Concurrent Sessions Block #1
Lighting the Way: Leaders Speak on Starting, Supporting, and Sustaining Best Practices in Digital Learning Transformation
Session Powerpoint Adaptive learning technologies - when paired with high quality teaching - have the potential to transform the learning experiences of students and faculty alike. Starting, supporting, and scaling the transformative practices that can meaningfully improve student success in the classroom and on one's campus takes time, resources, and collaborative leadership. In this session, we hear from academic leadership from two- and four-year colleges who led the efforts to redesign and improve outcomes in critical gateway courses, leveraging a variety of adaptive learning technologies to support those efforts on their campuses. These leaders share their experiences and advice for approaching, sustaining, and scaling best practices.
Speakers
- Wendy Howard-Program Director, Pegasus Innovation Lab
- Baiyun Chen-Senior Instructional Designer Program Director: Personalized Adaptive Learning (UCF)
- Nick Schur-Department Chair, Mathematics - Miami Dade
- Kara DePaul-Program Manager, Academic Professional Development, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C)
- Dwayne Keeney-Associate Dean, Liberal Arts, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C)
Teaching Matters - Teaching Effectively with Adaptive Courseware
Adaptive tools provide powerful opportunities to connect with students on their individualized learning pathways. But equally critical are the ways in which the instructor adapts to and incorporates these technologies. This session will focus on the course design choices and pedagogical practices that accompany the effective implementation of adaptive courseware. The panelists will discuss their experiences with onboarding students, aligning courseware and course content, and examining the impacts of courseware and associated interventions on student learning and outcomes.
Speakers
- Tim Huber-School Director, Associate Professor, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Melissa Resnick, Cuyahoga Community College, Psychology Lecturer
- Michele Hampton, Professor of Business Administration, Cuyahoga Community College
Supporting Students through Institutional Partnerships and Collaboration
What are some of the interesting ways colleges innovated to support students through digital learning in and beyond the classroom? College teams created collaborative partnerships and implemented innovative course design models in order to enhance student learning. The panelists in this session will discuss how adaptive courseware supported broader institutional and faculty-led efforts to improve student outcomes. Project leads, instructional support directors, and faculty will share their experiences with integrating tutoring (faculty and peer) and the co-requisite model into their digital learning initiative.
Speakers
- Amanda Guerrero, MBA/MKT, Director of Instructional Support, Academic Instruction Houston Community College
- Nathan Smith, PhD., Philosophy Instructor and OER Coordinator Houston Community College
- Lawrence Paye, Economics Instructor, Houston Community College
- Lynne O'Dell, Project Director: STEM Pioneers Indian River State College
How to use Data in the Classroom - Data informed teaching
Session Powerpoint How can faculty leverage real time learning analytics from adaptive courseware dashboards to guide their instruction? How can faculty use learning analytics data to support student success and drive interventions?
This session will explore these questions and share what is being revealed in designing a course using adaptive learning courseware including what's working and what's not, to inform emerging best practices.
Speakers
- Greg LaPlaca, Associate College Lecturer, Cleveland State University
- Katie Dobek, Professor of Mathematics, Lorain County Community College
Student Reflections on the Adaptive Digital Learning Experiences
As instructors and instructional professionals, our main focus is often on the material that needs to be covered, and we also frequently consult with secondary sources such as our colleagues and scholarship on pedagogy. Outside of our own classrooms, we do not have many opportunities to hear directly from students. During this session, students from different institutions will discuss their experiences with adaptive courseware and other learning technologies, and how these have affected their learning in different courses. The student panel will be guided by a moderator, and time will also be allocated for questions from conference participants.
This session will explore these questions and share what is being revealed in designing a course using adaptive learning courseware including what's working and what's not, to inform emerging best practices.
Moderator
- Mike Brokos, Project Manager, Association of Public Land Grant Institutions
Students
- Arona Duncan, Indian River State College
- Sabrina Kincaid, Lorain County Community College
- Dylan Hershey, The University of Toledo
- Alessa Ledezma, Houston Community College
- Jennine Wilson, Indian River State College
- Higo Gabarron, Cuyahoga Community College
Faculty Professional Learning - Supporting Faculty to Succeed
Session PowerpointWho needs to be involved to move the needle on student success? What does a college-wide faculty-based coordinated effort look like? Implementing adaptive courseware requires individuals from across institutional units to work collaboratively toward clearly identified instructional goals.
This session helps participants identify roles and engage a strategic set of stakeholders to support a strong implementation plan. College teams involved in the Every Learner Everywhere Adaptive Courseware initiative will share what they learned to build cross-functional teams to integrate adaptive courseware in foundational courses.
Speakers
- Michele Hampton, Professor of Business Administration, Cuyahoga Community College
- Kevin Dranuski, Senior Instructional Designer, Cuyahoga Community College
- Sarah Goode, Senior Instructional Technologist, Cuyahoga Community College
Inclusive Teaching: The Importance of Knowing and Teaching to Your Students in Digital Learning
Session PowerpointLike painters, writers, and musicians, when we create engaging learning experiences to share with others, we take the time to consider our audience. For faculty, the students are the audience and to make the educational/course content "piece" impactful to them it's important to consider their identities and aspirations and to understand what captures their attention. In this session we learn ways that faculty bring attention to students by using inclusive teaching strategies, alongside digital tools, to help connect the content to the student in meaningful and lasting ways
Speakers
- Kacie Tartt-Senior, Instructor University of Central Florida
- Rhonda Bobb-Assistant Professor, Broward College
How to Create More Equitable Courses through a Continuous Improvement Process
Achieving student success through quality teaching takes persistence, learning through experience, and making gradual changes based on our new insights and observations. Course realignment and institutional transformation is included in changes that take time, deep reflection, and various iterations rather than a one-and-done approach. In today's session, faculty and educational researchers describe how to:
- effectively take incremental steps to refine and improve courses
- evaluate the impact of pedagogical changes
- center quality research design into one's improvement process
Speakers
- Patsy Moskal, Director of Digital Learning Impact Evaluation, University of Central Florida
- Julie Neisler, Quantitative Researcher, Digital Promise
- Heather Michaels, Master Instructor, Indian River State College
- Heather Belmont, Vice President of Academic Affairs/Chief Academic Officer, Indian River State College
Finding the Right Fit: Evaluating and Selecting a Digital Tool That Works for You
Session PowerpointThe adaptive courseware market is ever-expanding with new products and features being integrated into these educational tools at an accelerated rate. Knowing where to start, what to look for in a product and vendor partner, and how to effectively use adaptive courseware both in and outside of the classroom can be complex and overwhelming. In this session, we learn how faculty and academic leadership went about evaluating, selecting, or building adaptive courseware to be implemented in their courses and on their campuses. Presenters share the challenges, key considerations, and lessons learned from their experiences - sharing strategies, tools, and resources for getting started.
Speakers
- Jeff Olimpo, Associate Professor, University of Texas at El Paso
- Roneet Merkin, Assistant Teaching Professor; Program Director for Mastery Math Lab, Florida International University