Teaching and Learning

U-M to Plan Digital Strategy for Future Innovation

• By Sri Ravipati
• 10/13/16

In an effort to take the next step in teaching, learning and research, the University of Michigan (U-M) today launched an initiative to encourage faculty and staff to embrace digital technology in the classroom.

The Academic Innovation Initiative will be led by the Office of Academic Innovation (formerly the Office of Digital Education and Innovation), along with a steering committee, over the next year to “identify investments and solutions that will enhance excellence and impact at the university, and shape the future of education,” according to a statement from U-M.

Provost Martha Pollack said the vision for the initiative is to increase opportunities for younger people to get a feel for what higher education is like and become college-ready.

As U-M President Mark Schlissel noted in a press release, "Academic innovation is where creativity, comprehensive excellence and our aspirations for societal impact all come together at the University of Michigan. Our new initiative will formally help us consider how we can leverage networked access to information, new modes of communication and data analytics to strengthen the quality of a Michigan education, tailor it to the needs of each individual student, and enhance our impact on society."

The new initiative will build on past accomplishments from the Office of Academic Innovation, including:

• A program that started as a way to offer personalized instruction to physics students but, with the help of a $1.9 million NSF award, has expanded to help more than 15,000 students in multiple U-M courses;
• Developing massive open online courses that have reached more than 5 million online users;
• Three new MicroMasters in education, social work and information and 20 MOOCs across these three programs; and
• A program called ART 2.0 that provides data and insights into online programs, enabling students to see if a course suits their academic pursuits and abilities.

To learn more about the initiative, visit the Office of Academic Innovation site.