Author: Carolyn Speer

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.

Wichita State will offer only the Blackboard Ultra course format after spring 2024 semester, and that’s going to mean a lot of work getting ready for summer and fall for many professors, but the December issue of “Teaching Today” has the basic information needed to get started.

Many professors mistakenly believe they are in Blackboard Ultra but are actually teaching Classic courses. Please have a look at this month’s “Teaching Today” to learn more. For questions, reach out to the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu.

The Office of Instructional Resources is happy to announce the dates for the January Academic Resources Conference (ARC). Join online via Teams during the week of Jan. 8-12 to hear about things like:

• Helping students save money on textbooks
• Building and running Blackboard classes in Ultra
• What’s new with generative AI
• Supporting students through culturally responsive practices (in partnership with the College of Applied Studies)

This January, it will also offer two hybrid sessions, so those who have been wanting to join the ARC in person, there will be a couple of options. At noon Wednesday, Jan. 10, participants can attend a panel discussion on the impact of generative AI on business and work, and at 2 p.m., participants can listen to Dr. Jennifer Friend, dean, College of Applied Studies, Dr. Bobby Berry, assistant dean, and Dr. Sara Mata, executive director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives, discuss culturally responsive practices. Later that afternoon, make time for the WSU Faculty Mixer, a fully in-person event hosted by Provost Shirley Lefever and taking place at the WSU Connect building (the old Wonder School building, just west of Woolsey Hall).

Ready to learn more? Check out the January ARC schedule today.

Each month, the Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) publishes Teaching Today, a teaching-focused newsletter for instructors at WSU. For March’s issue, OIR handed the reins over to the Retention Faculty Fellows for a takeover.

March’s issue took longer than expected due to a shift to Microsoft Sway. Readers don’t need any special software or access to continue reading, but for any issues, contact OIR at OIR@wichita.edu.