Event Archive

Spring 2026

CTLA January 2026 Professional Development Day

• Google Gemini, Leah Hauge | Slides | Handout | Video

• Digital Accessibility, Nathan Berthelsen  | Slides | Video

• Google NotebookLM, Leah Hauge | Slides | Handout | Video

• BrightSpace Matters: Five practices that matter to students, Amy Nelson | Slides | Video

Fall 2025

Google AI Series, Tech Tuesdays

Google Gemini | Dec 9 | Video, Slides

NotebookLM | Dec 16 | Video, Slides | Upload audio to Brightspace, Add closed captions

"AI Ready" Series - hosted by the Council of Independent Colleges.

AI Pedagogy and AI in the Curriculum (October 2025) - Oct 2 (video), Oct 9 (video), Oct 16 (video) | (slides & handouts)

Retention and Student Success (November 2025) - Oct 30 video, Nov 6 video, Nov 13 video | (slides & handouts)

Tech Tools to Build Inclusive Course Resources, Tech Tuesdays

Grackle Docs  | Nov 18 | Video, Slides

Accessibility Checker in Brightspace | Nov 25 | Video, Slides 

Zoom AI Companion Series, Tech Tuesdays

Meeting Summaries | Oct 7 | Video, Slides

In-Meeting Questions | Oct 21 | Video, Slides

Smart Recordings | Nov 4 | Video, Slides

Turnitin (+Writing Center Response) 

Description | Recording | Resources: Academic integrity in the age of AI, Turnitin's AI writing detection capabilities FAQs

Fall 2025 - Saints Institute

Tuesday - Keynote

Keynote speaker, John O'Brien, AI Unleashed: Perils, Potential, and a Call to Lead the Way. (slides)

Wednesday - Professional Development Sessions

Time slots were 45 minutes. See the website for the schedule.

• Dawn Johnson, Troy Abfalter - Coaching for Growth and Development - (video, slides)

• Eric Nordgren - Laying the Groundwork for Effective, Relevant, Professional, CE Programs - (video, slides)

• Sr Kathleen Del Monte, John Bauman - Building Community: An Experiential Endeavor - (slides)

• Kelly Eder - The Evolving Landscape of Title IX & How It Will Affect Students

• CSS Accessibility Services Team, Amy Nelson, Casey McGill - Inclusive by Design: Making Text and Media Work for Everyone - (video, slides-Casey, slides-Amy, webpage)

• Emily Woster - Creating Purposeful, Accessible Writing Assignments: Getting the Results You Want  - (video, slides, Verbs with a Purpose, Communicating Writing Tasks Effectively)

• Resonance Network - Stepping Into the Story: Collective Leaps, Shared Power, and What Comes Next

• Sister Lisa Maurer & Jan M. Barrett - What is Duluth Benedictine Ministries (DBM) and why does it matter to CSS?

• Jena Ogston, Amy Nelson - AI: Friend or Foe? - (video, slides)

• Emily Woster - Giving Efficient and Effective Feedback on Student Writing - (video, slides)

• Abbi San Soucie & Kara Thoemke - The Hiring Process at CSS 

• English Faculty - Alternative Perspectives on AI - (video, Spiral of Writing Priorities)

• Neil Witikko - Re-Engaging Students: Strategies to Boost Motivation, Accountability, and Interaction  - (video)

• Rick Revoir and CA Staff - Show me the money: How College Advancement can collaborate with you to support teaching and learning.

• Amy Bergstrom - NAGPRA: Where have we been? Where are we going?

Spring 2025

CTLA Half-Day Professional Development Workshop, May 13

AI Resilient Classroom Experiences and Assignments (Matt Ridenour, Amy Nelson, and Emily Woster) - In this session, we’ll explore the art of crafting assignments and classroom experiences that require more from students than a quick search or an AI-generated essay. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to enhance their teaching practices, encourage deeper engagement of students with course material, and push them to synthesize ideas in a way that AI can't readily replicate. Handout: AI Resilient Classroom Experiences and Assignments | recording

Don’t Be a Doc-zilla: Make Your Docs Friendly for All (Amy Nelson, Lori Luing, and Nate Berthelsen) - Your ideas are important, so make sure everyone can see, hear, and understand them! Join us to discover quick, impactful steps for creating cleaner, more inclusive documents that anyone can comprehend. From headings to alt text, we’ll cover simple tools that improve clarity and usability. Discover practical tips that make a big difference with minimal effort! Slides: Don't be Doc-zilla
Creating Accessible Documents, 2022, 11m | Using Grackle to check Docs, 2024, 7m)

AI Popcorn Session, Feb 6 

Watch or listen to this informal meet-up recording (started about 15 minutes into the session) to learn what your peers are doing with AI. (42:02)

Teaching & Learning in an Age of AI, Jan. 7 

Hosted by CID: Amy Nelson & Jane Sims. Includes BONGO Video Assignments for oral assessments with Melanie Talaga and Madonna LeBlanc. (Workshop slides | BONGO How-To Slides)  

Fall 2024 - Saints Institute

Professional Development Session on AI (8/29)

AI Apps, Workplace Productivity and Play - Slides and Recording. BONGO Video Assignments for oral assessments in Brightspace (Slides) | Session Poll results

Spring 2024

Assessments in the Age of AI

Hosted by Amy Nelson, Jane Sims, and Matt Ridenour. Slides. Recording. (95 minutes). Speakers and segment start times: 

• Ashley Comstock, revision of writing assignments and new debate assignment (12:57 )

• Jena Ogsten, tDPT program modifications to written assignments, discussion  posts, exam questions (27:26 )

• Beth LaVigne, edTPA writing practice with Enlighten AI feedback (42:53) 

• Thomas Motl, clinical role-playing video assignments with self-reflection (55:27) 

• Kim Knab, Bongo demo of Video Assignments (with AI), and Q&A oral exam. (1:07:40). * 

• Amy Nelson, resources, free course (1:30:48)

• Meg McBride, video notes (Nikki Schutte)  (1:32:11)

* More at Video Assignments for Authentic Assessments (and a workaround for cheating), August 2023. Recording; Slides (Bongo) and Slides (CSS).  Amy Nelson, Dayna Armstrong (BONGO)

Brightspace Teaching Practices Support Student Retention

Slides. Recording (54:25). Amy Nelson, Helen Boursier, Jane Sims, Meg McBride. March 5, 2024.

Explore how using Brightspace can help you boost student retention and drive engagement. We'll review supporting learners with accessible content, immediate quiz feedback, and multi-modal peer interactions. You and your students can track course status and communicate in engaging ways. Whether you teach online, face-to-face, or hybrid, these techniques and tools will help students actively progress toward learning goals. 

Video Recording Considerations & Options 

Slides | Recording (1:22:25 - speed it up). Amy Nelson, Jane Sims, Meg McBride. January 9, 2024.
Whether you use Zoom, Loom, Brightspace Video Notes, Google, YouTube, your phone or something else, plan to attend this workshop to learn more about your options. Sharing is encouraged. We’ll explore different options for:
* Recording videos
* Transcribing videos--and the importance of captions
* Storing videos for easy access
* Phone recordings
* Retaining access to a video when someone leaves CSS

FALL 2023 - Saints Institute

For Recordings, Slides, and resources of the Academic Tech Institute (Tuesday, Aug 29) and Center for Teaching & Learning (Wednesday, Aug 30) sessions, follow this link to the Saints Institute Professional Development Sessions

AI Popcorn (10/26). Conversation about AI tools and CSS experiences. List of Resources. 

Spring 2023

Draft Coach and other Free Format Applications

CID, 4/26/23, Recording (58m), Slides, Instructions for students
Draft Coach from Turnitin is a new Google Add-On that offers formative feedback while writing papers. Draft Coach looks at similarities to other text, citations, and grammar. In addition to identifying potential issues, it offers suggestions for correction. Draft Coach is non-intrusive, and students launch it while in a Google Doc. Learn how to share Draft Coach with your students to reduce "noise" in students' submissions. Includes ReciteWorks and Grammarly.

Video Assignments (Bongo)

CID, 4/19/23, Short Recording (19m), Zoom Recording (55m), Slides

This video-based training and assessment option embedded in Brightspace allows students to complete video-based formative or summative assessments and receive AI-generated feedback, peer feedback, and or instructor feedback. Auto-Analysis of speech and content for auto-grading is built-in.

Editing Your Writing Assessments

CID, 1/11/23  (Recording, 2 hrs) (Slides and Resources)
* Melissa Goodson, CLO Writing Rubrics & CSS Statistics
* Stephanie Johnson,  Sequencing Writing Assignments &  Giving Feedback 
* Amy Nelson,  Apps that support the writing process