2025 QM Connect

Bridging Gaps in Course Design: A Collaborative Blueprint for Student-Centered Consistency

Explore how one health-science specific institution turned the challenge of an LMS transition into an opportunity to build a collaborative, student-centered course design blueprint. Learn how faculty and instructional designers created a scalable model for consistent, high-quality course experiences for students.

Engaged Learning Design for Motivation, Comprehension and Application

This presentation showcases three courses designed to meet QM Standard 5 on Learning Activities and Learner Interaction, using engaged learning principles to address content complexity, low motivation, and knowledge transfer. Participants will apply these principles to their own courses, reflect individually, and share insights in small and large groups, followed by a Q&A session.  

Teaching Learners to Research Smarter: Creative Approaches to Information Literacy Design

Writing a research paper requires solid information literacy skills. This session will guide faculty to design a dedicated library focus into online courses to strengthen students' information literacy. Lesson ideas for embedding essential information literacy components into a course will be explored. Activities and assessments — Reference Building Challenge and Reference Scavenger Hunt, to name a couple — will help learners format sources, craft citations, and use advanced search techniques. 

Hands-On with AI: Creating Ethical, Effective Open Educational Resources

In this interactive session, participants will explore how AI can support the ethical creation of Open Educational Resources. Through live demonstrations, small-group collaboration, and guided prompting, participants will begin drafting their own OER content and walk away with practical strategies for using AI to generate high-quality, QM-aligned learning materials.  

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue for Your Course Catalog

With standards and technology updates, maintaining the perfect union between an expansive catalog of fully online courses and educator sanity may be a daunting challenge. However, establishing processes for new design and course maintenance that leverages OER and partner resources can help your program sustain a catalog you can love, honor, and cherish for years to come.  Don’t be a Bridezilla. Walk down the aisle of NCVPS’ course update and development process and catch a bouquet of new ideas.  

Peering in on the Peer Review Experience of K-12 Teachers

Program leaders who engage teachers in the peer review process as Course Representatives may face time, focus, and educator capacity concerns. However, the experience of serving as a Course Representative and applying the rubric may provide an enduring professional development opportunity for K-12 teachers. In this session, findings of a qualitative case study of a K-12 state-led virtual program that leveraged teachers to serve as Course Representatives will be discussed.  

AI-Powered Rubric Feedback: Lessons from Purdue’s ‘Charlie’ Writing Assistant

Providing timely, meaningful feedback on student writing is one of the most challenging tasks in teaching at scale. In this session, you’ll learn practical lessons from Purdue building and evaluating Charlie, Purdue’s AI-powered rubric feedback tool. We’ll explore design strategies, pitfalls to avoid, and frameworks for integrating AI writing support into assignments — with a focus on preserving instructional quality and supporting student learning.

Quick Fixes & Long-Term Wins: A How-To Guide for Creating Accessible Courses

This session will unpack the WCAG 2.1 AA requirements and provides practical strategies for meeting accessibility standards in LMS-based courses. Participants will explore how WCAG aligns with QM and UDL, how to design accessible content from the start, and how to audit and improve existing materials. Key takeaways include applying WCAG principles, creating accessible LMS content, and using tools to support inclusive, learner-centered design. 

Now With More Human! How to Build Presence in Online Courses with the Community of Inquiry Framework

The session will share practical, Community of Inquiry-based strategies to make RSI more manageable while meeting QM Standards 5.2 and 5.3 using more meaningful communication methods. Participants will explore communication plans, staggered grading, and low-stakes discussions to humanize online learning and build presence. Key takeaways include designing a communication plan, developing a staggered grading plan, and crafting purposeful discussions to support connection and engagement.  

Let’s Talk SMRs: Continuing the Conversation on Subscriber Managed Reviews in K–12

This session explores how K–12 organizations might implement Subscriber Managed Reviews (SMRs) as an alternative to QM-managed team reviews. As VLLA members begin this transition, we’ll invite post-secondary partners already using SMRs to share insights. Attendees will examine SMR pros and cons, compare them to current processes, and assess organizational readiness for adopting this model.