Outcomes

• Participants will learn about the Hunter SOE/DDPC Decision Making Curriculum, focused on equity and access for all.

• Participants will learn about a specific framework for making decisions called "GUTS and GO", which they can apply to their own lives. 

• Participants will get free access to the curriculum through nysdecisionmaking.org

Description

The Hunter College School of Education's Decision-Making Curriculum is a transformative program designed to empower students with disabilities to make informed, independent decisions with appropriate support. Grounded in the principles of Supported Decision-Making (SDM), this innovative curriculum equips educators, students, and families with tools to foster autonomy, self-determination, and active participation in everyday life.  

Developed with a focus on accessibility and inclusivity, the curriculum offers practical strategies for teaching decision-making skills across P-12 educational settings. It provides structured, scaffolded lessons that guide students in identifying choices, evaluating options, understanding consequences, and advocating for their preferences. Lessons are tailored to meet diverse needs, ensuring they are adaptable for various cognitive, developmental, and social-emotional abilities, and are translated into numerous languages. A unique feature of the curriculum is its integration of real-life scenarios and collaborative activities, encouraging students to practice decision-making in meaningful contexts. Educators are supported with professional development opportunities to effectively implement the curriculum, creating a culture of empowerment within classrooms.  

The Decision-Making Curriculum also prioritizes family engagement, emphasizing the importance of collaborative partnerships in fostering long-term independence. This approach not only promotes student growth but also strengthens relationships between schools and families.  Ultimately, the Hunter College SOE Decision-Making Curriculum serves as a model for promoting equity and human rights in education, ensuring that all students—regardless of ability—are prepared to navigate life with confidence and self-advocacy.

Outcomes

• Define equitable assessment

• Identify various artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools that enhance assessment fairness and equity

• Explore practical ways to integrate technology based assessment tools into curriculum

Description

This session provides an overview into the value of equitable assessment practices. We will explore how artificial intelligence and other digital tools can be used in assessment to promote fairness, inclusivity, and efficiency. The session will showcase practical strategies and tools that will support equity in the classroom. It aims to ensure that all students receive effective feedback. Participants will also discuss ethical considerations, best practices, and challenges in using AI for assessment. Participants will leave with tools that can immediately be implemented in into their instructional settings. 

Opening

Join us as we kick off the 2025 Peralta Online Equity Conference with a brief welcome address by Peralta's Chancellor, Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson. 

Outcomes

• Consider the challenges that stem from global changes--technological, generational, economic, emotional, and more.

• Explore practical strategies to prepare learners for an AI-powered workforce

Description

Global change is disrupting education from professional, emotional and generational perspectives. Employers are asking people to work more hours because there are not enough qualified workers. Trauma-informed teaching has become an ubiquitous need for learners of every identity, culture and background. As Gen Z finds its voice, colleges and universities are recruiting larger numbers of older, nontraditional learners, creating a cross-generational combination of lived experiences and new challenges.

The pace of change keeps multiplying. Take technology, for example. Whether you love it, hate it, or don’t know enough about it, recent advances in artificial intelligence have caused educators to take action. The impact of change affects learners and their choices. Each year more students balance their academic work with other obligations and responsibilities like employment and childcare. Students choose hybrid and online courses for both flexibility and cost savings.

Now more than ever, we must use innovative online teaching and learning practices to prepare learners to claim their place in an AI-powered workforce and the world. Today’s students must become not only more adaptable, skilled professionals but also more intentional, digital citizens. They must understand both how and why they are making choices that affect their future. Together we will explore practical strategies that promote flexibility and equity, that address issues of size and scale, and that support learners where they are.

Outcomes

• Recognize the importance of visual design in online learning environments

• Identify and mitigate visual communication barriers that may impede learning

• Select strategies to enhance readability and accessibility for all learners

• Implement techniques which connect research findings with practical application for course visual design 

Description

When working with instructors to develop online courses, Instructional Designers are often provided with course content and told to "make it look pretty". While the scope of instructional design extends beyond mere aesthetics, the visual design and layout of course materials are critical to building effective learning experiences. Oversimplifying this aspect of course design can undervalue and undermine the multi-disciplinary and evidence-based visual design strategies and approaches known to support learning.

It is essential to consider various factors which can hinder or aid learning, such as, cognitive accessibility, data from eye-tracking research, as well as graphic and multimedia learning principles. Other factors impacting visual communication in this context include Universal Design for Learning (UDL), technical accessibility, as well as inclusion and diversity. 

This presentation will examine these factors, and explain why and how the use of visual elements and formatting can enhance learning. In this session, we aim to equip you with strategies for designing courses that not only look appealing but also improve readability and accessibility for all learners. Through the examples we share, we will offer suggestions that remove barriers for learning while enhancing students’ learning experiences. 

Outcomes

• Examine academic, professional, and personal challenges and opportunities facing students and alumni in the context of contemporary anti-DEI climates

• Discuss practical strategies to promote student learning, success, and resilience in contemporary anti-DEI climates

Description

For decades, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA+) initiatives have experienced complex waves of triumphs and challenges. These waves are influenced by cultural and historical legacies, economic and political realities, and contemporary legal shifts. Recent executive orders, and associated politicizations, are amplifying polarizations and differing interpretations of the goals and strategies of DEIA+ initiatives. Clearly, many institutions and organizations are affirming that their DEIA+ initiatives do not fall under the purview of those that could be deemed as “illegal,” whereas others are abandoning programs and eliminating positions without any critical review. Our students are already being impacted by the ways state and local governments, higher education institutions, and corporations are choosing to respond in the current anti- DEIA+ climate. In this session, facilitator and participants will share academic, professional, and personal challenges and opportunities facing current students and alumni as we ride the waves common to anti- DEIA+ climates. Participants will have opportunities to apply shared expertise to realistic student scenarios encountered in online universities. A major focus of the session will be to highlight practical strategies for promoting student learning, success, and resilience in contemporary anti- DEIA+ climates.

Outcomes

• Enhance understanding of how to effectively engage and motivate adult learners

Description

My research suggests that an instructor who demonstrates transformational leadership in the classroom while employing andragogical principles can effectively stimulate and influence high intellect through idiosyncratic engagement. In turn, the learners are more motivated, will enhance and retain knowledge, maintain retention, and complete their degree program.

Outcomes

• Participants will compare their own equity initiatives with the way in which Hartnell's tutoring centers have incorporated one of their initiatives into the tutoring environment rather than a classroom

Description

This session will utilize both visual and oral mediums to share the ways in which Hartnell's tutoring centers (collectively called the Panther Learning Labs) have taken the campus' overall equity initiative, Caring Campus, and incorporated its tenets and principles into the practice of both tutor training and tutoring. Tutors are asked to commit to the adapted equity tenets when they are first interviewed for a tutoring position. Then, tutors are again afforded opportunities to both learn about and apply the practices and principles involved in the Caring Campus equity initiative during their training as new tutors. Finally, tutors are expected to apply, practice and extend the Caring Campus tenets and principles in their academic support work with students. These adaptations of the Caring Campus equity initiative to tutor training and tutoring engenders students' increased access to campus resources and appropriate personnel, a greater sense of community and connection in the tutoring centers for students, a decease in the institutional barriers that impeded student success, and a broadening of tutors' intercultural competence through interaction with diverse campus and community groups.

Outcomes

• Become familiar with Forensic Linguistics 

• Explore how to solve crimes through language 

Description

Forensic linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that applies linguistic knowledge, methods, and insights to legal and investigative contexts. It is a growing area of research that plays a crucial role in criminal and civil cases, security matters, and human rights investigations. Kurdish researchers interested in forensic linguistics can contribute significantly to justice, particularly in regions where Kurdish languages and dialects are spoken.

What is Forensic Linguistics?

Forensic linguistics is the study of language in legal and forensic settings. It involves analyzing spoken and written language to assist law enforcement, courts, and legal professionals. The field can be divided into several key areas:

1. Authorship Attribution – Determining the author of a written text based on linguistic style and features.

2. Discourse Analysis – Examining how language is used in legal settings, such as courtroom interactions, police interrogations, and witness statements.

3. Forensic Phonetics – Identifying speakers based on voice characteristics in audio recordings.

4. Legal Language Analysis – Studying how legal documents are written and interpreted.

5. Threat Assessment – Evaluating the credibility of threatening messages or ransom notes.

6. Plagiarism and Copyright Investigations – Identifying cases

Outcomes

• Identify specific practices for faculty professional development programs in culturally responsive teaching

• Apply strategies for the development of faculty programs in culturally responsive teaching

Description

This session highlights one college’s professional development program for culturally responsive and inclusive teaching, which is called CREATE (Culturally Responsive Educators Academy & Training for Equity).

The intention of this session is to share specific details of CREATE, including its purpose, which is to promote faculty engagement in practices that embrace the unique experiences, perspectives, and needs of the college’s diverse students in order to increase equitable student outcomes. The presenter, the faculty coordinator of CREATE, will share the program outcomes. In addition, there will be an overview of key elements such as the length of the program, modality of facilitation, compensation, assignments, texts, topics, and other details to help attendees and other colleges understand the scope of CREATE. 

By sharing some of the features of CREATE, the presenter hopes to encourage conference participants to consider their own college’s faculty development programs for equity, adapt ideas, and cultivate connections for best practices.

The college's CREATE program is funded by the Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practices Grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Outcomes

• Recognize unique needs of Veteran students in the online platform

• Discover how to create equitable online classrooms for Veterans

Description

As veteran and military-affiliated student enrollment in online education grows, institutions must create inclusive, supportive virtual learning environments. This presentation explores strategies for fostering welcoming spaces by building a sense of belonging, providing targeted resources, and incorporating military cultural competency into instructional design.

Key topics include understanding veteran students’ diverse backgrounds, addressing transition challenges, and recognizing PTSD symptoms in the online classroom. The discussion will also cover how institutions can acknowledge veterans’ service through meaningful gestures, such as using military-friendly icons and language that reinforces appreciation. Additionally, we will examine how to meet the basic needs of veteran students, including access to mental health resources, financial aid, and flexible academic policies that accommodate military obligations.

The session will highlight ideas to successfully cultivate online communities where veteran and military-affiliated students feel valued and engaged. Attendees will gain actionable strategies for making their online classrooms more inclusive, ensuring all students receive the support needed to succeed academically and personally.

Outcomes

• Define the term library guides

• Discuss the current limitations with library guides

• Recognize the potential value for using library guides in teaching and instruction

• Describe and use a quality assurance and peer review tool (the LGAS Rubric) for designing and reviewing student-centric library guides

Description

Join me for a presentation where I introduce a groundbreaking quality assurance tool designed to enhance library guides in higher education. By remixing the SUNY OSCQR rubric, I developed a peer review tool and quality assurance rubric that prioritize student-centric standards and pedagogical excellence. This innovative approach ensures that library guides are not only informative but also tailored to meet the diverse needs of students. Participants will learn how to implement this tool to create and evaluate library guides, fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment.

This presentation is intended not only for librarians but also for anyone who teaches students about research. Discover how to elevate the quality and effectiveness of your library resources through this student-focused methodology.

Outcomes

• Recognize Algorithmic Bias in AI Tools 

• Identify common forms of bias in AI-powered learning platforms and their impact on diverse student populations

• Apply the NIST AI Risk Management Framework 

• Discuss key principles from the NIST AI RMF and how they can be used to assess fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI-driven education

• Implement Strategies to Mitigate Bias 

• Explore practical approaches, including human oversight and ethical AI design, to minimize bias and promote equitable learning experiences

• Advocate for Ethical AI in Online Education 

• Develop actionable steps to promote responsible AI use in online learning, including policy recommendations and institutional best practices

Description

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into online education, it brings both opportunities and challenges. While AI-powered tools can enhance learning experiences through personalized instruction and automated assessments, they also risk perpetuating biases that disproportionately impact marginalized students. Without proper oversight, these biases can reinforce inequities rather than reduce them.

This session will explore how algorithmic bias manifests in AI-driven learning platforms and the potential risks it poses to educational equity. Participants will gain a foundational understanding of bias in AI models, along with practical strategies to assess, mitigate, and prevent these issues in online learning environments. The session will introduce key principles from the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) to help educators and administrators apply ethical AI practices in their institutions.

By attending this session, participants will learn to critically evaluate AI-powered learning technologies, advocate for responsible AI use, and implement equitable strategies that foster more inclusive online education. Through case studies, interactive discussion, and real-world examples, this session will provide actionable insights for educators, instructional designers, and ed-tech professionals who want to ensure AI enhances, rather than hinders, learning equity.

Join us to explore how we can work collectively to develop and promote AI systems that uphold fairness, transparency, and accountability in online education.

Outcomes

• Create two artifacts for your portfolio

Description

Facilitators will share how reflective portfolios serve to build a sense of belonging and community in the higher ed or k-12 setting. 

For this session, participants are asked to bring one artifact that represents an aspect of who they are as well as paper and a writing utensil. Often the beginning of an authentic digital portfolio begins with reflective prompts to think or write freely to express all the ways one presents in the world. Through building connections with others in this workshop, participants will engage in meaningful dialogue around the creation of the portfolio artifacts.

Agenda:

• Warm Opener

• Introduce ourselves and our work

• AAEEBL Work - Portfolio Definition

• Dominican Portfolio Work

• SFUSD Portfolio Work 

• Mutual Digital Ethics

• Let’s engage - How do we bring ourselves into our portfolio

• Creating Artifacts

• Let’s Create One 

• Reflect and Share

• Resources 

• Facing History Facing Ourselves

• KQED Learn 

• Google Sites

• Adobe Express

• Padlet

• Six-Word Memoirs

• Ricardo’s Portfolio

• Christina’s Portfolio 

Outcomes

• Reflect on ways to deliberately craft opportunities for students to engage in intercultural communication

• Gain insights into challenges in planning and implementing international online exchange

Description

Virtual exchange can bring participants together with others whose geographic, sociocultural, and sociolinguistic backgrounds may be very different from their own (O’Dowd, 2015). In such online collaborations, difference is an asset. Leveraging technology to span physical and cultural boundaries, such collaborations offer opportunities for participants to “constantly (re)negotiate and (re)construct their identities together” (Peng & Dervin, 2002, p. 2.); Baroni et al. (2019) propose that virtual exchange is “most effective when it forces learners and teachers out of their comfort zones and brings them to engage in linguistic, intercultural, and technological learning experiences which they would not usually be confronted with in their day-to-day learning” (p. 107).  

This presentation explores lessons learned from a virtual exchange project which brought together students at a U.S. university and students in Ukraine. The project sought to create opportunities for participants to apply theories of how to use technology in the language classroom and to “rethink” (Dervin & Tan, 2022) their understandings of themselves, others, and the world. At the culmination of the collaboration, participants reported that deepen their knowledge of academic content, however, they expressed disappointment that they had not learned more about their counterparts. Drawing on “missed opportunities” from this virtual project, the presenter offers suggestions for how teachers can deliberately incorporate intercultural competence into any classroom. 

Outcomes

• Discuss various characteristics and challenges of students who struggle to pass college assignments and courses

• Share practical strategies to facilitate successful college turn-arounds after a student has experienced “failure”

Description

Failures happen. From the motivated to the ambivalent; from the underprepared to the well-prepared; from the majority to the minoritized/underrepresented, college students do not always succeed the first time for a variety of reasons. Reasons for failures include, but are not limited to, attitudinal factors, academic behaviors, limited resources, and challenging life circumstances. For decades, higher education researchers have identified a number of failure “risk factors” (e.g., first-generation college status, prior academic failures, a longstanding history near-effortless success, reluctance to seek help, mental and physical health challenges, financial needs, and work-life balance struggles). However, whatever risk factors are identified, it is clearly the case that many students with the same characteristics and challenges do succeed. Undoubtedly, early intervention and support from advisors, instructors, family, peers, and others can significantly help students who are struggling academically. At the same time, educators know there is no universal success formula works for all students. In this session, facilitators will share lessons learned from working with students who have overcome past failures to realize academic and career success. Participants will have opportunities to apply their expertise to realistic student scenarios encountered in online universities. A major focus of the scenarios will be to highlight equitable practices in helping students learn from past failures and move forward to succeed. 

Outcomes

• Study the barriers and challenges in the development and implementation of building community among students

• Review best practices for logistics, marketing and communications through community learning spaces, Discord, and a podcast series for a student-oriented IDEA service project

• Engage with one another in discussion of similar initiatives within their institutions

Description

Your Voices: Learning, Listening, and Sharing  was a project that allowed underrepresented students in library and information science and applied data science to share their stories, support each other, and learn from information professionals like themselves on how to navigate equity, diversity, and inclusion. That project consisted of three elements—community learning spaces, e-newsletters, and webinars. Another project which is the focus of today, Students: Amplifying Your Voices (SAYV), focuses on community learning spaces, a Discord server channel, and a podcast series for underrepresented students. This proposed presentation will highlight the Best Practices Guide developed as an outcome of Your Voices, discuss the current SAYV project, and welcome the audience to share in the below questions. This proposal also highlights communicating information in various ways and through differing spaces for students. We recognized the need for such a project and empower students to elevate their voices. We will invite attendees to contribute experiences and best practices when initiating such similar efforts in their organizations. We will encourage use of a padlet/chat/mic to share in ideas to address questions such as: What questions do you have about SAYV specifically? What student-centered spaces do you have for underrepresented students to freely exchange ideas with each other? How do you encourage students to get involved in more networking experiences? In what ways can we create new spaces for students to have a voice and amplify their voices? 

Outcomes

• Review actionable steps to create your own resilience-focused initiatives, ensuring that more students gain access to these critical skills both in and beyond the classroom

Description

In this session, we will showcase a 16-unit collection of evidence-based, resilience-building resources designed to support faculty and campus case managers in supporting students in cultivating well-being, focus, and perseverance – all key tenants of resilience and holistic success. The Cultivating Resilience Toolbox features 16 units that comprise a mix of free and accessible tools—including discussion questions, grounding practices (such as box breathing and orientation grounding), and journaling activities that support students in working through mental anxiety and bounding back from setbacks. The units are presented in a sequence that aligns with the cycle of a semester, but they can be used independently of each other as well. This Toolbox has been developed and implemented at a Hispanic-serving institution, located in a low socioeconomic area. Our data indicates extensive student engagement with these materials, highlighting their value as a simple yet impactful way to promote student success.

In this session, participants will learn how to integrate these resources into their own institutional frameworks, whether through Canvas assignments or stand alone programs. We will provide insights into the development process, discuss implementation strategies, and explore how faculty and administrators can adapt these tools to their unique environments. Attendees will leave with actionable steps to create their own resilience-focused initiatives, ensuring that more students gain access to these critical skills both in and beyond the classroom.

Outcomes

• Describe how leveraging institutional identity and community context can be a force for innovation 

• Review two new stackable certificates with embedded HIPs to meet the needs of our students and our community  

• Explore how CCW framework drives our pathway creation Explore how to build pathways from non-credit to credit-bearing courses for ELL students

Description

This session will explore Colorado Mountain College’s development of two new stackable credentials. The dual language certificate offers English and Spanish language learners a stackable pathway from non-credit to credit-bearing classes. This certificate not only addresses the needs of our learners, it also offers the workforce skills required in our bilingual communities. Additionally, the essential skills certificate is one in which students acquire the tools, knowledge, and creative capabilities necessary to study the world as it is, as it has been understood, and as it might become. The certificate achieved through guaranteed transfer general education courses prepares students for fulfilling lives as educated persons, and effective contributors to a democratic society. This session is ideal for professionals focused on fostering a more successful and inclusive workforce through effective competency development and integration. This discussion will provide valuable insights and practical approaches for people who are involved in designing educational programs, supporting student transitions, creating new pathways for students who speak languages other than and in addition to English, or advancing workforce readiness.