Vanguard - Multimodal Learning Community is designed for faculty who have substantial experience with online teaching and are interested in investigating emerging instructional technologies, sharing their own best practices with their peers, and helping direct online learning strategies for the university.

Below is a list of past meeting topics. Click on a topic to view the recording:

• 2018-2019
• 2017-2018
• 2016-2017
• 2015-2016
• 2014-2015
• 2013-2014
• 2012-2013
• 2011-2012
• 2010-2011

2018-2019

November 16, 2018: Inclusive Access for Digital Textbooks
Liz Fountain (ITAM), Sue Rivera (ITAM), and Mark Samples (Music) discussed their use of Inclusive Access to provide lower-cost digital textbooks for their classes, focusing on student perceptions, ease of implementation, integration with Canvas, and publisher support for students and faculty. Note: the presenters' slides are not visible at the beginning of the recording (see attached slides).

October 26, 2018: Ally Accessibility Tool in Canvas
Delayna Breckon and Chad Schone (Multimodal Learning) introduced the new Ally accessibility tool that automatically generates alternate accessible formats for course documents uploaded into Canvas to serve students with different learning needs. Ally also provides step-by-step guides to help instructors make their original course documents more accessible.

2017-2018
 

May 18, 2018: Ed Tech Showcase
Chad Schone (Multimodal Education Center) presented an Ed Tech showcase of innovative and emerging technologies available to faculty and students: OneNote for real-time collaboration and dissemination of course materials; eBeam portable interactive smart screen system; Virtual Reality educational experiences; and 360° video recording.
(This session was not recorded.)
May 11, 2018: Lightboard Videos
Bruce Palmquist (Physics) and Steve Chrisman (Health Sciences) introduced their experiments with a lightboard to record video lectures in front of a glass “whiteboard,” allowing students to view both the instructor and the writing on the board simultaneously. (This session was not recorded.)
February 23, 2018: An Evaluation Framework for Innovative Technology
Fen Wang and Robert Lupton (ITAM) presented their research on an evaluation framework to assess the perceived benefits of using innovative technologies to improve student success in online learning environments, addressing three fundamental issues: 1) instructor presence and interactivity, 2) presentation clarity, 3) student focus and/or attention to feedback.
February 2, 2018: Blackboard Ultra Web-Conferencing
A representative from Blackboard provided an overview of the new Collaborate Ultra web-conferencing platform and preview of upcoming features on their development roadmap, including access by telephone-only, ability to rename recordings, and persistent white boards. (This session was not recorded.)
October 27, 2017: Canvas Hacks
James Brown and John Durham (ITAM) demonstrated advanced HTML hacks to enhance Canvas course navigation with tabs and buttons, use tables for page layout, and present media carousels to students.
October 6, 2017: Student-Developed Podcast Assignments
Bruce Palmquist (Physics and MML Faculty Fellow) discussed his experience with student-developed podcasts, sharing his assignment outline, rubric, suggestions for improvement, and sample podcast clips.
 

2016-2017
 

May 5, 2017: Online Service Learning
Casey Mace (Health Sciences) addressed the opportunities and challenges that exist in getting online students to participate in academic service learning, including the literature regarding academic performance, civic engagement, and course/program satisfaction outcomes of online students participating in service learning.
April 14, 2017: Peer-Evaluation of Team Work
Ian Quitadamo (Biology and Science Education) introduced CATME, a web-based rubric-driven assessment tool that allows students to evaluate the relative contributions of team members, which enhances their ability to be self-reflective and self-regulate their work in teams. (This session was not recorded.)
February 24, 2017: Canvas Outcomes for Program Assessment
Bret Smith (Music/Assessment Coordinator) provided an overview of the Canvas outcomes functions and how program faculty can take advantage of these tools to reduce the time and paperwork of traditional assessment reporting and generate ongoing student achievement data for program planning and improvement.
January 27, 2017: eTextbooks and Direct Digital Access
Direct Digital Access (DDA) is a way to guarantee that students have access to course materials even before the quarter starts, at a lower cost to the students. Three professors from Physics discussed their experiences with DDA, offering helpful tips for faculty adoption, and Steve Wenger (Wildcat Shop) discussed the bookstore's role in DDA.
November 18, 2016: New Turnitin Integration
Delayna Breckon (Multimodal Learning) introduced the new Turnitin plagiarism-detection integration with Canvas, which offers new features for faculty feedback and new requirements for creating and managing assignments.
October 28, 2016: MediaAMP Modalis
Representatives from MediaAMP (our streaming media system) presented their new Modalis application for sharing media collections, playlists, and student-created content for classes, departments, or other groups.
 

2015-2016
 

May 13, 2016: Designing Gamified Learning Environments
Geri Hopkins (Instructional Design Librarian) introduced game design principles and techniques for designing gamified learning environments to encourage student collaboration, inquiry-based learning, repetition, practice, and control. (This session was not recorded.)
April 22, 2016: Advanced Online Teaching Certificate
Nicole Dunn (Interdisciplinary Studies) introduced the Online Learning Consortium’s advanced online teaching certificate for experienced online faculty who wish to improve their online courses through the inclusion of active learning strategies, multimedia and social media components, and stronger assessment practices.
February 5, 2016: Cheating in Online Tests
Michael Olivero (Law & Justice) presented research that measures test duration and scores from online examinations using computer logs to indirectly evaluate whether students are using secondary sources of information to improve their performance.
January 22, 2016: Semantics in Online Discussions
Jackie Krause (ITAM) presented research that evaluates how semantics influence knowledge transfer, identifying four primary themes in discussion forum responses by instructors: instructional, declarative, critical thinking, and sage on the stage.
November 20, 2015: Video Assignments
Geri Hopkins (Instructional Design Librarian) and Chad Schone (Multimodal Education Center Director) introduced two different types of video-based assignments with examples and resources: 1) assignments that use streaming instructional video, and 2) assignments with student-produced video submissions.
November 6, 2015: Flipped Classroom
Needing to adapt classroom activities for a Distance Education environment, Todd Weber (Management) decided to try a flipped classroom approach, where in-class time is used for activities and discussion while lectures are moved online.

2014-2015

May 8, 2015: SoftChalk Cloud
Heidi Henschel Pellett (Physical Education and School Health) introduced a tool that helps instructors create, share, and manage learning content to create a professional-looking, interactive, web-based module for online learning.
April 17, 2015: Canvas Outcomes
Bret Smith (Assessment Coordinator) presented Canvas assessment tools that can help instructors give timely and rich student feedback, using common learning outcomes and scoring rubrics tied to course, departmental, and university learning objectives.
February 20, 2015: Panopto Lecture Capture
Todd Weber (Management) introduced to our new Panopto lecture capture system, which allows instructors to record screen captures, voice over presentation slides, instructor video, and additional input sources. (This session was not recorded.)
January 23, 2015: Future of Education Technology
Chad Schone (Multimodal Education Center) envisioned the Future of Education Technology, from current trends (digitized classrooms, gamification, open education resources) to emerging technologies (personalized learning platforms, tangible computing) and beyond (retinal screens, holography, immersive virtual reality).
November 14, 2014: Online Tutoring
Sandi Gruberg (Learning Support Services) presented the new CWU Online Tutoring Service, which offers writing and math tutoring to both online and university center students, with a live demo of the Canvas Online Tutoring Course.
October 6, 2014: MediaAmp-Canvas Integration
Representatives from MediaAmp provided a demonstration of their new integration with Canvas, which allows faculty to upload and manage streaming media for courses directly through Canvas.  (This session was not recorded.)

2013-2014

May 30, 2014: Collaborate vs. Big Blue Button
Keith Monosky (Nutrition, Exercise, & Health Science) and Craig Hughes (Language, Literacy, & Special Education) compared the two web-conferencing tools available in Canvas for synchronous online meetings. (This session was not recorded)
April 25, 2014: ScholarWorks Institutional Repository
Talea Anderson (Library) introduced the new institutional repository for CWU faculty, students, and staff to showcase their research and scholarly output.
February 21, 2014: Mobile Learning
Mike Lane (Instructional Designer/Multimedia Developer) introduced mobile learning theory, pedagogical strategies, common tools, and the use of mobile technologies available in Canvas and MediaAmp.
January 24, 2014: Sloan-C Debrief
ITAM faculty who attended the Sloan-C Online Learning Conference reported back on their takeaways from the conference.
November 22, 2014: Streaming Video
Geri Hopkins (Instructional Design Librarian) and Mike Lane (MediaAmp Admin) demonstrated the Library's use of our new MediaAmp digital asset management system to support streaming video for online and hybrid courses.
October 18, 2013: New Canvas Tools
Delayna Breckon (Canvas Admin) and Joe Johnson (English, Faculty Fellow) introduced new tools in Canvas, including Attendance Roll Call, upgraded Conversations, Quiz regrading, and audio/video comments in Discussions.

2012-2013

May 17, 2013: Work/Life Balance for Online Teachers
Henry Williams (Advanced Programs) led a discussion of work/life balance and coping strategies to avoid faculty burnout in online teaching.
April 26, 2013: Canvas Training
Delayna Breckon (Multimodal Learning) led a Canvas training session for faculty interested in piloting the new learning management system. (This session was not recorded.)
February 8, 2013: Online Bibliographic Tools
Geri Hopkins (Instructional Design Librarian) introduced free web-based tools that students (and faculty) can use to manage research references and citations.
January 25, 2013: Student Collaboration & Career Development
Ron Tidd (Accounting) demonstrated his use of Microsoft Live and LinkedIn to promote student collaboration and career development.
November 2, 2012: iPad Apps for Teaching & Learning
Faculty from multiple departments shared iPad apps they use for teaching and learning: Aurasma, Ghostwriter, Collaborate, and others. (This session was not recorded.)
October 5, 2012: GoCentral
Chris Schedler (English and Multimodal Learning Director) introduced GoCentral--CWU's online communication and collaboration network.

2011-2012

May 25, 2012: Connectivity as Collaboration
Provost Marilyn Levine shared her vision of "Connectivity as Collaboration" through new learning technologies.
May 18, 2012: Self and Peer Assessment
David Rawlinson (ITAM) presented on his use of the self- and peer-assessment tool in Blackboard to improve assessment of student work in online courses.
April 20, 2012: Blogs and Wikis
Patsy Callaghan (English) and Chris Schedler (English) presented on their use of blogs and wikis for group projects in online courses that involve collaborative research, writing, editing, and commentary
March 2, 2012: Online SEOIs
Tom Henderson (Director of Institutional Assessment) presented an overview of the campus-wide rollout of online SEOIs for all classes.
February 3, 2012: Disability Issues in Online Learning
Rob Harden (Center for Disability Services) presented on disability issues, ADA compliance, and support services for faculty teaching online courses.
November 4, 2011: iPad Apps for Instruction and Productivity
Speed-dating demonstrations to match faculty with the perfect iPad apps for instruction and productivity. (This session was not recorded.)
October 7, 2011: Library Resources for Online Learning
Geri Hopkins presented on Library resources for online learning, including the new Library website, customized reference pages that can be created for online programs, online databases (for research and media), and procedures for the use of streaming video.

2010-2011

May 27, 2011: Bamboo Tablet
Demonstrations on the use of a Bamboo tablet for handwritten mark-up and grading of papers, mathematical equations on Whiteboards, drawing and painting applications.
April 29, 2011: Web-Conferencing Tools
Presention - Steve Stein (Mathematics) and Jane Whitmire (Mathematics) discussed their uses of Elluminate, as well as other synchronous communication tools, to teach their online math courses, conduct full class meetings, and tutor individual students.
Presentation - Chris Schedler (English) used Elluminate for students to present digital posters in an online literature course. Each student presenter phoned in a presentation while the digital poster and audio were broadcast to the rest of the participants via Elluminate.
March 4, 2011: Jing for Screencast Videos
Demonstrations on the use of Jing to make short screen capture videos for computer program tutorials, online presentations, and audio evaluation of assignments.
February 4, 2011: Blackboard 9.1 New Features
Jane Chinn provided an overview of the new features of Blackboard 9.1 prior to its official release to the campus community.
December 3, 2010: ePortfolios
Nick Schiavi (Blackboard) presented a demo of Blackboard's content management module to create ePortfolios for student reflection, assessment on the course and program levels, and career placement.