Author: Carolyn Speer

Recent updates to the Ultra Course format for Blackboard has added an exciting new feature in the gradebook. You can now see key metrics such as minimum/maximum value, range, average, median, standard deviation and variance for individual gradebook columns.

Read more about Ultra Gradebook statistics and other February Ultra updates. For questions, send the Office of Instructional Resources an email at OIR@wichita.edu

The Office of Instructional Resources has recently begun offering meditations through a new program called Quiet Time, and it is now offering a newsletter to augment the Quiet Time program, which you can read the first issue of online.

The Quiet Time newsletter will come out bi-monthly and include research-based information about mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and related meditation habits. It will also include short MBSR trainings and links to recorded versions of its Quiet Time meditations.

Think of the Quiet Time newsletter as a little oasis of mental wellbeing info in a busy week. After checking out the inaugural issue, reach out to the Office of Instructional Resources at oir@wichita.edu to subscribe. As always, all OIR resources are free and available to everyone, so spread the word to those friends you think might be interested, whether they work at WSU or elsewhere. 

February’s issue of Teaching Today is now available. This month focuses on the many things to love about teaching.

There’s lots more to love in the issue. In addition to the love-fest, it takes a little time to introduce the Office of Instructional Resources’ newest newsletter, Quiet Time.

To subscribe to either newsletter and not miss an issue, let the Office of Instructional Resources know via email: OIR@wichita.edu

Starting with the summer term, Blackboard Classic course view will no longer be available. If you are teaching in Classic course view right now, you might be tempted to convert your current courses to Ultra, but if you attempt to convert a course that has any submitted student work, those submissions and their associated grades will be lost in the conversion process.

If you are in Classic, stay in Classic for the remainder of this term. If you have second eight-week courses and would like them to be in Ultra, it’s not too late. The Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) can help you get your courses into the Ultra format, so reach out to the office at OIR@wichita.edu for assistance.

If you are teaching in the summer term, you will see your new Ultra course format shells on or shortly after April 15. If you are teaching in the pre-session for summer and need assistance getting to Ultra, reach out to OIR.

Blackboard courses, especially those in the Ultra Course Format, rely heavily on the course messages feature over email. Many instructors prefer to receive emails from their students, however. The good news is that both are possible.

If you turn on the Blackboard setting that sends email notifications right away when a student sends you a course message, you will be notified of the message both via email and within your Blackboard class. Not only does this allow instructors to respond to course messages quickly, it also creates a permanent record of the contact within your course, so it is easy for you to refer to it later if necessary.

Learn how to turn on immediate email notifications. Have other questions about Ultra? Check back each Wednesday for a new tip, or reach out to the Office of Instructional Resources directly at OIR@wichita.edu. And remember: spring 2024 is the last semester Wichita State will offer courses in Blackboard Original course format. All courses will be offered in Ultra as of summer 2024.

The January issue of Teaching Today has a full index of all the session recordings from the January Academic Resources Conference (ARC). If you missed some sessions or are only now hearing about the event, you can catch up with the valuable training and discussion that just took place.

Check out Teaching Today for January, and if you like what you see, consider subscribing. To subscribe, simply send the request to the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu.

The Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) would like to invite all faculty and staff and all Innovation Campus employees to two short meditation sessions held in-person and online starting Jan. 30. Sessions will be held from 2 to 2:30 p.m. each Tuesday in the Defiance Room on the first floor of the NetApp building, across the cafeteria, and are offered free of charge by a certified workplace mindfulness facilitator.

Can’t join right at 2 p.m.? Each Tuesday there will be two meditations, one starting around 2:05 p.m. and the second starting around 2:20. Come for both or just one.

In-person sessions this spring:

• Jan. 30
• Feb. 6
• Feb. 20
• Feb. 27
• March 5
• March 26

Prefer to attend online? Get the link on the OIR website. The session on March 19 is online only.

Join other Innovation Campus employees in two short meditation sessions held in-person and online starting Jan. 30. Sessions will be held from 2 to 2:30 p.m. each Tuesday in the Defiance Room on the first floor of the NetApp building, across the cafeteria, and are offered free of charge to Innovation Campus partners.

Can’t join right at 2 p.m.? Each Tuesday there will be two meditations, one starting around 2:05 p.m. and the second starting around 2:20. Come for both or just one.

In-person sessions this spring:

• Jan. 30
• Feb. 6
• Feb. 20
• Feb. 27
• March 5
• March 26

Prefer to attend online? Get the link on the OIR website. The session on March 19 is online only.

All Innovation Campus partners are invited to a lunchtime panel discussion, “The Impact of Generative AI on Business and Work” from noon to 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10 on the first floor NetApp building, Defiance Room, and via Teams.

The expert panel will include speakers from around the Innovation Campus as well as USD 259 and Wichita State. Speakers will include Neal Tilley, CISCO; Jeff Bartel, AirBus; Mark Padding, Rewards Network; Chuck Passannante, Textron; Dyane Smokorowski, USD 259; and Tonya Witherspoon, Wichita State. This panel discussion is part of the Academic Resources Conference (ARC), a free, mostly-online conference hosted by WSU three times a year. Check out the ARC schedule page to see if any other sessions catch your eye.

The Academic Resources Conference (ARC) is hosting two hybrid events Wednesday, Jan. 10. If you can’t make it to campus, there will still be an option to attend online as well:

• Noon-12:50 p.m.: Will have a Panel Hour discussion of “Generative AI’s impact on Business and Work” at the NetApp building on the main WSU campus. Visitors should enter through the main doors on the northwest side of the building. The panel will be held in the “Defiance” room, which is on the main floor, across from the cafeteria. Business leaders from across the Innovation Campus and Wichita will be on hand to provide their insights about the impact of generative AI on their industry. If you plan to come in person, feel free to grab lunch in the NetApp cafeteria first or bring a lunch. For those who would prefer to attend online: Add panel to calendar  Join panel session at noon
• 2-4 p.m.: Dr. Bobby Berry, Dr. Jennifer Friend and Dr. Sara Mata from the College of Applied Studies will present a session on “Culturally Responsive Practices” in 231/232 Woolsey Hall. For those who would prefer to attend online: Add Culturally Responsive Practices to calendar or Join Culturally Responsive Practices Session at 2 p.m. The presenters would like to customize the presentation, so those who plan to attend in person or online should register for the presentation in advance.

The Office of Instructional Resources is excited to be able to offer these hybrid events, and it hopes to see the campus community in person if possible.