environment for both faculty and students, the March update to Ultra features several improvements designed to streamline course management,...

Posted: February 27, 2024, 3:02 PM

Collect surveys using new Forms tool in Ultra courses

Updates to grading workflows & settings for February update

In February, a new tool will be available in Ultra courses, designed to make information gathering simple and efficient for instructors: Forms. Whether assigning students to clinical experiences...

Posted: January 23, 2024, 1:09 PM

More gradebook updates, test access logs coming in January

Grade visibility, batch edit, authentic assessment prompts

Expanding the functionality for the gradebook and assessments has been a central theme for the past year of Ultra development. When the winter term starts in 2024, Ultra courses will feature...

Posted: December 21, 2023, 8:01 AM

Catch an Ultra Sprint on January 22

Join one of two open sessions to learn about Ultra

Are you stepping into the world of Blackboard Ultra? Instructional Technology is offering two identical sessions on January 22, 2024, providing flexible opportunities to fit into an instructors...

Posted: December 11, 2023, 3:03 PM