Year: 2026

Helping instructors prepare before they walk through the door

MSU IT is enhancing 25Live, MSU’s room-scheduling system, with interactive 3D classroom tours that help instructors better understand learning spaces before they arrive.

The tours let users explore room layouts, technology, and instructional resources in the same tool they already use to book spaces, helping bridge the gap between reserving a room and being ready to teach. Read Full Article →

When Google ended its unlimited storage policy, Michigan State University faced a new and immediate financial reality. Storage that had previously been offered as part of Google’s free tier of service now carried real and rising costs, just as years of accumulated data pushed the university beyond newly imposed limits. MSU’s Google Drive environment had grown to nearly a petabyte across more than 500,000 accounts, including many tied to people no longer affiliated with the university. Read Full Article →

Incidents like these can lead to an increase in phishing and scam activities targeting students, faculty, and staff. This is a good time to review safe cybersecurity practices.

We encourage all members of the MSU community to keep the following best practices in mind:

• Be alert for signs of phishing, including unexpected emails, texts, calls, suspicious links, or requests for sensitive information.

Each year, the Office of the Provost and MSU IT uses the AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology Awards to recognize Michigan State University educators who thoughtfully and creatively use technology to enhance teaching and learning. These awards celebrate instructional approaches that deepen student engagement, support accessibility, and connect learning goals with meaningful technology use. Read Full Article →

AI tools have become an important part of how many MSU faculty and staff participate in meetings, from capturing notes to supporting accessibility and focus. MSU IT’s role is to help make sure these benefits continue in ways that protect university and personal data. 

As part of our strategy for securing mission-critical collaborative work, developed in consultation with partners in research, education, and operations, IT will begin blocking third-party AI bots that connect directly to Zoom and Teams in the coming weeks. Read Full Article →

The Educator Developers Network (EDN) is a campus-wide community for faculty and staff who support teaching and learning at MSU.  

 Join us for our second EDN quarterly meeting of 2026. 

 Date: Tuesday, May 5th 

Time: 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET  

Topics: Stay in the know with the latest news and announcements, and don’t miss an exciting preview of the self-paced digital accessibility course led by Sam Abele. Read Full Article →

Michigan State University is committed to keeping our community informed about the technology services you rely on every day. As part of that commitment, MSU IT manages MSU Service Status, the primary source for timely updates on MSU supported technology services, including outages and scheduled maintenance.

We encourage all faculty, staff, and students to review their subscriptions to ensure they receive the most relevant information. Read Full Article →

As the semester wraps up, MSU IT Educational Technology is highlighting a few high impact D2L Brightspace resources to help you finish strong and prepare for final grade submission.

Extra Credit and Bonus Items in D2L

Learn how to award extra credit in the D2L gradebook by allowing points to exceed an item’s maximum or by creating a separate bonus item, This tip also covers where to place bonus items so final grades calculate correctly. Read Full Article →

Zoom AI Companion is now available for MSU Zoom users. Zoom AI Companion is an AI‑powered feature set integrated into Zoom that supports meeting summaries, Smart Recordings, and real‑time assistance during meetings. These tools are intended to help reduce manual note‑taking and support clearer meeting outcomes.

What is changing?

• Zoom AI Companion will be turned on and available to all users with a standard MSU Zoom account.

MSU IT is launching the 2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Training Program, a required annual course designed to help faculty and staff recognize today’s most common cyber threats and take simple steps to protect both personal and university data. 

Beginning March 18, all MSU faculty and staff will receive an email from the Ability Learning Management System with a link to the mandatory training and detailed instructions. Read Full Article →