Fall Professional Development

Autumn is fully upon us! Now that the Center for Instructional Innovation (CII) has merged with the talent of ATUS Learning Systems, the CII team would like to share some good news and resources.

Whether you are seeking new ideas or simple solutions for supporting teaching and learning at Western, we are here for you. Consider exploring the following and reach out if you would like to chat with us. See the Meet the CII section below.

ACCESSIBILITY

• Designing Accessible Courses Workshop: This stipend-based learning opportunity for instructors has limited seats available.
  • Fall session starts SOON: 10/16-10/30!
• Canvas Course Accessibility Assistance Application Form:Maybe the workshop is not for you, but if you need serious help; just ask.
• Unlocking Accessibility: Pope Tech Canvas Dashboard: Or, go your own way and learn from our documentation and videos.

GENERATIVE AI

• AI Fridays—Join us for live discussions about AI in teaching and learning one Friday per month. Register for the Zoom link:
  • Register for Fri. Oct. 3, 3-4 PM TODAY!
  • Register for Fri. Nov. 14, 3-4 PM
  • Register for Fri. Dec. 5, 3-4 PM
• AI Hub—We developed this new site to gather most of the AI-related resources and things happening at Western. Check it out and offer feedback.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES & UPDATES

To see all our current, upcoming, and past professional development materials, join the ATUS-CII ProDev Self-Enroll Canvas course.

• Monday Morning Mentor Weekly Videos (self-enroll Canvas course)—teaching-related videos plus transcripts & slides
• Canvas Foundations (self-enroll Canvas course)—for anyone who is new to Canvas & WWU; 8 videos in about an hour
• WWU Canvas Orientation for Faculty (self-enroll Canvas course)—everything teachers need to know to be successful users of Canvas
• Panopto 101: Quickstart Faculty Guide—getting started with Western's video management system, integrated into Canvas
• Teaching & Learning Co-op—searchable collection of strategies, tools, and practices for innovative teaching and learning

AI in Academic Systems

• ATUS has not enabled AI-related features in Canvas, but Panopto uses AI for automatic captions and searching captions, and in Zoom we have allowed some AI features, such as AI Companion summaries, for each user to enable if they choose.
• To view the status of AI in our academic systems, see: AI Within Academic Tools

Canvas

• YouTube Ads: A recent change by Canvas allows ads to be shown in embedded YouTube videos. We enabled the warning that appears on each video to let you and students know. Contact CanvasHelp@wwu.edu if you would like to transition any of your videos to Panopto (which never shows ads).
• What's New in Canvas: Part 1 (9 min.)—includes updates made to Files, Discussions, and Course Analytics
• What's New in Canvas: Part 2 (7 min.)—includes updates made to Assignments, SpeedGrader, the rich content editor, and a new font for viewing content
• Annotation Submission Assignments (3 min.)—shows how teachers can set up an assignment with a file for each student to annotate as their submission.
• Canvas Help: As always, contact us via email for fast solutions.

Panopto

• Panopto continues to improve its accessibility features, and now has a Save As feature in the editor.

KEY RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS

• Basic Needs Hub—helps students connect with essential resources like housing, food, wellness, technology, and financial aid
• Study Spaces—places for students to study between classes, or for participating in a virtual class in between in-person classes
• Syllabi at WWU—WWU policies and campus resources written for students (Tip: link to this from your syllabi!)
• Student Tech Center Learning Modules (self-enroll Canvas course)—extensive collection of self-paced learning modules
• WWU Canvas Orientation for Students (self-enroll Canvas course)—to help students be successful users of Canvas

MEET THE CII

Our CII team is happy to meet with you, with a group of colleagues, or even a whole department to expand on any of these topics.

• AJ Barse, M.Ed., Instructional Designer & Technologist
  Contact: AJ.Barse@wwu.edu, Book appointment with AJ
  • Panopto lead, professional development creator, AI alchemist, solutions brainstormer for Canvas + third-party tools, digital accessibility advocate, OER specialist, media production maestro
• David Bass, Senior Developer for Digital Initiatives
  Contact: David.Bass@wwu.edu
  • Software developer, AI explorer, accessibility advocate, automation and workflow solution developer
• Justina Brown, M.Ed., Senior Instructional Designer/Director
  Contact: Justina.Brown@wwu.edu, Book appointment with Justina
  • CII Director, professional development creator and promoter, Socrative polling lead, Canvas grading investigator, Panopto guide, course design advisor, FERPA & accessibility enthusiast, OER specialist, AI explorer
• Chris Powell, WWU Canvas Admin
  Contact: CanvasHelp@wwu.edu, Book appointment with Chris
  • LMS oracle of knowledge, technology minimalist, helpful resource for macOS, Windows 11, Linux, iOS, and Android
  • Well-known for "Ask a Canvas Admin Anything" meetings; contact Chris to schedule a time.

Looking for something else? Be sure to view How to Get Help if you need a little help from our friends.