For ALL faculty:
Canvas Transition
Blackboard and Moodle will no longer be available after spring 2018 – if you haven’t already begun learning Canvas, it’s time! Please see the TIC page on Canvas for lots of great resources. The Transition Team will be offering many Flex week workshops and more 4-week online Canvas training classes this fall – stay tuned.
Online Academic Support Resources for ALL Students
As you finalize your syllabi and course resources, please make your students aware of online tutoring, online writing center, and the 24×7 online ask-a-librarian service. These services are open to all MiraCosta students in any class!
Preferred Name Change Form for Students
A&R now has a very simple Preferred Name Change form up for students. Preferred name is the default name automatically used on class rosters and student ID cards, in class systems online (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle), and to borrow items from the college library. This form is linked in two places on the A&R site:
It can be faxed or emailed to A&R so students don’t even need to come to campus. This is especially important as we transition to Canvas since unlike Blackboard, students don’t have a way to alter their first name within Canvas. So, for students who prefer to be known by a different name from their legal/formal name on record, this is a great option.
Open Educational Resources (OER) Update
Check out MiraCosta’s brand new OER website to learn more and find links to top sites with OER that might work for you and your students! MiraCosta College obtained about $150,000 in grant funds in the last year to expand adoption of free and open course materials. OER, while usually found online, can also be in print and can be used in any class. SB 1359, passed last fall, will require that our class schedule contain a special notation of all zero-textbook-cost classes starting in spring 2018.
For faculty teaching at least one online/hybrid class this fall:
Fall Student Orientations to Online Learning
I will offer many online learning orientation sessions this fall – 6 for Blackboard and 9 for Canvas. Please share the schedule with your online/hybrid students and encourage their attendance. You may pull a report from the SURF Class Roster to see which of your students have attended an orientation session if you wish to require this or offer extra credit, as many instructors do. Research conducted this summer shows that over the last 3 years 72.8% of those who attended the SOOL in the same or a previous term successfully completed DE courses vs. a 64.7% DE success rate for students who have not attended a SOOL.
Please Update Online Class Schedule
For all those teaching an online or hybrid course this fall, please make sure your class description is up to date on the separate Online Class Schedule page. Students use this page to learn how to get started with your class, and you can provide other important information there to help students prepare for success. See detailed instructions if needed.
NetTutor Online Tutoring Service
In addition to eTutoring, an online tutoring option for MiraCosta distance education classes is NetTutor. Unlike eTutoring, NetTutor provides 24×7 coverage of just about any academic subject, and is available via a link embedded within your class course management system environment (Blackboard or Canvas). The link would take students directly to the subject-specific tutoring area with no additional login required. Also with NetTutor, each instructor may specify “Rules of Engagement” that inform tutors about the approach and resources you would like them to use when working with your students. Contact me if you’re interested in NetTutor for your fall class(es).
Distance Education Requirements and Guidelines
Please review the MiraCosta online class quality guidelines. The document has two parts – (I) Essential elements for all distance education classes as already required in department and college policies (especially AP 4105 and the Syllabus Checklist), and (II) Good practices featuring principles and examples commonly recommended for consideration in online education. See also a 1-page handout and a 50-minute archive of a workshop I conducted last fall on this document.
Captioning Support
Videos shared online with students should be captioned. 3CMediaSolutions is a video storage and streaming system for California Community College faculty that provides free professional captioning as an option when you upload your media to the site. It’s a great way to manage your media and to get everything captioned. You can also work with Robert Erichsen of DSPS to submit media for captioning through a special grant-funded program. Please contact him to learn more: rerichsen@miracosta.edu
Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education
