UND Instructional Design and Technology

09/25/2026

📢 Calling all UND IDT students, alumni, and faculty! The 2027 AECT Online Conference Call for Proposals is officially opening soon. This year's theme focuses on Action Research in Educational Technology.
Let’s showcase the incredible work happening here at UND! 🦅 Check out the details below and start planning your proposal before the November 16 deadline. 👇

📣 Call for Proposals: 2027 AECT Online Conference

We're excited to invite researchers and practitioners to present at the 2027 AECT Online Conference, held virtually the week of April 5, 2027!

This year's theme, Bridging Theory and Practice: Action Research in Educational Technology, is about how scholarship and practice shape one another. We welcome proposals in three formats: Concurrent sessions, Panel Discussions, and Practical Application sessions.

🗓️ Submissions open: October 5, 2026
⏰ Proposals due: November 16, 2026, 11:59pm PT (no extensions!)
🎥 Attendees get access to all session recordings for 90 days after the conference

Join colleagues from around the world and share your work with the AECT community. Learn more and start planning your proposal: https://www.aect.org/events/online-conference/cfp

09/21/2026

This Friday, CEHD is launching a new TED Talk-like speaker series called The Lecture. Selected professors will share their discoveries, experiences, and personal insights from their work and careers. This Friday's speaker is Dr. Jesse Rhoades, head of UND's BiPed Lab and a professor of kinesiology.

After The Lecture, there will be a Q&A followed by a reception. Advance registration is required, so RSVP today.

https://bit.ly/4hyYgeZ

Come support Dr. Rhoades, learn something new, and stay for the reception!

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09/12/2026

Congratulations to Parvej Ahmed and 𝗗𝗿. Woei Hung on presenting their research at the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗖𝗦𝗟𝗦𝗔) 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, hosted at the UND School of Law!

It’s wonderful to see our IDT community contributing to conversations around 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗔𝗜, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻. We’re proud of the work our faculty and students are doing across disciplines.

Congratulations to both! 👏

09/10/2026

🌍 Join us for Fulbright Fridays!

The ND Chapter of the Fulbright Association hosts Dr. Woei Hung, Graduate Director of our Instructional Design & Technology program (EHBS-CEHD), for "What Kyrgyzstan Taught Me."

📅 September 25, 2026
🕐 11:00 a.m. CT
💻 Zoom: https://und.zoom.us/j/92988831170

Get inspired by stories of community engagement and global impact while learning about Fulbright opportunities for research, teaching, and study abroad.

So proud to see our own Graduate Director share his story! Come hang out with us on Zoom 💚

09/06/2026

🎉STUDENT SPOTLIGHT🎉
From leading a department in Ghana to designing the future of learning at UND. 🌟

As we kick off the fall semester, we're excited to introduce you to Pearl Fafa Bansah, a doctoral student in our Instructional Design & Technology (IDT) program!

Before coming to UND, Pearl spent nearly 10 years as a lecturer in Ghana, teaching marketing and project management, and rose to become Head of Department. But after a decade shaping how students learn, she found herself asking a bigger question: not just what we teach, but how do we design learning experiences that truly help people think critically and solve real problems?

That question brought her to UND's IDT program, and in her own words, it's completely transformed how she works:
"The IDT program has transformed the way I approach teaching, course design, research, and the use of technology in education. It has helped me move beyond simply delivering content to intentionally designing learning experiences grounded in theory, research, and learners' needs."

Her take on IDT in one sentence? "A transformative learning community where theory, research, technology, and practice come together to prepare professionals to design meaningful learning experiences."

Welcome to another incredible year, Pearl! We can't wait to see where this journey takes you 💚

08/24/2026

🎉 Big News for the IDT community during this summer!

💰 Congratulations to Dr. Tugba Boz, awarded a $499,663 grant (with co-PIs Dr. Tony Perry, Dr. Naima Kaabouch, and Dr. Prakash Ranganathan) to develop professional learning that integrates AI and cybersecurity into CTE pathways — including a new UND-administered certificate for CTE students across North Dakota. Dr. Boz also co-authored a new publication this month: "Understanding How Elementary Teachers Characterize Science and Engineering Within Classroom Instruction" in the Journal of Science Teacher Education.

🏆 Congratulations to Parvej Ahmed, who has been named the recipient of the 2026 Outstanding Student Practice Award by AECT's International Division — recognizing his work on AI-driven legal education in Bangladesh, including his study "Honing Law Students' Legal Writing Competency with an AI Personal Coach: Does It Work?" The award will be presented at the AECT Convention in Chicago this November.

🎤 And we're proud to see our IDT community well represented at the AECT International Convention (Chicago, Nov 3–7) with 7 accepted papers and roundtables, including work from Dr. Woei Hung, Parvej Ahmed, Pearl Fafa Bansah, Torosa Johur, and colleagues on AI in legal education, instructional scaffolding, learning analytics, and AI-assisted inquiry.

Read the full CEHD Research in Press roundup here: https://blogs.und.edu/cehd/2026/08/cehd-research-in-press-august-2026/


University of North Dakota
UND College of Education and Human Development

NEWS Dr. Tony Perry received a grant from EdFund ($70,000) for an evaluation of recent state investments in CTE, with particular attention to the differential impacts on rural and urban students of consolidating CTE in regional centers. The Grand Forks Herald recently reported on this work and publi...

08/13/2026

🎉 Congratulations to our IDT student, Evelyn! 🎉

We're thrilled to celebrate Evelyn on starting her new position as a General Education Teacher at Anne Carlsen Center! After working with ACC in various roles over the years, Evelyn is continuing to grow with an organization dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for children and young adults with diverse abilities and support needs.

Evelyn brings her experience in education, instructional design, and classroom support into this new role, and most importantly, continues her commitment to learning from and advocating for the students she works with.

Congratulations, Evelyn, we're so proud to have you as part of our UND IDT community! 💙


University of North Dakota
UND College of Education and Human Development

08/10/2026

🌟 As summer winds down, we're kicking things off with a Student Spotlight: Sara! 🌟

We're proud to celebrate Sara, a current student in our UND IDT family! Sara is currently an Instructor in the Occupational Therapy department at UND, where she teaches, supports student recruitment, and provides undergraduate academic advisement, all while still practicing as an Occupational Therapist in the clinic one day a week. Talk about wearing many hats! 👏

Coming from an OT background rather than education, Sara found the IDT program gave her exactly what she needed: a structure for designing instruction that's genuinely meaningful for her students. She's loved being able to apply what she learns directly to the courses she's currently teaching, turning classroom theory into real, immediate impact.

Her advice for anyone teaching in higher education without a background in education? IDT is for you. As Sara puts it: "The IDT program is a fun, creative, and versatile program that truly puts both students in the program and those they will teach at the heart of the learning process."

Thank you, Sara, for being such an inspiring part of our IDT community! 💙


University of North Dakota
UND College of Education and Human Development

07/31/2026

🎉 Proud moment for our IDT program! Two of our faculty members are presenting their research at the 28th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI 2026) in Montreal, Canada — showcasing how our program is contributing to global conversations on human-AI interaction. 🌍🤖

Dr. Woei Hung presents "Distributed Cognition on Steroids in the Era of AI," exploring how Generative AI is reshaping distributed cognition. As GenAI puts powerful collective intelligence at our fingertips, his talk asks: does AI expand human thinking, or take it over?

Tugba Boz presents (virtually) "Exploring Human-AI Collaboration in Rural Classrooms: Insights from the Khanmigo Pilot Study in a Rural School District," sharing findings from an ongoing pilot bringing Khan Academy's AI tutor into grades 3–12 math classrooms facing teacher shortages and limited resources.

Congratulations to both on representing our IDT community on the international stage! 👏

06/07/2026

A meaningful experience representing the UND Instructional Design & Technology program at IgniteND 2026 at Valley City State University. At our program information table, we connected with K-12 educators, administrators, technology coordinators, and other stakeholders from across North Dakota and shared opportunities available through our graduate degree and certificate programs.

University of North Dakota
UND College of Education and Human Development