August 2026 Academic Technology Newsletter

Welcome back, Matador faculty! As we launch into Fall 2026, Academic Technology is excited to introduce our new certificate-earning Pathways. Choose a pathway, complete four workshops, put your learning into practice, and earn a certificate that can be included in your Professional Information File (PIF).

This month, we're spotlighting Digital Equity Fellow Kari McCoy representing CSUN’s AI literacy at AI4, and Dr. Joyce Marie Brusasco and alumna Karen Sobelman's presentation on AI-resistant assignments. Learn about the new UDC AI evaluation tools ahead of the ADA Title II update, and welcome Trace Rosser and Denise Casanave to our team.

You'll also notice CSUN's modernized single sign-on page brings a fresh look while keeping your familiar login credentials and Duo MFA intact. Plus, gear up for the semester with hands-on sessions including the Accessible Instructional Materials Webinar, the New CSU AIM Community of Practice, Introduction to Accessibility and Universal Design, the Canvas Course Set Up Clinic, AI Syllabus Statement Creation, Poll Everywhere, Designing with Adobe Express, and Turnitin AI Detection.

Let's have a fantastic fall semester!

Introducing the Faculty Technology Center’s Pathways—a new opportunity for faculty to build practical teaching technology skills through a focused series of workshops. Choose the pathway that best supports your teaching goals and explore strategies, tools, and practices you can immediately put to work in your courses. Faculty will also earn a certificate upon completion.

CSUN Digital Equity Fellow and doctoral candidate Kari McCoy presented her research at the AI4 2026 conference, positioning AI literacy as a digital equity priority. Her findings reveal that structured educational training empowers students to overcome fear and build practical confidence for an AI-driven workforce.

CSUN expertise was on full display at the 2026 California Community Colleges Online Teaching Conference, where Dr. Joyce Marie Brusasco and alumna Karen Sobelman presented a featured session on AI-resistant assignments to a standing-room-only audience of more than 250 educators.

Ready to enhance your online teaching and AI skills this fall? Online Course Services (OCS) offers expert-led CSU training designed for faculty and staff. Build effective online learning experiences and explore practical AI tools for higher education.

The Universal Design Center’s 8-Point Basic Accessibility Evaluation helps catch issues that automated accessibility checkers often miss. Now, a new AI-powered tool streamlines parts of the review process, automating checks that once required manual evaluation while supporting more accessible digital content.

The Academic Technology Team welcomes Trace Rosser as Lecture Capture Coordinator and Denise Casanave as Accessibility Compliance Analyst. Trace, a CSUN alumnus and former ESPN studio operator, supports faculty with classroom media, while Denise brings 25+ years of CSUN experience to advance digital accessibility campus-wide.

The update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II takes effect on April 26, 2027! The Chancellor’s Office and our own Universal Design Center (UDC) offer a variety of resources to help you reach your accessibility goals. Accessibility Made Easier: New Tools & Workshops

Make your course materials accessible to all students. This webinar covers practical techniques for creating accessible documents, presentations, media, and digital content. Learn how small changes can improve usability, support compliance, and enhance the learning experience.

For faculty, led by a CSU faculty member. Bring your questions about accessibility; share and learn from your colleagues. Agenda to follow.

In this introductory session, participants will explore essential strategies and principles of accessibility and universal design aimed at fostering inclusive learning environments. The session will highlight practical approaches to supporting the diverse needs of students, faculty, and staff by creating materials and experiences that are accessible to all.

Creating accessible videos ensures that all students—regardless of ability—can engage with and benefit from video content. This includes the integration of captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions. In this session, participants will be introduced to Panopto, a new platform integrated with Canvas and Zoom, offering features such as lecture recording, screencasting, video streaming, automated captioning, and content management. The session also covers accessibility features across other commonly used platforms.

Find more professional development opportunities on the Academic Technology workshop calendar. Can't make it to a workshop? Book an appointment with one of our team members.

Address AI in your course syllabi.  This workshop provides faculty with practical language, examples, and resources for defining permissible and prohibited uses of AI. Participants will explore approaches for guiding responsible student use, ensuring academic integrity, and co-creating clear AI statements with their classes.

Hosted by: Dr. Joyce Marie Brusasco

Get hands-on assistance with CSUN’s Instructional Technologists to do a check up of your Canvas courses. Refine your course and make sure you’re ready to start the semester with success! Activities in the clinic may include: Adding a video welcome message to your course, ensuring your students have access to your Canvas course, checking assignment and quiz due dates, uploading a current class syllabus, and checking your course for broken links.

Hosted by: Kacee Williams, M.Ed.

Looking for an accessible graphic design tool supported by CSUN? This workshop introduces Adobe Express as a flexible platform for creating visual projects including infographics, flyers, posters, slide decks, and social-style graphics. Participants will learn how to use templates, layouts, branding tools, and quick design features to create polished materials for academic, professional, or creative use. Ideal for faculty, staff, and students who want Canva-style simplicity with Adobe-powered features.

Hosted by: Megan Jones, MA

Poll Everywhere is an interactive, web-based student response system that engages learners through activities like word clouds, Q&A, and polls. Students can participate using a computer, tablet, or phone, and instructors can integrate responses with Canvas for grading. This workshop will cover getting started with Poll Everywhere, exploring activity types such as word clouds, and creating your own interactive activities.

Hosted by: Kacee Williams, M. Ed.

Gain a clear understanding of how Turnitin’s AI detection works, its limitations, and best practices for interpreting reports. This session helps faculty navigate AI-related integrity concerns and communicate clear expectations to students.

Hosted by: Herbert Serrano, MLIS

GoReact is an interactive platform for providing extensive feedback, critique, and grading of student video submissions. This workshop will help you get started using GoReact and will cover topics such as creating a GoReact assignment, reviewing submissions, and providing time-stamped feedback.

Hosted by: Megan Jones, MA

Share topics you would like to see covered in a future newsletter, give us feedback on your experience with instructional technology, or let us know of workshop resources you are interested in with the Academic Technology Feedback Form.

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