SIDLIT 2026

Adult learners bring rich experiences, varied education levels, competing responsibilities, and different learning preferences into asynchronous online courses. Designing in Canvas requires more than uploading content. It requires intentional structure, multiple modalities, and authentic application. 
 
This session will explore practical adult learning strategies for designing asynchronous Canvas courses that engage diverse learners. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how adult learning principles inform asynchronous course design in Canvas. 

Ever feel like your classroom assessments and your course learning objectives are speaking two entirely different languages? It’s a common trap: we plan fascinating weekly lectures and activities, only to realize at midterms that our exams don't quite match what we actually expected students to master.


In this hands-on, 90-minute workshop, participants will use the framework of backwards design to build courses where every assignment, quiz, and lecture serves a distinct purpose. You will learn how to align your course with the spectrum of broad institutional goals and program standards down to measurable, daily course competencies. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy as our compass, we will analyze the cognitive levels of our objectives to ensure our summative assessments actually measure higher-order thinking (applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) rather than just rote memorization. Providing clear evidence of student learning is essential for instructional improvement and accountability.


This is not a passive lecture. Come with a course in mind to create a concrete learning plan. You will walk away not just with theoretical knowledge, but with an actionable blueprint for a course unit that guarantees alignment and drives student success.

Don’t Miss the SIDLIT 2026 Scavenger Hunt—Only for In‑Person Attendees! 
Want a fun, interactive way to meet new colleagues and experience Emporia beyond the conference sessions? Join our SIDLIT Scavenger Hunt, an exclusive in‑person activity designed to spark connection, curiosity, and a little friendly competition!
Team up with fellow attendees from different institutions, follow clues, and uncover hidden gems along the way. But the real reward? The first three teams who complete the hunt will win dinner in downtown Emporia, giving you the perfect opportunity to continue conversations, build meaningful connections, and enjoy the local food scene together.
This is more than just a game—it’s a chance to network in a relaxed, memorable way and experience the community that’s hosting you.
 Come for the conference. Stay for the adventure. Leave with new connections.

Instructional designers constantly face challenges at their job. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the field and the considerable variances from position to position, it is vital to understand the instructional design (ID) professionals’ own experiences. This paper reports voices from novice ID professionals on the essential requirements of their ID work, and essential ID professional characteristics. From analyzing interviews with seven ID professionals from a variety of work contexts, the study reveals that the variety of key responsibilities fall onto four dimensions on contradictory ends, indicating four sets of characteristics that ID professionals need to learn to balance well. The findings present the four sets of characteristics in a spider web form with an instructional design at the center, promoting a shift to taking a holistic approach when developing competencies. This paper bears practical implications for aspiring and novice instructional designers, faculty who provide education for ID students, and employers who aim to look for the best fits for the positions, making contributions to the education of instructional designers, hiring and further professional development of ID professionals.

Have you ever suddenly found yourself in charge after your supervisor moved on to a better opportunity? That happened to me in October 2024, and I was left to keep our tech systems running smoothly.
Over the past year-and-a-half, I’ve tackled everything from failing server drives to submitting board and credit card reports. It’s been a steep learning curve, but also an incredibly rewarding one.
I’d love to share some of the lessons I’ve learned—and hear about your experiences too. What challenges have you faced when stepping into a leadership role unexpectedly?

By the end of the session, attendees will: 


Understand the core principles of micro lecture design. 


Learn how to integrate micro lectures into their own teaching or training programs. 

High engagement doesn’t come from expensive tools; it comes from intentional design. In this session, we’ll share how our nonprofit team builds highly engaging Canvas professional development for adult learners ages 14–70+ by thoughtfully selecting and layering the right tools for the right purpose. 
You’ll see real examples of how we use Canvas with interactive slides, flip cards, embedded activities, and structured discussions; alongside aligned objectives, reflection, and knowledge checks; to create meaningful learning experiences. More importantly, we’ll unpack the “why” behind each choice: how we match tools to learning goals, cognitive load, application, and desired levels of interaction. 
Leave with practical engagement strategies and tools that are purposeful, scalable, and budget-conscious; no premium integrations required. 

During our inaugural year in partnership with the Center on Rural Innovation’s Artificial Intelligence Consortium (CORI-AI Consortium), Emporia State University (ESU) engaged in a collaborative, community-centered initiative to advance AI literacy and institutional capacity within a rural context. As part of the “Higher Ed AI Consortiums in Rural America” project, supported by Microsoft and LinkedIn, ESU partnered with Emporia Main Street and the Emporia Public Library to design and implement a scalable and sustainable framework for AI education delivery. What transpired from this partnership was the development of a flexible “template app” that supports the delivery of repeatable workshops across diverse audiences. Grounded in a train-the-trainer framework and a growing community of practice, the model enables facilitators to maintain consistency while adapting content to local needs. The resulting model offers implications for broader adoption, contributing to workforce readiness and regional economic development in increasingly AI-integrated landscapes. This presentation shares both the process and the outcomes of this first year, highlighting lessons learned at the intersection of community engagement and the push for equitable AI understanding, usage, and exploration.