Spring Conference

“These aren’t just good strategies (and they are!) but, when integrated systematically, they are transformative experiences for both students and instructors.” –Jim Kain, Neumann University, PA 

The April 26, 2024 conference will be held virtually through Zoom 8am-2pm PT!

The 2024 Conference Agenda will be posted soon.

SPRING CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

Please note: all times are listed in Pacific Time (PT)

“Thank you for putting this together and having good presenters with valuable content.” –Sylwia Kulczak, Rio Hondo College, CA
“Thank you – this was an amazing conference!” –Nicole Adsitt, Cayuga Community College, NY

The 2024 Conference Agenda will be posted soon.

2023 Spring Opening Keynote Session with Dr. Derek Bruff,
Author of Intentional Tech

Across every discipline, students are now using AI to generate essays and research papers, complete homework assignments, produce summaries of scientific research, solve problem sets, and much more. Educators are using AI to respond to student submissions. The world of education is on the cusp of a profound change! How shall educators respond to this fascinating challenge?

Derek Bruff is an educator, author, and higher ed consultant. He directed the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching The conference Opening Keynote speaker, Dr. Derek Bruff is an educator, author, and higher ed consultant. He directed the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching for more than a decade, where he helped faculty and other instructors develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching, and he consults regularly with faculty and administrators across higher education on issues of teaching, learning, and faculty development. Dr. Bruff will share recent developments, some basic AI background, information about specific platforms students are using, concerns of educators in various disciplines, and opportunities that AI presents to support and enhance learning.

Bruff has written two books, Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching (West Virginia University Press, 2019) and Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments (Jossey-Bass, 2009).

He writes a weekly newsletter called Intentional Teaching and produces the Intentional Teaching podcast. Bruff has a PhD in mathematics and has taught math courses at Vanderbilt and Harvard University.

2023 Spring Mid-Day Keynote Session with Dr. Robert Cummings,
author of Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in the Age of Wikipedia

A recent article* on student use of AI noted that “it’s probable that we are past the point of no return with AI-generated text” (Veletsianos). Claire Woodstock notes that “the results [of queries on AI platforms] continue the initial prompt in a natural-sounding way, and often can’t be distinguished from human-written text.” Where do we go from here? How do we help learners avoid plagiarism? How do we offer them guidance on ethical AI use and best practices? How do we help them leverage AI technology to support their capacity to ultimately demonstrate intended learning outcomes?

The Mid-Day Keynote & Plenary will be highly interactive, with an opportunity for educators to ask questions, view some best practices for both leveraging AI for improved learning and learner support (and solving some of the problems raised by AI in various disciplines), meet in Breakout Rooms for activities with other educators, hold strategic conversations, solve problems, devise some strategies or takeaways, and share something out to the group and/or to a collaborative document. This is where we’re asking educators to do the work, responding to some of the issues raised in the earlier keynotes.

“[The text] is not copied from somewhere else, it’s produced by a machine, so plagiarism checking software is not going to be able to detect it and it’s not able to pick it up because the text wasn’t copied from anywhere else.”–George Veletsianos, Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning & Technology

Robert Cummings serves as Executive Director of Academic Innovation and Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi. His research focuses on Open Educational Resources generally, and more specifically on teaching with Wikipedia in Higher Education as an Open Educational Practice. In 2006 he earned the PhD in English from the University of Georgia, with a focus on the connections between rhetoric, composition, and digital technology. His first book was the co-edited volume Wiki Writing: Collaborative Learning in the College Classroom with Matt Barton, (U of Michigan P digitalculturebooks: 2008).

His next book was Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in the Age of Wikipedia (Vanderbilt UP, 2009), which won the Modern Language Association Mina Shaughnessy award for outstanding scholarly book in the fields of language, culture, literacy, and literature with a strong application to the teaching of English. In 2014 he won a Fulbright Specialist Award to promote teaching with Wikipedia at the Writing Hub at the University of Sydney. He has won three grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, funding the development of Open Educational Resource information on Wikipedia, and establishing a Z- Degree network in Mississippi — a project on track to save Mississippi students over $7M in textbook costs. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Wiki Education Foundation, and his current research focuses on how the introduction of OER in to the classroom impacts teaching and learning practices.

2023 Spring Closing Keynote with Dr. Jonathan Brennan,
Author of Engaging Learners through Zoom

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, increasing computer speed and capability while reducing cost, and that such growth is exponential. A recent Stanford report notes that “Prior to 2012, AI results closely tracked Moore’s Law, with compute doubling every two years,”  but “Post-2012, compute has been doubling every 3.4 months.” The horse has already left the barn. It’s time for educators to learn to surf the AI wave!

Dr. Brennan will explore the human side of the AI equation, sharing experiences of both students and educators. Attendees will have a chance to clarify and share takeaways from the conference, as well as explore the relationships between AI and the 8 On Course principles. Where does AI deep learning intersect with student deep learning? How do we manage our emotional responses to what some perceive to a zombie takeover of the education system? Does this mean we will soon become dispensable and replaced by robots and deep learning platforms? What does AI have to say about AI and student boundaries? What’s our path forward from here?

Dr. Jonathan Brennan is an English faculty member at Mission College (CA). Researching best practices in student engagement, he has authored five books, including On Course: Strategies for Success in College, Career, and Life, and Engaging Learners through Zoom.

He received the Hayward Education Excellence and Stanback-Stroud Diversity awards and has trained over 6,000 educators in active learning. In the last two decades, he has focused his research on higher education leadership, developing synchronous virtual learning tools, best practices in non-cognitive learner competencies, and the intersection between race, culture, equity, and access to education.

2023 Program

Please note: all times are listed in Pacific Time (PT)