Instructional Technology Tools | Information Services and Technology

The tools on this page are currently licensed by NJIT.

Would you like to request an instructional technology tool for Teaching and/or Learning? See Requesting Instructional Tech Tools at the bottom of this page.

Please see the Spring 2024 Video for an update on new instructional technology tools at NJIT.

Learning Management System

Canvas is NJIT's Learning Management System (LMS). It is a web-based learning management system that allows the University to access and manage online course materials to support learning and skill development. All registrar scheduled classes at NJIT automatically have a new Canvas page each semester.

Support:

Click canvas.njit.edu to access NJIT's Learning Management System.

Media Repository

Panopto is a media repository platform that allows a user to capture video and audio along with providing the ability to upload outside media. Media may be captured from multiple presentations, screens, and cameras.

Panopto provides a user with the ability to screen record, organize, and share media content with others both in and outside of Canvas. Media may be broadcasted live and on-demand while also providing data for analysis.

Support:

Web Conferencing

ZOOM is a unified communication and collaboration platform where users are able to create and connect with each other both in and outside of Canvas. Users may connect with each other through whiteboard, team chat, virtual meetings, and phone.

Support

All Users

Accessibility

As part of NJIT’s ongoing commitment to accessibility and inclusiveness, Ally is now available. Ally is a tool that is used for making course content more accessible and providing students with the option to view content in alternative formats to meet their learning needs.

Ally provides instructors with an accessibility score (a small speedometer icon) for course content uploaded to Canvas. In addition to the score, which is only visible to the course instructor, Ally provides feedback on what could be done to improve the accessibility of the course material. In addition to this feedback, a course accessibility report is available.

Ally provides students with the option to download course materials in alternative formats. These include, but are not limited to tagged PDF, HTML, ePub, Electronic braille, and audio formats. These alternative formats are generated automatically by Ally and do not require any additional work/intervention from the instructor. The benefit of the alternative formats is that students may find those formats easier to access and navigate.

Why is this important?

NJIT is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive learning environment for all students. By creating processes that improve accessibility, we acknowledge and demonstrate that commitment to our community. Course content must be accessible to everyone in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to students with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as administered and monitored for compliance through the Office of Civil Rights mandates web accessibility. This legal foundation outlines the broad requirements that higher education institutions must meet to be in compliance with the ADA. Failure to adhere to this requirement can leave a university open to future legal action, either from the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, or a private individual or organization.

What do instructors need to do?

While Ally use is optional, instructors are encouraged to look at their Ally Course Accessibility Report and/or the accessibility score for individual files. This report and score provides awareness of accessibility of content and is not singularly reflective of the overall quality of the course content.

Support

Instructors

Grading/Feedback

Harmonize is a discussion and collaboration tool that integrates with Canvas to improve student engagement in your online discussions, all while saving you, the instructor, time with grading and managing your classroom. If you would like to learn more about the tool, watch this brief introduction video.

NJIT had an instructor-based training session with Harmonize on Monday, October 23, 2023 from 12PM - 1PM. You can access the recording here.

With Harmonize, you will be able to:

Use ChatGPT to help you write detailed and thoughtful discussion prompts
Encourage more frequent and thoughtful participation from your students by adding multiple due dates to assignments
Enable auto-grading for low-stakes discussion forums
Engage in discussions by using a more modern and intuitive user interface that is similar to the social media apps they’re used to
Streamline grading with dashboards that show student activity, auto-grading for student participation, and the ability to automatically pass grades and feedback to Canvas
Automatically check every post for plagiarism and AI writing through Harmonize’s Turnitin integration

Gradescope is a tool designed to standardize paper-based, digital, and coding assignments to streamline them for the student and the instructor.

Gradescope Support:

TurnItIn is a system to promote academic integrity through streamlining grading and feedback while deterring plagiarism.

NJIT has a contract with Turnitin.com to offer faculty a method for checking student papers online for possible plagiarism. NJIT's TurnItIn service is typically administrated through Canvas. Each instructor can create TurnItIn assignments in Canvas.

Why use TurnItIn?

Ensures students are using good sources
Teaches good habits for sourcing papers
Allows instructors to determine if a student submission was plagiarized

For more information about combating cheating & plagiarism and for university resources on academic integrity issues, you can view the University Policy on Academic Integrity.

TurnItIn Support:

Vocareum is a cloud platform for coding classes that is integrated with Canvas.

Vocareum Support:

Instructors

Wiris Quizzes is a tool that enhances the Canvas quizzing engine with stem features.

Support

Instructors

Collaboration Tools

VoiceThread is a collaborative media tool where a user can put together a presentation using video, images, documents, and other media. Other users can also interact with this media.

VoiceThread Support:

Instructors

Hypothesis is an annotation service that functions within the open web on a modern web browsing environment and integrates with Canvas.

To request Hypothesis for your course(s), send a request to help.njit.edu.

Hypothesis Support:

Including a suite of possibilities, Google provides a user with Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Jamboard, Sites, Meet, Groups, Vault, and Classroom.

Support:

All Users

Requesting Instructional Tech Tools

Instructors in Canvas have the ability to use the Canvas App Center to utilize powerful teaching tools that easily integrate with a Canvas course. Many Canvas apps are free and may be implemented by Instructors themselves. For instructions on how to do so, please see Canvas's guide to Using the Canvas App Center. However, in cases where these tools come at a price, the tool requires admin rights to integrate, or there may be a larger impact to the university if the tool was licensed, Instructors may send in requests to be reviewed.

If you have a request, please direct it to Digital Learning at help.njit.edu. Include the following in your request:

Name of the tool
Link to the website
Links to Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Canvas Integration
Any other helpful information or links

See the potential timeline below based on the type of tool request:

Requests for Instructional Technology Tools

Requests For	Potential Timeline
Free Tools	This includes any free tools that are not yet a part of NJIT's licensed tool library. Requests for free tools require Digital Learning and the Security team to review technical integration components and policies. Final approval is then required from Senior Leadership. Upon approval, Digital Learning moves forward with the request. Commonly: A week to a month
Tools with an Existing NJIT Contract, Without a Canvas Integration	This includes tools that have already been reviewed and just need to be integrated with Canvas. Requests for these tools require Digital Learning to review technical integration components and to share any necessary information with Senior Leadership. Digital Learning then moves forward with the request. Commonly: A week
New Paid Tools Without an Existing NJIT Contract	This includes tools that have a paid structure and require a contract be put in place between the vendor and NJIT. This type of request requires Digital Learning to review the technical components and policies as well as NJIT's Legal and Finance teams to review the tool policies and negotiate a contract with the tool vendor. Commonly: One month to several months

Requests For

Potential Timeline

Free Tools

This includes any free tools that are not yet a part of NJIT's licensed tool library. Requests for free tools require Digital Learning and the Security team to review technical integration components and policies. Final approval is then required from Senior Leadership. Upon approval, Digital Learning moves forward with the request.

Commonly: A week to a month

Tools with an Existing NJIT Contract, Without a Canvas Integration

This includes tools that have already been reviewed and just need to be integrated with Canvas. Requests for these tools require Digital Learning to review technical integration components and to share any necessary information with Senior Leadership. Digital Learning then moves forward with the request.

Commonly: A week

New Paid Tools Without an Existing NJIT Contract

This includes tools that have a paid structure and require a contract be put in place between the vendor and NJIT. This type of request requires Digital Learning to review the technical components and policies as well as NJIT's Legal and Finance teams to review the tool policies and negotiate a contract with the tool vendor.

Commonly: One month to several months