November 10, 2022

8:00 – 8:40 a.m.

Collaborative Engagement in the Hybrid First-Year University Classroom Using WAKELET
Speaker: Charmaine Arderne, University of Johannesburg
WAKELET is a free web-based platform that allows teachers and students to save, organize, present and share content from across the web! It is easily embedded into Blackboard Learn, making course content fun, engaging, and easy to access. Collaborative tasks can be set up quickly and easily, and all contributors to the WAKELET collections can see and enjoy the results. This presentation will take you through how WAKELET was used in a hybrid classroom to encourage collaborative engagement.

Using Branching Scenarios to Engage Students Through Storytelling
Speaker: Hanna Fife & Cate Dowman, University of Miami
Storytelling as a teaching method connects content to human experiences, enhancing students’ learning efficacy and creating neural connections that lead to greater long-term learning. Branching scenarios are a type of storytelling that we’ll bring to the forefront in this presentation. They can be utilized in both online and hybrid courses, providing a uniquely engaging learning experience that allows learners to become active participants interacting with their learning materials. We’ll explore cases that could benefit from using branching scenarios, principles for creating effective simulations, and key considerations to make in the design process. We'll cover best practices in mapping and planning your branching scenario, share a few tools to use when building simulations, and end with a showcase sample for participants to continue exploring how they can use scenarios effectively in their courses.

Using a Blended and Social Delivery to Provide Flexibility and Encourage Student Engagement
Speaker: Carol Chatten & Helen McNeill, Edge Hill University
Delivering a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course to busy working doctors is no easy task. Due to the demands of their job, they need flexibility and motivation to stay engaged with their studies. We moved to Ultra in 2021 and employed a range of different methods in teaching and learning to keep students focused and on task. A creative approach to blended learning has helped us deliver an excellent experience for students, and we combine this with a strong ethos of faculty development and peer review of online teaching.
Using Gilly Salmon’s 5 Stage Model as a framework, we will discuss how we have built and executed our CPD module. Each of the 5 Stages presents both e-moderating and technical support elements and we will highlight a range of learning activities we employed that are designed to engage and motivate the students and embed a social constructivist approach to blended learning.

8:45 – 9:30 a.m

Student Perspectives on Life, College, and Online Learning
Moderator: Darcy Hardy, Anthology
Panelists: Devesh Kumar, Eva Silva & Morgan Tucker
At the core of all digital teaching activities are the students, and during the pandemic, institutions were able to identify gaps when serving students online. Now that we are moving on from the pandemic (although Covid is still here), we have the opportunity to learn from these students. What worked? What didn’t? How can our institutions improve our teaching and learning environments, and how can we provide the services they need to be successful? Obviously, one of the best ways to get ideas is by listening to the students themselves.

9:45 – 10:25 a.m.

Using Assessment Blueprints to Align Standards and Objectives With Course Assessments
Speaker: Linda Mensing Triplett, Lesley University
This session on creating assessment blueprints will help ensure that your course adequately measures learning objectives and outcomes. An assessment blueprint defines the knowledge and skills you want to assess, will enable you to build purpose-driven assessments and tests, and may also help identify areas where your question pool for tests may be lacking. Blueprints help ensure that assessments measure the knowledge and skills that need to be learned. While useful for instructors, blueprints can facilitate student learning by providing a framework or mental schema for understanding course content. Session participants will learn to create blueprints that provide a list of key assessment components.

Establishing an Innovator Mindset in the Digital Classroom
Speaker: Jay Fulgencio, Roosevelt University
Students in the TikTok era are more engaged on their smartphones than they are with flipping their textbooks. As educators, we cannot defeat the social media craze or the smartphone stares however, we can engage students in the online community by having students take control of their learning through engagement, writing, and collaboration. For students to take control educators must have an innovator mindset thinking attitude. The innovator mindset requires educators to be open to change, embrace creativity, think big, and act fact. In this session, I will go over the innovator mindset and how the mindset applies to digital teaching best practices in any subject.

How Three Colleges Address Exam Integrity with LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor
Speaker: Arie Sowers, Respondus
Learn how various institutions use LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor to ensure exam integrity across many testing environments – including classrooms, testing centers, fully remote, hybrid, and more. Proctoring examples are provided for the University of Mississippi, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Southwest Baptist University.

Using Mobile-Friendly Technology to Increase Student Engagement & Success
Speaker: Beverly Meinzer, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville
Teaching college level chemistry has often been more lecture-driven than student-centered, with the latter considered largely unnecessary for adult learners. However, the very same pedagogical tactics that work best for younger learners also generate measurable improvements in learning, retention, and enthusiasm for chemistry in other age brackets. Beverly Meinzer has gathered qualitative and quantitative data showing the impact of her philosophical shifts in teaching. Shifts include recognizing students’ needs for more affordable course materials, forming student-teacher connections, reinforcing student efforts, and empathizing with students’ challenges outside the classroom. Another shift includes motivating students to do the hard work required to meet rigorous standards through gamification, clear connections to careers in chemistry, and mobile-friendly educational technology that seamlessly integrates into Blackboard Learn. Meinzer describes the impact of using Aktiv Chemistry, Labflow, and other activities to maximize student success.

10:35 – 11:15 a.m.

Fostering "Six C's of Learning in the Digital Age" Through Future-Focused Learning Experiences
Speaker: Katie Alaniz, Houston Baptist University
According to a 2018 report published by Dell Technologies and the Institute for the Future, 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven't even been invented yet. What jobs might we be preparing our students for that haven’t yet been invented? We can’t determine the career paths they will take, but we can predict the skills they will need! By intentionally designing learning experiences that empower students to develop the "Six C's of Learning in the Digital Age," instructors more effectively prepare their students to flourish and create impact in life beyond their classroom experiences. Join this session to gain applicable strategies for preparing today's learners to effectively navigate the world of tomorrow.

How We Finally Succeeded at Accessibility with Faculty with Anthology Ally
Speaker: Richard Powers, City Colleges of Chicago
At City Colleges of Chicago, we had spent years of training trying to get faculty to understand the value of accessible content, so they would add only accessible content to their online courses. However, nothing seemed to work. Then, we found Anthology Ally, formed a partnership and launched Ally in our LMS. We trained faculty, and this time, the training worked! This presentation shows how our community college, made up of seven colleges across Chicago, launched, trained and implemented the Anthology Ally accessibility tool to widespread success.

Using Blackboard Data to Improve the Design and Delivery of Blackboard Learn Modules
Speaker: Andy Ramsden, University of Law
Data-driven decision-making is establishing itself as an enabler for a better learning experience and outcomes. Improving learning design through learning analytics is a fundamental element in evidence-driven decisions to enhance learning (Mangaroska et al., 2017). This session will outline how the University of Law is developing a Module Analytics Review Service to enable an evidence-based approach. The Programme Team will use this Service to make better decisions on effective module design within Blackboard and use linked tools to improve the student learning experience and outcomes. The evidence is drawn from Blackboard Data Reports, including Curriculum and Engagement queries, Gradebook Analysis and the Blackboard Exemplary Course Rubric. The aim of the session is to inspire other institutions to transition this approach into their practice, see the opportunities it offers design teams and the practical application of Blackboard Data.

11:20 – 12:00 p.m.

Product Demo: Anthology Course Evaluations
Speaker: Roland Carrillo, Anthology
Anthology Course Evaluations is utilized by hundreds of institutions for online course evaluations and surveys. The product and team help with areas like applying specific questions for online course surveys, integrating with the LMS for surveys and response rates, and reviewing results for a course or custom reporting for multiple units. We will talk about these and other features/functionality in this demo.

Product Demo: What's New in Learn Ultra​
Speaker: Jake Webb, Anthology
2022 has brought an unprecedented number of enhancements, improvements, and new functionality to the Learn Ultra environment. Join Senior Product Manager, Jake Webb, to review a highlight of some of the most exciting news updates for Learn Ultra.

12:10 - 12:50 p.m.

Product Demo: Anthology Portfolio
Speaker: Roland Carrillo, Anthology
Anthology Portfolio incorporates authentic assessment for program and institutional reporting, experiential learning, and allows users to create and share work with customizable portfolios. Institutions also utilize LMS integrations for submitting work and grade exchange. We will talk about these and other features/functionality in this demo.

Product Demo: Progress Tracking in Learn Ultra​
Speaker: Yudy Espinosa, Anthology
Want to know if your students are seeing the content you spent so much time creating? What about the ability to see how they are progressing through your course material? Want the ability to reach your students to remind them of important activities? Look no more! Join us to review all the great additions to progress tracking in this session from Senior Product Manager, Yudy Espinosa.

1:00 – 1:40 p.m.

10 Tips for Effective and Efficient Course Construction in Blackboard Ultra Course View
Speaker: Jason Rhode & Jason Underwood, Northern Illinois University (Exemplary Course Program Winner)
Exemplary Course Award winners from Northern Illinois University will share their experiences designing and developing award-winning courses in Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) over the last two years, including 10 tips for leveraging best practices in course design and UCV features to make developing courses effective and efficient.

Five Ways to Use Five Minute Videos to Revolutionize your Online Classroom
Speaker: Julianna Woite, Medaille University
You don’t have to be a Hollywood star to revolutionize your online classroom with custom recorded videos. As instructors, we strive to ensure students feel connected to us, their classmates and the content of their online class. This session will explore ways instructors can employ 5-minute (or less) videos to enhance curriculum as well as increase student engagement and participation. The presenter will highlight five examples of how instructors and students can use personally recorded videos to enhance the course experience: (1) course micro-lectures, (2) instructor video announcements, (3) video-based discussion responses, (4) video feedback for assignments and (5) course navigation tutorials. As a bonus, creative ideas for video-based bonus assignments will also be included.

Increase Student Ownership of Learning via Learning Roadmaps
Speaker: Desiah Melby, Mid-State Technical College
Learning road maps are a great visual way to organize unit content. They allow the instructor to visually scaffold all the assignments, rubrics, examples, resources, and review materials on a single document. This empowers students to self-pace, differentiate, and easily access materials, supporting student ownership over the learning process. This also facilitates absence learning recovery for students who miss class. Join this session to learn best practices on how to construct and use a learning road map in your courses.

1:50 – 2:30 p.m.

Data Analytics in Teaching and Learning
Speaker: Szymon Machajewski, University of Illinois Chicago
Digitization of academic activities opens opportunities to scale instructional efforts, widen access to learning, deliver immersive and timely feedback on assignments, and match intrinsic motivation with remedial activities and repetitive practice. Activity data is produced in digital academic environments that lends itself to Data Analytics. A data informed approach for instructors and students can lead to early detection of poor academic behaviors and creating interventions toward building positive learning behaviors.

How to Use Bite-Sized E-Learning Activities to Increase Engagement and Performance
Speaker: Marsha Hudson, Wharton County Jr. College
Online classrooms can be overwhelming, and instructors need to continue to create excitement and engagement for students to help them retain more information. With bite-sized activities, like slideshows, short-form videos, social media, lesson-based blogs, and infographics, students enjoy the lessons so much that they don't even feel like they are learning. This session will take you through examples of how to use these shorter activities to engage your students.

Tell Me, Teach Me, Involve Me – Choosing an Optimal Approach to Remediating Content for Accessibility
Speaker: Cate Dowman & Brianna Basanta, University of Miami
Remediating for accessibility isn’t as sexy as designing for accessibility, despite technological advances in this field. More concerning is whose job is it to remediate: faculty, instructional designers or technologists and what is the optimal method for turning pre-accessible into accessible content? This presentation explores the pros and cons of three approaches when choosing how to motivate remediators and build a better student learning experience. Along the way we'll explore accessibility tools including Anthology Ally.

Quality Does Matter: a QM Approach to Accessibility, Design, and Student Success*
Speaker: Jenny Billings, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
After being virtual for so much the past two 2 years, it is critical to approach all aspects of online design and instruction intentionally. It is equally important to select and incorporate quality materials. Join Dr. Jenny Billings, Chair of English at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, as she discusses her approach and inclusions while preparing to certify her most recent course through Quality Matters.
*This session will take place 1:50 - 2:10 p.m.

2:45 – 3:25 p.m.

How to Elevate Your Course: From T1 (Translate) to T2 (Transform) to T3 (Transcend)
Speaker: Kat Biancindo, California State University, Fresno
With the onset of Covid came an unprecedented, and perhaps premature, move to digitizing instruction. Instructional frameworks have existed for decades, but none have directly related strategies with digital tools. The first attempt was T, Translational, digitizing the “tell and practice” method, but was not effective in using technology to increase student achievement. T2, transformational, is where old strategies are replaced by technology, like gaming, badging, and interactive sites and materials. T3, transcendent, is where all “tell and practice” methods are replaced by the newest technology has to offer (Learning, metaverse). This session takes you through the way to move to a T3 level, with demonstrated increased student achievement in compressed time (learn more in less time). Inherent in T3 design is equity, inclusion, and accessibility, which are automatically built in with the technology chosen and employed in a T3 design. Instead of "driving looking in the rear-view mirror" (translate T1), you can teleport into the future of education now (T3 or at least T2).

Leveraging Rubrics for Student Learning
Speaker: MJ Rodriguez, Pima Medical Institute
Rubrics are often viewed as scoring tools for instructors. However, rubrics hold great power as learning tools for students. This presentation explores ways to emphasize rubrics as learning tools for students, thus embracing a more student-centered mindset when using rubrics in our courses.

Making Documents and Videos ADA Compatible in Blackboard Learn Ultra
Speaker: J. Scott Miller, Maysville Community and Technical College (Exemplary Course Program Winner)
Like many of you, I have been on a journey to try to get the educational material I provide for my students to be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compatible. Over the last several years, there seems to be an increase in the push for this compatibility, even though the laws have been in place for some time. This session will demonstrate a few steps toward increased accessibility including the ADA checker in Microsoft Word, Anthology Ally, and Youtube’s closed captioning feature.

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Alphabet Soup: D.E.I.B.J.A.E in the Modern Classroom
Speaker: Katie Grennell, Anthology 
If one were to label the relationship status between acronyms and higher education, it would likely be “it’s complicated.” Acronyms, such as FAFSA, UDL, GPA, TRIO etc., are used frequently and with the expectation that their meanings are universally understood. Yet when it comes to the constantly evolving conversations surrounding the alphabet soup that is DEIB, or diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, the addition to or modification of often induces the most doubt. But of all the acronyms, it is DEIB that is most predicated on adaptability and flexibility and thus, should be reexamined, added to, and modified as needed. While many institutions have expanded their acronyms to include justice, for example, there are two key components that are often excluded, either explicitly or unintentionally: accessibility and empathy. After all, inclusion is only truly inclusive if all learners have access, just as access is only truly accessible if all learners have an equitable opportunity for engagement. And if we are to fully embody diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, justice, and accessibility in our teaching, we first need empathy to ground us as human beings connected by vulnerability, emotions, and shared experiences.

This presentation will not evaluate DEIB initiatives in higher education, nor will it create yet another alphabet soup acronym. Rather, this presentation is designed to discuss how we as educators and practitioners can and should approach our teaching and pedagogy with accessibility and empathy in the forefront of our minds. We must use the lessons we have learned from the pandemic to continue infusing our classrooms, our demeanor, and our pedagogy with empathy, accessibility, and all the other essential ingredients of DEIB alphabet soup. Please join me for this closing keynote where I contextualize the need to teach with accessibility and empathy and present specific and tangible recommendations for doing so.

4:30 - 5:10 p.m.

Product Demo: How to create inclusive environments and empower learners using Anthology Ally
Speaker: Ivan Herrera, Anthology
Learn how Ally builds inclusive environments, and how it helps 21st century learners to be successful. Discover all the features that Ally offers for:

• Providing guidance and quick fixing capabilities for accessibility issues in content creation.
• How Ally exposes the content into formats suitable for each learning way.
• How you can identify new strategies and initiatives through insightful reports.

Product Demo: Use of Learn Ultra Modules​
Speaker: Lisa Clark & Misty Cobb, Anthology
Looking for the most organized way to structure your course content and to optimize navigation and access of course materials for your students? Join Senior Product Managers, Lisa Clark and Misty Cobb, to review the best use of learning modules in Learn Ultra courses.

7:15 - 7:55 p.m.

Product Demo: Flexible Grading in Learn Ultra
Speaker: Eric Gudmundson, Anthology
Your time and your feedback are valuable. With Learn Ultra, we aim to deliver the most efficient online grading experience possible as well as the best platform for feedback for your students.. A grading experience aligned to educators natural workflows where they will have full flexibility to switch seamlessly between different grading approaches at any time without being locked into a rigid workflow. Join Solutions Engineer, Eric Gudmundson, to review the best in grading practices of Learn Ultra.

8:00 – 8:40 p.m.

Transforming Online Lessons to Expose Students from All Disciplines to the Field of Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning
Speaker: Rebecca Schroeder, The University of Texas at San Antonio
The GenAI Nexus Consortium seeks to contribute a highly trained, well-qualified workforce of students from underserved populations, minimally represented in GenAI fields. A key component to increasing student participation in the GenAI field is early and repeated exposure. To achieve this goal, University of Texas at San Antonio GenAI faculty leads have transformed existing lessons within core curriculum courses to highlight the usefulness and versatility of these technologies across all academic disciplines. AI is already transforming the world as we know it and will drive our economy as the technology becomes more pervasive. Discover how to expose students, independent of discipline, to tools that are available to them, and how to use these tools to solve problems in their own fields thoughtfully, creatively, and ethically.

8:50 – 9:30 p.m.

Don't Be Scared: Teach with Emojis!
Speaker: Amy Brown-Marshall, St. Louis Community College
One way I engage students in my live virtual lecture, f2f, and in online teaching is by using emojis. I like emojis as communication tools because students can identify with them quickly and it. Emojis have a myriad of uses. They allow instructors to reinforce a point or make a comment on something emotional, encourage shy students to give more feedback, offer an alternative to providing feedback via language, and they’re just fun! In this session, I’ll explain some additional fun ways to use emojis in your teaching.

We All Need Structure: How a Weekly Learning Sequence Has Empowered Student Learning
Speaker: Jaimee Hamilton & Lachlan Holmes, James Cook University
In this session we will detail how our Weekly Learning Sequence has empowered both Chemistry bridging and second year linear Algebra students using Blackboard Learn Ultra as our starting point. The weekly learning sequence coupled with innovative pedagogical strategies such 21st century, authentic learning, creative pedagogies and assessment-based learning to name a few, have drastically enhanced the student experience and enthusiasm for what were otherwise dull and boring subjects. The weekly learning sequence and innovative pedagogies have allowed us to honour our students as co-creators of knowledge and to become empowered independent learners.

9:40 – 10:25 p.m

Rebroadcast of Alphabet Soup: D.E.I.B.J.A.E in the Modern Classroom