Author: Jim Julius

Good morning, MiraCosta faculty! We’re on day 4 of our 5 day workshop sprint. How are your preparations going? Ready for a boost? Check out a workshop today, or pop in for some online 1-1 support with a colleague! Check out the details below…

Today (Thursday), in our Zoom meeting for online workshops (same Zoom link for all workshops, all day, all week!) 

9 – 10 AM – Virtual Coffee Hour

Join colleagues for socializing, brainstorming, Q&A, demonstrations, and Zoom practice.

10am – 12pm – Canvas Course Design Overview – Robert Kelley

The workshop covers an approach to effectively set up a Canvas Course. You’ll see a step-by-step walk through in how to design a course using Canvas – with a discussion of both pedagogy and technology. Note that there are many ways to set up a Canvas Course – what you will see is just one possibility – but enough to get you started

12pm – 1pm – Library Resources – Librarians

This session will go over the library’s online resources and how to incorporate them into your courses. We will also have time for individual q & a.

1pm – 3pm – Screencasting – Robert Kelley

Screencasting enables you to ‘Show and Tell’ You can record and share with your students whatever you wish to display on your computer screen, while you are talking about it (e.g. using a microphone). Screencasting is a great way to share mini-lecturettes, make quick replies to students, demonstrate a method, or provide students with feedback on their assignments/quizzes. Importantly, you’ll get hands on experience with how to do this easily and for free!

3pm – 4pm – Making the Most of Canvas Discussions – Sean Davis

During this interactive workshop, we will participate in different kinds of discussions using the tools in Canvas and Zoom.
This workshop will cover:

• How to set up a Canvas Discussion Forum
• Using Zoom in tandem with Canvas Discussions
• Learn how to put students into groups (and have them self-enroll in groups) and facilitate a group discussion
• Using SpeedGrader to assess discussions

4 – 5 PM – Virtual Happy Hour

Join colleagues for socializing, brainstorming, Q&A, demonstrations, and Zoom practice.

Also today, 1-1 support is available in Zoom from 10 am – 4 pm and 7 – 10 pm – connect with volunteer colleagues to help you think through your technological and pedagogical shifts!

Remember also:

• You can view the full schedule of this week’s workshops and collegial support, and find colleagues who will provide phone support if Zoom isn’t your thing. At this link you’ll also find on the workshop schedule links to recordings of all workshops from the week so far!
• You can also contact a colleague from your discipline who is available for support
• The Remote Instruction FAQs are an important reference if you have questions about the shift to Remote Instruction
• The Canvas module on Instructional Continuity contains lots of practical advice and links to tutorials to help you through your transitional process
• There’s an open Google doc for MiraCosta faculty to share remote instruction resources and ideas – good stuff is being added there daily, including presentation slides and resources from this week’s workshops

Keep on keepin’ on,

– Sean and Jim

Good morning, MiraCosta faculty! Welcome to day 2 of the rest of our lives (or maybe just the rest of spring semester) –

Today (Tuesday), in our Zoom meeting for online workshops (same Zoom link for all workshops, all day, all week!) 

9 – 10 AM – Virtual Coffee Hour

Join colleagues for socializing, brainstorming, Q&A, demonstrations, and Zoom practice.

10 AM – 12 PM – Basic Strategies for Incorporating Active Learning in the Online Classroom – Dominique Ingato

Feeling overwhelmed about the quick transition to teaching fully online? Unsure how you can keep your students interactive in the learning process? This workshop will go over some simple methods of infusing active learning into your online classes. We will be going over the basics of Zoom and Canvas. We will also explore free online tools like Kahoot, Mentimeter and Poll Everywhere. This workshop has been designed for faculty with little to no experience teaching online.

12 – 2 PM A Walkthrough of Options for Moving Classroom Activities Online – Liezl Madrona, Sean Davis, and Jim Julius

With the rapid transition of face-to-face classes into the online environment, many faculty have questions about how to translate on-ground curriculum into Canvas for instructional continuity. Learn how you can translate your activities into Canvas and online activities. For instance, if in class you would have conducted a lecture, held a structured class discussion or an open-ended Q&A session, divided students into groups for activities, given a quiz, assigned peer work, had students present – how can you achieve any of these in Canvas? This session will provide an overview of Canvas activity setup, and provide resources to assist with rapid course development, focused on the needs and questions of those in attendance.

2 – 3 PM Teaching with Zoom – Rick Cassoni

CSIT Department faculty member Rick Cassoni will show techniques that faculty can potentially use for distant (remote) instruction. The session will include the following topics:

• How to Get / Obtain Zoom
• Updating Profile Pix, Cloud Recordings, and Personal Meeting ID (PMI) settings
• Launching / Starting Zoom
• Creating Weekly Intro Videos that kicks off and summarizes the week of instruction
• Tips and Thoughts for (Synchronous) Instruction Techniques
• Tips and Thoughts for Student (Office) Hours including screen sharing and gaining remote access to a student’s computer

3 – 4 PM Connecting with Students in Zoom – curry mitchell

curry will share a few simple activities and methods for scaffolding an interactive, collaborative Zoom workshop. Then we will spend some time in small groups discussing how Zoom might help us support our students through the remainder of the semester. At the end of the meeting, we will discuss flexible and compassionate practices–such as attendance policies and creating asynchronous means for participation–to ensure we’re using Zoom to help each other (faculty and students) cross the finish line.

***Note: We will assume you are familiar with Zoom’s basic tools, so if you are brand new to Zoom, please attend Rick Cassoni’s workshop prior to this one or please watch these brief tutorials on using Zoom before the workshop begins: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials

4 – 5 PM – Virtual Happy Hour

Join colleagues for socializing, brainstorming, Q&A, demonstrations, and Zoom practice.

Also today, 1-1 support is available in Zoom from 10 am – 4 pm and 7 – 10 pm – connect with volunteer colleagues to help you think through your technological and pedagogical shifts!

Remember also:

• You can view the full schedule of this week’s workshops and collegial support, and find colleagues who will provide phone support if Zoom isn’t your thing. At this link you’ll also find on the workshop schedule links to recordings of all workshops from yesterday!
• You can also contact a colleague from your discipline who is available for support
• The Remote Instruction FAQs are an important reference if you have questions about the shift to Remote Instruction
• The Canvas module on Instructional Continuity contains lots of practical advice and links to tutorials to help you through your transitional process
• There’s an open Google doc for MiraCosta faculty to share remote instruction resources and ideas

Best wishes for a great day,

Jim & Sean

Canvas updates & reminders

• MiraCosta’s Start of Semester Canvas Checklist has great tips and links to tutorials as you set up your classes in Canvas.
• If you haven’t heard, Canvas Studio is a video tool built into Canvas that allows you to create screencasts, turn videos into discussions, and even embed quiz questions within videos. Check out our local introductory page or jump straight to Canvas’s full set of Studio tutorials.
• Point your students to the Student Support button on the left in Canvas for quick access to online support from the library, tutoring, writing center, counseling, career center, and more!
• Reminder: we are still working on a process for combining Canvas classes that address FERPA concerns, so this is not being done for spring.
• MiraCosta’s main Canvas page for faculty includes tons of support resources, recorded workshops, and much more – be sure to check it out!

Preferred names & pronouns for students in SURF & Canvas

• Please make sure that students know that if they prefer to be known by a different name from their legal/formal name, they may indicate their preferred name via SURF – instructions are here. Preferred name is used in Canvas, on class rosters, and elsewhere around MiraCosta.
• Canvas also includes NameCoach, a tool that allows students to voice-record their own names and indicate their pronouns, making it easier to establish respectful relationships in classroom communities, whether the class meets online or in person. Encourage your students to record their names and specify their pronouns – share this MiraCosta NameCoach tutorial with them (and make sure you do it, too!).

Teaching classes with textbook costs under $40 this spring?

• If you are teaching any spring classes that have course material costs of $0 (zero) or under $40 (low), please be sure to designate those classes as such in SURF. This enables your class to receive a special denotation in SURF and also to be listed on the ZTC/LTC page. See directions here.

Teaching online or hybrid classes this spring?

• I’ll be offering many Student Orientation to Online Learning student workshops over the first three weeks of the spring semester – see all dates and times on the TASC site and in Canvas announcements. Encourage your students to attend and, if you like, find out which of your students participated in order to award extra credit.
• In addition to our standard online tutoring support, online and hybrid classes may also use NetTutor, which you can provide access to directly within your canvas class.
• Remember that regular effective student-to-student contact is now required for all distance education classes by California Title 5. We’ll be updating our local DE policies and guidelines this spring to address this.

Online Teaching Conference and other professional learning

• The CCC Online Teaching Conference moves to Pasadena this year, June 17-19. Online Ed will fund attendance including hotel for MiraCostans who present at OTC. The Call for Proposals is open now through Jan. 31. If you’d like to go but don’t want to submit a proposal, look for more information later in the spring about potential support.
• @ONE offers classes for CCC faculty ranging from introductory and intermediate courses about online education, to more focused learning experiences related to topics such as culturally responsive teaching, accessibility, assessment, and much more. New facilitated classes begin January 13, and there are many self-paced classes available anytime – check out the catalog. MiraCosta travel funds can be used to pay for classes that have a cost – if you need funding please reach out to me!
• If you teach a fully online C-ID approved course, you are eligible to receive support from the Online Education Initiative. Learn more about the Course Design Academy and/or signup p for an upcoming informational meeting.!

Happy spring!

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education