The Summer Institute is an annual event hosted by the CTRL that celebrates innovations in digital learning, teaching, and instruction. These two- to three-day events include keynote speakers, workshops, and breakout session presentations. Past events have included "Digital Learning: Addressing the Needs of the Whole Learner" (2019) and "Instruction in the Era of COVID-19: Engaging Students Online and Managing Impact" (2020).
The 2024 Summer Institute, "Universal Design for Learning: Inclusive Practices for Student Success," took place July 15th–17th and included a workshop and keynote address by UDL practitioner Loui Lord Nelson, as well as breakout sessions led by Carlow University faculty and staff.
The Summer Institute will take place this year on Monday, July 14th, and Tuesday, July 15th, 2025! This year's event, "Empowering Teaching with AI and Universal Design," will be offered both in person and on Microsoft Teams.
Date: July 14th & 15th
Time: 8:30am–4:30pm
Location: This is a hybrid event! We encourage participants to join us in the Galliot Center if they can but also welcome you to join us online! Microsoft Teams links will be made available to attendees closer to the date of the event. Most, if not all, of the events will be recorded.
Lunches for in-person attendees will be provided. If you are attending in person, you will be directed to include meal choices when you RSVP.
Over two days, we will explore practical strategies for using artificial intelligence to support student learning, discuss ways to design courses and assessments with UDL in mind, and participate in hands-on workshops and resource-building. Explore the tentative schedule here.
Tracie Yorke—nationally recognized expert in inclusive teaching, AI ethics in education, and human-centered pedagogy—will be giving a keynote address and leading a workshop on Monday, July 14th. Tracie is a technologist, educator, and researcher specializing in public interest technology, community engagement, and education with two decades of experience spanning PreK-higher education, she has held leadership roles in education focusing on curriculum design, workforce development and technology-driven learning. Her expertise also includes AI adoption strategies and leading the implementation of technology solutions that enhance educational outcomes. She is a fellow at the Garnder Institute, and holds a B.A. from Amherst College, and M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Point Park University.
Events on Monday include both a session and workshop on Brightspace led by representatives from D2L.
On Tuesday, July 15th, we will hear from Thomas Tobin. Tom is an internationally recognized speaker and author on quality in technology-mediated education, academic integrity, and Universal Design for Learning. His work focuses on using technology to extend the reach of higher education beyond its traditional audience. He advocates for the educational rights of people with disabilities and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Tom holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature, a M.S. in Information Science, a master online teacher certification, and the Quality Matters reviewer certification.
Tuesday's schedule will feature two breakout sessions with workshops focusing on syllabus, assignment, and digital content design.
If you have any questions about the RSVP form, please reach out to Alyson Koenig at ankoenig@carlow.edu.
We had a record-breaking number of people attending the Summer Institute for this year's topic on Universal Design for Learning! Over 50 people participated in the two-day event!
With the Title III funding, we brought in Loui Lord Nelson, PhD, international scholar and consultant on UDL, as our keynote speaker. She also hosted a workshop on using the guidelines to inform our teaching practices.
In addition, we had 10 faculty members share what they are currently doing to incorporate the UDL guidelines into their own courses, including
It was great to spend time learning from each other! If you missed the event, you can catch the replays here.
Faculty take-aways from the Summer Institute include
The most asked question was: "Will there be more training/professional development on UDL?" The second was: "Will be bring Loui back?" The answer to both is: "Absolutely!" Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks!