IT information for instructors - Fall 2024

As announced on May 3rd, the University obtained a one-year centrally funded site licence to pilot the polling tool Vevox, for both academic and non-academic purposes. iClicker is still currently supported since no single polling tool previously met all the requirements of our community of users. Both tools have recently added new features that need to be evaluated before assessing the results of the Vevox pilot.  

The University has recently been provided with a short-term opportunity to thoroughly pilot iClicker and its new features, free of charge. Before this, iClicker has been available to Waterloo students via a paid subscription.  

Instructional Technologies & Media Services (ITMS) is partnering with the Teaching Innovation Incubator (TII) to lead a pilot comparing these two polling tools to determine whether one of these tools would meet the needs of our users, or whether both will continue to be required for specific situations.  

About the pilot 

ITMS and the TII are looking for instructors, students, and staff with experience, or who are willing to use polling tools Vevox and/or iClicker to participate in a pilot during the Fall 2024 and/or Winter 2025 terms. Note: interested students can apply to join the pilot so long as they have experience using either polling tool; there is no requisite that students must join the pilot with their instructor.  

During this pilot 

• Vevox will continue to be available for use as the campus’ centrally funded tool. 
• iClicker will be made available at no cost for the duration of the limited time pilot. Participants need to be aware that there is no expectation that iClicker will continue to be provided at no cost at the completion of the pilot. 
• Participants will be expected to use one or both tools over the course of the Fall 2024 and/or Winter 2025 terms.  
• Participants will be expected to provide feedback on one or both tools as per the requirements document that will be developed for a suitable polling tool (approximately 1-to-2-hour time commitment). 

While all University of Waterloo students, faculty and staff can use either polling tool during this period, as participants in the pilot, your feedback will inform the decision on how the University will move forward.  Any future direction is dependent on budget approvals and must align with Policy 17: Quotations and Tenders which may result in a Request for Proposal to ensure a transparent competitive bidding process. 

Additional details to be shared soon 

Additional information on accessing the free option for iClicker, as well as the impact for students who have already purchased an iClicker subscription for the Fall term, will be shared soon. Support information for both iClicker and Vevox can be found on the EdTech hub under Centrally Supported Tools. 

Questions about this pilot can be directed to Kyle Scholz. 

H5P is an online platform that allows you to build custom digital interactives to promote active learning, encourage student self-assessment, create reflection prompts and more. Waterloo staff and instructors can create and embed H5P interactives for free using the eCampus Ontario H5P Studio. The licensed version of H5P (H5P.org) includes learning tools interoperability (LTI) integration and is currently being investigated via the EdTech tool request process. 

For a full list and example of the types of interactives you can create with H5P, visit Examples and Downloads on H5P.org.

Features and functionality

• H5P interactives can be embedded into most digital content, including on LEARN pages.
• Staff and faculty can also use the studio to browse it’s catalogue for existing, Creative Commons licensed interactives that can be reused for any course or training: Catalog of CC H5P content

IST supports the innovative use of technologies to solve problems and optimize processes which support the mission and business operations of the University of Waterloo. Modern technologies which fall under the umbrella of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are becoming more accessible to a wider audience and due to the nature in which they work, require extra caution to be used responsibly.

While the University works on developing its policy on Artificial Intelligence, IST urges proceeding with caution and due diligence while using University data to train, prompt, or interact with AI systems that are not yet licensed or vetted.

All existing University policies still apply to the usage of AI, in the same way they do to all information systems. Ensure an understanding of the following, policies, for example:

• Policy 46: Information Management
• Policy 73: Intellectual Property Rights
• Information Risk Assessment

Available tools

While the University does not currently provide licenses for any enterprise Generative AI tools, Microsoft Copilot is available for use through your UWaterloo account. Use your University username and password to log in to Microsoft Copilot, which can be used for experimentation and to boost productivity. Accessing this service with your UWaterloo account will automatically provide you with personal and company data protection.

Non-UWaterloo accounts should never be used in conjunction with University data.