Monthly Summary
In February, Linda Smarzik and Karina Hernandez led several key outreach initiatives, including a meeting with Kathy Dowdy from Adult Education to understand their registration process and explore alignment opportunities. They continued collaboration with Nonprofit Austin to develop a paid model for microcredentials and participated in the Digital Badging Subcommittee. Preparations for the AI Advisory Committee meeting were made with Mary Kohls, and Linda provided coaching to Chris Bunton for his role as committee chair. The AI Advisory Committee meeting was successfully facilitated, focusing on revising the structure and content of AI microcredentials. Additionally, Linda participated in the Digital Equity Coalition’s “AI Literacy for ALL” Executive Briefing and met with Sandip Debnath and Linda Rodriguez from the Austin Public Library to discuss potential partnerships and refinements in the AI microcredential framework.
On the microcredentials front, migration from Brightspace Leap to Blackboard Ultra continued, alongside development on the Systems Thinking and the newly begun Project Management microcredentials. The Spring Session #1 commenced on February 3rd, and a paid model pilot was launched in collaboration with Austin Non-Profit. Data highlights include 235 students enrolling through the opt-in process for the first semester session in Spring 2025.
Highlights
Outreach
- Linda Smarzik and Karina Hernandez met with Kathy Dowdy (Adult Education) to learn more about their registration process and explore potential alignment.
- Continued collaboration with Nonprofit Austin to develop a paid model for offering microcredentials through their platform.
- Linda Smarzik participated in the Digital Badging Subcommittee.
- Linda Smarzik and Karina Hernandez with Mary Kohls to plan the upcoming AI Advisory Committee meeting.
- Linda Smarzik coached Chris Bunton, in preparation for chairing the Advisory Committee.
- Linda Smarzik and Karina Hernandez facilitated and presented at the AI Advisory Committee meeting to review and revise the structure and content of the AI microcredentials.
- Linda Smarzik participated in the Digital Equity Coalition’s “AI Literacy for ALL” Executive Briefing to stay aligned with initiatives.
- Linda Smarzik and Karina Hernandez met with Sandip Debnath to discuss opportunities and refinement within the AI microcredential framework.
- Linda Smarzik and Karina Hernandez engaged with Linda Rodriguez from the Austin Public Library to explore a potential partnership.
Microcredentials
- The migration of the microcredentials from Brightspace Leap to Blackboard Ultra continued this month.
- Development continued on the Systems Thinking microcredential.
- Development began on the Project Management microcredential.
- Spring Session #1 began on February 3rd
- Paid model pilot was launched in collaboration with Austin Non-Profit
Data
235 Opt-in students enrolled through the opt-in process for the first semester session in Spring 2025.