August Newsletter

We're faculty focused so you can be student centered.

Teach & Tech Pop-up, August 18th, 10 AM - 3 PM

Get ready to recharge for a wonderful semester. Don't forget to grab a refreshment and your "Teaching with Joy" t-shirt while you're there! Register to attend workshops on a variety of topics (listed below on Aug. 18th), including AI Tinker Time, Lumi AI Suite, Designing for Connection, and more. In addition to the workshops  (registration encouraged), there will also be several drop-in booths available, all designed to help you start the semester feeling prepared!

Fall Course Prep: Reach Out Now to Avoid Delays

• Submit fall course requests now for the TCU Course Template, additional enrollments, combined courses, etc. to avoid processing delays during peak business time! 
• Need help with course setup, course design, working in the New Content Experience, or anything else D2L-related? You can schedule a Zoom appointment or submit a support form request for assistance. 
• Syllabus tool: After populating the syllabus template, remember to upload your syllabi in each course in the course nav bar syllabus tab.

Lumi AI Suite Coming August 10th

You can view Lumi resources such as the webinar Bright Ideas: Next Level Learning with Lumi to begin learning about the Lumi Suite (Pro, Tutor, Feedback, Chat) today.

Stay tuned for a special mid-August newsletter and global announcement with more Lumi resources.

Note: We already have Chat in D2L!

Pro

• For instructors
• Helps build course content, quizzes, discussion prompts, assignments

Feedback

• For instructors
• Generates rubric-aligned feedback, suggests scores and saves grades and feedback in draft form

Chat

• For everyone
• Chatbot that can answer “how do I use Brightspace?” questions by pulling resources from the Brightspace Community

Tutor

• For students
• Virtual study buddy, uses course as its source of truth and provides real-time help on course content (e.g., flashcards, knowledge checks)

Upcoming Events & Workshops

To register and view additional information, visit our Workshop & Events page. Join a workshop to receive a "Teaching with Joy" t-shirt!

Setting up Your D2L Gradebook: Join us as we cover topics like setting up your grading systems, creating your gradebook, and avoiding common pitfalls. Please bring your device to log into your D2L course, or if needed you can request a faculty sandbox or course development shell in which you can build and experiment. 

Rethinking the Lecture: From Content Coverage to Meaningful Learning: Covering content is not the same as creating learning. In this workshop, you will explore how to redesign lectures to improve student engagement, retention, and success while still providing course content. Learn practical, research-based strategies you can implement immediately to transform your teaching. 

AI Tinker Time: A Fall Course Design Studio: Spend this hour turning ideas into usable fall course materials so future-you doesn’t have to. AI Tinker Time is all about creating. This Zoom session will provide a flexible structure, guided AI prompts, and optional examples to help you move from concept to creation. Choose your focus—syllabus design, assignments, lesson planning, or student engagement—and actively build something to make your teaching life easier. Whether you come with a clear plan or just an idea, you’ll leave with at least one practical, adaptable resource to build on for the upcoming semester.

Syllabus Design Studio: Your future self will thank you. Spend an hour now creating or revising a syllabus you can use this fall. With guided prompts, optional AI tools, and structured support throughout, you will actively build your syllabus compatible with TCU's syllabus template. You’ll have opportunities to refine alignment between course goals, assignments, and policies while making your syllabus more transparent and student-centered. No need to have everything figured out—just come with a course in mind and a willingness to make progress. You will leave with a revised or newly developed syllabus (or a strong draft) that is aligned, inclusive, and ready to refine for the upcoming semester.

D2L Overview: Getting Started: Join us for a hands-on overview of Brightspace by D2L, where you'll learn how to navigate and customize your course shell, build and organize content modules, develop quizzes and assignments in line with content, and leverage communication tools like announcements and discussions. By the end of the session, you'll have the knowledge to build your course shell and get some practical tips and tricks along the way. 

Teaching Portfolios with Purpose: Telling Your Story: Document your teaching with confidence. This workshop offers practical strategies for assembling teaching portfolios that are clear, compelling, and tailored for annual reviews, tenure, or promotion. Learn what materials to include, how to organize them, and how to craft a narrative that authentically represents your teaching excellence.

Maximize Your Course Homepage with D2L Widgets: Have you ever wanted to reorganize your course homepage to maximize the use of that space? Join us to learn how to use a collection of customizable widgets that make your course more engaging and student friendly. Learn how to enhance navigation, boost instructor presence, and create a polished, interactive homepage in minutes. Please bring your laptop or other device to follow along during this workshop. 

From Static to Interactive: Transform Your Brightspace Content with Creator+ and H5P: Are your students simply scrolling through course content or actively engaging with it? Join us to begin creating interactive learning experiences. Explore how Creator+ and H5P can bring course materials to life through engaging content layouts, interactive activities, knowledge checks, and opportunities for immediate feedback. This is not a sit-and-watch workshop; you will build, experiment, and create! Bring an existing course page, document, presentation, or learning activity and leave with a prototype you can use or continue developing in your course. 

D2L New Content Experience & Syllabus Tool: Are you still adjusting to D2L's New Content Experience? Join this session to learn how to organize content more efficiently, add activities with ease, and create a cleaner, more intuitive learning path for your students. Join for a quick overview about recent updates to the syllabus tool or get an overview of what the tool includes: a consolidated view of the syllabus, calendar, assignments, and assessments breakdown. The tool also includes a “what-if” calculator to help students estimate final grades based on hypothetical performance.

Lumi AI: Create, Study, & Grade with Efficiency: Join us for a high-level overview of Lumi Chat (used by faculty & students for general “how to” questions), Pro (used by faculty for content/activity creation), Tutor (used by students for study purposes), and Feedback (used by faculty to streamline grading). We’ll outline instructions on how to use these tools and discuss examples. Have an idea you need help actualizing? Bring your ideas, questions, and a computer, and we’ll dive in with you!

A Guide to Student Access & Accommodations: Supporting Every Learner: Faculty often want to support students with accommodations but may feel uncertain about the process, their responsibilities, or how to apply specific adjustments in the classroom. Join Stacy Mason, director of Student Access & Accommodation as she offers a clear, practical overview of how Student Access & Accommodations works at TCU, what to expect when you receive an accommodation letter, and how to implement accommodations in ways that are manageable and supportive. You’ll leave with answers to common questions, guidance for handling challenging scenarios, and a better understanding of how to ensure all students have equitable access to learning. 

Core Refresh: An Overview of Changes to the TCU Core Curriculum: Join Dr. Theresa Gaul, Director of the TCU Core Curriculum, for an informative session providing an overview of the updated core curriculum. Designed for faculty across all disciplines, this workshop will highlight key updates, clarify requirements, and offer guidance to help you connect your courses to the core’s learning outcomes. 

Designing for Connection: Small Teaching Moves that Foster Engagement & Belonging: Student engagement begins with the messages students receive about whether they belong, can succeed, why their learning matters, and who will help them learn. In this interactive workshop, we'll explore how small, intentional teaching moves can create relationship-rich learning environments where students feel welcomed, supported, challenged, and connected. You'll leave with practical ideas you can implement during the first week of class to strengthen engagement without redesigning your course.

Teaching AI Literacy Through Your Discipline: Students are already using AI, but many haven't learned how to make thoughtful decisions about when AI supports learning, when human thinking should take priority, or how professionals in their discipline use AI responsibly. In this hands-on workshop, you'll explore practical ways to teach disciplinary AI literacy by helping students evaluate, question, and justify their use of AI. Bring your laptop and leave with a ready-to-use lesson that helps students practice making informed, ethical AI decisions within your field.

Accessibility Minute

Welcome to our new series! Each month, we'll share one practical strategy to make your course materials more accessible. You don't have to become an accessibility expert overnight. Small, intentional changes can make a meaningful difference for your students and your teaching. 

Did you Know? During the 2025-2026 academic year, approximately 15% of TCU students were registered with Student Access & Accommodation (SAA). Accessible course materials help these students participate fully in their courses while also making learning easier for many others, including students who may never request formal accommodations. Nationally, approximately one in five undergraduates has a disability, yet many students do not disclose or register for accommodations (Aquino et al., 2025; NCES). 

Accessibility Teaching Tip: Create content with built-in heading styles

Try It This Week: Open one course document, slide deck, or D2L page and look at how you've organized your content. If you've manually changed the font size or made text bold to create headings, replace those with your application's built-in heading styles (or heading tools). Built-in headings make materials easier for everyone to navigate while helping screen readers understand the organization of your content. 

D2L Updates

To learn more or view an example of the following updates, Zoom with us!

Change in Special Course Admin Permissions

To comply with our current D2L contract, we removed the Special Course Admin ability to create new user accounts in order to prohibit the creation of non-TCU user accounts.

Special Course Admin can still enroll existing TCU users in D2L as students in special courses. Enrollments that a) require a role other than Student or b) require a new TCU user account must be submitted as enrollment requests for the Koehler Center to process. 

Courses Now Active by Default

Courses are now active and visible to students by default at the start of the term. Previously, instructors were required to manually activate their courses for student access.

New Content Experience in D2L

As a reminder, the "New Content Experience" (NCE) is D2L’s new streamlined content interface. The "Classic" content experience went away on May 11th. If you did not experiment with NCE before the May 11th deadline, we advise you to do so before the fall term to gain familiarity. Any file uploads  in the course are still available in the "Manage Files" area of the course under "Course Admin."

If you have questions, we encourage you to use the following resources: 

• Watch the following video from D2L on Discovering the New Content Experience!
• Review D2L's Content Experience Resources webpage.
• Explore D2L's Add and Organize Learning Materials webpage.
• Schedule a Zoom appointment with us to explore together. We're here to support you anytime!

Modules & Submodules: A New Look

To learn about the new module/submodule design, view this quick video outlining the different structure for modules and submodules in NCE. Your content will be nested differently in the NCE. This video explains why and offers insights into how to adjust moving forward. 

Tip for Adding Content: "Add Existing" or "Create New"

To add materials in NCE, just open the module you want to add material to under "Content" and then choose "Create New" to build new content (e.g., a new lesson, Video Note, etc.) directly in D2L. Or, include material that you already have on your computer or elsewhere by choosing the blue "Add Existing" option to bring existing files into the module.

For questions, or if you are interested in an event but have a scheduling conflict, please email KoehlerCenter@tcu.edu.We want to work with you!

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