Category: C3 Newsletter

Hello, Faculty Community! 

***You are receiving this newsletter because you are a faculty member at MiraCosta College. I, Sean Davis, am the coordinator of our C3 Teaching and Learning Center***

This edition of the C3-2-1 Newsletter is coming to you a few days early because Election Day is just over a week away, and our resource suggestions focus on our roles, as educators, in the serious business of political participation. We all have a responsibility to engage in ways we can. We can also help our students engage in the process regardless of if they can vote or not.

3 resources related to teaching and learning, 2 online tips and tricks, and 1 question for reflection

Looking for archived resources, tips/tricks, and questions?

Revisit the past editions of the C3-2-1 Newsletter here. 

Want to share? 

If you have some resources, tips/tricks, and questions to share, please contribute to the newsletter using this C3-2-1 Form.

(3) Resources

1.  Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP)
   Do you want to discuss the upcoming election in your class but struggle with how to facilitate the conversation? This resource provides strategies, tips, and conversation starters, including their Campus Civic Discussions: A Non-Partisan Guide. We know these discussions can seem challenging. Hopefully, this resource and others can give us what we need to be prepared and willing to bring the topic to our students. 
   
2. 76 things You Can Do To Boost Civic Engagement – Brookings Institution
   This resource gives us 76 ideas for staying informed, voting, other forms of participation, and a call to action for us all as we prepare to make decisions on policies that will impact how we operate locally and nationally. 
   
   ***We must remember that not all of our students and colleagues can cast a ballot. Being sensitive to this reality is crucial to creating inclusive working and learning environments***
   
3. General Election Voter Guide – KPBS
   What was that prop about again? Who is that city council candidate? There are so many important items on the ballot, and keeping up with all of them can feel like taking a class, and the final exam is next Tuesday! Of the election guides I have reviewed, I found this one to be fair and comprehensive. Check it out to get clarity beyond all of those text messages, TV commercials, and leaflets cluttering up our mailboxes. 

(2) Online Tips and Tricks

1.  View Recent Page View History in Canvas
   This tip comes from our Instructional Technologist, Karen Turpin. Thanks, Karen! 
   
   You may have noticed a new item in the Canvas Universal Navigation Menu. The clock icon on the menu is your gateway to your recent page view history within the learning management system. This menu item may be useful as you are managing several classes while working in Canvas. Here is a brief description of this tool from the Canvas Community site:
   As an instructor, you can view a list of your recent Canvas course page views from the History link in Global Navigation. The Recent History list displays page view history within the most recent three weeks.
   
2.  Allowing Students to Create Discussions in Canvas
   
   Are you looking for ways to diversify the kinds of discussion you have in class? One way to accomplish this is by allowing students to engage with the course content by creating their own discussion board based on the material. Here is a blurb on how to use this feature in Canvas:
   
   You can allow students to create a new discussion by changing the settings from the Discussions page. When this setting is enabled, discussions created by students become part of the course and are included in future course copies and exports unless the discussions are deleted.

(1) Question

What are the potential consequences of claiming neutrality in a clearly critical juncture in contemporary history?

Stay joyful,

Sean Davis
Joyful Teacher in Residence 
Coordinator, C3 Teaching and Learning Center

Hello, Faculty Community! 

***You are receiving this newsletter because you are a faculty member at MiraCosta College. I, Sean Davis, am the coordinator of our C3 Teaching and Learning Center***

October is a BIG month for celebrating and supporting several minoritized populations. Let’s promote, engage, and learn. Most importantly, we can honor the hard work folks are doing to bring justice to those who are denied it far too often.

3 resources related to teaching and learning, 2 online tips and tricks, and 1 question for reflection

Looking for archived resources, tips/tricks, and questions?

Revisit the past editions of the C3-2-1 Newsletter here. 

Want to share? 

If you have some resources, tips/tricks, and questions to share, please contribute to the newsletter using this C3-2-1 Form.

(3) Resources

1.  LGBTQIA+ History Month
   The MiraCosta Social Justice and Equity Center (SJEC) is hosting a number of exciting events for LGBTQIA+ History Month. Be sure to check out the Virtual Library Display. There is still a fantastic slate of virtual events left this month, including Queer Games Arcade (tomorrow 10/21 from 3pm-4:30pm), Queer Musical Bingo (Friday 10/23 from 1pm-2pm), and several film screenings, just to name a few! Have fun and learn well. 🙂 
   
2. Undocumented Student Week of Action
   We are in the middle of this critical week of action. Our UPRISE team and other advocates are hosting many Local Events, including student-led training, a virtual yoga session, entrepreneur workshops, and more! You can learn about Statewide Efforts here – there is some really useful downloadable content here, including marketing, advocacy, and resource materials. 
   
   This work goes far beyond this week. Learn more about MiraCosta’s UPRISE Program to be involved in supporting our students. 
   
3.  Global Mind Ed
   This resource suggestion comes from Edward Pohlert. Thanks, Edward! 
   Here is a blurb on this organization’s mission and focus: 
   GlobalMindED is a 501(c)(3) closing the equity gap by creating a capable, diverse talent pipeline with programs, content and courses for students from the least resourced backgrounds through connections to role models, mentors, internships, experiences and jobs that make them employment worthy, promotion ready and financially fit to navigate a hierarchical world.  We serve low-income students, returning adults seeking badges/credentials, First Gen to college and inclusive leaders who teach them, work with them and hire them.

(2) Online Tips and Tricks

1. Canvas Commons
   The Canvas Commons is a learning object repository that enables educators to find, import, and share resources. A digital library full of educational content, Commons allows Canvas users to share learning resources with other users as well as import learning resources into a Canvas course.
   
2. The Canvas App!
   This tool is useful in so many ways. You can download the Canvas Teacher App on your phone or tablet to access your courses, edit assignments/pages/discussions, and build your course content. Additionally, you can download the Canvas Student App to view your class as your students do to ensure content congruency and consistency across devices. 

(1) Question

Is it enough to be aware of and learn about marginalized communities that we are not members of, or do we have to go deeper to get to a place of empathy and understanding? If we must go deeper, how are we engaging in that process?

Stay joyful,

Sean Davis
Joyful Teacher in Residence 
Coordinator, C3 Teaching and Learning Center

Hello, Faculty Community! 

***You are receiving this newsletter because you are a faculty member at MiraCosta College. I, Sean Davis, am the coordinator of our C3 Teaching and Learning Center***

I offer my gratitude to our colleagues for contributing to the newsletter this week. Let’s continue to cultivate a culture of sharing.  

3 resources related to teaching and learning, 2 online tips and tricks, and 1 question for reflection

Looking for archived resources, tips/tricks, and questions?

Revisit the past editions of the C3-2-1 Newsletter here. 

Want to share? 

If you have some resources, tips/tricks, and questions to share, please contribute to the newsletter using this C3-2-1 Form.

(3) Resources

1.  Mobile Hotspots from the Library! 
   This email outlining how students can access mobile hotspots was sent out by Dean Scott Conrad at the beginning of the month. It is worth another round of promotion. Here is Scott’s message:
   
   We have heard from many students their need for broadband access and the MiraCosta team including the Foundation, Student Services, Fiscal Services, Instructional Services, and AIS have been working to acquire funding and then find the difficult to buy right now mobile hot spots to address this critical need for our students’ success. The Library has received a shipment of new mobile hotspots from Verizon. We have filled demand from our waiting list and have more hotspots to loan. Please direct students needing broadband access to fill out a CARE referral with Student Services and our library team will be in touch with options for obtaining the device.  If you have any questions, please contact Library Operations Manager Michelle Ohnstad at mohnstad@miracosta.edu.
   CARE Referral Form
   
2.  Pedagogies of Care: Open Resources
   This resource suggestion comes from Jim Julius. Thanks, Jim!
   
   Here is a description of their offerings from the website:
   
   Pedagogies of Care: Open Resources for Student-Centered & Adaptive Strategies in the New Higher-Ed Landscape offers practical and engaging advice about what “next” should look like across higher education, from sixteen current and forthcoming authors in the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education book series from West Virginia University Press.
   
   Collection editors Victoria Mondelli and Thomas J. Tobin note that the resources in Pedagogies of Care take many forms: “Our contributors created videos, audio podcasts, interviews, infographics, and articles. All are underpinned by a student-centered, evidence-based ethos.”
   
   Lots of helpful stuff here. Check it out. 
   
3. 3C Media Solutions
   This resource suggestion and description come from Angela Beltran-Aguilar. Thanks, Angela! 
   
   3C Media is available within Canvas where you can directly embed videos from your 3C Media library using the Canvas rich content editor. The main benefit is that if you have videos that have been captioned by 3C Media, then it’s easy to embed them in Canvas.  The videos from 3C are also distraction-free because they don’t take you out outside the Canvas LMS or prompt you to watch a “related” video as YouTube does. Some of the disadvantages are that videos embedded directly from 3C Media do not have the Studio Quiz or Analytics features.

(2) Online Tips and Tricks

1.  Linking the Canvas Calendar to Your Google Calendar – Instructor Walkthrough
   If you use a Google Calendar and want to get all of your stuff in one place, you can sync up with Canvas Calendar. This may be helpful for you to be more organized and efficient. It can help students too! Pass the word along to them – Linking Canvas Calendar to Your Google Calendar – Student Walkthrough
   
2.  Chat with Canvas Support
   Whenever you are having issues getting Canvas to do what you want it to do, you can simply click on Tech Help on the Universal Navigation Menu and start live chatting with the Canvas support team. Students can do the same! Additionally, you can receive consultation 24/7 via phone – (833) 345-2890

(1) Question

Are you a “halfway finished with the semester” or “halfway started with the semester” kind of educator? 

Stay joyful,

Sean Davis
Joyful Teacher in Residence 
Coordinator, C3 Teaching and Learning Center

Hello, Faculty Community! 

***You are receiving this newsletter because you are a faculty member at MiraCosta College. I, Sean Davis, am the coordinator of our C3 Teaching and Learning Center***

For our resources this week, we focus on the local (MiraCosta), regional (NCHEA), and national (NCORE) work being done to create more justice-oriented spaces in higher education.

3 resources related to teaching and learning, 2 online tips and tricks, and 1 question for reflection

Looking for archived resources, tips/tricks, and questions?

Revisit the past editions of the C3-2-1 Newsletter here. 

Want to share? 

If you have some resources, tips/tricks, and questions to share, please contribute to the newsletter using this C3-2-1 Form.

(3) Resources

1. Black Community Ally Training (BCAT)

The Black Community Ally Training is a self-paced 4-part interactive training designed to increase participants’ understanding of anti-Black racism and strengthen strategies and skills to advance racial equity for the Black community at MiraCosta College.

The training is open to all MiraCosta employees (staff and faculty).  Participants will work with a cohort of peers across 4-5 weeks navigating through 4 modules in a Canvas course.  The training is designed for 1 module to be completed each week with approximately 2 hours of work expected in each module.  The 4th module requires participants to attend a 1.5 hour in-person zoom session focused on how to apply and put into practice what you learned.  Supervisors are encouraged to support staff/faculty interested in attending the live session during work hours.  The BCAT is flex eligible.

To sign-up for the BCAT:

• Complete the BCAT application/Pre-Survey
• You will receive a confirmation email with dates for your cohort class and live session
• Start the training!

If you have questions, you can contact bcat@miracosta.edu

2. NCHEA Tri-Equity: Embodying Anti-Racist Conference

Here is a part of the message sent out by one of the organizers – our own, Rachel Hastings:

Please allow me to formally invite you our Fall Tri Equity: Embodying Anti-Racism Conference on Saturday, October 24, 2020 from 8am – 8pm (Register here, Click Join Event). Tri-Equity features an array of Race and Equity scholars, gifting us with symposium style conversations and interactive trainings.

After investing in an exceptional amount of elbow-grease into embedding anti-racism into our institutional practices, all of “us” campus experts need a breather. Please consider our “come and go as you please” conference as an invitation to take a deep, cleansing breath while remaining 100% checked into the movement. Our conference is open to all governance, community members, and especially our students.

3. NCORE Webinar Series – Multiple Front Lines Involved in What We Call (Online) Learning 

Here is the webinar description: 

This session will help faculty gain an understanding of the needs of students in the online classrooms, how their individual situations during this time interface with the classroom learning environment, and through it all, how to keep your students engaged. We will provide tools and strategies that can help faculty adapt to their new online classroom and help students succeed.

I sent something out about this one on Monday, October 5. Check out that email for specific registration instructions. 

(2) Online Tips and Tricks

1. Embedding Google Docs into Your Canvas Pages

Using Google Docs and Canvas in tandem can help you in several ways. If you embed your course schedule in Canvas using Google Docs, you can easily and instantly make changes to assignment and activity deadlines. Moreover, you can create collaborative opportunities for students to engage in and track their learning in real-time

2. Using Your Presentation Slides as Your Virtual Background in Zoom

Chad Tsuyuki sent me this neat suggestion! 

Zoom has a new feature that allows you to use your presentation slides as your virtual background. I just tried it out and realized that if I want to use this, I will have to reformat my slides to account for my little head in the lower right corner. 

Note: This software is in beta. Your presentation’s sounds, transitions, and animations are not supported at this time. 

(1) Question

Since we know Spring will look much like this, do we want Spring to look much like this?

Stay joyful,

Sean Davis
Joyful Teacher in Residence 
Coordinator, C3 Teaching and Learning Center