Join the AI Community of Practice
The AI Community of Practice (AI CoP) hosts a space to share ideas, build your skill set, and create connections with other people seeking to expand their AI know-how. Whether you wish to dip your toe into this new technology or you have already immersed yourself into the world of AI, the AI CoP is a great group of peers to engage:
- Monthly Share Time
- This is a low-stakes, conversational meeting of faculty and staff from all campuses who discuss projects, conundrums, and opportunities in the world of generative AI.
- Meets via Zoom on the second Wednesday of each month at 10 am.
- AI CoP Google Group
- The Google Group offers a quick way to connect and share materials, events, and ideas. Receive emails about articles to read at your own pace, questions that colleagues are wrestling with, and upcoming programs throughout the UMN community.
Making course content digitally accessible: An interview with Deanna Koepp
With the April 2026 compliance deadline approaching, instructors at the University are revising their course materials to meet the updated digital accessibility policy. In this interview, Associate Professor Deanna Koepp shares how she went from feeling overwhelmed to establishing an efficient workflow—leveraging tools like Grackle and removing unused content—so that all students can fully engage in her genetics and cell-biology courses. Read Extra Points, Making course content digitally accessible: An interview with Deanna Koepp to hear how instructors are navigating efforts to make their digital content accessible.
Accessibility Challenge coming soon
Interested in building your mastery of the 7 core accessibility skills? Participate in the Office for Digital Accessibility’s Spring 2026 Accessibility Challenge. This 10-week challenge will be launched in January and will end March 2026. This initiative isn’t just about meeting the April 2026 Title II Federal Regulations deadline – it’s about building skills, fostering inclusive design, and creating digital spaces where everyone belongs. Each week of the challenge will include an email to participants that covers a different topic and how to integrate digital accessibility into your workflow. Submit this form to sign up for the Spring 2026 Accessibility Challenge.
Spotlight
Canvas Access Tokens Warning
As a busy instructor, you may be charmed by an AI tool that promises to lighten your workload. The temptation is great, but using unapproved AI tools can pose grave risks to your intellectual property and to the University community’s data.
Third-party applications may invite you to create and share a “Canvas Access Token.” Access Tokens are digital keys that can see and do everything you can within Canvas. It's the equivalent of giving away your username, password, and Duo-enabled device.
Protect Yourself and University Data
Never provide or share a Canvas Access Token to an individual, vendor, application, or bot. If you have concerns about a Canvas Access Token you shared, delete it immediately by following the steps below and email [email protected].
What are the risks?
As an instructor in Canvas, you have access to dozens of courses. You can see students' names and assignment submissions. You can send announcements and emails, and also view and alter grades. Sharing a Canvas Access Token grants those same permissions to outside actors and exposes you to several threats:
- Theft: Bad actors can steal data including student names and intellectual property — both yours and your students’.
- Impersonation: They can use Canvas to send messages as you.
- Tampering: They can alter settings, delete content, change due dates, and cause other chaos.
- Extortion: They can leverage stolen data and/or sensitive information to demand money or threaten reputational damage.
- Accountability: You are responsible for actions taken by those using your access token under the Acceptable Use of IT Resources policy. This could result in disciplinary action or loss of access privileges.
Act Now! Delete User-Generated Tokens
Check your Canvas account settings and remove User-Generated Access Tokens.
- In Canvas, navigate to your Account (your avatar at the top of the global navigation on the far left)
- Select Settings, and scroll down to Approved Integrations.
- Note: Your list of approved integrations may include multiple listings for familiar tools like Kaltura, Google, and Course Request. These are developer keys that you authorized. These are approved integrations and can be left on your list.
- Scan your integrations for Apps named "User-Generated" and delete them by selecting the trash can at the end of the row.
Responsible AI Use
We understand that there are many AI tools that offer powerful benefits for instructors including prioritizing to-do lists, automating routine tasks, summarizing discussion threads, and drafting rubrics. We are working hard to assess and approve AI solutions that operate within the University's Information Policy for privacy and data security.