Session Descriptions

Pre-Conference Workshop

Presenter:
Dr. Shana Garrett

Description:
Classrooms have historically been the designated setting in which learning occurs. Truth is, our students learn as much in the classroom as they do in the hallways, walking around the campus, or venturing into the virtual world of our global community. Simply reading a chapter and listening to a professor’s lecture now competes with devices, games, and an extensive collection of technological solutions. The focus of this workshop will be to discuss current trends in face-to-face and virtual classrooms, with attention given to approaches and technologies used to complement and enhance the curriculum.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this workshop, attendees will have an initial plan on approaches and technologies that will complement and enhance their course curriculum.

Conference Sessions

Presenter:
Dr. Karin Lewis

Description:
The session will begin with brief introductions and proceed with demonstrations/examples (visuals and stepwise walk-throughs) of each of the 7 strategies. Discussion with session participants will follow the presentation of each of the 7 strategies to strategize how to integrate these techniques in their own courses, whether they are synchronous, asynchronous, or blended course delivery. This is a practical, immediately applicable, pedagogical practice focused presentation. Each participant will receive a packet to guide their own integration of the strategies in their courses.

Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to apply the 7 strategies in their own course design and delivery.

Presenters:
Dr. Aleyda Cantu-Lee and Patricia Hernandez

Description:
The ongoing pandemic has drastically transformed the way students learn and interact with their education. As schools and universities have rapidly adapted to remote and hybrid learning environments, students have had to adjust to a new learning culture that requires increased independence, self-motivation, and technology proficiency.

In response to these changes, educational institutions have had to make significant shifts in the way they offer support to students. This presentation will explore these shifts and highlight the strategies and best practices that have emerged in supporting students in this new educational landscape, specifically in the Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Overall, this presentation aims to provide valuable insights and practical strategies for educators and administrators seeking to support students in this rapidly changing educational landscape.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understanding the shift in learning culture: How the pandemic has affected students' learning experiences and their needs for support.
  • Rethinking student support services: Examining how Bell Library has adapted their support services to meet the changing needs of students. This includes leveraging technology, engaging in support services partnerships, and offering flexible and personalized support.
  • Best practices for student support in the new normal: Sharing effective strategies that Bell Library has adopted to support students during the pandemic.
  • Lessons learned and future directions: Discussing the lessons that have been learned from these shifts and the opportunities for further innovation and improvement in resources offered to students.

Presenters:
Dr. Luis Alcocer and Marcela Hebbard

Description:
With the boom of the internet, educators have been using virtual exchange to bring their classes into contact with geographically distant partner classes to create opportunities for working and learning with partners from other cultures (O’Dowd and Lewis, 2016), aiming to develop mutual understanding through meaningful interactions and collaboration.

The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model enhances cross-cultural student competence through development of multicultural learning environments that link university or college classes in different countries.
In the COIL model, students from different regions participate in a collaborative project, co-designed and co-facilitated by faculty members from geographically distant locations. The interactions may include face-to-face lectures and meetings (not mandatory) or be completely asynchronous, while the collaborative student work takes place fully online.

Dr. Luis Alcocer and Marcela Hebbard coordinated a transdisciplinary COIL project that connected a first-year writing class in the Rio Grande Valley with an environmental science class in a partner university from another country. Dr. Hebbard and Dr. Alcocer will share their experience dealing with the advantages and challenges of interinstitutional collaboration with the COIL methodology, from implementation to execution, the instrument they used to measure the impact on global citizenship attitudes in the COIL participants, and recommendations on how to integrate COIL into the syllabus to benefit student learning.

During this presentation participants will be exposed to the nature of Collaborative Online International Learning, will identify the suggested steps for a successful execution of a COIL project, and will get a suggested pathway for measuring the impact of COIL in the advance of enhancing intercultural competences and global citizenship in students.

Learning Outcomes:
By end of this presentation, participants will be able to describe COIL, and identify a pathway to integrate COIL into their syllabus.

Presenter:
Dr. Azucena Herrera

Description:

In the Fall semester of 2021, Dr. Azucena Herrera, from the College of Business and Entrepreneurship, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), and Dr. Marija Radosavljević from the Faculty of Economy, University of Nis, Serbia, designed and implemented a common 3-week course section under the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model. This joint course section, named COIL-Fall2021 Entrepreneurship & Principles of Management, was available to 104 students, from November 12 to December 3, 2021.

Methodology
Professors were working on the course section during the 2021 Summer semester, using video conferences, phone calls, and synchronous chat platforms. The common LMS platform was Blackboard, the common language was English, and the learning modality was online.

Participants
Participants were 104 students, 54 from the Faculty of Economy, University of Nis; and 50 from the COBE, UTRGV. Course Structure For three weeks the students were knowing their classmates, shared their takes on the discussion board, and worked in teams on a common assignment.

Results
This joint online course enhanced cross-cultural student competence through the development of multicultural learning environments that link college classes in different countries while preparing them to achieve success in the academic and professional world.

Presenters:
Dr. Shana Garrett

Description: 
Higher education institutions are comprised of many departments operating within complex structures. From the boardroom to the classroom, institutions are judged to be successful from multiple perspectives: as a business establishment; an institution of higher learning; and most importantly, a valued experience by its consumer- the student.

Several components of leadership are necessary to make each element of an institution effective. Collaboration, transparent communication, and engagement all work together to create solid partnerships among the many layers of an organization. These fundamental elements also operate as the foundation for developing innovation, creating transformation, and considering the various thoughts and perspectives within the institution. A greater collective understanding within the teams results in greater interest in the projects and increased performance from within the institution. Sometimes, shifting the momentum and motivation of our colleagues requires a shift in our perspective from recognizing challenges as difficult to see those challenges as opportunities for success.

Sponsored by School of Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement (SIPCE)

Presenters: Dr. Rosalynn Vega, Dr. Cathryn Merla-Watson, and Dr. Linda Belau. Panel Moderator: Erika Rendon-Ramos.

Description:
Bringing together faculty from different interdisciplinary disciplines, this panel explores best pedagogical practices for online teaching in fields that cross disciplinary boundaries. 

Sponsored by School of Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement (SIPCE)

Moderator: Dr. Erika Rendon-Ramos (Assistant Professor, UTRGV, School of Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement)

Panelists: Dr. Rosalynn Vega (Associate Professor, UTRGV, Department of Anthropology); Dr. Cathryn Merla-Watson (Associate Professor, UTRGV, School of Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement); Dr. Linda Belau (Professor, UTRGV, Department of Literatures and Cultural Studies)

Dr. Rosalynn Vega will discuss the usefulness of different video formats, especially “microlectures” and informal “vlogs” for engaging diverse groups of online learners. While online instructors often use Panopto, or similar platforms, to deliver extended lectures, shorter “microlectures” can be used to explain the pragmatic details (i.e. “the nuts and bolts”) of an assignment, or to explain a key concept in a succinct, “bite-sized” format. Furthermore, while Panopto lectures tend to function as the virtual analogue of in-person lectures, informal “vlogs” can be used to get “outside” of the classroom, incorporate “real world” perspectives, and further engage students.

Dr. Cathryn Merla-Watson will address two common and related complaints students have regarding online teaching, especially asynchronous courses. They focus on a lack of feedback and personal connection as well as confusing course structures. Conversely, instructors and professors frequently complain that online courses are too impersonal, and the grading is too time-consuming. To those ends, Dr. Cathryn Merla-Watson will discuss simple ways to structure weekly modules (i.e. breaking down tasks, assignments, and course information) in a way that is student-oriented and how to efficiently provide meaningful feedback to students within an asynchronous course.

Dr. Linda Belau has observed that one of the most immediate challenges in online teaching and learning, particularly in asynchronous courses, is establishing good communication, both from the professor to the student and from students to the professor as well. Dr. Belau will focus on some simple strategies she employs to overcome these challenges and to deploy clear, consistent, and reiterated communication across all dimensions of the online class in order to keep students engaged, informed, and grounded.

Learning Outcomes:

Bringing together faculty from different interdisciplinary disciplines, this panel explores best pedagogical practices for online teaching in fields that cross disciplinary boundaries.

Presenters:
Dianna Blankenship, Dr. Gordon Crews, and Catherine Burton

Description:
UTRGV Academic Affairs and COLTT have implemented a continuous quality improvement process (Blueprinting Process) to ensure that online programs are designed, developed and implemented with high-quality standards and exemplary rigor. More than 500 courses have undergone this blueprinting process. It is likely that online faculty may be asked to develop a blueprinted course in the future and they are the intended audience. A COLTT Senior Instructional Developer Designer will explain the course blueprinting process. Then, three Criminal Justice faculty members describe their experiences during the development of accelerated online courses for a new Masters in Criminal Justice degree program. In keeping with the “good, bad, and ugly” title theme, presenters will offer hints, tips, and suggestions to avoid problems and address pitfalls likely to be encountered during the blueprinting course design process. The presentation will conclude with student feedback related to the blueprinted course design.

A COLTT senior instructional designer developer will discuss why online courses in new graduate programs must be blueprinted, explain the blueprinting process, and share the three phases of course design. Utilizing examples from their design process, faculty presenters will describe highs and lows of the phases of course design. Audience members will learn of the “backwards” approach to course design and challenges of completing the blueprinting worksheet form – (the “bad”). Because learning objectives are frequently a stumbling block in course design, participants will be asked to identify “good” and “bad” objectives and make needed corrections.
The development phase (the “good”) will be discussed as well as the QM Self Review Form provided after COLTT’s initial course review (the “ugly”). Special attention will be provided to accessibility issues and the audience will participate in suggesting alternative text for images. The faculty presenters will share examples of their blueprinted courses. The session will then close with a discussion of the exponential benefits a blueprinted course can offer and selected student feedback and comments about course design. The blueprinting course review results in better course design, which makes navigation easier for students, reduces barriers to student achievement, and results in better outcomes.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Discuss why online courses in new graduate programs must be blueprinted;
  • Explain the blueprinting process and the three phases of course design;
  • Identify common stumbling blocks in course development;
  • State the benefits of a blueprinted course.

Presenters:

Dr. Katrina Roush

Description:

In the Fall 2021 semester, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley offered a graduate-level music theory pedagogy course for the first time. This presentation will describe how my colleague Dr. Rachel Mann and I (Dr. Katrina Roush) used technology to build and teach it together as a hybrid course. It will explain how our collaboration made the course more effective for student success, how this initial team-teaching experience continues to benefit the course going forward, and how participants can integrate similar principles into their own teaching experiences.

Dr. Mann and I each taught a section of the course, one in Brownsville and one in Edinburg, and we used this opportunity to team-teach the course in as many ways as possible. Since we were in different locations, technology was essential to efficient planning and teaching. The technology we used was simple yet effective: Zoom, Blackboard, OneDrive, email, and good old-fashioned phone calls. This presentation will describe in detail how each of these technologies was useful to us. For example, for part of most class sessions, we joined our respective classrooms through Zoom so that both instructors could contribute to the lectures and discussions. Our combined expertise from different avenues of research and teaching backgrounds gave students more opportunities to learn from diverse perspectives, experience different teaching styles, and observe various pedagogical strategies, especially invaluable for a pedagogy course.

Now, only a single section of this course, taught by either Dr. Mann or me (but not both), is offered every fall semester. However, our team-teaching efforts in Fall 2021 strengthened subsequent course development and delivery. This presentation will outline several ways that we successfully maintain a collaborative spirit in the teaching of the music theory pedagogy course. It will conclude with a discussion of how even single-instructor courses can use technology to incorporate collaborative elements to enhance students’ experience and learning. As part of this discussion, participants will be encouraged to brainstorm and share practical ideas with each other.

Presenters:

Nicholas Cañas and Alfonso Mendoza, Jr.

Description:

Extended reality takes hands-on learning to a whole new level. Get a first look at how the Oculus Quest 2, Microsoft HoloLens 2, and HTC VIVE Focus 2 headsets are being used to enhance the learning and work experience. This presentation will demonstrate the topics that make up the extended reality umbrella which include virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality along with the software available to each of these categories. This is an opportunity to learn about the hurdles encountered in developing and implementing an extended reality program and how to establish confidence in advocating for extended reality in online education.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the differences between virtual, mixed, and augmented reality.
  • Compare the leading extended reality headsets (Oculus Quest 2, Microsoft HoloLens 2, and HTC VIVE Focus 2).
  • Assess various software applications for each branch of extended reality.
  • Develop educational plans for implementing extended reality.
  • Establish confidence in advocating for extended reality in education.

Presenters:
Dr. Arlett Lomeli, Aaron Adame, and Zoraya Berlanga

Description:
Decolonizing the classroom has become a new trend and best practice adopted by peers on teaching and learning in the digital environment. Graduate students preparing for Graduate Assistant Instructor positions discuss the exploration of Gloria Anzaldua pedagogy in their future classrooms through the focus of expanding community representation, engaging with student experience, and expanding on the implementation of tesimonio (testimony) methodology in teaching research methods.

Panelists:
Aarón Adame, Zoraya Berlanga Aguilar, Leslie Gonzalez, Narcy Gonzalez, Jessy Rugeyo, Viviana Valencia, and Arlett Lomelí

Learning Outcomes:

  • The participant will identify Gloria Anzladua pedagogy.
  • The participant will outline the application of G.A. pedagogy to increase community representation.
  • The participant will outline the application of G.A. pedagogy to include their students' experiences in the form of testimonios (testimonies).

Presenters:
Martha Lovett and Will Sumerall

Description:
In this session, we will explore how you can create, manage and share engaging learning content integrated seamlessly with Blackboard. Offering a fun and engaging environment for students to reflect and apply the information acquired in class and, at the same time tailoring your lesson to your curricular needs.

Learning Outcomes:
Basic understanding of SoftChalk capabilities and being able to apply some key tools for engaging lessons and activities.

Presenters:
Dr. Maria Castañeda and Emily Jordan

Guest Speakers as an Enhancing Learning Experience:
Dr. Herminio Guajardo, Dr. Hugo E. Rodriguez, Dr. Sue Anne Chew, and Dr. Lorena Lopez.

Description:
Presenters will talk and present a short presentation describing an innovative method of teaching. “Guest Speaker” as an enhancement Learning experience to present to students.

Course BMED 3103 (Human Behavior) examines the neuronal basis and foundations of human behavior. We have implemented an innovative method of teaching enhancement. We have invited a “Guest Speaker” to present to students who is an expert in a particular topic related to the content covered during class lectures. Speaker presentations provide critical information that is often omitted during a regular class and provide an enhanced learning experience.

Overall, students’ perceptions about guest speakers were positive.

Learning Outcomes:
Guest speaker is an individual that comes to the classroom to talk about a specific theme of the course that enrich the learning process. It can be exciting, interactive, and productive for the learning process.

Lightning Sessions (Student Engagement)

Presenter:
Summer Diamond and Mary Jordan

Description:
Part 1: Mary King, Lecturer III in the Criminal Justice Department will discuss how she uses Feedback Loops in her online courses with the help of Packback. Packback is a is an AI learning platform for inquiry-based discussion, writing assignments, and instructor coaching. Mrs. King, uses the packback tools to interact with her students and keep them engaged in each assignment. She also will be discussing how she uses an end of course survey of the Muddiest Point to receive feedback from her students. Switching up the narrative and changing the feedback loop. This gives her insight into how she can improve her course design for the next semester and enhance her students' learning.

Part 2: Summer Diamond, Lecturer II in the Criminal Justice Department will discuss how she uses Feedback Loops in her online courses through multi-step interactions during each module. In her online course design, she uses the familiar discussion board tool but will share how she enhances this for optimal outcome of student engagement and learning outcomes. Utilizing individual feedback for each student- supportive, general feedback in announcements/emails,-probing and Student Highlights-conditional. These three steps help interact with students on a personal level, address the whole class as in traditional lectures-an extension, and give praise to encourage students to either continue doing well or to show others what to strive for. She will discuss the benefits these feedback loops have on student outcomes and how she manages this engagement throughout the semester.

Presenter:
Omar Elizondo, Tim Sears, and Elizabeth Goldberg

Description:
 Menu choice boards offer students multiple options to learn and demonstrate their knowledge, with a set of activities that vary in complexity and learning mode. Students choose the activities that suit their learning style, promoting autonomy and motivation. Teachers use the boards to differentiate instruction and meet diverse learning needs, while providing structure and guidelines for independent or collaborative work. Menu choice boards are flexible and can be used in various subjects and grade levels, with manual or online creation, and adaptable to hybrid or remote learning.

Presenter:
Dr. Sandra Musanti

Description:
The Virtual Classroom Project is the capstone assignment for a methods course in the EC-6 Bilingual teacher preparation program. The course included practice-based inspired activities entitled aproximaciones a la práctica [approximations to practice] (Grossman 2018). These activities model core practices for effective teaching and provide opportunities for students to practice strategies in contained settings, either with peers acting as students or using simulation scenarios. Following an adaptation of the learning cycle proposed by Teaching Works (n/d), these group activities typically include an iterative cycle of approximation to practice with four moments: modeling, design, rehearsal and feedback/reflection. The Virtual Classrom Project asks teacher candidates to envision their future bilingual classroom. First, they need to position themselves as future bilingual teachers as they portray themselves creating an avatar using Bitmoji. Then, using Google slides, they create a learning environment for an EC-6 classroom. In this process, they must identify resources, design activities, include learning objectives and an agenda. The project requires that they make visible learning objectives and write them in a way that students can easily understand them. In addition, they need to include hyperlinks to activities designed using different technological tools such as Padlet, Jamboree, Google Docs, Google forms, Kahoot, Nearpod, etc. They are asked to integrate at least one video and an audio file where they explain to students one of the activities. Through this project teacher candidates integrate and demonstrate what they have learned during the semester. The learning objectives include: (a) plan instruction to teach content and language, (b) demonstrate abilities to use resources and different instructional approaches including technology to teach content and support language, and (c) to use and develop the academic pedagogical Spanish needed to be effective bilingual teachers. This project affords teacher candidates with an opportunity to connect theory and practice creating their own classroom, and designing activities through different technologies. In addition, they invite peers to visit their classroom, showcase their teaching, and provide feedback to each other. In the process they extend their knowledge of the pedagogical Spanish needed to become effective bilingual teachers.

Presenter:
Elizabeth Echavarria and Dr. Wan-Ling Chang

Description:
Students satisfaction relates to students’ subjective evaluations of the extent to which their expectations of given educational experiences have been met or exceededThis study aims to seek new sights and explore what is happening with the instructor immediacy behavior and students' satisfaction in the virtual learning environment. student satisfaction in universities is greatly influenced by quality of class room, quality of feedback, lecturer-student relationship, interaction with fellow students, course content, available learning equipment, library facilities and learning materials (García-Aracil, 2008; Kuh & Hu, 2001; Sojkin et al., 2011).Student and faculty satisfaction are interrelated, as student satisfaction is affected by interaction and technology, which require more effort from faculty to engage the students online besides the necessity of adequate techno-pedagogical skills (Yildiz, 2018; Martin & Bollinger, 2018). In Butt & Rehman (2010) ​​their study examined the students’ satisfaction in higher education in Pakistan. The study focused on factors like teachers’ expertise, courses offered, learning environment and classroom facilities. Students’ response measured through an adapted questionnaire on a 5-point likert scale (DeShields et. al., 2005). While these studies focused on student satisfaction in different areas throughout the world, my study will primarily focus on virtual learning courses offered by the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Students’ satisfaction consists of academic aspects, social aspects and the college facilities and services.

Presenter:
Christina Gonzales

Description:
A Lighting Presentation would be several slides highlighting the Motivation Monday project:

  1. Slide showing research in burnout of students/ lacking motivation.
  2. Birth of the idea
  3. Simple steps to execution of the idea Motivation Monday
  4. Feedback
  5. Translation to other disciplines
  6. Questions

Presenter:
Alexa Hefner and Alexander Arendec

Description:
In this lightening session, Top Hat will share the key building blocks for creating a successful active learning experience for your students, in face-to-face or fully remote settings. Learn how to create interactive Top Hat content and how to digitally deliver that material in asynchronous and synchronous classes.

Presenter:
Charles Roush, Liliana Galindo, Dr. Katrina Roush, and Joel Chirinos

Description:
The UTRGV University Library, like many departments and units on campus, is dedicated to supporting students and contributing to their success. A challenge that has emerged over recent years involves the need to shift from a passive stance in this pursuit to a more active approach. Instead of waiting (and hoping) for students to approach librarians and use library resources, library staff aim to bring their support and resources to where students currently are – environments students use and with which they are comfortable. This panel presentation focuses on how the library set out to increase its visibility in Blackboard, both to raise awareness of useful resources and to provide a more convenient user experience for patrons. This panel session will not only show the steps taken to accomplish project goals, but will also demonstrate the benefits of being highly collaborative throughout the project. Panelists include an Assessment Librarian, two Research/Instruction Librarians, an Assistant Professor in Music, and a Senior Instructional Development Designer at COLTT. Each panelist contributed a unique perspective on several factors throughout the project including: how their respective disciplines aim to meet student needs, varied approaches to using and understanding the Blackboard environment, and vital feedback on which library resources and services should be prioritized vs. not. Through short presentations from each panelist and an interactive Q&A segment, this panel will emphasize how effective collaboration was one of the project’s biggest successes, and collaboration will absolutely be an essential component in future efforts. This presentation will highlight the team’s approach to goal-setting – it was necessary to focus on developing key priorities throughout the project. These involved how the library specifically hoped to appear in Blackboard course shells as well as other, more-general content blocks within the LMS. Without such a focus (and an accompanying organized approach to timelines), the project would have easily sprawled to the point of ineffectiveness – Blackboard is truly a massive environment, and many options for library integration initially presented themselves! In addition, it was necessary for the team to be flexible as setbacks and unforeseen roadblocks emerged. Finally, by reviewing usage data and other methods of feedback, it was possible to evaluate the project’s effectiveness and be ideally positioned for next steps.

Presenter:
Ruben Loza and Tania Garcia

Description:
The first portion will include how First-Year students are strategically case loaded during orientation season by academic college. They are case loaded to a trailblazer who is based on their home campus resulting in the opportunity to meet with their trailblazer in-person. If not, they are accommodated through a virtual session. The goal of a trailblazer is to assist our Vaqueros through their transition into university life to refrain from contributing to “parking-lot students.” To prevent this, they invite their caseload to monthly events to encourage an active college life and form a sense of community. Aside from this, trailblazers are also used for progress reports. Professors can tag students who need a nudge as far as attendance or submitting assignments. We have seen that students will gravitate toward a peer they have met with to their experiences as a first-year student. We see that responses have a pattern, and our students are experiencing more than the pressures of student life such as first-generation expectations, jobs without flexibility, the aftereffects of COVID and other factors. This allows the trailblazers to tailor their monthly events to their caseload. Our trailblazers try to “meet students where they are” by not only promoting campus events but also providing first-year programming.

The next portion will cover our UNIV co-designers. Co-designers themselves were students once enrolled in the Living and Working by Design courses. Since they have experience with the assignments as well as the goals for the course, their role is to assist the professor in facilitating the course. Although this may sound different, the course is designed to run four days out of the week, therefore, it is usually divided in half through an agreement between the instructor and co-designer. Throughout the embedding of co-designers, we have seen that students gravitate toward a representative of leadership that is relatable. In turn, by exploring their major students begin to see the larger of picture of truly pursing something of passion.

The last part will discuss our newest branch of student employees, Sparks. These students are recruited during their first year so to not lose them to outside jobs who do not prioritize their academics. Our Sparks’ main priority while working with the department is exploring each university resource, attending tutoring/study sessions, and shadowing trailblazers so that they may take over after their first year.

Other Sessions

Presenter:
Dr. Katherine Christoffersen, Dr. Bradley Christoffersen, Dr. Julio Ciller, and Nicole Nicholson

Description: 
How can we encourage students to read assigned readings? A recent development which addresses this issue in a unique way is social annotation. Programs such as Hypothes.is mentor students in active reading strategies by encouraging students to annotate on readings. Research has shown that making notes on a text improves learning (Kalir & García, 2021). Social annotation, in which students see and may respond to each other’s annotations, yields even more benefits (Kalir et al., 2020). A literature review of social annotation in higher education reveals that social annotation can enable learning by 1) helping students process domain-specific knowledge, 2) supporting argumentation, inquiry, and knowledge construction, 3) improving literacy skills, 4) supporting instructor and peer assessment, and 5) connecting online learning spaces (Zhu et al., 2020). Other studies show that social annotation improves student attention to textual details (Clapp et al., 2021) and a deeper understanding of the learning materials (Eryilmaz et al., 2013). In all, social annotation supports rich literacy practices such as reading comprehension, close reading, textual analysis, language development and argumentation (Kalir, 2022). In this panel, we will present our experiences with Hypothes.is social annotation, organized by guiding questions. The first question will be: ‘What is social annotation, and what are its benefits?’ Ms. Nicole Nicholson will respond to this question with the aforementioned research-based evidence. The next question will be: ‘How can professors use Hypothes.is social annotation?’ Dr. Bradley Christoffersen will describe how to use Hypothes.is social annotation within Blackboard including how it would be set up. The following question will be: ‘How have you incorporated Hypothes.is social annotation into your classroom assignments?’ In response, Dr. Bradley Christoffersen will discuss its use in a Biology class and Dr. Julio Ciller will discuss his use of social annotation for lesson planning. The last question will be: ‘Please describe your experience and your students’ feedback on using Hypothes.is social annotation.’ Dr. Katherine Christoffersen will review the results of a student survey about Hypothes.is in her classes, and other faculty will discuss student feedback on Hypothes.is. Finally, attendees will be encouraged to reflect on how social annotation may be useful in their own classes and ask any questions they may have for the panelists.