SIDLIT 2026

This workshop provides an overview of Extended Reality (XR) and teaches the audience how to create a VR learning environment for educational purposes. The presentation includes two parts: 


Part 1: The Concept of XR (10 mins)
Dr. He will clarify the technical distinctions between XR, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), and these modalities' relationship to the physical world and the typical scenarios to apply these different "R"s. 


Part 2: The Skills of Creating VR (80 mins)
Dr. He will demonstrate and guide the audience through a hands-on process to learn how to create a VR learning environment using a free, web-based platform called FrameVR. A laptop is required for this workshop. The audience will learn how to register a FrameVR account, how to customize their avatars, how to navigate FrameVR, how to create and edit objects, and how to make the objects interactive. The audience will create a VR learning environment during the remaining time. 

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.

This session explores how NotebookLM can transform both studying and content delivery in higher education. Participants will see a demonstration of how NotebookLM can be used to create and manage Open Educational Resources (OER). The session will also highlight its value as a student learning tool, including features such as interactive chat, AI-generated podcasts, quizzes, slides, flashcards, infographics, study guides, and mind maps. Because NotebookLM is grounded in user-provided materials, it offers a reliable and focused AI experience for both instructors and students.

Moving a college toward AI literacy is rarely a linear process; it requires a multi-pronged approach addressing institutional philosophy, framework, and reality. In this session, we share a model for institutional alignment used at Garden City Community College (Kansas) to move AI integration from a point of fear to a proactive partnership between expertise and emerging technology. Our approach to institutional readiness relies on the following strategies:

• Faculty/Staff Training: Moving from AI awareness to pedagogical application.
• Student Training: Developing critical digital literacy and the foundations of ethical use.
• Community Engagement: Bridging the gap between institutional practice and the local community, from workforce development to personal enrichment.
• K-12 (Teacher) Integration: Building a cohesive regional pipeline through professional development for K-12 educators and student-facing initiatives, such as AI summer camps. 

Personalizing materials for students can make a big difference in the way students receive, interact and accept information (Binhammad, 2024). Using these personalized materials with your students can enhance learning and motivate students to learn (Tasleden & Bodemer, 2025) Creating materials that students can connect with is not only easy but also quick and useful. In this session you will learn how to use apps such as Google Gemini, Suno, Padlet and other AI tools to create materials for your classes. You will learn through a quick tutorial and practice by creating a sample for each app presented. The session will be interactive and personalized to your teaching needs. 

This session explores how instructors can use Microsoft Copilot to re/design course assignments and rubrics to better align with course- and program-level learning outcomes and increase student autonomy; we will also discuss using Copilot in creating and revising rubrics. Drawing on examples from undergraduate psychology courses, we will consider and practice how to use Copilot to create or revise SLO-driven assignments while maintaining flexibility and supporting student autonomy.
 
Participants will work through examples of assignment revision using Copilot and see how those changes shape the development of clearer, better aligned rubrics. By looking at concrete before-and-after examples, we will explore how small adjustments in assignment design (i.e., language, weight, adding examples and models) can improve student understanding of expectations and help make assessment more straightforward, which can also increase student performance.
 
This session focuses on practical uses of Copilot, and by the end, participants will have had the opportunity to redesign an assignment or rubric implemented in their own courses using Copilot. The focus is not on adding more work, but on using Copilot as support that helps instructors create assignments and rubrics that fit more strategically and intentionally within the course arc.

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.