Blackboard has a new look coming May 14, 2022!
This upgrade will only be changing the look of the Blackboard interface, not the content inside your courses. The courses look and feel will remain the same. This upgrade will deliver the same user experience as within the Blackboard App. A consistent look and color scheme makes a more accessible and mobile responsive Learning Management System. Below are some of the benefits of this upgrade.
Instructional Technology Excellence Award
The Distance Education and Instructional Technology Committee (DEITC) is accepting nominations for the 2022 Instructional Technology Excellence Award. Our committee would like to recognize faculty that has learned, integrated, and promoted the use of technology tools within their courses. Self-nominations are also welcomed.
The Instructional Technology Excellence Award will be presented with a plaque during the Fall 2022 Faculty Convocation. Reserved parking and a stipend ($500.00) will also be included in the award.
Instructional Technology Excellence Award Nomination Form
Please submit the nomination form as well as supporting documents to Dr. Pat Abrego, Director of Academic Technology, via email at pabrego@tamiu.edu or in person to the Office of Instructional Technology & Distance Education Services located in Killam Library, Room 259. Deadline for nominations is May 31, 2022.
To facilitate the nomination process, a copy of the rubric that will be used to score is linked below:
Instructional Technology Excellence Award Scoring Rubric
Reminder: Turnitin Training Sessions
The eLearning team continues to offer training sessions through the end of April to help faculty transition and/or recreate these assignments. The switch exclusively to LTI will be on May 16, 2022. Past student submissions will only be available via the Turnitin external website. Register for any of the sessions to learn about the new changes in the setup for paper submission. These sessions are for novice to experienced users.
TAMUS New Accessibility Training
Texas A&M System's new EIR (Electronic Information Resources) Accessibility Training proposal was presented to Faculty Senate and was unanimously voted for all faculty (face-to-face, hybrid, and online) to be assigned this training. This update will take effect in Fall 2022.
The eLearning Team continues to assist faculty through the QM course development process for courses being taught online. For an overview of the course development process, visit our Development Process of Distance Education Courses page.
QM Courses Certified
Since the last DEITC meeting in February 2022, there are eight more courses that have been QM certified.
Open Agenda
WIN Assessment or Core Curriculum Assistance
Zoom one-on-one meetings with Ms. Karol Batey are available if your department is in need of assistance. Please contact karol.batey@tamiu.edu for more information.
Open Education Resources (OER) Library Grant
The library has opened their grant applications for faculty that are writing, creating, adopting, or adapting OER. Faculty can get up to $4000 if they want to create OER. For more information and to apply for this grant visit the OER Grants website.
There is going to be a writing retreat in Maymester for those faculty that want to adapt and create OER. Anyone that has applied for a grant to adapt and create OER will automatically be enrolled in this Maymester writing retreat.
Dr. Chao Chen will be the new Online Learning Librarian that will come onboard in Summer 2022 serving as the liaison for the library and the eLearning team.
eLearning Instructional Designer Positions
Instructional Designer, Tony Ramirez, is no longer with the eLearning department. He has moved to another position in OIT. The eLearning department has Instructional Designer vacancies. The team is currently short-staffed and needs to fill these positions as soon as possible as the workload has increased after Pandemic. The eLearning team encourages you to share this information with anyone you may know that qualifies and would be interested in applying. Elearning would like to continue giving the same type of quality assistance it provides to its faculty, students and staff. Visit the Human Resources website for more information.
Next DEITC Meeting
Next DEITC meeting is scheduled for April 25, 2022 at 3:00 P.M.
