Author: Jim Julius

For those teaching this summer, please see below for quick reminders of important online-focused resources to help you help your students succeed!

Support for You

• Our Canvas start-of-term checklist can help you prepare your classes.
• The MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines provides MiraCosta requirements and recommended practices for online instructors.
• Ongoing faculty support – You can request an appointment with our Instructional Designer anytime.
• Tech Support – Canvas options include 24×7 phone and chat support. Just click the Tech Support button at lower left in Canvas! Zoom tech support for faculty is available through the MiraCosta employee help desk.
• MiraCosta technologies supporting online teaching and learning – please see the last section of this email for an overview, with links to learn more.

Support for Your Students – Please help your students to be aware of and make use of these important services and resources!

• Student Online Academic Readiness workshops – In collaboration with the library, I’ll be offering a number of these during the first week of summer – see all dates and times on the TASC site and in Canvas announcements. These workshops (formerly known as Student Orientation to Online Learning) help to familiarize students with the resources MiraCosta provides online to support them, as well as to adopt habits and attitudes of successful online students. Encourage your students to attend and, if you like, find out which of your students participated in order to incentivize their attendance.
• Online Student Support Access Points – the Student Support Hubin Canvas, accessed via the Student Support button on the left in Canvas, gives quick access to online support from the library, STEM & MLC, online tutoring, writing center, counseling, career center, open computer lab staff, student help desk, health services, CARE team, and more! The Help Hut on the MiraCosta website is also a quick way for students to connect with all kinds of support services including A&R and Financial Aid.
• Tech Support – Also at lower left in Canvas is a button for students to quickly access Tech Support options, including 24×7 phone and chat support from Canvas, and our local MiraCosta student help desk.
• Technology Needs? – Be sure to share the updated CARE form for students to fill out if they need a laptop to succeed this summer.

And please remember, in support of students: Class Availability in Canvas – Faculty teaching distance education (online and hybrid) classes are expected to make their classes available by mid-day on the Monday of the week in which they begin. To learn more, please see MiraCosta Distance Education Class Authentication Compliance, Start-of-Term Availability Procedures, and Recommendations.

MiraCosta’s Online Education Tools

Click the link immediately after each bullet for a detailed MiraCosta-specific overview of each item below. This is not intended as a comprehensive review of all technologies for online teaching supported by the college, but rather a quick look at the essentials available to all faculty. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions about these or other resources.

• Canvas – the #1 tool for faculty and students
• Zoom – if you’re using Zoom, make sure you’re using a pro Zoom account through MiraCosta.
• Canvas Studio – enables faculty and students to create videos while inside Canvas. Faculty can create interactive discussion or quiz activities based on video.
• Pronto is an incredible mobile-friendly and Canvas-integrated messaging platform that’s ready to use in every course.
• NEW Perusall is a social annotation tool available within Canvas that makes it easy for students to comment/discuss right on a text, document, or image.
• NEW Lab Archives Electronic Notebook is an online notebook especially useful for translating lab manuals and student notes/work into the online environment.
• Pope Tech helps faculty detect and correct accessibility issues within Canvas. See also Tips for Creating Accessible Course Content.
• Ally automatically converts content you share through Canvas into multiple formats for students, allowing for listening rather than reading and better access to content on mobile devices.
• PlayPosit – This video interaction tool offers more complexity and options than Studio. Studio is a great place to start, but if you’re looking for more question types to add to your videos, PlayPosit is a great option. 
• Turnitin – help students learn to properly cite sources and avoid plagiarism. Also provides grading and peer review tools for written work.
• Productivity Software, Hardware, and other resources for working from home – this AIS website includes a number of links to helpful resources for being fully equipped when teaching from your home.

Best wishes for summer success!

– Jim

Jim Julius, Ed.D.

Faculty Director, Online Education

Can you believe summer is almost here? Before you go, here are some quick reminders and opportunities as you wrap up spring online classes and look ahead to summer.

Canvas End of Term

After June 7, your spring Canvas classes go into read-only mode for you and your students. If you wish to remove access to any of your course materials for your current students beyond this semester, you need to do so by then. Review our Canvas end-of-term guide for details. It also discusses what you need to do if you have any students who will receive Incomplete grades.

Now and Throughout the Summer: Instructional Designer Support 

If you’d like help with any semester wrap-up tasks, or if you begin working on fall classes during the summer and are looking for support, please connect with our Instructional Designer, Nadia Khan.

Summer Professional Learning Opportunities

• The Online Teaching Conference is back in person, June 29-July 1 in Long Beach. Contact me if you’re interested in funding to support your registration (but I don’t have funds to support travel expenses).  
• You can register now for a great @ONE online teaching summer course. Let me know if you’d like financial support to attend one of these. 
• A free online conference called Cal OER returns for its second year, Aug. 3-5. The call for proposals closes June 6. Conference registration (free) is open now.
• PlayPosit is offering many free webinars this summer. PlayPosit is similar to Canvas Studio, allowing you to embed interactive discussions and assessments within your videos, but provides far more options and activities.
• Prefer to take in some inspiring online education ideas at your own pace? Great online teaching resources created recently by and for MiraCostans include:
  • Recordings of five one-hour workshops about all of the elements on the MiraCosta online teaching self-checklist
  • Weekly online teaching challenges set up this spring by MiraCosta Online Mentors and our instructional designer, with a variety of guided ideas that will help you enhance an online class with a few hours
  • “Five-minute fixes” and “More than five-minute fixes” videos created by MiraCosta Online Mentors
  • MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines, and an ever-growing Canvas course which includes MiraCosta faculty examples of how they have put the online class quality guidelines into practice in Canvas
  • The MiraCosta DE Handbook (approved this month by the Academic Senate!)

Have a fantastic summer!

– Jim

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

One month to go and so much to do! Sorry for another email, but there’s some good stuff here! I’ve tried to keep it brief – please take a quick look…

Fall Schedule Released in SURF, which means …

• Classes assigned to you in SURF for fall have shells available for you to begin developing in Canvas. 
• If any of your fall (or summer!) classes are Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) or Low Textbook Cost (<$40), you should designate them as such in SURF so that the classes will have the appropriate logo in SURF. And don’t forget to inform the bookstore of your course material details, even if you are using zero-cost resources.

Professional Learning Opportunities related to online teaching

• This week:
  • We have a new weekly online challenge this week, led by Laura Paciorek, focused on Offering Choice & Flexibility in online classes.
  • The free online Peralta Online Equity Conference is April 27-29. Check out the program and register!
• Summer:
  • The CCC Online Teaching Conference returns to an in-person event, in Long Beach June 29-July 1. If you would like support to attend, just reply to this email. Online Ed can cover conference registration but likely not hotel expenses.
  • The free online Cal OER conference is August 3-5. The call for proposals is open now through June 6.
• Anytime: Connect with a MiraCosta peer faculty helper for any question related to online teaching, big or small – available through May! And/or schedule an appointment with our Instructional Designer, Nadia Khan.

Canvas Improvement Voting

Canvas users can influence Canvas development through Idea Conversations in the Canvas Community. The CVC has curated a set of links to ideas reflecting input from Canvas users throughout California’s community colleges. Please take a few moments to review these ideas and cast your votes (the linked document includes voting instructions).

Internationalize Your Course, Virtually!

Have your students learn together with students abroad, creating a Virtual International Exchange (VIE). In a VIE, students can study, discuss, or create a project with students from another country. It is an experience that greatly enriches the learning process. If you are interested, the International Education Committee can help you with finding a partner and support you in communicating with faculty abroad, creating and implementing the project, and much more! This is applicable to any discipline. It is possible to work with every part of the world. To learn more, explore the local VIE site, and/or contact Andrea Petri (apetri@miracosta.edu) with any questions you may have.

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

Dear faculty,

I hope your spring is blooming! Lots of great online education professional learning this week and month to provide us with rain and sunshine:

• We have a new weekly online challenge this week, led by Lisa M. Lane, focused on Taming the [Canvas] To-Do List
• If you’re looking for some creative support in getting through the mid-semester time and rebuilding instructional momentum, reach out to a peer faculty mentor and/or our instructional designer
• March 7-11 is the worldwide Open Ed Week – there are dozens of events to choose from! See below, also, for more specific Open Education events and resources from the ASCCC’s OER Initiative.
• Visit tic.miracosta.edu for reminders about other key online education resources and events, including the new required Online Compliance training for distance education, upcoming webinars put on by some of our online tech providers (including Perusall, Playposit, Respondus, and Turnitin), and much more.

Skip below my signature for the latest detailed newsletter full of resources and professional learning opportunities from the ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative!

– Jim

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education
miracosta.edu/online | tic.miracosta.edu

• Discipline Communications – Don’t Miss Out •

The OERI – and ASCCC – use discipline list-servs to share information specific to a given discipline. These one-way disciplines will never overwhelm your inbox and being on your discipline’s list ensures you don’t miss out on any discipline-specific opportunities or events. Sign up for an ASCCC list-serv – or list-servs today. Also consider signing up for the ASCCC OER Initiative list-serv if this message has been forwarded to you.

• OERI Discipline Resources – Archived Webinars and Resource Collections •

The ASCCC OERI Discipline Leads have been busy updating resource lists and making new collections available. Visit our Open Educational Resource by Discipline and Open Educational Resources by TMC pages to access a comprehensive and curated list of resources by discipline or by Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC). If you are using an OER that is not on your discipline’s list, please let us know. In addition to our discipline collections, we have an ever-growing collection of archived webinars that not only offer discipline-specific information but can also expand your knowledge of OER more generally. If you are considering contributing to your local ZTC degree efforts, these resources can help to inform your response.

• OERI Spanish Webinar – March 2022 •

Friday, March 25, 9:00-10:00am
What’s new in Spanish OER?

Are you interested in learning what’s new in Spanish OER? What about using H5P activities as formative assignments? Come and learn what OER faculty are using in their classrooms.  We will also discuss what else is needed in our discipline (specific resources, what classes lack quality OER, etc.) and any other issues or questions that come up along the way.

Register for What’s new in Spanish OER?

• OERI Events – March Weekly Webinars – Back to the Basics •

In the spring 2022 term, our Weekly OER Webinars are on Fridays from 10:30 – 11:30 am. Weekly webinars are archived. The ASCCC OERI will provide automated captioning for all webinars. If you would like to request live human closed-captioning for any of our offerings, please contact us by e-mail at least 10 business days in advance.

Friday, March 11, 10:00-11:00am
Beginner Series: LibreTexts Level I

LibreTexts is a powerful platform for all things OER – publishing, printing, developing, “remixing”, interactive exercises, homework systems, and more. This webinar will introduce you to LibreTexts and its capabilities, providing an overview of the simplest use-case scenario.

Register for Beginner Series: LibreTexts Level I

Friday, March 18, 10:30-11:30am
Beginner Series: Introduction to MyOpenMath

Have you wanted to create a ZTC course, but the need for a homework system has prevented you from doing so? MyOpenMath is a free and openly licensed homework system that California Community College faculty in math, physics, and other disciplines have been populating for their use – and yours. What is MyOpenMath and what resources are available for your adoption? Join us for a basic overview of MyOpenMath to learn more about this valuable resource. 

Register for Beginner Series: MyOpenMath

Friday, March 25, 10:30-11:30am
Beginner Series: Introduction to H5P

Do you teach in a discipline where interactive exercises are a must? H5P is a tool that can allow you to create the interactive exercises you need or to use the interactive resources developed by others. What does H5P have to offer and where can you access H5P? This session, hosted by LibreTexts, will introduce you to the H5P resources available to you within the LibreTexts platform.

Register for Beginner Series: Introduction to H5P

• OpenEd Week LibreTexts Events •

LibreTexts is an open textbook platform enabling faculty to discover, create, and curate instructional materials in many disciplines. We’ve selected events from the LibreTexts OpenEd Week schedule that we think would be of interest to California Community College faculty – and many feature your CCC colleagues. Registration is not required. Access all LibreTexts OpenEd Week events.

March 7, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Co-Authoring OER in LibreTexts

This session will present strategies developed to help authors collaboratively create resources using the LibreTexts platform.

Join Co-Authoring OER in LibreTexts, 11:00 am March 7

March 7, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Leveraging OER to Increase Access to and Engagement with Ancient and Medieval Texts

This presentation discusses how student- and instructor-created and annotated OER editions and translations of ancient and medieval texts can increase the accessibility of and engagement with challenging primary sources. Example units for ancient history and literature, medieval history, and gender and women’s studies will be shared.

Join Leveraging OER to Increase Access to and Engagement with Ancient and Medieval Texts, 12:00 pm March 7

March 7, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Introduction to the LibreVerse

Join LibreTexts Executive Director, Delmar Larsen, as he introduces you to the LibreTexts OER creation and hosting platform. 

Join Introduction to the LibreVerse, 3:00 pm March 7

March 8, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Making the Most of an Open Textbook

We will discuss how to bring your LibreTexts book into your LMS so students encounter textbook materials as needed in connection with assignments. We will also see how to assign and give credit for social annotation of the assigned textbook readings and revise the book in response to student feedback.

Join Making the Most of an Open Textbook, 1:00 pm March 8

March 9, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Mastering ADAPT – The LibreTexts Homework System

Join LibreTexts Executive Director, Delmar Larsen, as he gives you an inside look at LibreTexts open homework system, Adapt. Account creation is strongly recommended before attending the session. Create a free account before attending this session.

Join Mastering ADAPT – The LibreTexts Homework System, 3:00 pm March 9

March 10, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
LibreTexts Accessibility Updates

Join LibreTexts accessibility team as they discuss their latest efforts to make the LibreTexts more accessible to users.

Join LibreTexts Accessibility Updates, 9:00 am March 10

March 10, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Using LibreTexts to Create Interactive OER Content for Your Courses

See how to take OER textbooks and customize them to include multimedia and interactivity using LibreTexts. The remixed versions of the OpenStax calculus and statistics books will be shown, but the remixing can be accomplished with any OER textbook.

Join Using LibreTexts to Create Interactive OER Content for Your Courses, 1:00 pm March 10

March 11, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
H5P in LibreStudio: Building Interactive Content for your Textbook

Join LibreTexts Senior Product Manager, Yasin Dahi, in conversation with faculty who are using LibreTexts LibreStudio software to generate H5P exercises for their courses. 

Join H5P in LibreStudio: Building Interactive Content for your Textbook, 11:00 am March 11