UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Academic Technology Services & Innovations

Skype for Business Migrating to Teams Meetings on March 4

According to UP’s academic technology services and innovation team, Microsoft is retiring Skype for Business and has migrated all calling and conferencing functionality to the Microsoft Teams App. Calling and meeting using the Teams App is very similar to Skype. Click this link to learn more about Teams Meetings. To learn more about using Teams to communicate and collaborate with University of Portland community members and project teams, use this link.

For further information or training, please contact atsi@up.edu.

New Academic Technology Services & Innovation Site

Academic technology services & innovation (ATSI) has launched a new site to help communicate its many services to the academic community, according to Sam Williams, ATSI. You can find the site by visiting pilots.up.edu and clicking on “Academic Technology Services & Innovation” in the left navigation. The new URL for the site is https://pilots.up.edu/group/atsi. 

Visit to learn about services we provide, schedule a consultation, or find professional development opportunities and current projects. Some of the topics you can learn more about include:  

 For more information contact Contact us ATSI at atsi@up.edu.

Moodle Drop-in Hours Before Spring Term

Falling drop of rain with blue earth image and water splash in crown shape

Working on getting your spring Moodle course set-up before the new semester starts? Drop by Franz 33 any time between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday, January 6 through Thursday Jan 9.  Academic technology services and innovation staff will be there to help with issues or questions big and small.

Come for help with setting up online assignments or quizzes, getting your gradebook squared away, get an introduction to some of our great new integrated tools, or just say hello and happy new year.

For more information contact Ben Kahn, academic technology services and innovation, at kahn@up.edu.

Moodle Drop-in Hours, Dec. 2: Your Way To Stress-Free Holidays

Need some help with your Moodle life? Drop by Franz 33 any time between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday, December 2 through Thursday December 5 and academic technology services and innovation staff will be there to help with issues big and small, from gradebook set-up to getting your spring courses into tip-top shape. This is a great way to go into the Thanksgiving holiday free of care with Moodle issues squared away by December.

For more information contact Ben Kahn, ATSI, at kahn@up.edu.

Spring 2020 Moodle Courses: Timing, What’s New, and Support

Spring 2020 courses will be available in Moodle starting Friday, November 15 to allow instructors to get an early start in preparing courses for the upcoming semester, according to Ben Kahn. If you don’t see your courses right away, don’t press the panic button. It takes a few days to get all of the courses into the system. Yours will be there soon if you don’t see them right away.

The first thing you’ll notice when you access your spring 2020 courses is the fresh new experience of the interface. Course creation is now easier than ever with a new Moodle plugin that enables you to start building your course with a prebuilt template. You can start fresh with a blank course or import content from an existing course. Each option is just a few clicks away.

Want some personalized help with your course set-up? Contact academic technology services and innovation at atsi@up.edu to schedule an appointment or ask questions. You can also visit our new Innovation Lab in Franz Hall 033 the first week of December for hands-on help from an ATSI Moodle expert. Stop by any time from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., December 2 through 5, for drop-in help.