"Begin with the end in mind."
Steven R. Covey
Collaborative Lunch & Learn with MaSU & NDSCS
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In Spring 2025, MaSU and NDSCS offered a 3-part virtual Lunch and Learn series to discuss the book Teaching with AI by Bowen and Watson. The book study was sponsored by the Advancing Education at MSU mini-grant awarded to Kevin Arjel, Chris Gonnella and Sarah Kallock. The mini grant was awarded in the same semester as the collaboration occurred, so the two Centers for Teaching and Learning combined their sessions to enrich the experience for both small institutions. The Director of the NDSCS CTL, Tara Bladow, also joined as a co-presenter.
Post-session survey results indicated:
Learn more about the MaSU / NDSCS collaboration.
The AI presentation app Gamma was used for the slide deck.
Post-session survey results indicated:
- 27% of respondents would "definitely" participate in future collaborative professional development, and 45% would consider it, depending on topic and timing.
- 100% of participants valued sharing resources and ideas, 83% valued learning from colleagues at NDSCS, and 50% valued gaining broader perspectives on teaching challenges.
- All participants reported implementing or planning to implement at least one AI strategy, with most focusing on incorporating AI literacy into their curriculum, creating AI-resistant assignments, and redesigning assessments to emphasize process over product.
- Finetuning Ultra Gradebook and Mid-Semester Feedback
- Discussion Forums Using YuJa Videos & Video Capture
- Exploring AI Tools in Blackboard
- Transform Your Teaching with OERs
Learn more about the MaSU / NDSCS collaboration.
The AI presentation app Gamma was used for the slide deck.
Download the Facilitator's Guide to get specific help with presenting this information yourself.
Migration to Blackboard Ultra Leadership
Reflection on the Project
During the Blackboard Ultra migration, I was the project lead; responsibilities for faculty guides and certain resources were assigned to another team member. My focus was on planning and organizing the migration timeline, introducing project management tools and methods, and ensuring all deadlines within my purview were met.
Branding and Adaptive Response
I branded our migration ‘U2U: Upgrade to Ultra,’ which energized our team and was well received by peers at other institutions. We offered weekly ‘Build-It Brown Bags’ to provide informal, drop-in support and encourage parallel work. These sessions didn’t attract faculty as we’d hoped, and this prompted us to try division-specific sessions. We found that division-specific sessions generated more engagement and proved much more effective. These targeted sessions led to more engagement and allowed us to address faculty needs more directly. This experience reinforced the importance of being flexible, responsive, and data-driven in faculty development work.
Course Templates
As a team—including myself, the academic technologist/Blackboard support, the VPAA, and the CIO—we decided to create a set of course templates for weekly, topic-based, and lab courses to support faculty during the Ultra migration. The Nursing division piloted Ultra first, and we collaborated closely with them to refine a weekly template. During this pilot, the division accidentally altered the original template, which taught us the importance of maintaining a master copy that users cannot edit.
After piloting the weekly template with the Nursing division and refining it based on feedback from division chairs, we had a strong resource ready for our early adopters. However, initial adoption was slower than we hoped, so I began thinking about additional ways to promote new resources and ensure faculty feel confident using them.
Removing Barriers
After researching best practices and consulting models like Northern Illinois University, I decided to offer our course templates as optional resources to respect faculty autonomy and encourage organic adoption. I created a Course Template Request Form to streamline the process and ensure we could provide individualized support. Use of this form would also provide a means for collecting tracking data. However, I soon recognized that even small barriers, such as filling out a form, can impact adoption rates. Therefore, I decided not to use the Request Form. Instead, I created a Faculty Resources course, which supports self-enrollment. I added a self-enrollment link directly to the course template. This way, faculty can access and experiment with the Optional Weekly Course Template at their convenience. I believe this approach will encourage greater engagement and facilitate the integration of new tools into faculty teaching.
Examples Developed in Canva
Use the arrows at the bottom of the display frame to navigate between examples.
Upgrade 2 Ultra Roadmap by Christine Gonnella
Accessible Comet Course Badge Program
Presentation: Moving from Crisis Mode to Ficus Mode
This was a "choose-your-own-adventure" presentation for the English Department faculty members, which was very well received. It addressed many concerns about coming back after the pandemic. It contains several interactions.
If Presenter's Notes exist on a slide, you can access them by hovering over the yellow chat bubble in the upper left corner of each screen. The notes were written after the presentation for those who did not attend.
If Presenter's Notes exist on a slide, you can access them by hovering over the yellow chat bubble in the upper left corner of each screen. The notes were written after the presentation for those who did not attend.
Designing Instructional Discussion Forums
This 60-minute course is intended to walk educators through the process of designing effective instructional discussion forums.
This project was defended in 2014 and refreshed in 2019.
Instructional Design Documents
Guide for Synchronous Learners
| Guide for Synchronous Learners |
Guide for Asynchronous Learners
| Guide for Asynchronous Learners |
Designing Instructional Forums Slide Deck
The slide deck below was projected for use as a guide for facilitators and learners during the in-person workshop (refresh of original training developed in 2014).
The slide deck below was projected for use as a guide for facilitators and learners during the in-person workshop (refresh of original training developed in 2014).