D2L Connection: Indiana

As we make our way back to the new normal of educational settings, we are greeted with a renewed sense of appreciation for doing great work as educators. With grace and an openness towards change, these trying times will be yet another opportunity to show just how prepared and determined we can be in tackling difficult challenges that come our way. Together let us face this season head on while showing resilience through empathy – it is what has gotten us here thus far!
 
Speaker: Dr. Cristi Ford, VP Academic Affairs

• Universal Design in Learning: How Can We Remove Barriers to Make Things as Accessible as Possible?

  
  This session will define Universal Design and dive deeper into concepts related to Universal Design for Learning. What strategies can we use to ensure access for all learners? How can we use Brightspace to our advantage, in terms of accessibility? Is a paradigm shift in our way of thinking about accessibility needed in higher education?
  

Speakers: Alex Mason, Jenny Monarch McGuire, and Brad Crites, Purdue University West Lafayette


STEW 202

• Laying the Tracks: Scaling Up Online Learning with Effective Strategies

  
  This session explores using a select group of tools in D2L to quizzing tool in D2L to pace, engage, and assess learners in an online course focused on reflection. The course “Building a Community of Diverse Scholars” was offered as part of a professional development certificate for educators during the summer of 2021. The expectation was to deliver the content to about 35 learners. However, the enrollment ballooned to close to 400 participants.

  The high enrollment created a unique and unexpected challenge of being very large with only a few research fellows to guide instruction. During course design the team suggested that learners take ownership of their understanding and reflection. However, the large enrollment prevented the research fellows the opportunity to assess each learner’s reflection. After responding to a discussion prompt using the discussion tool, learners were given a prompt in the quizzing tool and asked to reflect and confirm their participation in the preceding event. This encouraged learner pacing. Asking the learners to review their discussion post and group participation was also a value-add to the course assessment structure.

  By asking learners to reflect on their learning through active learning (using peer feedback in the discussion tool) and passive learning (confirming in the quiz tool) the course was able to scale up dramatically and several TAs (Teaching Assistants) were able to effectively manage the course.
  

Speakers: Allan Celik and April Wolf, Purdue University West Lafayette


STEW 204

• Role of Artificial Intelligence in Education

  
  The advances in artificial intelligence (AI), especially with the release of OpenAI’s generative AI tool ChatGPT in November 2022, can reshape various industries, including the ability to transform education. In this session, we will explore the role of AI in education – how AI can personalize learning experiences, empower educators, and foster a more inclusive and equitable learning environment for all learners. We will also account for the ethical implications of AI and the guardrails that need to be established to ensure fairness and transparency.
  

Speaker: Surekha Rao, D2L


STEW 206

• Flexible Learning for the Modern Worker and Student

  
  In this session, we’ll explore 4 different training courses designed to empower learners of all kinds: students, instructors, and staff. These courses are designed with self-paced, just-in-time learning in mind, so you can learn what you need, when you need it. Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill, brush up on an old one, or simply explore new ideas, these courses will provide you with the flexibility and convenience you need to take control of your own learning journey. Come prepared to learn, ask questions, and share your own experiences with self-paced learning!
  

Speakers: Katie Brown, Jessica Orr, Lara Wolters, Kathy Siefert, Purdue University Northwest


STEW 202

• How to keep creative and technical teams engaged?

  
  Colleague engagement is key to the success of any organization. At Ultimate Medical Academy, the Curriculum team comprises Instructional Designers, Multimedia, Instructional Technology, Quality Assurance, and Copy Editor. This team historically had a low engagement score. In this session, I will share the practices I implemented in 2 years to help the engagement score increase by 20 points – 63 to 83.
  

Speaker: Zoaib Mirza, Ultimate Medical Academy


STEW 204

• Using Brightspace Tools to Increase Student Engagement and Instructor Presence

  
  There are many tools available within Brightspace that instructors can use to increase their course presence and to inspire greater levels of student engagement. Several use cases will be shared to demonstrate effective practices learned over years of using Brightspace for online and blended learning.
  

Speaker: Andrea MacArgel, D2L


STEW 278

• Protecting student data: Lessons learned from a 3rd party tool vetting and integration process

  
  Instructors frequently rely on third party tools outside of Brightspace to enhance and support teaching and learning in their courses. To ensure the integrity of the learning management system and compliance with federal regulations, all third-party tools must be vetted prior to integration. In this session we will discuss our vetting process as well as challenges and lessons learned in providing integration support for Purdue University West Lafayette instructors.

  You will learn how Purdue Educational Technologists analyze new integration requests for our system wide Brightspace instance and what processes are undertaken to evaluate each unique tool. We will share what questions to ask instructors about the tool to verify their use case, how to address hurdles in integration requests, and what common red flags we have encountered.
  

Speakers: Debora Steffen, Kristen Bettice Hamby, and Molly Kremer, Purdue


STEW 204

• Envision the Impact on Learning with AI-enabled Technologies

  
  Rapid advancement in Generative AI technologies has dominated our conversations this year. Collaborate with D2L to understand the impact on teaching and learning with AI-enabled technologies. Discuss the possibilities and the concerns in an interactive and engaging session.
  

Speakers: Surekha Rao, Laura Janusek, and Steve Rogalsky, all of D2L


STEW 206

• Supplement Assessments with Rubrics and Quick(ly) Eval(uate) your Students

  
  Faculty frequently use rubrics to supplement various forms of assessment and evaluate student work. Rubrics are also an excellent way for faculty to provide feedback and increase their presence in online courses. We’ll cover creating a rubric, where faculty can add to assessments such as assignments, quizzes and discussions. Best practices include investing time to describe the processes and skills to be observed; providing rubrics ahead of time for students to self-evaluate; and limiting the number of components to provide feedback on.
  

Speaker: Andrea MacArgel, D2L


STEW 278