If terms like "Textbook Equity" and "OER" keep popping into your inbox and you need some clarity about them, tune into this conversation with Textbook Equity Librarian/Professor of Library Services, Anne Marie Gruber, and Textbook Equity Student Advisory Board member Amanda Pregler. Textbook Equity is a campuswide effort to make course materials affordable, accessible, and inclusive. However, cost is only one part of the story. You'll learn how these efforts can impact student success. You will get a plain-language description of the options with innovative examples, and learn where to find help exploring them.
30 Mar 2026
Humanizing the Online Classroom
Dr. Caran Howard and Dr. Gayle Rhineberger reframe online teaching around student needs rather than content delivery. For example, Dr. Rhineberger's students, many of whom work full-time in criminal justice, can't attend synchronous sessions, so she's built a course structure around flexibility, personal connection, and transparency that respects their constraints.
Faculty teaching asynchronous courses will find immediately usable ideas here: structuring discussion boards around student-generated questions, offering flexible meeting times for working professionals, and sharing personality through low-stakes introductions. These aren't theoretical suggestions: they come from years of iterating with real online students.
24 Feb 2026
Human Presence in an Automated World
What gets lost when we automate? Dr. Kevin Mason, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Northern Iowa, uses an unexpected analogy: you can get an efficient cheeseburger at McDonald's, or a better one from someone who cares about the human presence in the process. Applied to education, this raises questions about what automation gains in efficiency versus what it sacrifices in human connection and judgment. In this episode of the CETL Podcast, the conversation traces this tension back through industrial history while keeping the focus practical. For faculty considering AI integration, Dr. Mason offers a framework: identify where human presence matters most in your teaching and protect it.
23 Jan 2026
Student Voice Matters: Participation, Engagement, and Civic Skills
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Allison Rank, who joined the University of Northern Iowa in July 2025 and has already made an enormous impact on campus. Dr. Rank brings together a deep understanding of classroom practice, community engagement, and scholarly research on teaching and civic learning. In this episode, we explore student participation in the college classroom, not just as an instructional strategy but as a foundation for building participatory cultures and democratic skills. Dr. Rank shares insights on how fostering student engagement in our disciplines creates civic learning opportunities that extend far beyond traditional political content. Whether you're looking for practical strategies to increase student participation or are interested in the broader connections between pedagogy and civic engagement, this conversation offers research-informed perspectives on creating inclusive, participatory learning environments.
30 Oct 2025
Beyond the AI Hype: What Students Really Think vs. What They Actually Do
In this episode, Wilson Rojas speaks with Deb Young and Rachel Morgan, faculty members at the University of Northern Iowa, about their research on students' use of AI in first-year writing classes. The conversation explores the implications of their research, the importance of clear communication about AI policies across disciplines, and strategies for helping students build confidence as writers rather than relying solely on AI tools. Deb and Rachel share their insights about why faculty should actively teach about AI, set transparent boundaries, and consider the ethical dimensions of AI use in higher education.
29 Sept 2025
Why Information Literacy Matters More Than Ever
In this episode of the CETL Podcast, host Jonathan Chenoweth sits down with Angie Cox, Associate Professor at UNI’s Rod Library and liaison librarian for several Health Sciences departments, to explore the evolving role of information literacy in higher education. Angie shares how information literacy connects with other key literacies—digital, media, data, and AI—while emphasizing the core skills of finding, evaluating, using, and creating information ethically. She explains how disciplinary contexts shape the ways students and faculty engage with information, and why understanding those differences is essential for effective teaching and learning. The conversation highlights the collaborative role of liaison librarians, who move beyond one-time classroom visits to become long-term partners in the design of courses and assignments. Angie reflects on how the rapid rise of AI literacy is reshaping classroom dynamics, introducing new complexities around privacy, access, ethics, and instructional time. She also discusses the librarian’s role as both a resource and a teaching partner—helping faculty refine assignments, guide students, and navigate a shifting information landscape with confidence and care.
26 Aug 2025
Creating an Accessible Future: CETL Podcast Ep.1
In the first episode of this season of the CETL Podcast, Jonathan Chenoweth hosts a panel discussion on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations influence digital accessibility in higher education, particularly at the University of Northern Iowa. The panel includes:
Leah Gutknecht, Assistant to the President and Director of Civil Rights Compliance at UNI.
Magdalena Galloway, Instructor in Learning Technologies at UNI's College of Education.
Dr. Amy Nielsen, Associate Provost for Faculty at UNI.
The conversation is framed around three key questions:
What is digital accessibility, and why is it important?
What are the challenges this brings to faculty?
How can we address these challenges moving forward?
The panelists offer unique perspectives from the legal, instructional, and administrative sides of the university, highlighting the importance of digital accessibility not just as a mandate but as an opportunity to serve all students at UNI.
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