Initiatives & Major Projects

Whether an ongoing, campus-wide initiative or a limited-term, school-level project, our efforts are successful due in large part to our partnerships and participation in committees and groups.

Initiatives

Much of our work aligns with campus initiatives, which are efforts that change how the campus does business; have broad campus leadership/executive sponsorship backing and commitment; and have significant campus resources dedicated to them to ensure their success.

Educational Innovation

The mission of the Educational Innovation (EI) Initiative is to to engage and inspire students through enriched learning. The initiative strives to fulfill this mission by enabling personalized learning experiences, at scale, using technology and expanding access for both traditional and new student audiences.  DoIT AT works with EI on multiple projects including the Student Digital Ecosystem, REACH, Unizin, the Canvas Transition and Open Educational Resources.

Unizin

In 2014, UW-Madison joined Unizin, a consortium of like-minded institutions with the mission of improving the learning experience by providing an environment built on collaboration, data, standards and scale. The Unizin efforts at UW-Madison are co-sponsored by Steven Cramer, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, and Linda Jorn, Associate Vice Provost for Learning Technologies and DoIT Director of Academic Technology. DoIT AT plays a critical role in leading and supporting the effort on a variety of levels including the management of the Canvas Transition and Engage eText Pilot.

UW Women In IT

Supported by the Office of the CIO, UW Women in IT (UW-WIT) is a campus organization dedicated to developing strategies to improve the recruitment, retention and advancement of women working in IT on campus. The 400+ member organization holds regular educational and networking events open to all members of campus, often partnering with organizations with similar missions to create the best possible workforce. DoIT AT staff participate in this initiative.

Major Projects

As part of initiatives, partnerships or our daily work serving campus, we contribute to many significant projects. The following are a few of newer projects sponsored by the Provost Office, cross-campus initiatives or the CIO Office. For a full list of our current projects, contact us.

Canvas Transition

Based on positive results from pilot studies and campus feedback, UW-Madison has adopted Canvas as the single, centrally supported learning management system (LMS). As of June 1, 2018, almost all courses — credit and noncredit — are now using Canvas, with D2L officially discontinued and Moodle turned off for all but a few identified exceptions, as well.  Now in its final stage, the transition team will work closely with a specific subset of courses still in need of two significant functionality solutions: content authoring and advanced quizzing. Canvas is part of the Learn@UW suite of learning technologies and available for credit and non-credit use with all of the previously existing integrations. DoIT AT staff provide leadership and support in the areas of technical development, project management, consultation and training.

Engage eText Pilot

In partnership with Associated Students of Madison (ASM), the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Registrar and DoIT Academic Technology, the Educational Innovation (EI) Initiative leads an eText pilot that began in spring 2018. The pilot will utilize the Unizin Engage platform via an integration with Canvas, and aims to reduce the weight of textbook costs on students and to explore the potential for broader implementation of eTexts at UW-Madison. DoIT AT staff provide leadership and support in the areas of technical development, project management, consultation, training and evaluation.

REACH

The REACH initiative aims to improve student learning by increasing students’ engagement in large introductory courses. Two and a half years in, REACH has already benefited tens of thousands of undergraduate students, and will continue to do so into the future. In partnership with schools and colleges, and the Office of the Provost, the REACH project is co-sponsored by the Educational Innovation (EI) Initiative and DoIT Academic Technology. The departments of Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Kinesiology, Materials Science & Engineering and Communication Arts are participating and others are moving to join.

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