March 31, 2020 The machines are working, but sometimes we just need a little humanity! Over the past two weeks, our world has changed significantly. Like almost all North American schools (and many around the world), we’ve had to switch the way we teach and learn due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That means significant increa … Read More

Like almost all North American schools (and many around the world), we’ve had to switch the way we teach and learn due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That means significant increases in the use of technology, and in demand for support around those technologies. In a series of posts, we will be sharing some visualizations of … Read More

Over the past year, the University of Toronto, led by our CIO Bo Wandschneider, has been engaged in a deep and meaningful IT strategic planning process. You can read more about that process in this article, “New ITS strategic plan to guide the future of tech at U of T,” but the Vision that we … Read More

by Marco Di Vittorio Manager, Application Administration Academic & Collaborative Technologies (ACT) Most traffic moves slower during a snow storm. Pedestrian, vehicle and airline routes typically grind to a halt when large white flakes flood the ground in high volumes. Web traffic on the other hand, can exhibit a very different pattern during the same … Read More

It is with mixed feelings that I write to tell you about the departure of Chad Holden from the ACT team. Luckily, however, Chad remains with the University as the new Lead Systems and Support Administrator in the Division of the Vice-President and Provost. Chad started at the University in 2001 as the Manager of … Read More

Here’s a nice article about 3D Printing in our MADLab: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/tPwr74Id5VwgykRhvCmh/full Our colleagues, Erica Lenton and Carolyn Dineen from Gerstein Library, do a very nice job describing what’s involved in setting up a 3D printing service: “We use a certification process designed to train users on the printers, introduce them to design software, and test … Read More

Dr. Haniyeh Yousofpour has recently joined the ITS Project Management Office, and among her other activities, she has been assigned PM responsibilities for the next phase of our Academic Toolbox Renewal initiative. Haniyeh has a doctoral degree in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour and an MBA with Finance Concentration. Further, she is a certified … Read More

As many of you know, Shannonn Kelly came to ACT last year to help provide some initial project management activities related to two ACT projects – technical upgrades to the CE system, and the first two phases of the Academic Toolbox Renewal initiative. As both of those are now (mostly) complete, Shannonn will be moving … Read More

Check out this Varsity article about student app developers at UofT, and includes a bit about Mike Spears and the MADLab:  http://thevarsity.ca/2015/09/13/building-a-tech-powerhouse/  

I am pleased to let the community know that Dr. Kimberley MacKinnon has accepted a formal role to work with the ACT group, providing us with ongoing scholarly input, expertise and analysis, particularly around the Academic Toolbox Renewal initiative (http://toolboxrenewal.act.utoronto.ca) and tool integration process. Dr. MacKinnon will provide the team with scholarly guidance as we … Read More