Author: Jim Julius

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

February is already here! Still polishing your class design and online teaching skills? There are so many great opportunities and resources!

First I want to highlight something 💥 brand spanking new 💥 . Our MiraCosta Online Mentor faculty and instructional designer are putting together a series of weekly challenges to be held throughout this spring!

• Each challenge will enable you to make a small but important improvement to your classes
• Each challenge is designed to require no more than 3 hours of your time
• You are welcome to participate as much or little as you like
• The challenges will be based in our new MiraCosta Teaching Collaborative space in Canvas (feel free to take a peek!)
• The first challenge will start on Feb. 7 – look for more info coming soon!

Beyond that, I invite you to check out our TIC home page which includes essential information for any MiraCosta faculty member teaching using online technologies. It now includes:

• links to recordings of our workshop series from Flex week about the items on the new required self-checklist for online teaching
• links to register for online teaching webinars coming up soon, offered by technology providers such as Perusall, Pronto, PlayPosit, and Respondus, as well as from @ONE.
• faculty support options including MiraCosta Online Mentor and the MiraCosta Instructional Designer, Nadia Khan

Finally, a reminder that Student Online Academic Readiness workshops are continuing this week and next – please share the schedule and signup form with your students if you’d like to encourage them to attend a one hour workshop where they will get tips on Zoom, Canvas, time management, online library resources, and all the amazing forms of support that MiraCosta provides to them online.

– Jim

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

Quick reminders for all faculty of important online-focused resources to help you prepare to help your students succeed this spring!

Support for You

• Open faculty support hours during Flex Week have been added to the Flex week schedule: Wednesday night 7-9 pm, Thursday 9-11 am, and Friday 1:30-3:30 pm. Drop in for 1-1 support from online teaching expert guides with any question you might have as you prep for spring! There are still many fantastic online-focused Flex workshops coming up, too.
• 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 from MiraCosta Peer Mentor Facutly and/or from our Instructional Designer anytime. Just click a link to get started. 
• 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 – In collaboration with the library, I’ll be offering about 20 workshops during the spring – 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. The Student Support Guide is a PDF providing an overview of all MiraCosta services.
• 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 CARE form for students to fill out if they need a laptop and/or hotspot to succeed this spring.

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 – Many of you are again using Zoom, at least to start this spring. Please make sure you’re using a pro Zoom account through MiraCosta.
• Canvas Studio – This great tool 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 – Many faculty use Turnitin to help students learn to properly cite sources and avoid plagiarism, as well as to assist with grading and peer review processes 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 a strong start to spring!

– Jim

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

Dear MiraCosta Faculty,

As we near the much-needed winter break, here are some reminders and resources to help you reach the finish line, and perhaps, to begin spring preparation.

Canvas End of Term

After Dec. 31, your fall 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.

Speaking of Canvas, if you like, you can read more from Instructure about the Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage that affected Canvas last week.

MiraCosta Online Mentors and Instructional Designer Support

If you’d like help with any semester wrap-up tasks, or as you begin working on spring classes, some of our MiraCosta peer support faculty are available over break (yes, they will continue to be available in spring, hooray), and our Instructional Designer, Nadia Khan, is available as well over the break and into the spring. Click either link to make a connection!

Please also check out the helpful “five-minute fixes” and “more than five-minute fixes” videos some of our amazing Online Mentor faculty have created to inspire and support your online teaching!

SOOL is Now SOAR

We’re changing the name of what used to be the Student Orientation to Online Learning to SOAR: Student Online Academic Readiness. In partnership with librarians, we’ve already lined up 20 workshop times for the spring semester – please feel free to recommend this to your students as you build syllabi and welcome pages for your classes! As always, we’ll have Canvas announcements reminding students of sessions each week. And as always, you can check to see if your students have attended one of these workshops in order to incentivize their participation.

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

• The Online Teaching Conference. Is scheduled to take place in person this summer, June 29-July 1, in Long Beach. More details will come in 2022, but the call for proposals is open now through January 31 if you’re interested in presenting.
• @ONE has opened registration for free spring webinars on equity, with two focused on grading practices. You can also register for a number of @ONE online teaching courses starting in early spring, and they are offering 25% discount on courses starting before April with coupon code PD4U_2022. Let me know if you’d like financial support to register for one of these. 

Spring Online Ed Flex Planning – Got Something to Share?

I’m pulling together Flex week online ed workshops around topics including student-instructor interaction, student-student interaction, accessibility, and proactive support of students through monitoring engagement and progress. I’d love to include diverse faculty voices/examples in these sessions – please let me know if you’d be interested in sharing your practices in one of these workshops!

Wishing you peace, joy, and rest for your winter break!

– Jim

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

Many wonderful professional learning opportunities to enhance your online instructional skills and knowledge are coming up! Please see below, and let me know if you are looking for something beyond what’s listed here!

MIRACOSTA

• Anytime: Connect with a MiraCosta peer faculty helper for any question related to online teaching, big or small!
  
• Five Minute Fixes to Simplify Online Teaching – Tues. Oct. 5, 8 pm in Zoom (no registration needed)
  Want to make a quick fix that makes a difference? We’ll share ideas for how to prevent students getting lost, liven up discussion, stop spending so much time grading, and answer fewer student questions. See how you can simplify your online teaching. Presented by Laura Paciorek and Lisa M. Lane, sponsored by MiraCosta Online Mentors.

• Faculty Show & Tell – Tues. Oct. 12 & 26, Nov. 9 & 30, 2-3 pm in Zoom (no registration needed)
  Join me, Lauren McFall, and Sean Davis for open discussion allowing us to connect with colleagues, consider new possibilities, and potentially find our next collaboration.

CANVAS

• InstructureCon, Canvas’s annual conference, is Thursday, Oct. 7. It’s fully online and fully free! Click the link to learn more and register.

ASCCC OER INITIATIVE WEBINARS (Click links to register)

•   OER for Administrators – Fri., Oct. 8, 10:30-11:30 am
  What should administrators know about OER? What do administrators want to know about OER? How do faculty advocate for OER with their administrators? Join us to discuss approaches to turning your administrators into OER supporters – and fellow advocates.

•  OER Basics for the Less Familiar – Fri., Oct. 15, 10:30-11:30 am
  Are you interested in OER but not quite sure where to start? We can help! Join us to learn more about what OER is and what it allows you to do as well as compelling reasons to consider using OER in your teaching.
  
• Remixing Spanish OER – Fri., Oct. 15, 1-2:00 pm
  Are you interested in searching for Spanish OER? What about remixing OERs? Come and learn about search options and how Spanish instructors have remixed different Spanish OERs for their courses.

• Saddleback College: Building Zero Textbook Cost Momentum Over 5 Years – Fri., Oct. 22, 10:30-11:30 am
  The OER/ZTC movement has grown exponentially at Saddleback College. Join us for a presentation on how we started with only six OER faculty and advanced OER/ZTC on our campus to now offer 26 ZTC Degree/Certificate Pathways. Topics include: beginning stages, building relationships around campus, stipends, marketing, and data.

•  Equity from the Start, Utilizing HEERF (Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds) for OER – Fri., Oct. 29, 10:30-11:30 am
  Looking to leverage HEERF funds to support OER at your college? Then this webinar is for you! Join faculty and staff from Contra Costa Community College District as they describe how they joined forces to transform small, independent OER efforts into a $500,000 districtwide program for student equity that is supported throughout the district. The presentation includes the program description, evolution, funding, success data, student comments, and take-aways for other colleges.

@ONE WEBINARS AND COURSES

• Michelle Pacansky-Brock has set up a fantastic-looking series of webinars and workshops for this fall on Humanizing Online Education. Individual sessions are free to attend.
• Many @ONE courses start later this fall – check out the options and register if you’re interested!
• If you’re interested in having my office cover a fee for an @ONE class just reach out to me!

@ONE MATH-THEMED WEBINARS (Click links to register)

• Encouraging Academic Honesty in STEM through Authentic Assessment – Thurs., Sept. 30, 12-1 pm
• Active Learning: How to Increase Engagement in Online Math Classes to a Level You Never Thought Possible – Fri., Oct. 15, 1-2 pm
• Math + OER: Integrating Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) into your online math course – Nov. 12 – 12-1 pm

PLAYPOSIT (Click link to register)

• Reimagining your Video Content with PlayPosit – Fri., Oct. 8, 12 pm – from CCC TechConnect and PlayPosit staff
  PlayPosit gives faculty the ability to add interactivity to their videos for class assignments, lectures and more. Use interactivity in videos to assess student learning by using in-video quizzes. Instructors can add a variety of questions and activities to videos that go well beyond Canvas Studio’s capabilities.

Happy learning!

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