Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

2026–2027 Academic Year

A Modern Teaching Salon

CRTLE Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are inspired by the intellectual tradition of the Salons of Paris—regular gatherings where thinkers, creators, and practitioners came together to exchange ideas, dialogue, explore emerging questions, and learn through conversation. This is not a class or a workshop!

Like those salons, CRTLE PLCs are designed as intellectual commons for teaching across departments and colleges: spaces where faculty engage in dialogue, experimentation, and collective sense‑making around pedagogy.

Rather than one‑time workshops, PLCs function as sustained, faculty‑driven communities that emphasize:

  • Knowledge sharing across disciplines and teaching contexts to circulate ideas
  • Pedagogical innovation grounded in real classroom practice
  • Think‑tank–style discussion of emerging challenges and opportunities as well as cross‑pollination of ideas across units
  • Crowdsourcing and piloting new ideas in courses, with space to reflect on what works—and what doesn’t
  • Exploratory Talk and Ideas‑in‑Progress: Each meeting will start with: “What’s one teaching question you’re sitting with right now?” and “What did you try since last time—successful or not?”
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Faculty are encouraged to bring works‑in‑progress into the PLC: teaching ideas, assignments, questions, experiments, and even uncertainties. Through regular meetings, guest speakers, and shared reflection, participants collectively surface patterns, refine practices, and contribute to broader campus conversations and problem-solving about teaching and learning.

Across the academic year, PLC participants:

  • Engage in structured discussion and peer‑led knowledge sharing
  • Learn from guest speakers and campus partners
  • Pilot new pedagogical approaches in their own courses
  • Develop their professional knowledge and skills around teaching innovations and seek feedback from students.
  • Create microcontent (e.g., short reflections, examples, templates, or teaching tips) to share insights with the wider faculty community. Microcontent summarizes key ideas for other faculty.
  • Participate in the April CRTLE Faculty Showcase, sharing lessons learned and ideas in progress

Participation in each PLC is intentionally capped (approximately 15–18 faculty) to preserve the conversational, collegial nature of the group and to support meaningful dialogue—mirroring the salon‑style environment that inspires this work. 

2025-2026 PLC

To see the outcomes and overview of the 2025-2026 PLC, click here:

professional-learning-communities
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Academic Year 2026-2027

For the 2026–2027 academic year, CRTLE will offer two PLCs: one focused on online learning (but can be used for face-to-face and hybrid teaching) and one on artificial intelligence and teaching. Occasionally, the two PLC groups will meet together.

Apply Here. Application Deadline is by or before August 1, 2026. 

Apply Here

Benefits for Faculty/Staff:

  • Individual and group technical and pedagogical support and training
  • Interaction with national and international leaders in the field of education
  • Opportunity to experiment among supportive colleagues
  • Connected conversation across disciplines about creating meaningful learning experiences
  • Paid registration for Online Learning Consortium (OLC) online workshop (and ability to earn a certificate for course completion)
  • Completers will receive a certificate, a recognition email sent to their supervisor and dean, and will be recognized at the Faculty and Associates program.
  • Receive 1-2 books on the topic to keep.
  • Welcome luncheon

Expectations:

  • Engage and actively participate in biweekly Teams/virtual meetings per semester (or additional as needed for completion of project)
  • Participate in group attendance and collaboration at a conference in the spring semester
  • Collaborate and share ideas and experience with PLC colleagues
  • Contribute written reflections on PLC activities through designated electronic format
  • Conduct and complete a project, present project progress to PLC group, write a final report
  • Present information and insight gained to the campus community through a spring campus conference and, if desired by participant, at national conferences
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PLC 1: Digital Learning Design Studio

Innovating Online & Hybrid Teaching Together

The Digital Learning Design Studio PLC is designed for faculty who teach online or hybrid courses—and those preparing to do so—who want to intentionally design, refine, and sustain high‑quality digital learning experiences. This PLC focuses on practical, adaptable strategies that faculty can test in their own courses while learning from colleagues across disciplines.

This group serves as both a knowledge‑sharing community and a design studio knowledge sharing space, where participants bring real course challenges, exchange ideas, and collaboratively explore what works (and what doesn’t) in online learning.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

  • Designing engaging, inclusive, and accessible online learning experiences
  • Structuring courses for clarity, consistency, and ease of navigation
  • Supporting student presence, interaction, and motivation in online environments
  • Managing instructor workload and sustainability through intentional, accessible design
  • Using templates and design systems to streamline course development while supporting accessibility at scale

Faculty are strongly encouraged to make use of:

  • LinkedIn Learning for just‑in‑time skill building and exploration of emerging practices
  • DesignPlus (CIto support consistent, accessible, and scalable online course design

Outcomes

By participating in the Digital Learning Design Studio PLC, faculty will:

  • Strengthen confidence and intentionality in online and hybrid course design
  • Pilot at least one new digital teaching or design strategy in a course
  • Receive peer feedback through structured knowledge sharing
  • Contribute to a shared set of online teaching insights and practices at UTA

Format & Schedule

  • Meeting cadence: Every three weeks
  • Format: Virtual (Microsoft Teams)
  • Fall semester: Mid‑September through early December
  • Spring semester: Late January through early April

Tentative meeting dates: Selected Fridays, 1:00-2:30 pm

  • Fall: September 18, October 9, October 30, November 20
  • Spring: January 29, February 19, March 19, April 2
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PLC 2: Teaching in the Age of AI Collaborative

Pedagogy‑First Approaches to AI and Learning

The Teaching in the Age of AI Collaborative brings together faculty who want to thoughtfully explore how generative AI and related technologies are reshaping teaching, learning, and assessment. This PLC takes a pedagogy‑first approach, centering instructional goals, disciplinary values, and student learning rather than tools alone.

This group functions as a think tank and experimentation hub, where faculty collaboratively surface questions, share early experiments, and crowdsource responsible, effective approaches to AI in teaching.

Topics may include:

  • Designing assignments and assessments in AI‑rich learning environments
  • Supporting student AI literacy and critical thinking
  • Developing transparent and ethical guidelines for AI use in courses
  • Using AI to support instructional planning, feedback, and sense‑making
  • Sharing examples of AI use—and intentional non‑use—across disciplines

Faculty are strongly encouraged to make use of LinkedIn Learning to explore AI‑related concepts, teaching strategies, and emerging practices that can inform discussion and experimentation within the PLC.

Outcomes

By participating in the Teaching in the Age of AI Collaborative, faculty will:

  • Develop a clearer framework for responsible, pedagogically grounded AI use
  • Pilot at least one AI‑related instructional strategy or assignment
  • Learn from cross‑disciplinary perspectives on AI and teaching
  • Contribute to campus conversations shaping future‑ready pedagogy

Format & Schedule

  • Meeting cadence: Every three weeks
  • Format: Virtual (Microsoft Teams)
  • Fall semester: Mid‑September through early December
  • Spring semester: Late January through early April

Tentative meeting dates: Selected Fridays, 1:00-2:30 pm

  • Fall: September 18, October 9, October 30, November 20
  • Spring: January 29, February 19, March 19, April 2

Who Should Join a PLC?

PLCs are open to faculty across all colleges and career stages who are interested in:

  • Pedagogical innovation and experimentation
  • Learning from peers across disciplines
  • Sharing ideas, challenges, and emerging practices
  • Shaping the future of teaching at UTA

No prior expertise is required—just curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn and experiment together.

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Led by Expert Facilitators:

Both PLCs are led by experienced faculty facilitators with deep expertise in teaching innovation, who guide the groups in the spirit of a modern teaching salon. Rather than serving as lecturers, facilitators act as hosts and conversation stewards—curating meaningful questions, inviting dialogue, and creating space for shared inquiry and experimentation. Drawing inspiration from the salon tradition, facilitators support a collegial, intellectually generative environment where ideas evolve through discussion, reflection, and peer feedback. They help participants surface patterns across disciplines, connect individual experiments to broader pedagogical questions, and engage thoughtfully with guest speakers and campus partners. Throughout the year, facilitators foster a culture that values curiosity, works‑in‑progress, and collaborative sense‑making, ensuring the PLCs remain inclusive, dynamic spaces for faculty learning and innovation.

 

When spider webs unite they can tie up a lion
African Proverb