What We Do
Our teams primarily support faculty in utilizing technology in their teaching, whether through holistic platforms for a wide variety of course activities such as learning management systems and video content management systems or the technology in NU’s physical classrooms and learning spaces on each campus. Our teams support the technology itself, ensuring reliability, maintenance, interoperability, and usability. Our team also directly support faculty in developing skills and becoming adept in using common learning technologies in their teaching practices. Our teams regularly lead pilots of new tools when gaps are identified in our ecosystem or when new technologies emerge on the market, engaging with a committee of faculty and instructional designers for input and guidance before purchasing and scaling up for broad use across NU. Our teams regularly assess our suite of tools to understand what is needed, what could be phased out, and what should be added, and overall user satisfaction.
How We Align
Through regularly interacting directly with faculty and critical partner staff such as instructional designers and librarians, our teams gain an understanding of what is needed and what goals exist. We see our role as one of a service provider of learning technologies. We must have frequent opportunities to meet with, listen to and observe both faculty and instructional designers in order to understand needs and align technologies to support teaching goals; ideally our teams are co-located with instructional designers in a faculty-serving physical space with remote access options for convenience. We also partner and work directly with key campus and system leaders (such as the Provost, Chief Academic Officers, Online Learning leads) in order to align our academic technology services, tools, and supports to broader NU goals, opportunities, and needs.
Our Team and Structure
Our division is structured around five main teams to maximize our subject matter expertise, collaborate broadly with each other and with our partners, and provide outstanding service to faculty and academic leaders across the NU System.
Academic Technologies
- Team Lead: Rick Murch-Shafer, Director
- Team Members: Stephanie Lanik, Mike Zimmerman, Mike Kozak, Jay Adams
- How to Contact: its-lmsteam@nebraska.edu or visit canvas.nebraska.edu
- Areas of Focus: Coordinates Canvas, assists with tools integrated into Canvas, provides daily drop-in support for faculty teaching with technology across the NU System
Emerging Technologies
- Team Lead: Cassie Mallette, Director
- Team Members: Angie Rushman
- How to Contact: its-emtech@nebraska.edu or visit its.nebraska.edu/ai
- Areas of Focus: Advances AI initiatives, leads the exploration and piloting of innovative technologies across the NU System
IT Training & Development
- Team Lead: Diona Hartwig, Director
- Team Members: Jennifer Johnson, Mikeala Petersen
- How to Contact: its-training@nebraska.edu
- Areas of Focus: Develops and delivers trainings and workshops about technology for faculty, staff and students across the NU System
Learning Spaces
- Team Lead: Tim Bartling, Executive Director
- Team Members: Keith Derickson, Tom Arkfeld, Bryce Jensen, Matt Bolton, Nick Filipi, Tony Caruso, Kevin Brich, Alex Schultz, Noah Fader, Evan Paitz, Jasmine Meeks, Fatimatul Amadou, Hondamir Umarov, Andrew Amen, Aaron Vlasnik, Sho Tsuda, Nate Morris
- How to Contact: its-learningspaces@nebraska.edu
- Areas of Focus: Leads the strategy, design, and support of classrooms and various other learning spaces across the UNK, UNL, and UNO campuses, regularly collaborates with the UNMC/Nebraska Medicine classroom technology team
Assessment & Operations
- Team Lead: Amy Barry, PhD, Associate Director
- Team Members: Ben Lass, Miranda McCown
- How to Contact: its-assessment@nebraska.edu
- Areas of Focus: Oversees the Digital Learning Commons (testing centers) on the Lincoln campus, coordinates and supports assessment and proctoring software used across NU such as Respondus, Qualtrics, Akindi, etc.
The Learning Technologies Division is led by Jaci Lindburg, PhD, Assistant Vice President for Learning Technologies & IT Strategy in NU ITS. Jaci’s role is to collaborate broadly with faculty and academic leaders across NU to ensure learning technology services, support, and the team’s overall approach is aligned to top goals and needs for teaching with technology. Jaci can be reached directly at jlindburg@nebraska.edu.
Defining Key Roles
- Instructional Technologist – supports the technology stack in virtual courses and physical classrooms and supports faculty in understanding how to use the tools; troubleshoots and trains on how to best use/leverage the technology; a service provider. These individuals work in NU ITS.
- Instructional Designer – support faculty in designing high-quality, accessible, engaging course content that routinely utilizes technology; trains pedagogical strategies and assessment practices that help faculty understand how to take advantage of available technology; builds or alters course content. These individuals do not work in NU ITS.
- Faculty – plans, delivers and facilitates a course; assesses student learning. These individuals do not work in NU ITS.
