Session Descriptions

Tuesday, June 24: Session A (9–11am) 
Digital Literacy @ GVSU and Beyond: Building a Culture of Technological Equity 
EC 215
Laurence José, Digital Studies & Writing; Vinicius Lima, Visual & Media Arts

This introductory section will engage participants in the work underway to catalyze digital literacy across the curriculum at Grand Valley. Through dialogue and collaborative exploration, participants will interact with a framework that contextualizes digital literacy within the institution’s values and liberal arts mission. The framework will serve as a tool for identifying the digital literacy skills students need to succeed while also guiding critical and collaborative reflection on the conditions and resources required to foster equitable and inclusive learning environments.

Tuesday, June 24: Session B (11am–noon) 
AI Introduction and Overview 
EC 215
Kamrul Hasan, College of Computing

This session, "AI Introduction & Overview," offers a primarily non-technical and approachable introduction to the fundamentals of artificial intelligence—clarifying what AI is, and what it isn’t, through relatable examples. Participants will explore commonly used AI tools in a hands-on segment, discovering how they may already be interacting with AI in their daily lives. The session will also outline key types of AI currently in use and provide insight into anticipated advancements in the near future. To wrap up, an open Q&A will invite questions, reflections, and discussion among attendees.

Tuesday, June 24: Session C (1pm–4pm) 
AI and Student Writing  
EC 215         
Alisha Karabinus, Writing & School of Interdisciplinary Studies; Patrick Johnson, Writing Center; Lindsay Ellis, English & Supplemental Writing Skills (SWS)  

A discussion of what faculty are seeing, what students are hearing, and how both can work together to shape expectations for AI and learning.  Relevant topics include: assignment redesigns, rethinking learning objectives, stories from the trenches of what is working or not, false positives accusing students of using AI, collaborating with campus resources, and discussing what is next for AI and its role in writing

Wednesday, June 25: Session D (9am–12pm) 
Design Higher Order Thinking into Your Course using the Bb AI Design Assistant
EC 614

Discover how Blackboard’s new AI tools can help you create dynamic, engaging learning experiences using your own course content. In this hands-on session, you’ll explore how to leverage AI to refresh materials, promote higher-order thinking, and design effective assessments aligned with your learning objectives. We’ll demonstrate how the built-in tools can assist with generating test questions, assignments, module ideas, rubrics, discussion prompts, and even role-playing scenarios, tailored to your existing content. Participants will gain access to our testing/stage Bb environment for hands-on exploration of each AI feature.

Wednesday, June 25: Session E (9am–12pm)
AI and Critical Thinking
EC 512
Larry Burns, Psychology; Patrick Johnson, Writing Center

What happens to critical thinking when students rely on ChatGPT? We’ll explore that question together through interactive prompts, collaborative reflection, and case-based discussion—not to answer what AI can do, but to ask why it matters. Anchored in research (Burns, Essel, Kumar, Suriano), this session models a shift from “content coverage” to helping students build confidence in their own questions. You’ll leave not just with ideas for teaching, but with deeper questions—about imagination, trust, and the thinking we most need to protect.

Wednesday, June 25: Session F (1pm–4pm)
Online Presentation Assignments and Enterprise Tools
EC 614
Justin Melick, eLearning Technologies; Kyle Macciomei, eLearning Technologies; Kelley Senkowski, eLearning Technologies; Vince St. Germain, eLearning Technologies; Dawn Brackmann, Management; Martin Axelrod, Finance

Discover how to move beyond traditional written assignments by incorporating GVSU-supported technologies that foster creative, multimodal student work. This session will explore tools like Padlet for collaborative virtual boards, Panopto for video presentations, Hypothesis for Social Annotation, and Adobe Express for digital storytelling. You’ll see examples of how GVSU faculty use these tools to enrich learning experiences. Most importantly, discover how the eLearning Technologies team can partner with you to integrate these tools into your teaching.

Wednesday, June 25: Session G (1pm–4pm)
Digital Citizenship and Ethics through the Lens of Liberal Education
EC 512 
Andrew Spear, Philosophy 

This session aims to provide a framework for thinking about digital citizenship and ethics centered on the idea of the liberally educated person. A liberally educated person is a free person who has the knowledge and capacities required to manage their freedom well individually, as a member of a community, and as a citizen. This is an aspirational ideal it is easy to fall short of as literature, history, and more recently psychology and the social sciences help us to appreciate. Theorists of technology recognize the ways that technology can both enhance and inhibit human projects and character, and digital technologies of many sorts (Internet, social media, algorithms, AI…) are distinctive as technologies that affect central aspects of human engagement such as communication, socialization, knowledge-sharing, creativity and creation, representation, and thought itself. These capacities are arguably central to an ethical and efficacious human life as well as to effective citizenship in a functional democratic society. The session will introduce key concepts and principles and aim to be interactive. If the liberally educated person is an ideal relevant for both ethics and citizenship then what factors is it crucial to consider in negotiating the impacts of digital technologies for education, for living well, and for politics?  

Thursday, June 26: Session H (9am–12pm)
Digital Approaches to Accessibility
EC 614
Tim Mohnkern, Student Accessibility Resources; Barbara Stevens, eLearning Technologies; Maya Hobscheid, University Libraries

Join experts from University Libraries, Student Accessibility Resources, and eLearning Technologies to explore strategies for making your digital content more accessible. Learn how to connect with campus partners leading the way in digital inclusion, discover assistive technologies built into Microsoft and Blackboard, and explore how to run accessibility reports, set accommodations, and provide alternative formats for your students, all within your Blackboard course.

Thursday, June 26: Session I (9am–12pm)
Digital Etiquette: Effective, Respectful Communication in Online Spaces
EC 512
Matt Roberts, eLearning Technologies; Julia Vandermolen, School of Interdisciplinary Health; Raymond Higbea, School of Community Leadership & Development

Explore strategies for fostering respectful, inclusive communication in your courses. This session will cover setting clear expectations, creating netiquette guidelines, and facilitating thoughtful dialogue around challenging topics. We'll also highlight how these practices align with Quality Matters standards for communication and engagement.

Thursday, June 26: Session J (1pm–4pm)
DEI Meets DIY: Unfolding the Digital Literacy Landscape With Zines
EC 614
Mary Ruge, University Libraries

This presentation seeks to engage attendees with the aesthetics and methodologies of zines, to become familiar with the ways zines foster inclusive, low-barrier approaches to digital skill-building, information literacy, and scholarship. Through peer-reviewed papers and zine-based pedagogical examples, this presentation asserts that zines are more than punk relics of more revolutionary times: they are flexible, culturally responsive tools that promote agency, multimodal learning, and access. During this presentation, participants will have the opportunity to explore different software to create zines, and share ideas with colleagues on ways to incorporate zines in their classes.

Thursday, June 26: Session K (1pm–4pm)
Strategies to Support Responsible Student Use of AI
EC 512
Elizabeth Flandreau, Psychology; Tammy Stachowicz, School of Interdisciplinary Studies

AI can be a useful tool to make learning more accessible and more fun; it becomes problematic when used to avoid doing the work of learning.  What’s the best way to begin an open conversation about AI use?  How can we guide students toward recognition that the process of education is the purpose? In this hands-on, curiosity-driven workshop, we’ll have this conversation together and then share ideas for low-stakes, in-class exercises that let students safely explore AI as a thinking partner—sparking curiosity, boosting engagement, and building essential digital literacy skills. By tapping into students’ sense of adventure and their natural curiosity, we’ll discover exciting new ways to reach and teach diverse learners. Bring your laptop and your questions—this is a playful, hands-on session designed for communication, experimentation, inspiration, and shared discovery.