CMU faculty embracing digital learning in a University-wide fellows program

Students are typically deemed tech savvy, regularly using office programs, social media, and even AI in their day-to-day. Yet, working with these tools in discipline-specific ways to learn specific digital literacy skills in their major may not be as common.     

To further students’ learning and career-readiness throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, 34 faculty members across all seven academic colleges at Central Michigan University are participating in an initiative led by Park Library to improve the teaching of digital literacy in their classrooms.   

“Digital and multimedia assignments teach students valuable skills in digital literacy, communicating information, and demonstrating their learning,” according to the Arts, Media & Design Librarian Katie Edmiston. “By utilizing formats outside of a traditional written assignment, they are actively creating-to-learn with digital literacy.”   

The cohort – the Digital Learning & Leadership Faculty Fellows – connects faculty to learn from one another and to identify the various tools available to teach digital learning and visual communication. Using the Adobe programs available to all CMU users through the Adobe Creative Campus Initiative, they have been tasked with creating an assignment for one of their courses that requires students to design a digital or multimedia project, such as a digital flyer, website, podcast, or video.   

Monthly meetings are led by Edmiston and CEHS Interim Associate Dean Dr. Troy Hicks. During these two-hour workshops, faculty engage in creative activities and conversations surrounding teaching digital skills in the classroom.   

Each month’s demonstration lesson is designed to introduce faculty to a different digital or multimedia project type and how it can be adapted to their courses’ learning objectives and content. Through the four meetings of the fall semester, the cohort faculty have engaged in designing webpages, infographics, and short-form video.  

The year-long cohort, funded by CMU Libraries and Adobe, will culminate in a Digital Learning Showcase held on Friday, April 17, 2026, where faculty will display the digital projects their students have created. The Showcase will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Biosciences 1015, and is open to all students, staff and faculty at CMU who are interested in digital literacy and learning.   

“My experience in the Digital Learning & Leadership Faculty Fellows program has been extremely positive so far,” says Dr. Su Kyoung An, a faculty member in Fashion, Interior Design, and Merchandising. “The workshops, hands-on activities, and instructional resources—especially those related to Adobe Express—have been the most impactful. Seeing practical examples of how digital tools can enhance teaching across disciplines has helped me think creatively about integrating multimedia assignments into my own courses.”  

In the second semester of the fellowship, new digital and multimedia assignments are being introduced in classes across campus, inviting students to enhance their current digital skills. New assignments include webpages and online portfolios summarizing work completed throughout the semester, digital research posters, and adapting written essays into digital forms such as a webpage or video.   

Building on CMU’s vision to grow “innovators, learners, and leaders,” all newly designed assignments will be gathered into an online portal for CMU faculty to access, which will be a valuable resource as CMU furthers the goal of teaching digital literacy across campus.   

We invite you to join us on April 17, 2026, to see what all the Faculty Fellows have achieved by the end of the semester!  For more information, please contact Katie Edmiston at: edmis2k@cmich.edu.