Author: Carolyn Speer

Instructors of all ranks have been asked to learn new educational technologies and methods quickly this past year. The Media Resources Center (MRC) would like your feedback about how effective you have found our service, training, and technology by taking part in a short survey.

The data you provide will be valuable as the MRC works to improve the services they provide to its customers. Your response and ideas will help in our effort to reach our Strategic Enrollment Managements and Kansas Board of Regent priorities and to provide an excellent learning experience for our students.

As you know, Wichita State is in the process of becoming a full Blackboard Ultra school. At this time, all Blackboard users are in the Ultra Navigation area when they log in to Blackboard, and approximately 100 instructors are also offering their courses in Blackboard Ultra Course format.

To assist all instructors in the move to Ultra courses, WSU has been working with a vendor to provide an Ultra version of most of your previously offered courses. Beginning Sept. 20, most instructors will receive an Ultra course version copy of their current and previous courses going back about two years. Here is what you need to know:

• Most courses on the Blackboard server have been copied and the copy has converted to an Ultra version. This Ultra version of the course can be found in the Development/Sandbox Course Shells area in Blackboard and can be identified as a copy by the U at the end of the course name.
• These Ultra version courses are copies of the original courses and the original courses also still exist. The original versions can be found under their associated semester in Blackboard.
• Instructors are not required to use these new Ultra course version courses. This version is provided as a gift and is intended to help instructors as they develop their courses in Ultra. Instructors are welcome to use these new versions in the future, but it is not required.
• Eventually, all courses at WSU will need to be in the Ultra course format. The Office of Instructional Resources recommends that instructors work in only one Ultra course format initially to get used to the new tools and then adopt the Ultra course format for the rest of their courses over time.

All courses at WSU must be in the Ultra Course format by the spring 2023 pre-session.

Need help with Ultra? The Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) offers a weekly come-and-go faculty lab 1-3 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays via Zoom. If you have questions about the Ultra environment or Ultra courses, you are welcome to come to this lab.

To address more in-depth Ultra questions, OIR offers a monthly “Please Help Me With Ultra!” lab 3-4 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month.

Blackboard has also provided the university with an Ultra technical expert, who will offer a monthly Ultra lab. The labs are scheduled for the following dates:

• Sept. 22
• Oct. 20
• Nov.19
• Dec.15

The September issue of Teaching Today features a guest column from Dr. Carolyn Shaw, associate vice president for strategic enrollment management, who shares several easy ways to reach students to make them feel more welcome in class. The issue also provides teachers with ideas about how to manage in-person class discussions when everyone is wearing a mask.

To subscribe to Teaching Today, send a request to oir@wichita.edu.

Until further notice, students and faculty should not rely on Blackboard’s calendar integration. The Office of Instructional Resources will push out any updates as they become available.

Recently, the Blackboard calendar tool has experienced problems when integrated with external calendars such as Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar. This interrupts the transfer of assigned items to flow from Blackboard to these integrated calendars.

This is a nationwide issue that is not limited to the Wichita State campus. For more information, contact OIR@wichita.edu.

Need help with Ultra? There is another “Please Help Me With Ultra!” workshop 10:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, Sept. 9 via Zoom. The class is hosted by Mary Morriss Media Resources Center Learning Management System specialist and Dr. Freh Wuhib, MRC Science, Technology, Engineering and Math senior instructional designer.

Need help with Ultra? There is another “Please Help Me With Ultra!” workshop 10:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, Sept. 2 via Zoom. The class is hosted by Mary Morriss Media Resources Center Learning Management System specialist and Dr. Freh Wuhib, MRC Science, Technology, Engineering and Math senior instructional designer.

If you are using the Zoom-to-Panopto integration, you may find that having the recordings in your “Meeting Recordings” folder is inconvenient. If so, you can move them easily, and OIR has a training page to show you how.

This method works to move any Panopto video from one folder to another, regardless how the recording was captured in the first place.  Need more help? Reach out to the Office of Instructional Resources directly by emailing OIR@wichita.edu.

All staff, instructors, and campus partners are invited to attend the August Academic Resources Conference which begins today, Aug. 9 through Aug. 12. The events are free, online and open to the campus community. One event each day this week will be offered in a HyFlex format so you can participate online or in-person 2-2:50 p.m. at Devlin Hall (room 010). Please email the Office of Instructional Resources  at OIR@wichita.edu if you require an accommodation to participate. The schedule for Aug. 9 is as follows:

• Meet Ultra! — 9:00-9:50 a.m.: This session covers what Ultra is, the timeline for rollout and the support available to instructors.  Hosted by Brad Katz from Blackboard.
  • Add Meet Ultra to calendar.
  • Join Meet Ultra directly.
• Curriculum Mapping at the Program Level — 10-10:50 a.m.: This session is designed for department chairs and program directors. The basics of curriculum mapping at the program level will be covered, and there will be a discussion about the ways OIR can assist with the process and an explanation about how the Blackboard Goals tool can help. Presented by Carolyn Speer.
  •  Add Curriculum Mapping to calendar.
  • Join Curriculum Mapping directly.
• Meet the OIR Website — 11-11:50 a.m.: This session will show you what OIR offers and how to locate it. Presented by Carolyn Speer and John Hammer.
  • Add Meet OIR Website to calendar.
  • Join Meet OIR Website directly.
• Adjunct and other Part-time Instructor Special Session —Noon-12:50 p.m.: Are you an adjunct, part-time instructor or graduate teaching assistant (GTA) at Wichita State? Join us for a conversation about the resources available to you. There will be a question and answer session as well. Presented by Carolyn Speer.
  • Add Adjunct/Part-time Instructor to calendar.
  • Join Adjunct/Part-time Instructor directly.
• Getting Started with OER — 1-1:50 p.m.: Are you an instructor who would like to reduce costs for your students but are unsure about how to accomplish this? This session will show you how University Libraries can help you locate and use open educational resources (OER). Presented by Maria Sclafani and Victoria Koger.
  • Add OER to calendar.
  • Join OER directly.
• HyFlex Session — 2-2:50 p.m.: HyFlex? Hybrid? F2F? What are the Options? What are the Reasons? What is the difference between HyFlex and Hybrid? Would you like to think about ways you can structure your classes for maximum flexibility? This session is for you. You are welcome to join us in person on campus in Devlin Hall  (room 010) or join the session online. The session will also be live-streamed via Zoom. Presented by Carolyn Speer.
  • Add HyFlex, What Are the Options? to calendar.
  • Join HyFlex, What are the Options? directly. 
• The State of the Alternative Assessment Conversation in Higher E — 3:00-3:50 p.m.: Alternative assessment is a hot topic in higher education, but what is it, and what is its purpose? Come to this session to find out! Presented by Mark Porcaro.
  •  Add Alternative Assessment to calendar.
  • Join Alternative Assessment directly.
• A Conversation About Student Retention — 4-4:50 p.m.: What can instructors do to help students persist toward their degrees? Join this conversation with Lisa Garcia and Sarah Taylor.
  • Add Student Retention to calendar.
  • Join Student Retention directly.

All staff, instructors, and campus partners are invited to attend the  August Academic Resources Conference Aug. 9-12. The events are free, online and open to the campus community. One event each day this week will be offered in a HyFlex format so you can participate online or in-person 2-2:50 p.m. at Devlin Hall (room 010). Please email the Office of Instructional Resources  at OIR@wichita.edu if you require an accommodation to participate. The schedule for Aug. 11 is as follows:

• Excel: New in 365: Special Functions and Data Types — 9-9:50 a.m.: Join this session to learn about some new time saving new functions and features in Excel and Office 365. We will take an in depth look at the new Excel Data Types. This is a game-changing new ability in Excel that will dramatically transform your workbooks in an instant. We will also explore new user-friendly array functions that are only available in Office 365. Presented by Ali Levine.
  • Add Excel to calendar.
  • Join Excel directly.
• Accessibility Update — 10-10:50 a.m.: All instructors are required to attend accessibility training each year. This session will fulfill that requirement and provide you with new and updated information. Presented by John Jones.
  • Add Accessibility to calendar.
  • Join Accessibility directly.
• Inclusive Teaching Practices —11-11:50 a.m.: This session will introduce instructors to inclusive teaching practices for the classroom as well as showing where you can find more resources on the WSU website. Presented by Alicia Sanchez.
  • Add Inclusive Practices to Calendar.
  • Join Inclusive Practices directly. New graduate teaching assistant (GTA) recommended session.
•  Panel: Educational Technology Decisions at WSU — Noon-12:50 p.m.: Have you always wondered how educational technology decisions were made at WSU? This panel discussion will explain the processes that drive our choices and give participants an opportunity to ask questions and express concerns. The panel will be moderated by John Jones and include Carolyn Speer, Ryan Corcoran, and Mark Porcaro as well.
  • Add Ed Tech Panel to calendar.
  • Join Ed Tech Panel directly.
• Library Services for Savvy Instructors — 1-1:50 p.m.: The University Libraries have so much. Do you know what resources and services are available to you for free? Come to this session to find out. Presented by Angie Paul.
  • Add Savvy Instructors to calendar.
  • Join Savvy Instructors directly.
• HyFlex Session: Book Discussion with President Muma — 2-2:50 p.m.: This HyFlex session will be a discussion of the book, “Broke: The Racial Consequences of Underfunding Public Universities.” You can get the digital version of this book free through University Libraries here. Presented by President Rick Muma. This session can be joined in person in Devlin Hall (room 010) or synchronously online through Zoom.
  • Add Muma Book Discussion to calendar.
  • Join Muma Book Discussion directly.
  • Short Article by Dr. Muma on the book “Broke”
  • University Libraries ebook access to “Broke”
• Classroom Management for Beginners — 3-3:50 p.m.: Are you new to teaching in a university environment? This session will address classroom management considerations and answer your questions about how to run a class. Presented by Carolyn Speer.
  • Add Classroom Management to calendar.
  • Join Classroom Management directly. New GTA recommended session.
• Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) — 4-4:50 p.m.: Like most other colleges, Wichita State has seen an increase in the number of ASD students in the last few years. This session will introduce ways to support ASD students both in and out of the classroom. Presented by Trish Self.
  • Add ASD to calendar.
  • Join ASD directly.