Distance Education & Instructional Technology Committee (DEITC) Newsletter January 2024

Quality Matters released the 7th Edition Rubric back in July 2022. Currently, we have 119 faculty that successfully completed the 7th Edition Rubric update course and 70 out of 193 faculty are still pending. Please note that all returning faculty teaching online who are pending QM trainings will be required to complete the QM Rubric update along with TOL, DYOC or APPQMR workshops. However, any faculty teaching online with previous QM Workshop training completed will only be required to complete the QM Rubric update Reinstatement Course.

New DEITC member

Dr. Haylee Kazen proposed adding a DEITC Committee member to represent the Department of Student Engagement. The DEITC Committee members voted unanimously. The committee will contact the department to see who they would like to appoint.

Transition to Ultra Courses Update

Preparations to transition to Ultra continue! Ultra Base Navigation soft launch pilot program started on January 13th and full deployment launches Summer &Fall 2024. There are currently 2,636 students enrolled in Ultra courses in 161 courses sections and 72 faculty participating in the soft launch pilot program. Additionally, eLearning will be offering 15-20 min in class Ultra student orientations. Any faculty interested in having our eLearning team conduct a brief orientation in their class can contact our office to set up an appointment. This video shows you how you can view a preview of Ultra on your actual course(s) and details on keeping it in that view or back to Original for Spring 2024: Blackboard Ultra: Instructor Choice Spring 2024 Video.

The course messaging feature in Blackboard Ultra allows faculty to customize the control of messaging by students in the course by faculty.

Blackboard Ultra also offers AI Design Assistant tools. Some of the AI features available in Ultra are AI generated question banks, generated prompt discussion, and rubric generation. eLearning will be offering Ultra AI Assistant tools training soon. Also, Blackboard Ultra Trainings continue to be offered by our eLearning team. Register for a session at the OIT trainings website https://trainings.tamiu.edu

THECB New Distance Education Definition

Exciting news! THECB approved some new rules regarding online learning which became effective on December 1, 2023. A new definition of 100-Percent Online Course is provided below:

Turnitin Updates

The Turnitin AI detector tool is no longer available to the university. The tool was being offered on a trial basis which ended December 31, 2023. The AI Detection Tool is an add-on cost to our current license. More information will be provided in our next meeting.

Open Education Resources Updates (OER)

Dr. Joan Wakasa Murumba shared some exciting news, four faculty members have applied to the OER Grant. She encourages other faculty who are interested in taking advantage of the use of OER Materials available to university to apply by contacting library services.

Registrar's Office Annoucements

• Reminder that certification of rosters is due
• Flex 13 starts February 1, 2024

New Member to the eLearning Team

eLearning Team introduced their new Instructional Materials Coordinator, Andres Rivas-Martinez, who will be assisting the team with marketing, multimedia, graphic design projects, and social media posts. In addition, Andres will be working with faculty interested in integrating more multimedia into their courses.

Next Meeting

The next DEITC meeting will be held on February 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. in KL420.

Past DEITC Newsletters

You may view past DEITC newsletters here.