Nexus Point: The Tech & Strategy Hub

Abstract

The Tech and Strategy Hub will have booths related to the following areas VoiceThread (Michelle Holland): Moving Past Silent Screens to Hearing Student Voices with VoiceThread - This session will introduce VoiceThread as a simple, effective tool for increasing student interaction, especially in asynchronous and online courses. For those who may feel unfamiliar with or hesitant about using new technology, VoiceThread offers an accessible way to move beyond text-based participation and foster more meaningful engagement. Participants will see examples of assignments that incorporate VoiceThread to create opportunities for students to hear one another’s voices in otherwise silent learning environments. These activities encourage more personal responses, support the development of verbal communication skills, and promote a stronger sense of classroom community. In addition, VoiceThread lowers technical barriers and allows students to complete verbal presentations without the stress of recording, editing, or obtaining specialized equipment. This session will highlight practical, easy-to-implement assignments that help instructors increase participation, humanize online learning, and create more interactive course experiences through the use of VoiceThread. Peerceptiv (Don Wilcox): Peerceptiv Use for Group Projects: Merging Canvas Groups, Default Versus Custom Assessments - Many instructors use peer assessments as a tool for student feedback, accountability, and for building skills necessary for teamwork in a given field of study. Peerceptiv is a tool which merges seamlessly within the Canvas LMS. This playroom session will demonstrate how to merge Canvas groups from the People tab into the Peerceptiv tool, how to utilize default and customization options to build team assessments, including a self-assessment option, and how grades are populated from Peerceptiv into the Canvas gradebook. The presenter will provide justifications for Peerceptiv use and will answer questions regarding implementation, application, and available support for a more dynamic student and instructor group project experience. Echo 360: Transforming Student Engagement with the World's First Learning Transformation Platform (Jennifer Grevis): Experience how Echo360 helps educators create more engaging, interactive, and accessible learning experiences. Through hands-on exploration of EchoVideo, EchoPoll, GoReact, and other integrated tools, participants will see how AI-powered study support, active learning, video-based feedback, and student engagement technologies can work together to improve teaching effectiveness and student success. Stop by to explore new possibilities, ask questions, and try the tools yourself. UDOIT (CLT): This session will demonstrate a Canvas plug-in that scans your course, identifies accessibility issues, and provides guidance on resolving them—no prior accessibility expertise required. Join us for an illustration and bring any questions, including those from users needing a refresher. TidyUP (CLT): Ready to clean up? TidyUP by Cidi Labs is a time-saving Canvas course cleanup tool that helps instructors and instructional designers quickly remove unused files, outdated content, duplicates, and empty folders. Canvas (Allison Case): A Learning Management System that brings all the digital tools teachers use into one convenient location. This online software application helps teachers create and organize their courses and interact with students. Canvas has many useful features that are consistently being updated to enhance the learning experience. ReadSpeaker (Colleen Sandquist): Students are often expected to navigate dense, complex materials quickly and accurately, but not all learners engage with content the same way. Learn how text-to-speech technology can enhance comprehension, improve focus, and support more efficient learning. With an expansive reach throughout the Canvas LMS, ReadSpeaker enables students to listen to content and use built-in instructional tools removing barriers to success. Claude Code (Gabriel Foust): An AI agent is a software application that uses AI to help it interpret the user's instructions and decide what actions to take to fulfill those instructions. AI agents are able to do more than just answer questions; they are able to autonomously perform tasks on the user's behalf. Claude Code is an AI agent (requiring a paid subscription) that can be used to search, edit, and transform documents on the user's machine. While its primary focus is on writing software code, it can be used to perform other tasks as well. This session will demonstrate how Claude Code can be used for some education-related tasks such as creating web pages and diagrams, editing assignment descriptions, and suggesting test questions. The purpose is not to teach Claude Code -- a tool intended for technically comfortable users -- but rather to demonstrate the possibilities that AI agents create. Library Tech Tools for Teaching and Scholarship (Brenda Breezeel and Amy McGohan)Discover the full scope of library resources available for your courses beyond physical books, including e-books, databases, streaming video, and academic journals. Learn how to identify discipline-specific materials, seamlessly incorporate them into Canvas, and leverage library platforms like ScholarWorks at Harding and the Faculty Gallery to promote and archive your scholarship.