Welcome

Keynote: Universal Design

Dr. Stanley E. Horton, Director of Student Conduct at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire.

The keynote presentation will explore nine (9) universal design strategies and how they can be incorporated inside and outside a learning environment.  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a simple, yet effective way to be inclusive of all students in every setting within your university.  Dr. Horton will provide an interactive and engaging discussion that highlights how you can optimize teaching and learning based on how we learn.  The strategies presented will provide you with the tools needed to reduce barriers for students with disabilities, and guide you through customized approaches to create an equal opportunity for everyone to learn.

Functionality of Flipgrid in Online Classroom Environment

Conni DiBlieck. Elizabeth Kuchler, Linda Summers, and Shelly Noe
10:10 AM – 10:55 AM

Conversations are frequently utilized as an academic instrument in online courses. The use of Flipgrid (FP) in online undergraduate and graduate courses has demonstrated several instructive advantages for students. Students are provided a discussion platform empowering them to develop more significant reasoning skills such as critical thinking, reflection, and cultivating an online culture. Video discussion tools such as Flipgrid are valuable for connecting students to feelings of inclusion in the individual course online setting.

Developing safety and trust in virtual student teams

Carol Flinchbaugh
10:10 AM – 10:55 AM

The goal of this presentation is to help instructors develop student safety and trust in virtual teams, using the work of Google’s Team Aristotle and Ferrazzi’s (2012) ‘swift trust.’ This presentation will outline steps to help build effective virtual teams quickly. Step one is interpersonal trust development through getting to know one another through the “Take 5” activity. Step two develops predictable communication patterns and nominal group decision making. The third step outlines ways to share and rotate power in the group. Step four includes the development of team rules.

Extending Online Discussions for Deeper Engagement

Eric Magrane
10:10 AM – 10:55 AM

Online discussions can be an integral part of fostering students’ critical engagement in both asynchronous and synchronous settings. In this presentation, I will share some of the ways that I use discussions, including the use of video early in the semester to foster group engagement, the design of discussion prompts that foster critical and analytical skills, and a new practice in which I have been highlighting and incorporating strong examples of student discussion responses in follow-up videos that I record and post in subsequent modules. Expect to leave with some new ideas for using the discussion tool in Canvas.  

Instructor Presence and Learning Community Building: An Aesthetic

M. Catherine Jonet and Laura Anh Williams
10:10 AM – 10:55 AM

How can your digital learning space be more expressive? How can creativity help foster community and learning in your online courses? Building on Randy Garrison’s Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, which advocates that learners have a cognitive presence, a social presence, and a teaching presence in online classes, this presentation asks participants to consider incorporating creativity and expressive aesthetic elements to help generate a sense of connection, encourage trust, and build learners’ interest in inquiry and reflection, especially in asynchronous courses. All skill levels welcome.

No printer? No Scanner? But have iPad/iPhone? Then no problem!

Sarah Balizan
10:10 AM – 10:55 AM

Do you ask your students to print at home? Do they have printers? Do you need to see your students hand written work? Do you need them to submit it digitally? Do you need to sign digital documents? This short workshop will help you set up your course so your students can still benefit from hand writing their notes, but will no longer need to access a printer or scanner. You can see their work in calculations or drawings, return digital submissions with handwritten notes and help save the environment. Use this helpful information for committee work and any paperwork that needs to be signed.

CANCELLED

On a completely different planet – teaching synchronously online (in a Pandemic).

Betsy Stringam
11:05 AM – 11:50 AM

The switch to teaching synchronously online in a pandemic to students who did not sign up for an online education was like traveling to a different planet. This session will highlight the different types of online students, and share tips and techniques for engaging various students. The session will discuss changes to course structure, and share insight into adjusting to life on a different planet. Participants will leave with new tools to pack for the space journey and discuss when part of the rocket should be jettisoned.

Increasing student engagement with formative assessments

Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza
11:05 AM – 11:50 AM

Some of the challenges instructors face when transferring their courses from face-to-face to online is measuring or maintaining student engagement and learning. Formative assessments can help learners monitor their own progress, increase accountability and encourage a sense of community in some cases. The current presentation will provide an overview of formative assessments and give specific examples of how to design self- and peer-review activities that integrate grading rubrics as well as how to create effective multiple-choice test banks.

Accessibility is Easier Than You Think

Karen May and Ramona Becker
11:05 AM – 11:50 AM

Accessibility does not have to be hard. Join us for some quick, easy steps to improve the accessibility of your Canvas pages, Word Documents and PowerPoint presentations. We will show you the built-in tools and provide some easy tips to help you plan for accessibility as you go.

Discussion Boards – From commentating to structured conversation

Adelina Holguin
11:05 AM – 11:50 AM

Discussion boards are great to engage students to contribute and interact with each other. Students can make commentaries, but without guidance, commentaries can result in subjective statements. This presentation reviews a discussion board assignment that incorporates the principles of learning through student- student interactions, instructor- student interaction, formative and summative feedback. In the assessment design the settings of ‘module building’ are used to create a scaffolding to guide students in a step-by-step progression to encourage students to attempt the assignment.

Panel: Engaging Students Online Using Zoom and Canvas – Come meet our new Digital Learning Faculty Fellows!

Julia Parra, Carol Flinchbaugh, Betsy Stringam, Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza, Cat Jonet, Marija Dimitrijevic, Michele Shuster, Conni DeBlieck
12:00 PM – 12:50 PM

The panel will share how they are building an online community in collaboration with faculty who are preparing and teaching courses that are hybrid and fully online. During this panel discussion, the Fellows will help you brainstorm ideas on how you can bring these experiences to life.

Drop-In Session: Adding Library Resources to Your Canvas Course

Terese DiSimio, Jose Aranda, Susan Bontly, Erin Wahl, Alisa Gonzalez
12:00 PM – 12:50 PM

Get one-on-one help to learn how to add library resources and services to your Canvas courses. Using Library resources and services are great ways to help you to meet Quality Matters standards, New Mexico’s General Education Requirements, the goals of DACC’s General Education Assessment Plan, and NMSU LEADS 2025 Goal #1. We can help you to add things like links to journal articles, eBooks, databases, Research Guides, prerecorded videos, the Library’s website, and how to add a Librarian to your course. We can also show you the various options for instruction support librarians can offer.

Technology and Engagement-Demonstration

Rajaa Shindi
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Engaging online learners is always a challenge; in this presentation, I will demonstrate how to use/apply a formative assessment using Kahoot in synchronized and asynchronized online teaching.

How is COVID-19 affecting College students?

Ali Ahmad
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

In this session, you will dive into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students. We will share tools, practical strategies, teaching styles, activities, and materials you need to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choosing the right tools to engage and assess

Tanya Innam and Suparna Chatterjee
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

“Tools instructors use for course design, delivery and support for teaching in an online environment impact students’ learning and achievement. Instructors often face the challenge of actively engaging students in their learning process and assessing students’ performance in an online environment. Student engagement and assessment of their work to a great extent depends upon what tools instructors use to teach a course.

In this presentation we will discuss what instructors focus on when choosing tools for teaching and how it impacts students engagement and assessment in an online environment.”

Enhancing online Chemistry and Biology instruction with virtual labs

Joann LaTorre and Concepcion Miller
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

This presentation addresses how Labster Virtual Lab simulations were incorporated within biology and chemistry courses, the struggles and successes, and in doing so, some of the student experiences using this technology. We will share ways in which Labster tools can be used in alignment with best practices for scaffolding virtual lab learning that engages students.

Using Apps in virtual settings

Sarah Balizan
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Use apps for demonstration in a face to face class? Want to use apps for virtual demonstration? Or want to use your new way of engaging students online in a face to face classroom? Let’s all practice! Come learn ideas on how to move your virtual engagement into the classroom, or how to use apps online and in class.

Using Twitter as Social Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning for Graduate Students: An International Collaboration

Kristen Kew and Olga Fellus
1:40 PM – 2:10 PM

This presentation provides context, lessons learned, and takeaways on using Twitter as social media in teaching graduate students in online research in education courses. This collaborative initiative was implemented by professors in the U.S. and Canada to provide an international dialogue among Master’s and Doctoral students in both countries to facilitate online conversation, course matter learning, and dissemination of research method ideas during COVID19 when graduate student opportunities to collaborate and network were minimal.

Using the Advantages of Online Learning to Mitigate the Disadvantages

Claire Forsmann
1:40 PM – 2:10 PM

We are all aware that there are advantages and disadvantages of online learning. How can we use the strengths to alleviate the weaknesses? This presentation will highlight some ways, we as online educators, can use these strengths to help our students become better learners in the “new normal” of education. You will learn about various tools and techniques that can be incorporated into your course. Some topics we will be exploring are the benefits of hybrid/blended courses, and the theory behind cognitive loading and what it means to you and your students.

Using Weekly Q&A to Foster Engagement and Faculty-Student Interaction in Online Courses

Roseli Cavalcante
1:40 PM – 2:10 PM

Standard 5 of the Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric and the NMSUA Online Delivery Standards (NMSUA ODS) strongly stress the importance of faculty engaging frequently with students in the online environment. This presentation is a personal experience narrative where I describe my use of weekly Q&A as a tool to promote, not only faculty engagement, but also, the interaction between instructor and students. Furthermore, this strategy seemed to be effective in creating a supportive classroom environment during the pandemic, which is essential to support student mental health and retention.

Increasing Understanding with Video and Infographics

Andrew Sedillo
1:40 PM – 2:10 PM

I will share the benefits of creating videos and infographics to use as supplemental resources to increase student understanding and engagement in an online learning environment.

Online Live Exam Proctoring Using LockDown Browser and Zoom

Paul Furth
1:40 PM – 2:10 PM

This presentation describes administering an online exam using Respondus LockDown Browser with Zoom for live proctoring. During the exam, regular communication is somewhat hindered, as “students can only hear the instructor,” and “instructors can only see the students.” As such, students pass questions to the instructor by writing notes and holding them up to their webcam, whereas instructors provide exam instructions audibly. The benefit of live proctoring is staying connected to students: students can ask questions, and instructors can provide clarifications in real-time.

The Energy of Learning: A Formula for Success

Kathleen O’Connor
2:20 PM – 3:05 PM

Online teaching has grown in the last fifteen years. Technology has continued to evolve, teaching methods have transformed. What remains central to meaningful teaching is the engagement and presence of the instructor. How can instructors bring their personality, the wealth of their experience and the depth of their knowledge to students? How can we cultivate the joy of learning in the online classroom? We will explore the energy of learning, vitality of engagement and the power of instructor presence. A secret formula will be revealed.

Modeling a Sustainable Research Trajectory through Targeted Information Literacy Assignments in Online Courses

Erin Wahl
2:20 PM – 3:05 PM

Information is an ecosystem. Creating a sustainable relationship with that ecosystem is important to the success of our information lives. Helping students develop this relationship to & understanding of information & research allows for greater academic success & a more sophisticated approach in their post-academic lives. We’ll break down issues surrounding this relationship, offer pathways for developing this relationship through precise information literacy assignments, & explain why the online learning environment is perfect for launching students on this path & why now is the ideal time.

From Course Map to Modules to Assignments to Success!

Christopher Brown
2:20 PM – 3:05 PM

The pivot to 100% online classes in March 2020 presented huge challenges to faculty, especially those with limited training & background in online teaching. Drawing on lessons learned in the NMSU CDI/QM training, I built a series of nested class components that generated very well structured classes. Students noted, “As students, we were able to know exactly what was due and what each class was going to cover. The structure of this class was really well done, as close to F2F as possible .” in the presentation, I will review how I went From “Course Map to Modules to Assignments to Success.”

Bridging the Gap: Activating Understanding and Success from Boomers to Gen Z

Sarah Daughtrey
2:20 PM – 3:05 PM

This presentation will focus on recent research on Generation Z and its characteristics, preferences and learning styles, and how these intersect with the current unprecedented mix of generations in the classroom, which has often caused both friction and a lack of understanding between educators and students. Each generation currently in the teaching cohort (Boomers, Gen X and Millennials) brings its own teaching and learning experience and preferences to the classroom, and this presentation will provide some understanding of how our own education and history inform our teaching and impact interaction online with this newest generation. 

Supporting Faculty Transition Courses to Online Teaching During the Covid-19 pandemic and the Wide Use of Zoom

Marija Dimitrijevic
2:20 PM – 3:05 PM

Designing and teaching Canvas online courses is more challenging and more important than ever before due to the changes in learning environments due to the pandemic. This session will share ways in which I, with a group of colleagues as a Task Force, supported faculty transition courses online and ,as a Digital Learning Fellow, shared innovative ways to build meaningful connections with students, use Zoom effectively and build more productive outcomes.

Closing

Door Prizes!!! Must be present to win.