Distance Education Symposium

Presented by:

• Lauren Montagnino

A strong sense of community is one of the most powerful predictors of online student persistence and success. Yet many distance learners report feeling disconnected from peers, faculty, and the institution. This session explores equity-focused strategies for intentionally designing courses that build belonging, with an emphasis on practices rather than specific tools.

Participants will learn community-building approaches grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and inclusive pedagogy, such as:

• Setting a welcoming course tone through personalized instructor presence,
• Fostering peer-to-peer connection with structured introductions and group norms,
• Embedding reflection and “low-stakes” sharing opportunities across the term,
• Designing discussion prompts that value diverse perspectives, and

Using BB Ultra features (announcements, discussion boards, journals, video feedback) to maintain ongoing instructor and student presence. Attendees will leave with a menu of strategies they can adapt to their own courses, regardless of discipline. By prioritizing belonging, faculty can reduce attrition, enhance equity, and create more human-centered online learning experiences.

Presented by:

• Sandy Kendell

This presentation offers a focused dive into Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principle II: Providing Multiple Means of Representation. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in an activity to transform traditional course content into more accessible, comprehensible, and equitable formats. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain the rationale for offering information in varied formats and connect UDL Representation to ADA standards;
• Apply a digital tool to convert a text-based resource into alternative formats;
• Reduce barriers to student comprehension of the language of their discipline; and
• Identify ways to activate or supply crucial background knowledge for students.

Presented by:

• Matthew Mandell
• Kay Treon
• Paul Price
• Elida Guardia Bonet

Belonging is an essential component of student success, however, it is often difficult to create a sense of belonging, especially for non-traditional students in an online environment. Non-traditional distance learning ACC students face unique challenges and often feel isolated due to inconsistent community building practices.

The Online Learning Empowerment and the Non-Traditional Student Support subteams of the Belonging & Engagement in the Classroom design teams will share findings from a series of focus groups we conducted to highlight how non-traditional distance learning students experience belonging. Paired with the lessons learned from benchmarking and prototype testing sessions, participants will learn some best practices for engaging these students in an online environment and create a culture of belonging.

Presented by:

• Martha Dorow
• Marie Trzeciak

Online courses continue to be the most popular choice for ACC students, but success in synchronous and asynchronous classes requires students to have strong executive functioning (EF) and solid digital literacy. Yet many students seem to struggle with skills necessary for confident navigation of the virtual classroom.

How do we support development of these essential skills for student success while continuing to meet course objectives? Join us to discuss strategies for building student comfort and confidence in online environments, embedding opportunities to practice EF skills, and connecting students with additional ACC resources.

Presented by:

• David Zuñiga
• Carrington Quesada
• Wynter Taylor

The ACC Highland Welcome Center is a successful, high-impact strategy outside the classroom, designed to connect the community to opportunities for upward mobility. It aims to be the premiere location for community members to find their pathway to success through a welcoming and informational environment geared to enroll, engage, and educate.

The center’s core functions actively support student success by:

• CONNECTing guests with the best opportunities to achieve their goals.
• DISCOVERing opportunities for upward mobility and showcasing student support.
• START STRONG by providing next-step navigation and one-on-one support.
• BELONGing by creating welcoming experiences that connect guests to the Riverbat community.

Services include assistance with program options (credit & none-credit) applications for ALL programs, registration, securing payment, FREE Tuition information, and connecting students to support resources like Student Accessibility Services/Student Advocacy, Tutoring.

Basic Needs resources and so much more The positive impact is reflected in the high customer satisfaction(4.7 stars out of 5), and 86.12% of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing that staff listened and understood their goals. Plus, our Fall-to-Fall retention rate is higher than that of the College.

Presented by:

• Tim Self

This session will introduce a unique prompt designing technique called Generative AI Self-Conversations (GAISC), where a user (faculty member and/or student) can instruct a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT to have engaging and dynamic conversations with itself on any topic of the user’s choosing. Essentially, drawing upon the vast repository of humanity’s collective knowledge within its training data, multiple personas may speak with each other about a tapestry of human ideas, experiences, and knowledge spanning cultures, languages, and fields of expertise.

The GAISC process begins when a user directs ChatGPT to take on various roles (personas & perspectives), contexts, tones, and topics of the user’s choosing in order to brainstorm, solve complex problems, spark new ideas, challenge assumptions, and generate fresh perspectives, which may also surface new ideas and insights that might otherwise have remained hidden.

Participants will gain a foundational understanding of the GAISC technique, including its educational value, benefits, and practical applications. They will also learn how to design an effective GAISC prompt. And using ChatGPT for a live demonstration, participants will discuss, analyze, and reflect on the generated GAISC conversation, summary elements, use-case scenario, and explore prompt iteration strategies, all to expand instructional possibilities.

Presented by:

• Dr. Gaye Lynn Scott , VC of Instruction

Presented by:

• Maze

What happens when English class takes place in a sausage factory, a private language school, or a virtual world? In each of these very different contexts, I discovered that radical accessibility begins with building authentic learning communities.

In East Austin, I taught ESOL on the floor of a sausage factory, where we co-created community values, used peer-teaching between higher- and lower-level students, and shaped lessons around the most immediate needs of workers. At a private adult school, I used simple but powerful routines—learning every student’s name, setting daily personal goals, reflecting on progress, and holding one-on-one “glows and goals” conferences—to make learning personalized and student-centered. In a fully virtual Second Life “English City,” students from around the world logged in as avatars to role-play, collaborate, and practice English in an immersive environment.

Across all three settings, the principles remain the same: flexibility, shared ownership of learning, peer support, and a commitment to accessibility through immediate, actionable tasks. This session will share lessons learned about how community-based learning can create inclusive, equitable classrooms—and how these practices translate to online and hybrid environments where belonging and access are essential.

Presented by:

• Alex Watkins

How can we proactively design courses that welcome every student from the start? This session moves beyond reactive accommodations to introduce Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework for creating flexible, accessible, and engaging learning environments for all. As the strand lead for the Faculty Growth Series on UDL , I will guide participants through the core principles of UDL as defined by CAST: Multiple Means of Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. Rather than a theoretical overview, this will be a hands-on workshop.

You will leave with a toolkit of practical, low-effort strategies—from diversifying assignment formats to offering choice in how students engage with content—that you can implement immediately. Let’s work together to fire up your teaching and make a real impact on student success and belonging.

Presented by:

• April Adams

New research on parenting students in Texas demonstrates the importance of online and distance education options for students who are parents of dependent children. This presentation will share results of recent research, and provide participants with insights about the parenting students we serve.

Presented by:

• Jennifer Gray
• Kathleen Serra
• Sophia Chow

The Workforce Learning Experience Design (WLX) team at Austin Community College (ACC) has partnered with Merit America and the AFF Foundation to transform the Advanced Manufacturing Production (AMP) training program into a scalable model that expands access for low-wage workers nationwide. Originally limited to about 14 students per cohort in an online synchronous hybrid format, the AMP program was redesigned into an asynchronous hybrid model that doubled enrollment capacity while maintaining rigor, hands-on learning, and robust learner support.

This redesign integrates in-person technical training with flexible online coursework, professional skills coaching, and wrap-around services funded through national partners. By leveraging Open Educational Resources (OER) to reduce costs and adopting inclusive, learner-centered design, the WLX team aligned technical training with equity-focused strategies that support economic mobility. Early outcomes show significant wage gains for learners, including alumni reporting an average annual increase of $24,000 after program completion.

This session will share how ACC and its partners are reimagining workforce training by combining innovative design with inclusive practices, offering a roadmap for institutions seeking to expand access, reduce barriers, and drive student success.

Presented by:

• Ella Miesner

Development of subject matter interest is an important motivator for long term student learning. In this presentation I will share research based strategies for developing student interest via the pathway of social relatedness and connection within the classroom. Information shared will focus specifically on developing interest and relatedness in the online learning classroom and address challenges specific to that venue.

Presented by:

• Herb Coleman
• Marian Moore

This showcase will be a representation of some the learning object and administrative tools created by ACC Faculty Participating the AI in Practice Advanced Applications Learning Community. This was a 6-week learning journney where faculty were introduced to and had hands on practice with various AI tools from prompting, to multimedia, to AI agents.

Faculty created tools to help student learn and to help them withe administrative practices invovled in teaching. The result is this sharing out and there will be time for Q&A.

Presented by:

• Lauren Montagnino

NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered research and learning tool, has the potential to transform online courses into spaces where students not only consume content but co-create knowledge. This session demonstrates how NotebookLM can be used to build both individual understanding and collective community in distance education.

By allowing students to upload readings, notes, and resources into a shared workspace, NotebookLM encourages learners to summarize texts, ask questions, and collaboratively create class knowledge bases. When used through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens, the tool supports equity for multilingual students, neurodiverse learners, and others who benefit from varied means of engagement and expression.

Participants will explore practical strategies for integrating NotebookLM into online courses, such as:

• Collaborative reading groups,
• AI-assisted peer study guides,
• Equitable support for diverse learners, and ethical use guidelines.

Presented by:

• Shih-Ting Lee

As faculty strive to design courses that meet Quality Matters (QM) standards while maintaining accessibility and engagement, AI tools available at ACC can serve as valuable allies—helping us save time, improve clarity, and enhance student learning. This session explores practical, AI tools that support instructors in developing accessible, high-quality course materials aligned with QM principles.

Participants will see demonstrations of how AI can:

• Generate alternative and supplemental instructional materials that enhance student understanding and support diverse learners.
• Assist in creating clear and aligned rubrics that promote transparency and consistency in assessment.
• Help faculty draft or revise course content, discussions, and feedback efficiently without compromising academic integrity or accessibility standards.
• The session will include live demonstrations using AI tools available at ACC, examples of course design applications, and best practices for ethical, effective AI integration in online teaching.

Learning Outcomes:

• By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
• Identify ways AI can support QM-aligned course design and accessibility.
• Apply AI tools to develop alternative materials and rubrics that enhance course quality.
• Evaluate the ethical and practical considerations of using AI in online teaching.

Target Audience:

Faculty, instructional designers, and administrators interested in leveraging AI to improve course design efficiency, quality, and accessibility within Blackboard Ultra and other ACC-supported platforms.

Presented by:

• Angela Niedermyer

In performance-based courses such as Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication, one of the most persistent access barriers for online students is simply getting the speech to the professor. From bandwidth limitations to anxiety about recording environments, many capable students lose points—or confidence—before they even hit “record.”

This session explores inclusive recording workflows that make it easier for every student to share presentations, projects, and demonstrations. Participants will see low-bandwidth, browser-based, and mobile-ready tools—including Panopto, Clipchamp, Canvas Studio, Zoom, and Loom—and learn how AI-driven captioning, noise reduction, and auto-framing can enhance accessibility and engagement.

Drawing on redesigned Communication Studies courses at ACC, Dr. Niedermyer will share data showing how simplified submission processes and embedded tools improve persistence and performance. Attendees will leave with a “recording-ready” checklist and practical strategies for building equitable, low-stress video assignments in Blackboard Ultra.

Presented by:

• Jared Chumsae

Is it enough to differentiate instruction or course content if our assessment methods aren’t also differentiated? Last year, I began incorporating student choice strategies into my courses and have seen measurable success. I allow students to choose to take traditional quizzes / exams OR submit research projects. This gives students options in how they choose to demonstrate their learning. Student engagement, success rates, and overall satisfaction rates are all up in my courses.

Presented by:

• Jon-Mikel Pearson

Designing engaging courses in Blackboard can feel overwhelming, especially for faculty who are not professional coders or who are new to ACC or an LMS. Too often, course materials become static PowerPoints or walls of black text on white backgrounds, leaving students unmotivated and disconnected. This showcase introduces the concept of vibe-coding—using AI to co-create interactive and visually engaging HTML elements that transform Blackboard into a dynamic learning space.

With vibe-coding, instructors can quickly generate colorful layouts, visual cues, interactive study aids, and even multimedia components tailored to different learning styles. For example, an AI-generated HTML page might embed images or design elements that help visual learners, while an AI-powered audio podcast supports auditory learners. The goal is not technical perfection but creative enhancement.

Faculty will see how AI can “cheat” the heavy lifting of curriculum design, allowing more time for meaningful student engagement. Sample course pages will demonstrate how AI-generated tutors, discussion prompts, and interactive assignments help students connect, collaborate, and build essential soft skills. No advanced coding is required—basic familiarity with HTML and CSS is helpful but not mandatory.

This session empowers educators to use AI creatively, making Blackboard more than just a course shell—it becomes an engaging, student-centered environment.

Presented by

• Trent Griggs

We will briefly introduce accessibility, the new ADA Title II regulations and Usability before delving into the tools ACC has at its disposal to resolve accessibility issues and how to use them. This presentation will cover remediating educational material to be accessible using Microsoft 365, Grackle, Adobe, Panopto, Blackboard Ally, and AI tools.

Panelists:

• Dr. Elizabeth Knight, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs
• Marica Kelley, Regional Director of Access & Disability Support
• Michelle Escudier, Instructional Designer, Office of Distance and Alternative Education

Presented by

• Stephanie Long

Access ACC’s new IT-approved and licensed Generative AI tools (Gemini and NotebookLM), understand and compare their functionalities, and ultimately improve your productivity in common tasks. Learn how to log in with ACC credentials and navigate the interfaces of both platforms.
For Gemini, practice prompt writing, uploading files, managing chats, and more. A key part of the session will involve a hands-on introduction to effective prompting using the CAPS framework (Context, Audience, Purpose, Speaker).

For NotebookLM, learn to create new notebooks and upload sources from various origins, then dive into NotebookLM’s “Studio” tools, such as audio overviews (podcasts with interactive Q&A capability), mind maps, and more. A critical takeaway will be understanding how to ask questions about your uploaded sources and receive cited responses, allowing you to verify information directly from your materials.

This session aims to equip anyone at ACC with the knowledge and skills to effectively leverage these Generative AI tools for academic and professional needs. The learning objectives are: List the ways to access ACC’s new IT-approved and licensed Generative AI tools. Compare the functionality of both tools. Use Generative AI to improve productivity in common tasks.

Presented by:

• Praise Chikezie

This talk explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming education by enhancing learning outcomes through smart, adaptive tools. As classrooms become increasingly digital, AI offers powerful opportunities to personalize learning experiences, support diverse student needs, and improve academic performance.

The session will highlight how AI tools can help identify learning gaps, adapt content in real-time, and provide immediate feedback to both learners and educators.

Real world examples will be shared to illustrate the practical use of AI in education using tools like: ChatGPT, Microsoft copilot, NotebookLM and NousWise to assistive tools for students with disabilities. The talk will also address challenges, including data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the digital divide.

Finally, this presentation aims to show how thoughtfully integrated AI tools can not only boost learning outcomes but also promote more equitable, inclusive, and effective education systems for the future.

Presented by:

• Dr. Lindsay Carlson, RPh, PharmD

The capstone course in the Pharmacy Technician program helps prep students to take and pass the national pharmacy technician certification exam (PTCB exam). As part of the course, students take multiple mock-certification exams that follow the same format and content breakdown as the actual certification exam.

I partnered with IT to implement a post-exam score analysis of tagged questions (based on known PTCB exam content domains) for each exam from BlackBoard, which I then email to the students as part of their feedback. Basically, it is a way to narrow the VERY large quantity of information down to specific topics they did poorly on, giving them identifiable areas that they should focus their review sessions on before the next mock exam. The intention of the exam result analysis is to improve student exam outcomes over the course of the semester and make the actual exam results more useful for student as they prepare to take the real certification exam.

Presentation includes:

• Overview of why I implemented this, how it helps students, and a walkthrough of what it actually looks like in my course
• Step-by-step directions for how to create a similar analysis program in other courses
• Q&A