**ONLINE** Navigating the Nontraditional: Strategies for Supporting Today’s College Students Online Summit
Monday, November 2, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
This free online Summit brings together higher education professionals to share innovative strategies, practical tools, and collaborative approaches that support the success, persistence, and belonging of nontraditional students. Throughout the day, you’ll hear from students, educators, and higher education professionals as we examine the many ways institutions can better support students whose paths to and through college may look different from the traditional model. From student voices and transition support to belonging, re-enrollment, communication, assessment, and institutional practices, the symposium is designed to encourage meaningful conversation and practical ideas that can be taken back to campuses and communities. This session is hosted by Eastern Illinois University. Register Now!
**NEW - ONLINE** NIU Yellowdig Fall Workshop: Dig Into Yellowdig
Tuesday, November 3, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
When students are part of a community, their education becomes so much more than classes, textbooks, projects and grades. NIU has Yellowdig, which sparks real interactions that result in real communities.
What You’ll Learn:
-
Getting Started with Confidence: A beginner-friendly introduction to Yellowdig, how it works, and step-by-step guidance on launching your first community.
-
Driving Deeper Engagement: Practical, proven strategies to move beyond the basics and keep student conversations active, meaningful, and self-sustaining.
-
Data-Informed Teaching: Advanced techniques for leveraging Yellowdig analytics to gain insights into student participation and refine your instructional approach.
-
What’s New in Yellowdig: An inside look at the latest features designed to enhance both the instructor and student experience.
Join us to discover the benefits of social cognition and how to incorporate Yellowdig into your courses. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Improving Accessibility in Microsoft Word
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Ensure every student can fully engage with your course materials. In this hands-on workshop, you'll explore practical strategies for making Word documents accessible to all learners, including those who use screen readers. By the end of the session, you'll be able to use Word’s built-in Accessibility Checker effectively and apply best practices for formatting and designing documents. Join us to enhance your document design skills and create a more inclusive learning environment for everyone. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Pedagogies of Care… for Whom? Myths and Misunderstandings about Teaching and Instructor Well-Being
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 from 3:10 PM to 3:40 PM
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, the advent of generative AI, threats to higher education from politicians, changing demographics, and the perceived value of higher education, faculty are depleted and demoralized. These challenges are even more impactful for diverse and contingent faculty required to contribute additional, inequitable labor. Some campuses have provided help by offering programming targeting faculty and staff well-being – but much of this can actually hurt more than it helps. In their webinar, Chavella Pittman, Professor of Sociology at Dominican University, USA, and Sarah Rose Cavanagh Associate Professor of Practice in Psychology, and Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning at Simmons University, USA, will share thoughts on what many campuses get wrong about the intersection of teaching and well-being (e.g., mental and physical health, workload overload and overwhelm). They will then open the floor to a vibrant conversation with the audience about a path forward that truly values the well-being of both teachers and learners. This webinar will be recorded. If you're unable to attend the live session, please register anyway to ensure you receive access to the recording afterward. This session is offered by OneHE. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Faculty Panel: What Makes Courses Feel Like Community?
Thursday, November 5, 2026 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Most faculty can tell you exactly which course felt like a community. The students talked to each other, not just to the instructor. People came back after a hard week. Teaching felt less like broadcasting and more like being part of something.
It's harder to describe how that happened, and harder still to make it happen on purpose. AI tools now sit inside how students write, research, and respond, which raises a real question: what keeps a course human when so much of the work can be generated?
Community is often discussed in terms of humanities seminars. Dr. Ronald Guymon, Senior Lecturer of Accountancy at Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, teaches Python and accounting analytics. In technical courses, AI can now write code and run analyses in seconds.In this workshop, Ron will share what that means for the way students learn from each other and what keeps a technical course feeling like a group of people learning together.
Ron is joined by two other experts for this panel: Dr. Jean E. Starobin, Online Undergraduate Portfolio Senior Associate Manager at Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Valerie Akbulut, Faculty Success Manager at Bryan University.
In this live panel, faculty will talk candidly about the trust, presence, and shared experiences that keep students engaged. They'll share what has worked, what hasn't, and why community still shapes persistence, participation, and their own satisfaction with teaching. Topics will include:
-
How faculty build trust and presence in online, hybrid, and in-person courses
-
Where AI makes connections harder, and where it can make room for it
-
What community changes for persistence, participation, and faculty satisfaction
-
Ideas instructional designers and leaders can use to support faculty doing this work
Workshop is hosted by Yellowdig. Register Now!
**ONLINE** LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests
Thursday, November 5, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 12:45 PM
This comprehensive training webinar is intended for faculty who are interested in using LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor to promote academic integrity for their online exams. The training will cover LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor, the student experience with each application, efficient assessment data review, and best practices for successful implementation. Can't attend? Register anyway and they'll send you the recording. Workshop is led by staff from Respondus. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Using Blackboard Ally to Support Accessibility in Your Course
Thursday, November 5, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Blackboard Ally is a powerful tool for providing your students with more accessible content. NIU is full of diverse students with unique learning abilities, and Ally allows students more choice in a format that works best for them. The best part is that this is done automatically. In this workshop, you will discover how Blackboard Ally generates alternative formats for students to download and gives instructors feedback on how to improve their courses accessibility. We will also discuss some other practical strategies for incorporating Universal Design for Learning principles in your course. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium
Friday, November 6, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Join colleagues from across the state of Illinois for the 2026 Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium! This free, one-day virtual conference brings together thought leaders and practitioners with expertise in online teaching and learning to discuss the latest trends in online learning--from pedagogy to technology. All who learn, teach, develop, support, or administer online education are welcome! Learn More and Register Now!
**ONLINE** Ethics, Equity, and Responsible AI Use in Community Engagement
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM
In this webinar, community engagement researchers will discuss their innovative approaches to responsibly integrating AI tools with their scholarship while maintaining rigorous ethical standards, transparency, and accountability to community partners. This session is led by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC). NIU is an ESC member institution. Register Now!
5th Annual NIU Fix Your Content Day
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Join colleagues across NIU for a campus-wide event dedicated to improving digital accessibility and preparing for the Title II WCAG 2.1 AA compliance standards.
From panel discussions to hands-on workshops, this day offers practical strategies to make your digital course content more inclusive—and every fix counts! Fix Your Content Day is part of the global Anthology Ally Accessibility Challenge, where institutions worldwide compete to make the most content fixes in a single day.
Whether you’re revising a syllabus, captioning a video, or reformatting a PDF, each improvement you make through Blackboard Ally contributes to NIU’s progress on the global leaderboard and demonstrates our collective commitment to accessibility.
Register once to participate in the day’s events—morning panel, workshops, or drop-in sessions—or simply join the challenge by making fixes using Ally on November 10. Every edit, large or small, brings us closer to an inclusive digital learning environment for all Huskies. Learn More and
Register Now!
**ONLINE** LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 12:45 PM
This comprehensive training webinar is intended for faculty who are interested in using LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor to promote academic integrity for their online exams. The training will cover LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor, the student experience with each application, efficient assessment data review, and best practices for successful implementation. Can't attend? Register anyway and they'll send you the recording. Workshop is led by staff from Respondus. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Creating Podcasts with Adobe’s AI Powered Tools
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Adobe Podcast is an online platform which simplifies podcast creation and editing using AI-powered tools. Allowing users to record, transcribe, edit, and enhance audio directly in their browser. This makes podcasting easier by offering features like speech enhancement, text-based editing, and collaboration tools. This workshop will cover how to engage faculty and students with their educational content by leveraging audio podcasts. As part of NIU’s Adobe License, NIU faculty, staff, and students now have access to the Adobe Podcast online tools. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Respondus Monitor: New Features, Fresh Ideas
Thursday, November 12, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM
See the latest enhancements for LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor, including second camera support, handheld device detection, and the use of MS Word and Excel during secure exams. You'll also discover innovative and cost-effective ways these tools are being used for in-class assessments, labs, pop-up testing centers, presentations, and remote proctoring. Can't attend? Register anyway and they'll send you the recording. Workshop is led by staff from Respondus. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Centering Demonstration of Essential Learning to Streamline Degree Paths: Competency-Based Education & Credit for Prior Learning
Thursday, November 12, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
As NIU and higher education in general adapt to the needs of current and future university students, competency-based approaches are increasingly being adopted. These approaches can enhance affordability and time-to-degree while focusing on attainment of the most important learning outcomes. High-quality assessment practices are central to the effective implementation of these practices, including granting credit-for-prior learning. Join us for a conversation about trends in the field and a panel of your colleagues implementing these practices at NIU. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Inclusive STEM Teaching: Insights from Student-Centered Pedagogy
Thursday, November 12, 2026 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Are you looking to create a more inclusive and empowering classroom environment? Join us for an interactive workshop exploring how feminist teaching approaches can help close the persistent gaps in STEM degree completion, particularly for women and students from underrepresented groups. You'll discover practical strategies to challenge traditional classroom dynamics and create spaces where all students can thrive. We'll explore ways to validate diverse perspectives and learning styles while building supportive learning communities. Whether you're new to these concepts or already incorporating inclusive practices, you'll walk away with concrete tools to promote more equitable outcomes in your teaching. Bring your experiences and questions! Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Creating an Equitable Classroom with Student Reflections
Friday, November 13, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
When used intentionally, reflections allow students to engage in critical thinking, develop metacognitive skills, communicate their needs, and deepen their understanding. Instructors can create a more equitable environment with the information that reflections provide. This equity can be achieved by valuing students' perspectives and addressing their needs through course content adjustments, assignment revisions, and personalized support. In this workshop, we will explore the benefits of reflective practices for both students and instructional faculty. We will also examine instances where reflection can be used as a tool to gather student feedback and provide support. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Reclaiming the Humanity of Teaching: A Virtual Conversation
Tuesday, November 17, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM
What parts of teaching should remain unmistakably human? Teaching has always been deeply human work, but that can be harder to sustain in a time of rapid change. AI is reshaping how students learn and create, while faculty and staff are also navigating stress, burnout, and disconnection. Through it all, students still need opportunities to be heard, build relationships, and feel part of a learning community.
Join educational developers Carter Moulton, Liz Norell, Derek Bruff, and Tolu Noah for a virtual conversation about what it means to center humanity in teaching. Through discussion, activities, reflection, and play, each presenter will explore a different aspect of human-centered education, including personal values, authentic voice, wellbeing, and connection. You’ll explore how your teaching values can guide everyday decisions, how to preserve authentic student voice in an AI-enabled classroom, and how small practices can support wellbeing, connection, and joy. You’ll also experience activities you can adapt for your own courses, including reflection prompts, values-based discussion, and simple strategies that help students feel more present and connected. Workshop offered by Magna Publications. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Facilitating Group Work Online
Tuesday, November 17, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Group work can be an excellent way to engage students in an online course. When effectively implemented, students working in groups or teams can foster critical thinking and dynamic interaction in an online environment. In this workshop, we will explore different types of group structures, identify the benefits and challenges of group work and discuss how to set up group online. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Teaching Digital Literacy with Adobe Express
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Explore Adobe Express, a versatile digital design tool now available to all NIU faculty, staff, and students. This all-in-one solution covers image generation, photo and video editing, web design, posters, presentations, animations, and more, enhanced by generative AI. With hundreds of templates to inspire creativity, Adobe Express addresses the need for accessible digital tools in education. In this hands-on workshop, participants will create a self-portrait for course use, learning to generate customized content. Discover how to easily supplement your instructional materials with suitable images. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Beyond the Prompt: Using Generative AI to Design Better Online Learning
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
AI in education has moved past the experimentation stage. Many educators have tried generative AI. The next step is using it with purpose to design online courses that engage students and support their learning.
In the next Strategies for Success webinar, Dr. Luke Hobson, Head of Instructional Design for MIT xPRO and Lecturer at the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development, shows how to put generative AI to work across the full course design process. He’ll walk through real-world examples of using AI to:
- Develop course content and learning activities more efficiently
- Strengthen the courses and programs you already have
- Create more engaging online learning experiences
- Build an intentional, effective approach to working with AI
Faculty, instructional designers, and academic leaders will leave with practical strategies they can apply right away. You don’t need to be an AI expert to join. Unable to attend live? Register to receive the recording. Workshop is hosted by Every Learner Everywhere. Register Now!
**ONLINE** LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM
This comprehensive training webinar is intended for faculty who are interested in using LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor to promote academic integrity for their online exams. The training will cover LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor, the student experience with each application, efficient assessment data review, and best practices for successful implementation. Can't attend? Register anyway and they'll send you the recording. Workshop is led by staff from Respondus. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Blackboard Interactive Rubrics
Thursday, November 19, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
The Interactive Rubric tool in Blackboard Ultra Course View makes it possible for rubrics with click-and-score simplicity to be built into the grading workflow, increasing efficiency while also supporting consistent and high quality feedback. During this workshop we'll explore the Interactive Rubrics tool in Blackboard Ultra Course View and sample interactive rubrics applied to various types of Blackboard assessments. We'll highlight the steps for creating an Interactive Rubric using percentages and applying it to an assignment for grading. We will also cover how to reuse a rubric within a Blackboard course or share with other faculty. Advance registration is required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Maximize Benefits of Diversity through Culturally Responsive Teaching in Your Classroom
Thursday, November 19, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
This workshop will provide faculty with practical strategies to maximize the benefits of diversity through a culturally responsive teaching framework developed by Geneva Gay. Participants will explore effective ways to create a welcoming environment that recognizes and utilizes their students' diverse cultural, linguistic, and learning backgrounds. The focus will be on culturally responsive practices that affirm students' cultures while promoting positive academic outcomes. Faculty members will leave this workshop with actionable steps to take advantage of diversity in their classrooms. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Using Positionality Statements to Embrace Classroom Diversity
Friday, November 20, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The diverse experiences, backgrounds, and identities that educators and learners bring to courses enrich discussions, writing, and critical thinking. While objectivity is often a goal in research and analysis, positionality—the way that we understand the world because of our identities and experiences—influences the way that we see the world and our place in it. Positionality statements give us a way to claim these influences, demonstrating that diverse identities bring important perspectives and recognizing the value of lived experience. In this workshop, we will discuss how to create and use positionality statements in our classes. Together, we'll explore how acknowledging identities and using positionality statements empower diverse learners. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** Blackboard Communication Tools
Monday, November 23, 2026 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Communication is a critical element of a successful course, and Blackboard Ultra Course View has a wealth of tools to facilitate building community, encouraging academic discussion, and fostering interaction with and between your students. In this session, you will be introduced to the asynchronous and synchronous tools available in the Blackboard Ultra Course View, including discussions, announcements, conversations, messages and web conferencing. Advance registration required.
Register Now!
**ONLINE** LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM
This comprehensive training webinar is intended for faculty who are interested in using LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor to promote academic integrity for their online exams. The training will cover LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor, the student experience with each application, efficient assessment data review, and best practices for successful implementation. Can't attend? Register anyway and they'll send you the recording. Workshop is led by staff from Respondus. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Success Strategies for Unpacking Your Community Engagement Work Into Multiple Scholarly Pieces
Friday, December 11, 2026 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Do you have a great service-learning, outreach teaching, community-engaged research, or Extension project and are unsure how to write it up for a peer-reviewed publication? Are you interested in branching out into interdisciplinary community engagement journals? Then this interactive webinar is for you.
Diane Doberneck will focus on what makes publishing community-engaged work different than publishing traditional scholarship, how to incorporate community partner voices, how to unpack a robust project into multiple scholarly pieces, and how to achieve article “fit” with specific journals. She will share additional ideas on how to disseminate your community-engaged scholarship at community engagement-friendly conferences. She will also review several practical writing tools and where to access more writing resources and support. Come away from this webinar with next steps for advancing your writing and publishing success. This session is led by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC). NIU is an ESC member institution. Register Now!
**ONLINE** Navigating Tensions Between Personal and Institutional Values and Goals in Community-Engaged Scholarship
Monday, January 25, 2027 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Community-engaged scholars often pursue their work with commitments to relationship building, responsiveness to community priorities, reciprocity, and meaningful community impact. At the same time, universities operate within systems that emphasize individual initiative, productivity, efficiency, and metrics that reflect institutional prestige. While these goals may occasionally align, they can also create tensions that require difficult choices and ongoing negotiation. This panel will explore the challenges that arise when personal values, community priorities, and institutional expectations do not fully align. Panelists will share their experiences balancing relationship-centered engagement with academic demands, navigating competing definitions of success, and making decisions when commitments to communities conflict with institutional pressures. Participants will gain insight into strategies for approaching these tensions thoughtfully while remaining grounded in their values and goals. This session is led by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC). NIU is an ESC member institution. Register Now!
