Author: Carolyn Speer

Sara Zafar, Wichita State University Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance Human Title IX coordinator, will offer an additional online Advanced Title IX training from 1 to 3 p.m. Aug. 3. The training is part of the August Academic Resources Conference (ARC). The session will last approximately two hours, including an hour for questions.

President Rick Muma will lead a discussion of the book “Broke: The Racial Consequences of Underfunding Public Universities” 2-2:50 p.m. Aug. 12, at Devlin Hall. The event will also be available live on Zoom.

All university community members are welcome to attend. The discussion is part of the August Academic Resources Conference.

If you are interested in reading “Broke” before Aug.12, you can access an ebook copy of the book or a physical copy through University Libraries. If you have trouble accessing the book, contact University Libraries through the Ask a Librarian live chat feature.

Blackboard has gone through several changes lately and there are more to come. If you are confused by Ultra, you’re not alone.

To help  with the confusion, the Office of Instructional Resources has put together several web pages to answer your questions and to give you the information you need to make the necessary choices about your class materials in Blackboard:

• Am I “in Ultra”?
• Ultra Transition Schedule
• What is Ultra?
• Turning on Ultra Course experience
• Using Both “Old” Blackboard and Ultra
• Ultra FAQ

In May, Wichita State University began the transition from the Blackboard platform to the Ultra platform. The complete transition will take more than a year and a half, but you may have noticed significant changes already.

WSU is currently in the “Ultra Base Navigation” platform, which means logging in and finding courses is different than before. However, once professors and students log in, they look almost identical because the move to Ultra is a two-step process. At this time, most WSU courses are still in the Blackboard format.

If you are unsure whether the course you are teaching is in Ultra, please visit the Am I in Ultra? webpage.

The Media Resources Center would like to congratulate Dr. Carolyn Speer on becoming a certified professional in training management (CPTM). The CPTM program is a rigorous six-month experience that prepares training managers to lead institutional training programs that align with and support institutional goals and outcomes. As a CPTM, Carolyn can work with departments and offices to help align their programs with university priorities.

This June issue of Teaching Today explores Ultra and the Academic Resources Conference events in May. To view the highlights from each session, check out the May ARC schedule page.

To get a leg up on Ultra training, you can visit Ultra training pages and click “In This Section” to see the index.

The May issue of Teaching Today is now available, and it’s packed with information about next week’s Academic Resources Conference. This is a great opportunity to look at the conference topics before choosing which to attend. Capping off the issue is an essay by Hadley Perkins about what we can do over the summer to make our classes ready for the freshmen coming in this fall.

The Academic Resources Conference will host four panel discussions noon to 12:50 May 17-20 via Zoom.

• May 17: “What will you keep from your COVID Remote Experience?” a faculty panel. Speakers include Jay Price, Cynorra Jackson, David MacDonald, and Jacie Green. Add to calendar or access directly.
• May 18: “What Students Want Professors to Know,” moderated by Carolyn Shaw with student panelists. Come hear from students across the spectrum about their experiences in class and what they would like their instructors to know. Add to calendar  or access directly.
• May 19: “Meet Your Ultra Pilots!,” a panel discussion with Ultra instructor pilots. Want to know the real story? Come ask and participate! Speakers include Rhonda Williams, Carrie Dickison, Angela Paul, and Patricia Morriss. Add to calendar or access directly.
• May 20: “Educational Technology at Wichita State,” with Ryan Corcoran, John Jones, and Carolyn Speer. Do you have questions about how decisions are made, technologies are chosen and classrooms are designed for tech? This is the panel discussion for you. Come with questions. Links coming soon. Add to calendar or access directly.

Join the Office of Instructional Resources and campus partners for today’s Academic Resources Conference online in the Zoom Platform. Here is what you can expect:

• LinkedIn Learning Challenge #2:  Design Your First Infographic with Nigel French. This is a short course (only 21 minutes!) but it goes over the theory of infographics and gives basic design tips. This is a great session to pair up with the sessions for today! WSU employees receive LinkedIn Learning access as a benefit. Please sign up before accessing.
• OLC Conference Recorded Session Suggestion #2: Creative Strategies for Equitable Engagement in Online Classes with Tazin Daniels, consultant for Coach at the Pedagologist. This is an interactive session that looks at common challenges around student engagement. You must register for the conference to access this recording. Registration link is only for Wichita State employees.
• Suggested ARC Recording from Previous Conference or Event:  PowerPoint Feature Showcase with Ali Levine. This session was live for the June, 2020 ARC and covers lots of tips and tricks you might not know about PowerPoint.

9-9:50 a.m. (Vendor Hour): Blackboard Presents: Meet Ultra!  You know it’s coming, but what is it? Why is Blackboard Ultra such an upgrade over “old Blackboard”? Come to this session to learn all about Blackboard Ultra and how it can provide instructors and faculty that streamlined experience they have been wanting.  Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

10-10:50 a.m. (Rapid Sessions): Three sessions, each 15 minutes long.  What an Ultra Class Conversion Looks Like with Carolyn Speer; Blackboard Data in Ultra with a Blackboard representative; Your Personal Ultra Timeline with Carolyn Speer.   Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

11-11:50 a.m.: Using PowerPoint to Create GREAT Infographics with John Hammer. Want an infographic for your class, website, or meeting but don’t know how to use a graphic design program? No problem, we have you covered! And if you pair this session, with Jeremy Webster’s session on infographic accessibility at 2:00pm (see below), you’ll really be set! Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

Noon-12:50 p.m. (Panel Hour): What Students Want Professors to Know, moderated by Carolyn Shaw with student panelists. This is always our most popular session at every ARC. Come hear from students across the spectrum about their experiences in class and what they would like their instructors to know. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

1-1:50 p.m.: Life Changing Tricks with Microsoft Office with Ali Levine. This session will reveal some life-changing tricks in popular Microsoft Office Applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams). We will discuss new features in Office 365, how you can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to boost performance, and also uncover some secret, hidden tools in your favorite MS Office programs. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

2-2:50 p.m.: Ensuring Infographic Accessibility with Jeremy Webster. Using the same infographic images that John Hammer used in his 10:00am session, Jeremy Webster will show you how to ensure your infographics are accessible. Didn’t come to Hammer’s 10:00 session? No problem, this one also works as a stand-alone option. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

3-3:30 p.m. (Free Stuff for WSU Employees and interested others): Meet the OIR Website: Your Destination for Resources for University Instructors with Carolyn Speer.   Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

Join the Office of Instructional Resources and campus partners for today’s Academic Resources Conference online in the Zoom platform. Here is what you can expect:

• LinkedIn Learning Challenge #4: Embracing Change with Mindfulness, offered by “Chill Anywhere.” It’s hard to believe the pace of change will be slowing down soon, and this course offers useful tools for managing change from a position of mindfulness. WSU employees receive LinkedIn Learning access as a benefit. Please sign up before accessing.
• OLC Conference Recorded Session Suggestion #4: A GIF is Worth a Thousand Pictures: How to Use Animated Imagery to Enhance Your Course Content with Sean Nufer, Director of Teaching and Learning at TCS Education System. This session is a little technical, but it recommends using Snagit, a tool you have free access to at Wichita State. Really cool results! You must register for the conference to access this recording. Registration link is only for Wichita State employees.
• EXTRA OLC Conference Recorded Suggestion! Supporting Faculty Adoption of Open Educational Resources through MERLOT, panel presentation. If you don’t know what MERLOT is, you really need to checkout this session. We have a presentation on it later in the day, and it would be ideal if you could make time for both.
• Suggested ARC Recording from Previous Conference or Event:  Finding Streaming Media in the Wichita State Library Holdings, panel presentation. This outstanding presentation was the gem of August 2020’s ARC. If you missed it, now’s your chance to catch up with this valuable information.

9-9:50 a.m. (Vendor Hour): Respondus Presents: Privacy and AI-Based Proctoring. If you attended the ProctorU presentation on privacy and human proctoring, you are going to want to come to this one as well. In it, Respondus representatives will be discussing AI proctoring including privacy issues. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

10-10:50 a.m. (Rapid Sessions): Three sessions, each 15 minutes long. Managing Your New Normal Classroom with Carolyn Shaw, When Ideologies Clash in the Class with Neal Allen, and the Freedom of Expression Curriculum with Carolyn Speer. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

11-11:50 a.m.: Links coming soon: Using a “Free” App (or other new technology)? What You Need to Know about the Accessibility Auditing Process with Heather Merchant. There are many educational technologies out there available for free, but all technologies, regardless of cost (or lack of it!) must coomply with policy 8.11. Come to this session to learn how WSU evaluates the apps you want to use in class and what you can do if you find your favorite app choice is not fully accessible. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

Noon-12:50 p.m. (Panel Hour): Educational Technology at Wichita State with Ryan Corcoran, John Jones, and Carolyn Speer. Do you have questions about how decisions are made, technologies are chosen, and classrooms are designed for tech? This is the panel discussion for you. Come withe questions and we will try to answer them. Links coming soon: Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

1-1:50 p.m.: Is This Accessible? With John Jones.  As the Accessibility Coordinator for the University, John regularly gets the question “is this accessible?” Come to this session to learn how that question gets answered and to pick up some skills along the way so you can start to answer it for yourself. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

2-2:50 p.m.: Beyond the Discussion Board: Learning Other Ways to Interact with Online Students with Mary Morriss. Have you already leveraged your discussion board? Or maybe you just don’t like it? Come to this session to learn about other ways to interact with your online students. Bring your own ideas too as this session will be conversational. Add to Calendar (or) access directly.

3-3:30 p.m. (Free Stuff for EVERYONE): Meet MERLOT: Your Blackboard-Integrated OER Solution with Carolyn Speer. Would you like to use OER but “there just anything available” for your class? Well, have you checked MERLOT? This peer-reviewed repository for OER learning objects may just get you a few steps closer to an OAT designation for your class! Add to Calendar (or) access directly.