IT Training - University of Florida

Technology Conversation – EP. 13

Anchalee Phataralaoha: Welcome to our podcast Technology Conversations, where we discuss technology-related topics from how to find resources for your technology needs to how technology can impact our lives. My name is Anchalee Phataralaoha and I will be your host.

Today our learning environment has migrated more and more into the virtual world and numerous tools for online teaching and learning have grown over time; the tool list keeps getting longer and we have several tools at our disposal. In this episode we will look at how getting a formalized review and testing process can help facilitate the tool adoption and potentially minimize issues down the road. 

With us today is Sean Ochal, Instructional Technologist with the UFIT Center for Instructional Technology and Training or CITT.  Hi Sean.

Sean Ochal: Hi Anchalee, how are you?

Anchalee Phataralaoha: Very good. Thank you for being with us today.

Sean Ochal: Yeah, I’m glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

 Anchalee Phataralaoha: Before we get started, share with us your background.

Sean Ochal: Sure. As you said I’m an Instructional Technologist in the Center for Instructional Technology and Training or known as the CITT. I work with our team of instructional designers to help faculty and staff identify the right online tools to use in their teaching and we provide them also with support in navigating the process of getting those tools approved and set up in courses.

So I find it’s fun to learn about all the different tools out there, but personally I have an interest in user experience and design and I specifically enjoy the testing portion of the process that we do to make sure that all the tools function properly and provide a good user experience for everyone.

Anchalee Phataralaoha: Why do we need to review those tools? Can’t we just pick up and use what we like? 

Sean Ochal: So all the tools need to be reviewed to ensure that each one meets university policies, works as expected, is affordable, accessible, and securely protects student data and information, which is very important to us. And for all these reasons that’s why unfortunately you can’t just find a tool and then begin using it; it has to be reviewed first.

Anchalee Phataralaoha: What is the review process?

Sean Ochal: So the review process involves multiple steps, but the first step for getting started is you would head to the e-Learning website at elearning.ufl.edu. And you would click on “Instructor Help,” and then click on “Teaching and Learning Tools.” There you will find our database of existing tools that you can search to see if your tool that you have in mind has already been reviewed, is in review, or is already approved for use.  

When you’re looking through that database, if you see that your tool is not there, you could also look for a similar tool that already exists that you can use, or you can also go to UFIT website and search their Fast Path Solutions database for other available tools that might be approved. You can find that by just going to Google and typing ‘UFIT Fast Path.’ 

We recommend looking to see if your tools exist already so that saves you the time and you don’t have to go submit a tool request. However, if your tool is not listed anywhere and there’s nothing similar or comparable that you’d like to use, then you would submit a request to initiate a review of the tool by filling out our form linked under the Teaching and Learning tools page. This form asks questions about intended usage, cost, funding, and if you have a relationship with the vendor. 

Once you fill that out, it’s important before you hit submit to note that the entire review process could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. This depends on, of course, the vendor's response to our questions, information that we need from them, the complexity of the tool, and how quickly we are able to get through all the multiple steps of our process — and there are a lot!  

So, in order to make sure that you have enough time to get everything reviewed in time for you to implement the tool possibly in your course, you should send in your request by these specific deadlines. If it’s a tool you want enabled for Summer A, B, or C, we recommend submitting by January 1. For Fall we submit, we recommend submitting by March 15, and then for Spring we say to submit by August 15. That hopefully will give us enough time to get through all the steps in the process.  

So once you submitted your form and we receive your request, that’s when we initiate all the phases of the review process. There is a Privacy and Security review done by the Integrated Risk Management team at UF. There is an accessibility review done by our experts in CITT, and then there’s testing, which is also done by CITT instructional designers and some student workers and myself and some other technologists to make sure that the tool works as it should and that there is no issues with the interface, the user experience, or the connection to Canvas. 

Along the way throughout all of these different phases, we may have to go back to the vendor with questions or issues that need to be fixed, which could add time to the whole process. So that’s why it’s important to submit earlier than later.

And then once we’ve gone through all phases and we completed our assessments, we’ll contact you with the outcome, and then we’ll turn the tool on in Canvas if it was an approved integration and identify support to make sure you can access the tool properly if it’s not a Canvas integration just so you have the resources you need to get going and use it properly.  

Anchalee Phataralaoha: Sounds good. Any final thoughts?

Sean Ochal: Yeah, I just want to let everyone know that we’re here to support you in getting these tools reviewed and integrated into your courses. Our goal really is to help increase student engagement and ultimately student success, while also following university policies and guidelines, that’s the main thing. So if you have any questions about the tools you’re not sure which one you should use or what you need, you can always reach out to us for a consultation even before you began or actually at any point throughout the process. You can find our “Request Assistance” form to get a consultation by heading to citt.ufl.edu and then clicking on “Request Assistance” up on the top right of the page. And we really look forward to working with you. We love talking to the instructors and staff about all the different tools out there and help you find the best one for your needs. Hopefully we get to hear from some of you.

Anchalee Phataralaoha: Thank you Sean for sharing all these resources.

Sean Ochal: You’re welcome! Thanks for having me.

Anchalee Phataralaoha: That's it everyone. We will see you next time for a topic of interest in IT.