SIDLIT 2026

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.

The rapid growth of technology is a catalyst for changes in pedagogies. Traditionally, instructors create sequential, linear learning modules.  However, what are the important considerations when incorporating innovative technologies? 

               The driving factor for using any emerging technology should be supporting learning objectives, not showcasing exciting, novel functions.  The SAMR model (substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition) proposed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura provides a useful framework for adapting any technology.  When instructors first begin incorporating technologies into courses, they often focus on substitution and augmentation. For example, converting materials to a digital file (substitution) or creating a fun Kahoot game (augmentation).  The primary goal of the substitution and augmentation stages is to use technology to enhance learning.  The last two stages, modification and redefinition levels, aim to incorporate technology to transform learning.

                     Alan Carrington’s Padagogy Wheel (Pedagogy Wheel for apps, so it is spelled as “Padagogy Wheel”) is another useful framework to incorporate technologies to support learning, which incorporates Bloom’s taxonomy, SAMR model, and popularly used tools. The traditional learning design is usually linear and step-by-step. Some simulation and virtual reality settings allow learners to explore several avenues from multiple entry points. Therefore, the modules are now interconnected and require redesign.  Focusing on learner experience (UX), which includes focusing on meaningful, engaging, and inclusive class experiences, is another key consideration.
                     In addition to aligning with course learning objectives, utilizing theoretical frameworks such as SAMR and the Padagogy wheel, prioritizing learner experience, and adjusting pedagogy to the type of technology, it is also important to maintain accessibility compliance.

                     Every class is different, and each instructor is unique. Participants will draft their own personalized technology integration and collaborate by sharing ideas and resources.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) avatars—digital representations of human instructors driven by synthesized speech, natural language processing, and advanced kinematic video generation—represent a structural shift in how asynchronous educational content is designed, delivered, and consumed. This session will provide introductory material for the design, implementation and sources for generating these technologies in higher ed.

An OER faculty stipend grant program was created in 2024 at a community college. This presentation provides an overview of the stipend program, how librarians marketed, engaged with stakeholders, and shared efforts implemented across campus to introduce faculty to the benefits of using OERs within the classroom. The current status of accepted faculty OER projects, challenges experienced in the creation of this campus initiative, and planned future improvements will be addressed.

SIGs are a networking opportunity to allow professionals to collaborate on relevant topics. These are held over the lunch hour. Hosts prepare questions and facilitate a discussion on the topic of their choice.

As generative AI becomes easier for students and educators to access, many institutions are responding with policies, permissions, restrictions, and detection tools. While these conversations matter, they often miss a central instructional design question: What learning is the assignment supposed to protect?
This session reframes AI guardrails as a learning design issue rather than a compliance checklist. Participants will examine how AI can support learning without replacing the thinking, decision-making, practice, and evidence students are meant to develop. Using practical examples from classroom and online learning contexts, the session will introduce a guardrails audit that helps educators identify which parts of a task may be AI-supported, which parts must remain student-owned, and what evidence can make student thinking visible.
Attendees will consider how guardrails can support academic integrity, accessibility, student agency, and meaningful engagement without relying only on surveillance or tool bans. The session is designed for educators, instructional designers, faculty/staff support professionals, and technology leaders who are helping others make responsible decisions about AI use in learning environments.
Participants will leave with adaptable questions they can use to review assignments, discussions, projects, and assessments at their own institutions or organizations.

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.