The Division of Digital Learning hosted its second annual Digital Learning Day event! The event aimed to empower faculty to leverage educational technology, tools, and resources to positively impact students and the quality of the learning experience in all course modalities. The event also provided an opportunity to learn more about DDL’s services and tools, connect with colleagues and staff across the university, and celebrate the great work that is conducted every day at UCF.
Our 2024 event has already taken place, but you can check out the program below.
Download Program
Keynote – Dr. Nelson Baker
Nelson C. Baker, Ph.D., is the inaugural interim dean of the Lifetime Learning Division and professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. As dean, Dr. Baker leads a multifaceted enterprise that consists of Georgia Tech’s research, educational programs as well as activities and services for the on-going learning needs for both individuals and employer workforce demands throughout a lifetime, from early stages of one’s life to the later stages in their career.
This new division which was formed in 2023 under Dr. Baker’s leadership now touches more than 250,000 K-12 teachers, students and working professionals from nearly half the world’s countries, providing them new knowledge and skills for tomorrow’s world. Prior to this role, Dr. Baker served as the dean of professional education for the last decade.
Dr. Baker’s award-winning work on the impact of technology on students’ learning has generated projects such as intelligent simulations and tutors, among others. Leading Dr. Baker’s list of honors are the W.M. Keck Foundation Award for Engineering Teaching Excellence and the University Professional Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) Julia M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership.
Currently, Dr. Baker serves as the Secretary General of the International Association of Continuing Engineering Education (IACEE) and is also a Past President of the University Professional Continuing Education Association (UPCEA). He is the Past-Chair of the Georgia Board of Regents Administrative Committee on Public Service and Continuing Education, and he is an active member of ASEE and ASCE.
Closing – Kevin Corcoran
Kevin Corcoran is the Assistant Vice Provost of the Center for Distributed Learning. Kevin has over 25 years of experience in the development and support of strategies for the effective use of digital learning tools and content that focuses on quality standards and practices, student engagement, accessibility and affordability. Kevin has supported system, state, and national open education efforts over the past decade, including chairing the statewide Connecticut OER Coordinating Council and the DOERS3 collaborative.
As we continue to make efforts to improve student success and learn to meet and support student needs, Kevin Corcoran presented his closing keynote, “The Future of Digital Learning.”
Streamed Sessions
Creating Lifetime Learning: Georgia Tech’s Journey in Progress & Service
More than 250,000 individual learners, from early life to later in their career, turned to Georgia Tech in 2023, for educational programming taking online and professional education to sharpen their skills, acquire new knowledge, and earn credentials to advance, or prepare, their careers. Georgia Tech, a top-10 public research university located in Midtown Atlanta Georgia, became a national leader in offering extremely affordable online master’s programs that have less than $10,000 (US) tuition for the entire program, proving that affordability and access is possible without sacrificing quality. Now, Georgia Tech is becoming a leader again, in launching a college of lifetime learning. Dean Baker will discuss the evolution of lifetime learning, Tech’s journey in leadership in learning innovation, and what the future may hold.
I Want to Feel a Connection: Using Yellowdig to Foster Student Engagement and Connectedness
As faculty members and instructional designers, we understand the challenge of fostering thoughtful and proactive student engagement in online discussions. Often, students either struggle to contribute unique perspectives or lack motivation to engage creatively beyond meeting grade requirements. This stagnation hinders the development of a dynamic, intellectually stimulating discussion environment and can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection among students in online classes.
Yellowdig revolutionizes online discussions by leveraging a modern, user-friendly interface that incorporates filters, hashtags, media integration, and interactive features like polls and emojis. This multimedia-rich approach encourages students to engage with course content in more meaningful and creative ways, fostering deeper exploration and knowledge construction. Importantly, it also facilitates peer-to-peer connections and a sense of community, mitigating the isolation often experienced in online learning environments. Points are earned by engaging in different actions (posting, receiving a reply) and these actions can vary from earning period to earning period, promoting student autonomy and choice.
Who is Your Hero? Bringing an Argentine Hero to Life with 360-degree Video and AI
This presentation will offer recommendations and a model for curriculum development to increase student interest and desire to expand their knowledge of course concepts using technology. In this model resources available through the Repository of 360-degree videos and the development of AI course materials bring to life an Argentine folk hero, the Robin Hood of South America, his rise from obscurity to hero status. The use of technology breathes life into a hero from the 19th. Century as he speaks, interacts, and communicates with his audience, the students. The students are transported to the reality of the life and times of this Argentine hero who impacts his compatriots still today.
The support offered through the iLab, CDL and the video production unit at UCF has permitted the development of curriculum in a rich learning environment that instills interest and curiosity in the learner. The curriculum takes the learners on a journey to new realities and to places they would not have experienced were it not for the power of technology.
Models and Not Rules: Why it Matters in Designing Instruction
An unintended consequence of associating the terms assessment and evaluation in conjunction with designing instruction and research methodology provides a new perspective what is both synergistic but at the same time potentially problematic. The words formative and design connote a notion of a process and suggest that both terms when used together can also be viewed as adjectives and/or verbs. We agree with Nigel Cross, who has referred to the concept of being “designerly”, results in a whole new way of knowing things and that design should be considered a third academic discipline. In practice the concept of design research implies an inherently iterative process that touches upon a rearticulation and/or a modeling of a problem, a proposed solution, creating artifacts, make refinement that assists with assessing the reliability and validity of results. With this view one also needs to understand the concept of what is a model and what are rules and how they are generalizable in a study or studies and needs to be reintroduced as a convenient but unnecessary concept because in formative design all the initial assessments need only to be “generalizable” (i.e., valid and reliable only to the total circumstances of that study, including its population, mainly due to a different perspective as to the value of failure. The antecedent that is followed in a well-developed model can contribute to generalizability of a proposed “solution” or “rules” to measure what evolves. Hence, valid models may be replicated in several like circumstances based on value tested strategies.
Transform Static Reading into Active Learning with AI-Powered Formative Assessments
Research suggests that incorporating formative practice questions can significantly improve student reading and comprehension of course materials. This presentation explores the impact of SmartStart, a free feature within the VitalSource platform that leverages AI to automatically generate personalized practice questions and feedback for students. We will present case studies from large-enrollment psychology courses where students used tools like CoachMe or Acrobatiq, which automatically generate practice questions alongside their VitalSource textbooks. Notably, Acrobatiq allows instructors to further personalize the learning experience with adaptive quizzes. The presentation will delve into student experiences and outcomes, exploring the effectiveness of SmartStart in promoting textbook engagement and learning outcomes. We’ll also discuss the support instructors receive from the Center for Distributed Learning for creating such personalized courses.
Event Committee
- Dr. Denise Lowe, Senior Instructional Designer, Committee Co-Chair
- Nicole Stahl, Project Coordinator II, Committee Co-Chair
- Tina Calandrino, Associate Instructional Designer
- Carlos Diaz, App Dev & Systems Integration
- Wendy Dye, Instructional Tech Specialist II
- Anita Gabbard, Program Director for Division Strategy and Engagement
- Grace Kaletski-Maisel, Assistant Instructional Designer
- Ailin Le Bellot, Web Content Specialist I
- Samantha Richardson, Communications Specialist
- Renee White, IT Client Support Specialist I
And a special thanks to the following for preparing and promoting Digital Learning Day.
- Bren Bedford, Web Project Analyst II
- Savannah Graves, IT Client Support Specialist II
- Dylan Yonts, Manager Multimedia Services, FMC