WT Faculty/Staff Collaboration Presented at Blackboard World

Copy by Dr. Kristina Drumheller, 806-651-2816, kdrumheller@wtamu.edu 

CANYON, Texas — Dr. Kristina Drumheller and instructional design staff Chris McGilvery and Caitlin Lamberson presented on the recent collaboration between Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts & Humanities College (FAH) and the instructional design team at the global virtual Blackboard’s BbWorld conference held July 21-22.

More than 14,000 educators around the globe attended BbWorld, Blackboard’s premier EdTech conference. This year’s theme was “Moving Educational Technology Forward” and hosted over 120 virtual sessions. The WTAMU presenters shared best practices from a recent collaborative approach to instructional design to further enhance our goals and efforts for quality online courses and programs.

Having this collaborative model in place was very helpful when COVID-19 drove classes online in the spring, Drumheller said.

“We had one week to prepare to go online,” Drumheller said. “We were able to show instructors really quickly how to make the move without overloading our IT team. We were even able to work with some faculty members outside of our college.

“It made a huge difference in the confidence level to be able to take the next step.”

Drumheller took on the role of providing online support for FAH faculty last Fall at the request of FAH dean Jessica Mallard. Drumheller enlisted the help of the instructional design team to provide open discussions and workshops for improving online instruction. This collaboration helped faculty identify what they needed while learning about the support and resources available to them.

“This collaboration was designed to be faculty driven and we were excited for the opportunity to present this model to a global academic community,” Drumheller said. “If someone sees me in the hall, they might think to ask a question about their course, but not immediately think to call Chris or Caitlin so this has been helpful making important connections.”

Instructional designer McGilvery and multimedia production specialist Lamberson attended FAH sessions to answer questions and put a face to the design team. Faculty were able to meet and connect to design staff in ways they maybe had not before. The presentation explained that this is a model other universities could adopt and adapt.

“The unique approach with FAH and the instructional design team allowed faculty to deepen their understanding of new methods, tools, and ideas to support their own goals for online teaching and learning,” McGilvery said.

The presentation discussed the importance of faculty and instructional designers working together to create quality online courses that promote student engagement, interaction, and community.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. With enrollment of more than 10,000, WT offers 60 undergraduate degree programs, 38 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 15 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

About Blackboard

Blackboard is the largest education technology and services company in the world, serving nearly 100 million users in countries in every region around the globe. WT adopted the learning management system in 2015 for online classes and other course-related content.

—WTAMU—