2022 Distance Teaching & Learning Conference

Join this session to hear experts in the field discuss core elements of distance education. This session is recommended for professionals new to the field of online education.

• Penny Ralston-Berg, Pennsylvania State University
• James Moore, DePaul University
• Heather Braatz, Worsham University

Pre-event sign-up is required for workshops. Workshop pre-registration has closed as of July 22 and is no longer available for sign ups.

Workshop registrants will recieve a direct link for workshop access.

Creating Online Courses that are Accessible to and Inclusive of Students and Instructors with Disabilities
Workshop | Track: Accessibility; Instructor Development; Learner Design |
Students who enroll in online courses and instructors who teach them are diverse with respect to gender identity, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, ability, and other characteristics. This workshop will focus on how designers and programs can ensure that the courses they create are accessible to and inclusive of instructors and students with a wide variety of disabilities.

• Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington

Establishing A Research Community Among Instructional Designers: What, Why, and How
Workshop | Track: Instructor Development |
Instructional Designers have an ongoing need to stay current on research on the best practices related to online and hybrid learning, but not all have the skills or opportunity to do so. This active learning session will introduce a model and supporting resources to establish a research community for your team.

• Deborah Mundorff, Oregon State University

Using OBS Studio for Dynamic Presentations and Teaching
Workshop | Track: Learner Engagement |
See how to use OBS Studio software to teach synchronously as well as enhance the quality of videos by making presentations more dynamic.

• Chiquito Crasto, Texas Tech University

Student Centered? Try Participatory Design
Workshop | Track: Learner Engagement; Learning Design |
Participatory design is a methodology that centers power sharing and co-creation to inspire design in new ideas, products and services. This workshop session will discuss the results of a participatory design project with six fully online students and a group of UW Libraries' staff. During the course of eleven weeks, staff and students went through design activities to surface students' experiences as online students and ways that the libraries can better meet those needs.

• Reed Garbe-Pearson, University of Washington

Can I Use This? OER and Other Affordable Course Materials; Where and How to Find Them for Your Online Course
Workshop | Track: Learning Design |
This workshop will help participants learn how to find quality OER and other affordable learning materials that faculty could actually use in their course. We will look at the many options and learn how to determine which materials are truly OER.

• Stefanie Buck, Oregon State University

Leveraging Inquiry in Online Courses
Workshop | Track: Learning Design; Learner Engagement |
In this session, participants will reorient themselves with what purposeful learning looks like and engage with the methodology of inquiry-based learning to create course activities that are driven by the cyclic process of posing questions, finding answers, and then posing new questions.

• Brandon Cohen, San Diego State University

Build a Video Kit and Start Recording Videos for Your Online Class
Workshop | Track: Learning Design; Instructor Development |
The benefits of including videos in your online class are well known, but building a class with reliable video links can be a challenge. Many instructors have started using video capture programs like Camtastia, MediaSite, Zoom, and countless others to present their lectures to their online students. This can work in a pinch, but creating your own engaging videos can be a rewarding experience for both you and your students. This 90-minute workshop will help you set up a video kit and then teach you how to plan, record, edit, and publish original videos that you can use year after year.

• Holley Baker, Texas Tech University

Please join us to learn more about the Conference - Session Types, Formats, Tracks, navigating Accelevents, connecting with conference attendees and more. We'll answer any questions you might have to make your Conference experience the best they can be.

• Bridget Powell, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Karin Spader, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Teaching is a vocation. When supported with resources and security, it is a constantly renewing source of excitement and richness. The last several years of disruption, uncertainty, and overburdened workloads have exhausted teachers and students alike. Monsters have reared their heads, and we have understandably shrunk from them. Faculty are burnt out—sacrificing their own mental health, phoning it in out of desperation, or leaving the profession entirely. Students are experiencing an epidemic of mental health problems, especially of anxiety. As instructors, we can support and encourage student mental health through pedagogies of care. A pedagogy of care involves high-touch practices like frequent communication, flexibility, inclusive teaching practices, learning new technologies and techniques, and being enthusiastic and passionate. All these practices involve both a heavy investment of time and a high degree of emotional labor. How can we support our students without burning ourselves out? How can we revive our sparks? In this interactive keynote, Sarah Rose Cavanagh will present some research and food for thought based on her upcoming book on how higher education should respond to both faculty depletion and the student mental health crisis. 

• Sarah Rose Cavanagh, Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning in the Center for Faculty Excellence, Simmons University

Online Admissions and Recruitment: A Predictive Model of Admissions Yield Rates
ePoster | Track: Online Education Administration; Research & Emerging Topics | Tag: Predictive Models
As an ongoing action research dissertation for Arizona State University’s Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation program, this ePoster session is designed to facilitate discussion around the value associated with building accurate predictive models for online higher education institutions.

• Cody Singer, Washington State University

Online Education in Correctional Facilities: Opening Doors
ePoster | Track: Online Education Administration; Learning Design | Tag: Emerging Topics
The session will present research on the benefits of higher education in prison settings.This includes the challenges associated with higher education in prisons, including those pertaining to resources. An overview the implementation of a pilot course within a correctional facility, the collection of feedback, the implementation of adjustments, and the formal launch of a degree program within a correctional setting will be presented.

• Michelle Dennis, Adler University
• Donna DiMatteo-Gibson, Adler University

How to Onboard: An Autoethnography of Self-Directed Learning
ePoster | Track: Online Education Administration; Instructor Development |
This ePoster session will cover the presenter’s experience with self-directed learning (SDL) as it relates to their onboarding as an instructional consultant.

• Shane Lanning, Ball State University

Introducing the Course Success Self-Review: Self-Directed Needs Analysis to Target Resources and Improve Instruction
Exploratory | Track: Instructor Development | Tag: Instrumentation
Learn about the principles, process, and approaches used to build the Course Success Self-Review to help instructors support their learners, improve their teaching, and update their course design. This unique survey tool leads instructors through a self-directed course analysis and provides relevant advice and resources.

• Karen Skibba, University of Wisconsin
• Dan Pell, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Examining a Teaching Assistant Model for Online Courses
Exploratory | Track: Online Education Administration; Instructor Development | Tag: Teaching Models
In this session, we will examine the history of the teaching assistant (TA) model in higher education and review how a TA model can efficiently be adapted for an online learning environment. The session will also present ways the model enabled lead instructors to focus on their roles as subject matter experts while leading and mentoring a team of teaching assistants.

• Elisa Shepard, California Baptist University
• Robert Shields, California Baptist University
• Dirk Davis, California Baptist University
• Julianna Carrera, California Baptist University

Prospects and Challenges for Nondegree Professional Education in the Era of Digital Transformation
Panel | Track: Online Education Administration; Learner Engagement; Learning Design |
This session will help participants develop a roadmap for the digital transformation of their nondegree programming portfolio from ideation to implementation; construct a framework in which the outcomes of digital transformation will be a more personalized, flexible, student-centered, and ongoing learning experience; and identify and avoid common barriers to the effective implementation of digital transformation in professional education.

• Jeffrey Warner, Georgetown University
• William Pullen, Georgetown University SCS
• Stephanie Gallop, Georgetown University SCS

The Role of Virtual Exchange in Enhancing Internationalization Initiatives: Findings from the Language Classroom
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Learner Engagement; Learning Design |
This presentation will demonstrate how newly emerging immersive Virtual Exchange (VE) approaches can be successfully adopted to internationalize the curriculum. These pedagogical endeavors are not limited to the language classroom, but should be considered as an available resource for all disciplines as a simple yet effective way to provide authentic virtual connections across borders for all students.

• Crystal Marull, University of Florida
• Mary Risner, University of Florida

Awareness of Assistive Technology in the Course Design Process Creates a More Egalitarian System in Human Development
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Instructor Development; Accessibility |
Lack of awareness of assistive technology by professors creates barriers that violate the rights of the individual with a disability under U.S. law. This session will discuss key research findings revealing strong connections to theories within the literature review and evidence of the impact that the lack of knowledge and awareness of assistance technology have in students with disabilities’ success at the college level. Overall findings linking assistive technology, class engagement theories, students with disabilities and instructors’ awareness will be explored.

• Humberto Hernandez Ariza, D'Youville University Buffalo

Join Sarah Rose Cavanagh for a special follow-up discussion. Be a part of the conversation and ask any questions you have following Sarah's opening keynote session!

• Sarah Rose Cavanagh, Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning in the Center for Faculty Excellence, Simmons University

Post COVID Learning Online: What We Know and What We Need to Do
Until the pandemic, many in our field spent a significant amount of time working to convince naysayers that online learning could be a quality learning experience for students.  Then came COVID and the need for immediate remote learning, which did not support our case for quality. Now, what do we need to do to address the many bad experiences of emergency remote learning and make our case for quality? 

• Kaye Shelton, Lamar University

“n” of One: My Hopes—and Fears—for the Future of Assessment

It seems that at least once a semester, the Chronicle of Higher Education, InsideHigherEd, or even the New York Times runs an article bemoaning the state of assessment on our campuses. The reactions follow the usual patterns, with faculty hitting “forward” and those responsible for managing institutional assessment efforts gnashing their teeth. 

We have seen some of this same dynamic playing out since our “pivot” to remote learning in the spring of 2020, with a vocal contingency bemoaning all-things-online and/or distance education, while practitioners and scholars of distant education countering (rightly) that “distance” is not the problem—the culprit is really poor pedagogy, including problematic approaches to assessment. But what if—the “Royal We” of assessment practitioners and scholars, along with our distance learning colleagues—exhaled and paused to engage more fully with the critiques, perhaps even offering up some of our own?

Because assessment as an accountability mandate understandably leaves many cold. When the language of accreditation and compliance takes precedence over our teaching and learning values, the assessment process quickly becomes a mechanical, reductionist exercise. But at its best, assessment illuminates, with powerful “aha!” moments that can help us drive toward greater student success. This session will engage participants in interrogating the question “How can we value student learning in an age of accountability” by addressing the very design of our assessment systems, including strategies for measuring student learning, making meaning of the data generated by assessment activities, and determining what – if anything – needs to change based on our assessment work, all with an eye toward reinforcing the connective threads that bind teaching, learning, and assessment together in a more hopeful, less fearful, way.

• Kate McConnell, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Designing Inclusive Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments
Fostering inclusivity requires intentionality that starts at the design of a course and continues through the implementation of various teaching practices during the term. This interactive presentation geared towards practitioners and those who partner with them on their teaching efforts, will focus on how instructors can create inclusive (equitable and welcoming environments) in technology-enhanced learning environments throughout a course.  

We will specifically highlight equitable teaching approaches that foster a sense of belonging at the beginning of a course to set the tone. We will discuss the importance of knowing who learners are, evidence-based tools such as the Who’s in Class? Form, and how instructors can make sense of the information received to respond to the diversity of a class. Additionally, we will discuss the importance of establishing community standards with learners in technology-enhanced learning environments to set the stage for inclusion. We will also expound upon how to foster inclusivity throughout the term. 

• Tracie Addy, Lafayette College

No Attention = No Benefit: Increasing Students’ Use of Assignment Feedback
Exploratory | Track: Learner Engagement; Assessment & Evaluation |
This session examines data on students’ use of assignment feedback in the online classroom with an emphasis on manageable, effective strategies for increasing students’ attention to instructor’s gradebook comments.

• Jean Mandernach, Grand Canyon University
• Kelly Palese, Grand Canyon University

Escapology: Frameworks & Tools to Create Escape Rooms for Digital Learning
Exploratory | Track: Learning Design; Learner Engagement | Tag: Gamification
Play is a biological process embedded deep in what it means to be human, specifically in its function to help us learn. During this session we leverage the powerful learning power of play as we discover how to design, develop, and deploy escape rooms for online learning.

• Maikel Alendy, Florida International University
• Jeni Lopez, Florida International University

Ditching Surveillance Technology & Learning to Trust Our Students
Exploratory | Track: Online Education Administration; Assessment & Evaluation |
Learn how online exams can be successfully administered and maintained without the use of invasive surveillance technology. Outcomes of exam scores in a class of 200+ students over 6 semesters will be used as evidence. Discussion will include risks of harm caused by invasive surveillance software compared to the assumed benefits. Strategies for exam questions, exam implementation, and deterrence of academic dishonesty will also be discussed.

• Lea Wood, University of Missouri
• Kari Lane, University of Missouri

cMOOC Cloud Training in 4 Months: How Thousands Were Successful
Research | Research & Emerging Topics; Online Education Administration |
This presentation will share UCalgary ContEd’s experience collaborating with Microsoft Canada and RBC to provide free fundamental artificial intelligence (AI) training that had 7130 unique enrolments in 4 months. We will share learner demographics, course progression statistics as well as Microsoft Certification Exam completion rates using a cMOOC delivery approach.

• Ewa Wasniewski, University of Calgary
• Vui Kien Liau, University of Calgary

The Effect of Role Selection on Simulated Learning Experiences
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Learning Design |
Come and hear the results from our experiment that examined the effect of giving students choice in selecting their roles in simulated learning experience.

• Monica L. Rosen, University of Michigan
• Frederique Laubepin, University of Michigan

Join today's invited speakers for a small-group discussion following their sessions. Kaye, Kate, and Tracie will share the biggest takeaways from their respective sessions, and then attendees will have the opportunity to join a breakout room with one of the speakers for questions and further discussion.

• Kaye Shelton, Lamar University
• Kate McConnell, American Association of Colleges and Universities
• Tracie Addy, Lafayette College

Use our Speed Meeting session and connect in a randomized, short (5-minutes) connection with another attendee at the conference. Get your webcam ready and come make connections with other. Be ready to share a little information about yourself. Be careful, once the five minutes is up the system will move on to connect you with someone else, so make sure you connect and share contact information with those people you may want to follow up with!

This session is hosted via the platform’s speed networking tool. Participating attendees will be randomly matched with another attendee for one-on-one video chats lasting 5 minutes each. Attendees must enable their camera and microphone, and the platform does not support virtual backgrounds. This session is not being recorded.

Student Engagement in Online Language Teacher Training: A Successful Experience
ePoster | Track: Learner Engagement; Instructor Development |
The present study aims to investigate pre-service teachers’ perceptions on the effectiveness of a series of digital practices in fostering teaching, social, and cognitive presence in an online language teacher education course offered at Master’s level at an Italian university.

• Giovanna Carloni, University of Urbino, Italy

Moving a Physical Science Laboratory From Face-To-Face to Online: Lessons Learned
ePoster | Track: Learner Engagement; Learning Design | Tag: Science Learning
This ePoster details the author's experience transitioning from a traditional face-to-face format to an online, LMS-mediated format. The author did not use any commercial virtual lab software but rather employed a quick & dirty, low-tech approach.

• Jonathan Dick, Fresno Pacific University

Questioning Assumptions and Recalibrating in Adaptive Learning Math Courses
ePoster | Track: Learning Design; Learner Engagement |
The focus of this ePoster is to discuss the design of our Adaptive Learning Course for Introduction to College Math based on the student perspective. We thought outside the traditional approach while creating and linking content and developing leveled questions.

• Tonya Haas, Colorado Technical University
• Sarah Pingrey, Colorado Technical University

Game On: Exploring Game-Based Methods for Instructional Delivery
Exploratory | Track: Learner Engagement; Learning Design | Tag: Gamification
With the continuing advancements in technology and online education the concept of gamification has become of greater interest in higher education.  This session explores how “a gamified learning process has the potential to immerse your students in the curricular content and cultivates a positive attitude toward study” (Wang, 2021, para. 3). Instructional Delivery

• Anne Jewett, University of Virginia
• Ashley Caudill, University of Virginia

2022 Trends in Online Education: Exploring the Future of Higher Education Through Student and Administrator Perspectives
Exploratory | Track: Online Education Administration; Learning Design | Tag: Emerging Topics
This 8th annual report from BestColleges presents feedback from 351 program administrators and 1,800 students identifying trends in remote and online education that inform decisions related to: learner demographics, program design, marketing, support services, and student satisfaction.

• Melissa Venable, Red Ventures Education

Shuffling the Deck and Finding the Ace: Using Data to Identify Effective Instructional Strategies
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Learning Design | Tag: Data Analytics
We have analyzed academic data from two distinct faculty cohorts to elucidate effective instructional strategies.

• Leah Willis, Colorado Technical University
• Max Fassnacht, Colorado Technical University

Creative Assessments in Distance Learning
Roundtable | Track: Assessment & Evaluation; Learner Engagement; Learning Design |
Our session focuses on a discussion of the implementation of creative assessment options in online and hybrid courses. The courses taught and instructional experiences of the discussion panelists are disparate yet linked by a drive for the use of meaningful assessments.

• Laura Schisler, Missouri Southern State University
• Angie Durborow, Missouri Southern State University
• Zack Rice, Missouri Southern State University

Teaching Digital Literacy in Your Discipline
Roundtable | Track: Instructor Development | Tag: Digital Literacy
Participants in this roundtable will discuss integrating digital literacy into their online courses. The ideas shared by the roundtable conveners will be from a recently published book they edited, titled Integrating Digital Literacy in the Disciplines.

• Lauren Hays, University of Central Missouri
• Jenna Kammer, University of Central Missouri

Extending our Collective Imagination
Curiosity is essential to the learning process. “In order to learn something, we first must wonder about it,” writes Josh Eyler in How Humans Learn. This session will explore the role digital tools play in heightening curiosity and extending our collective imagination toward better teaching. Opportunities to share ideas and connect with others will be fostered.

• Bonni Stachowiak, Vanguard University

Coping with Burnout among Distance Staff
When is burnout a leadership problem not just a faculty problem? Always. Burnout is a mental health syndrome caused by unrelenting and unmanageable stress in the workplace. In a neoliberal society in which funding for higher education has steeply declined and faculty are asked to do more with less, burnout is an unfortunately common experience, made only significantly more damaging during the global COVID pandemic. And for faculty experiencing online and distance education for the first time, as well as those already skilled in this area, the dramatic shift from online to hybrid and HyFlex to in-person has been more than mentally jarring and increased work. 

How can leadership support burned-out faculty? The vast majority of strategies recommended are individual coping strategies, thus putting the onus on the burned out faculty member to “be resilient” or embark on better “self-care,” band-aids at best. Because burnout is a cultural not just an individual problem, leaders must be involved in shaping policies and workplace conditions that allow faculty, and therefore students, to thrive. 

In this interactive workshop, we’ll go beyond just definitions and coping strategies to explore what leaders at all levels can do to make cultural changes necessary to improve the mental health of faculty, on campus and online. 

• Rebecca Pope-Ruark, Georgia Institute of Technology

Navigating the Alternative Credential Landscape
Higher education has traditionally relied on its authority as arbiter and grantor of academic credentials as a hallmark of its role in the educational journey of learners. And while the marketplace for postsecondary educational credentials has been fragmented for decades, quickly evolving recent trends ranging from badges to industry-based certifications to accelerated “micro” degrees have added a layer of complexity that can be challenging to navigate for institutions, students, and employers alike. Universities, colleges, and policymakers worry about how to assure quality educational experiences in an increasingly diversified credential environment. Learners must decide what skills and credentials they might need to advance in the workplace and locate educational opportunities that align with those areas for professional growth. Employers may find themselves weighing the importance of credentials as they seek the skilled workers in an increasingly competitive hiring environment. 

According to the Lumina Foundation, the past 30 years has seen a surge of more than 800 percent growth in the number of certificates awarded by higher education institutions and other providers of education. Concurrently, the number of certifications offered by industry-based organizations has grown rapidly. Likewise, growth in online learning has fed the development of new kinds of alternative credentials such as badges, non-credit certificates, and industry certifications. And while more than 4,000 organizations offer credentials of some kind, less than 10 percent of these are reviewed by a third party.

Universities, colleges, and companies alike are complex organizations with many competing priorities. How are we to make sense of the increasingly chaotic world of credentialing to better align the needs of learners and employers with the expertise of our institutions? 

• Gary Chinn, Penn State University

“Tell Me and I Forget, Teach Me and I Remember, Involve Me and I Learn:” Co-curricular Programs to Assist Graduate Students in Transitioning to the Workforce
ePoster | Track: Learner Engagement |
In this presentation we provide an overview of the co-curricular approaches we took in developing students in business, health sciences, public administration, criminal justice and cybersecurity. The approaches are critically reviewed, student evaluations are summarized, lessons learned are shared, and future directions are presented.

• Michele Paludi, Excelsior College
• Anna Zendell, Excelsior College

Incorporating Service Learning Into a Global Learning Experience Course
ePoster | Track: Learner Engagement |
DePaul's Global Learning Experience (GLE) program is a transformative experience where our students work with students from an international partner institution on a project using online collaboration tools. In my course (ENV 204 Energy and the Environment), the Global Learning Experience was coupled with project-based service learning. Students researched the impacts of fossil fuels on communities in Chicago and Uyo, Nigeria and worked with community groups to develop strategies that can support the community-based programs to manage and reduce the environmental, health, and economic impacts of fossil fuel production.

• Margaret Workman, DePaul University

10 Tips for Culturally Inclusive Learning Design
ePoster | Track: Learning Design; Instructor Development |
In this session, we will describe dimensions for cultivating a culturally inclusive mindset and explore practical strategies and tips for approaching teaching and learning from an asset-based perspective, which places students at the center of culturally relevant learning design. We also share a set of practical tips for incorporating these principles into course design and delivery.

• Elisabeth McBrien, Oregon State University
• Christine Scott, Oregon State University Ecampus
• Nadia Jaramillo, Oregon State University Ecampus

Strategies for Scaling Equitable Digital Learning Infrastructure
Panel | Track: Online Education Administration; Research & Emerging Topics |
This session provides a unique perspective on the strategies that institutions are using to implement digital learning initiatives that are student-centered and being used to close outcomes gaps. Building on prior research both regarding the efficacy of and challenges in implementing digital learning, this case study-based work profiles actions that institutional leaders can take to create sustained approaches. Offering a new and comprehensive framework with which institutional leaders can evaluate and plan digital learning initiatives, this session aims to support action and implementation, based on the experiences of a diverse set of institutions who are experiencing success.

• Kristen Fox, Tyton Partners
• Beth Brunk-Chavez, UTEP
• Karen Vignare, APLU

Roles and Quality Assurance Processes of Online Program Leaders
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Online Education Administration |
The findings of a qualitative study about the roles and processes adopted by online program leaders during the development, implementation, and quality assurance of their online programs will be discussed in this session.

• Swapna Kumar, University of Florida
• Neuza Sofia Pedro, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Pandemic Pedagogies for Online Courses through a Trauma-Informed Lens
Roundtable | Track: Instructor Development; Learning Design | Tag: Teaching Model
Based on trauma-informed practice, trauma-informed pedagogy offers us a framework for contextualizing and understanding how the pandemic has affected learning. In this session, participants will get a chance to explore the framework for trauma-informed pedagogy and discuss/learn effective tools for developing trauma-informed practices.

• Amanda Garcia, University of Waterloo
• Burcu Karabina, University of Waterloo

Everything You Need to Know about the High Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC) Model
Roundtable | Track: Learning Design; Instructor Development |
This session elaborates the eight steps of the HIDOC model created specifically for online course design. The steps are: Learner Analysis, Learning Objectives, Course Structure, Assessments & Activities, Instructional Materials, Technology & Tools, Online Learner Support, and Continuous Improvement.

• Penny Ralston-Berg, Penn State University
• Andrea Gregg, Penn State University
• Bethany Simunich, Quality Matters

Join today's invited speakers for a small-group discussion following their sessions. Bonni, Rebecca, and Gary will share the biggest takeaways from their respective sessions, and then attendees will have the opportunity to join a breakout room with one of the speakers for questions and further discussion.

• Bonni Stachowiak, Vanguard University
• Rebecca Pope-Ruark, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Gary Chinn, Penn State University
  

Beyond (dis)Ability: Promoting Accessibility in Blended and Online Learning Environments
Exploratory | Track: Accessibility; Learning Design |
This exploratory session will focus on the concept of accessibility within blended and online learning contexts, applying Universal Design for Learning principles to increase accessibility and inclusivity in virtual classrooms, and key recommendations that promote further conversations about accessibility in higher education.

• Cameron Carley, University of Calgary
• Raisa Alarakyia-Jivani, University of Calgary
• Sameer Nizamuddin, University of Calgary
• Alysia Wright, University of Calgary

Formative Assessment and Scaffolding Assignments for Student Success in Online Learning
Exploratory | Track: Learning Design |
The focus of this presentation is to explore the benefits and purpose of scaffolding assignments in the online classroom and how instructors can use formative assessment methods to determine the effectiveness of scaffolding strategies. This session will also provide a space for instructors to consider how to implement scaffolding and formative assessment in their own courses.

• Elizabeth Baldridge, University of Wisconsin
• Brianna Kuhn, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Everything Changes…Or Does it? The Value of Instructor Interaction in the Online Classroom
Research | Track: Learner Engagement; Instructor Development; Online Education Administration |
As the number of faculty teaching online continues to grow, so too has the interest in and understanding of the role of instructor interaction in the online classroom. Online learning is here to stay; in fact, it is more relevant than ever. It is therefore important to consider the implications to instructor interactivity and the evolution of the role of faculty to support student learning through student-instructor interaction.

• Greg Lucas, Grand Canyon University
• Shaunna Waltemeyer, Grand Canyon University

Beyond Remote: A Simple Recipe for Sound Synchronous Online Learning
Roundtable | Track: Learning Design; Learner Engagement |
In this session you will learn how to: distinguish synchronous online learning communication and documentation from asynchronous online learning, cultivate faculty buy-in, and the appropriate suite of tools specifically aimed at designing impactful synchronous online learning.

• Maikel Alendy, Florida International University
• Jeni Lopez, Florida International University

Teachers Observing Peers: The Informal Sharing of Great Teaching
ePoster | Track: Instructor Development |
This session describes a peer observation program facilitated at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The Teachers Observing Peers (TOP) program provides all UNC Charlotte faculty members with an opportunity to observe peers representing a variety of disciplines implementing interactive methods in a live or online classroom setting. Presenters will show the structure and administration of the program for the benefit of other institutions who may wish to implement a similar program.

• Jessica Kapota, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Supporting Distance Teaching and Learning - A Holistic Approach
ePoster | Track: Online Education Administration; Instructor Development |
Transitioning to distance education requires the active inclusion of all key stakeholders involved in enhancing student learning – faculty, administrative staff, and learners.  This session will discuss a holistic approach to training and support adopted by one distance teaching support team.

• Anita Samuel, USUHS

College Students' Views on In-Person, Synchronous Online, and Asynchronous Online Instruction
ePoster | Track: Research & Emerging Topics |
This ePoster presents the results of a survey asking college students to rate in-person, synchronous online, and asynchronous online instruction on dimensions such as conduciveness to student understanding of course material and opportunity to engage in discussion.

• Alan Reifman, Texas Tech University
• Ali Chaghani, Texas Tech University

Using UDL to Facilitate the Learning Process for Neurodiverse Students
Exploratory | Track: Accessibility; Learner Engagement |
The focus of this session is the importance of using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in designing classes and learning experiences that appeal to students with neurodiversity (e.g. ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia) by helping them leverage their strengths in the learning environment.

• Gail Fyke, Millikin University
• Rachel Bicicchi, Millikin University

Hands On-Line: Lab Science in Remote Learning
Exploratory | Track: Instructor Development; Learner Engagement | Tag: Science
Science education in a remote learning environment can be a challenge. We'll explore options for remote learning that's still hands-on and lab-centered.

• Kristina Mitchell, San Jose State University

Challenges and Opportunities in Online Administration in Higher Education
Panel | Track: Online Education Administration; Research & Emerging Topics |
Online administration in higher education has gone through various phases of growth and expansion of distance education programs in different eras. Each generation of technology development has impacted the existing global educational model and influenced the areas of pedagogy, course offerings, design and delivery; student engagement, accessibility, and affordability. The growth of telecommunication and high quality learning management systems that allow media-rich content to be delivered has helped with remote and online learning. However, administrators had to face challenges created by internal and external forces of change during this evolutionary process and adapt to make education flexible, inclusive, affordable, and equitable to meet the student needs. The purpose of the panel session is to discuss challenges and opportunities faced by administrators and leaders in online higher education while growing and maintaining quality distance education programs; and using distance education as an option to emerge as a globally-oriented learning ecosystem to increase enrollment.

• Shanta Varma, Auburn University at Montgomery
• Xinyue Ren, Auburn University at Montgomery
• Jason Rhode, Northern Illinois University
• Angela Velez-Solic, Rush University

The First-Year Online Seminar: A High-Impact Practice for Undergraduate Students
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Learner Engagement |
This session will showcase an intervention aimed at addressing the lack of persistence of undergraduate online students. The intervention is a required three-credit student-success seminar course that is delivered fully online and incorporates hands-on activities to prepare students fro the online learning environment and help them to develop as autonomous learners.

• Jacqueline Stephen, Mercer University

Examining the Effects of Online Teachers’ Training on University Faculty Teaching
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Online Education Administration |
We will present the results of our analysis of what effect the training Michigan Tech faculty received to be certified to be able to teach online courses had on their design of lessons, courses, and on their teaching in general.

• Thom Freeman, Michigan Technological University
• Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Michigan Technological University
• Janet Staker Woerner, University of Wisconsin Madison
• Mary Benjamin, Michigan Technological University
• Luis Fernandez, Grand Valley State University

Exhausted Experts and Burned-Out Beginners: Mitigating the Diminishing Returns on Pandemic Pedagogical Learning for Online Teaching
Effective educators are always learning how to teach. From their first class to their class, they acquire new skills and insights, try new tools and techniques, get feedback, reflect, make improvements, and try again. They are continuous pedagogical learners. It’s not easy—because learning how to do anything well is never easy—but pedagogical learning rewards educators by building teaching self-efficacy and increasing student success. 

At least, that’s how pedagogical learning normally works. In today’s pandemic era, pedagogical learning for many instructors has become significantly more difficult and far less satisfying. Because a huge percentage of instructors’ pedagogical learning since March of 2020 has focused on distance teaching and learning (DT&L), this changing context for faculty professional and educational development has a disproportionate impact on DT&L.

In this interactive 45-minute session, I invite campus leaders and faculty developers to consider the “diminishing returns” on pandemic era pedagogical learning. First, I’ll review the many intersecting factors contributing to educators’ individual and collective weariness in 2022, paying particular attention to how both experienced and novice online instructors are facing unprecedented demands on their pedagogical energy and skills. 

Together we will identify both the initial advances as well as the ongoing localized and generalized obstacles to facilitating effective online learning spaces in the midst of a pandemic. I will share some strategies for how institutions, teaching centers, and individual academic coaches and faculty developers can support instructors’ continued DT&L pedagogical learning by using the very same teaching practices proving most necessary in pandemic era classrooms at every level, and then participants will brainstorm ways to offer instructors trauma-informed, learner-centered, community-minded, welcoming, inclusive and accessible DT&L faculty development.

• Jessamyn Neuhaus, SUNY Plattsburgh

[LIVE SESSION CANCELLED (RECORDING COMING SOON)] Pedagogical Disobedience: Small Acts of Resistance to Disrupt the Academic Machine
Although the pandemic is a convenient scapegoat for the rampant burnout and moral injury plaguing today’s college teachers, the reality is a bit more complex. For decades upon decades, those who love teaching have known all too well that the academic system was not built to cultivate or sustain such pedagogical enthusiasm. Many of us have been told to be quieter about our love for teaching, either explicitly through the well-meaning advice of our colleagues or implicitly through policies and compensation structures designed to devalue teaching’s role in the wider academic landscape. In this talk, I will map the topography of these explicit and implicit constraints on the positionality of teaching in academia, and I will advocate for acts of pedagogical micro-resistance as “counter-friction to stop the machine” (á la Thoreau). Although our margins for risk are individualized and depend on a variety of intersecting factors such as our social identities and job precarity, there is space for resistance in the pedagogy of every college teacher. Together, we will construct a roadmap to resistance that incorporates willful acts of pedagogical disobedience — that is, breaking spoken and unspoken rules — in service of building the learning experiences that both our students and ourselves truly deserve.

• Lindsay Masland, Appalachian State University

Making Space and Time for Real Questions
There are many kinds of questions: Is this right? How many sources do I have to include? Are our annotated bibliographies due on Tuesday? We could call these "compliance questions." Or: How do different marriage patterns across societies affect the wellbeing of children? How do speakers' brain waves synchronize when they are in a conversation? How do digital platforms add affordances to communication, compared to face-to-face communication? We can call these "genuine questions."

If the key to learning is intrinsic motivation, and one of the keys to intrinsic motivation is space for curiosity, then questions are the embodiment of curiosity.

As a bonus, these questions may be asked of fellow students, not just the faculty member.

If our classes aim to foster such questions, then we have to make space, and time, for them. We also have to clear away a lot of the other stuff that communicates the message that what we are after is compliance. We also have to build a community so students are interested in learning with others, and to choose communicative platforms that enable student-generated questions.

In this talk, Susan D. Blum talks about questions, voices, agency, and the ways educators might design courses, not just to transmit predetermined information to passive recipients, but to welcome the active, and possibly messy, generation of new questions.

• Susan Blum, University of Notre Dame

Join today's invited speakers for a small-group discussion following their sessions. Jessamyn, Lindsay, and Susan will share the biggest takeaways from their respective sessions, and then attendees will have the opportunity to join a breakout room with one of the speakers for questions and further discussion.

• Jessamyn Neuhaus, SUNY Plattsburgh
• Lindsay Masland, Appalachian State University
• Susan Blum, University of Notre Dame
  

Seizing Opportunity: Improving Reliability, Validity, and Data Through a New Grading Rubric Model
Exploratory | Track: Assessment & Evaluation; Learning Design | Tag: Rubrics
This session will discuss how Purdue Global employed best practices in rubric design to create a new grading rubric model that improves the reliability, validity, and quality of our assessment data. Attendees will be invited to engage in a discussion of the rubric design and applications of criterion-level assessment data.

• Tamara Chiong, Purdue University
• Matthew Braslow, Purdue University Global

Students Have a Job - Ask Questions: Ensuring Active Student Engagement
Exploratory | Track: Learner Engagement; Assessment & Evaluation |
This session explores the active engagement of online students in online discussion forums. Students read the assigned material, mark in the text, and post to the discussion forum with questions for the professor. Other students' need to respond to these questions by their peers with clarifications and insights as if it were a class discussion while a facilitator steps in as needed. Asking online students to take agency of the discussion forum for a unit passes onus onto them for their reading, and their peer replies are more robust because they are the student’s statement of understanding about the content.

• Dan Keast, University of Texas Permian Basin

Boosting Engagement, Student Success, and Retention Through LX Design and Data Streams
Exploratory | Track: Learner Engagement; Learning Design |
Thomas Edison State University was looking to increase student success and retention by expanding engagement, collaboration, and relevance within our online courses, but needed a systematic approach to handle a large catalog of courses. The process being presented will demonstrate a more thoroughly and thoughtfully vetted approach to course development that is data driven and standardized across courses, but provides maximal opportunity for creativity and flexibility for design and development across domains of high value to the institution.

• David Schwager, Thomas Edison State University
• Cynthia Baum, Thomas Edison State University

Online But Not on Your Own: An Institution’s Approach to Onboarding and Building Relationships With Online Students
Exploratory | Track: Learner Engagement |
This session will focus on leveraging technology to onboard online students while fostering interpersonal relationships with institutional agents and among other online students.

• Eddie Rodriguez, Oregon State University Ecampus
• Joe Schaffer-Enomoto, Oregon State University Ecampus

Contextual Pedagogy Relationship of Student Cognitive Load to Achievement
Research | Track: Research & Emerging Topics; Instructor Development; Learning Design |
This session discusses research around if, or to what extent, school classification (Title I and Non-Title I), instructional approaches in the germane, extraneous, and intrinsic cognitive load capacity predict student achievement in K-5 (reading, math, and science) in the U.S.

• Robin Shedrick, Grand Canyon University

People frequently imagine that the future of education emerges at the classroom level, yet this is often not the case. We should consistently ask: who sets the terms of how we imagine education, and who benefits? Much of the way that education technologies become embedded in classrooms reflects the expectations and values of venture capitalists, investment firms, and tech companies who see education as one of the few remaining societal wells that have yet to be tapped dry. This talk will explore the ways instructors are pressured by these processes that present a future where short-term profit motives are substituted for pedagogical expertise--often to the detriment of student, teacher, institution, and society. Shifting this dynamic depends upon recognizing it and embracing counter narratives rooted in local expertise. 

• Chris Gilliard, Writer, Professor and Speaker