Category: Online Education News You Can Use

Upcoming Online Ed Professional Learning Opportunities

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

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

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

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

C3-2-1 Newsletter – Fall 2021 Week Five!

Hello, Faculty Community! 

Online teaching sucks, discussions about race can be productive, and critical thinking is still the goal. How is that for a hook?

These weekly newsletters feature 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.

C321 Newsletter

(3) Resources

1. Why Online Teaching Sucks (and what to do about it) by Lisa Lane

Why does grading suck? Why do essay assignments suck? Why do online discussion boards suck? Why does online teaching suck? Our very own, Lisa Lane (History), provides insight into why these things suck and what we can do about it. As someone practicing ungrading for the time this semester, I especially appreciate the article Why grading sucks, and what to do about it.

Quick read, quick wit, and hope for less suckiness

Thanks, Lisa!

2. Engaging in Productive Conversations About Race

Dr. Shaun Harper, the founder and executive director of USC’s Race and Equity Center, has released the resources, training material, and webinar recordings from the California Community Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance series. You can take these lessons at your own pace. I will be sharing each one in the coming weeks, starting with the kickoff session – Engaging in Productive Conversations About Race

3. Making Connections That Matter: Critical Thinking In Theory and Practice 

Ask any educator about the importance of critical thinking, and you will quickly find out it is a top priority for teachers. However, the definitions for and assessment of critical thinking are not issues that reach consensus. Laura Bellaera, a leading researcher on critical thinking, provides findings and suggestions that can help clarify our thinking on thinking. 

(2) Online Tips and Tricks

1. Updating a Canvas Quiz

I have been frustrated by thinking a quiz I created was exactly what I thought it was, only to find an error or missing element to the assessment. You can update published quizzes in Canvas, but please note – you may have to allow an extra attempt for students who have already started or finished their attempt. 

2. Allowing Students To Create Discussions in Canvas

While you may be familiar with creating Discussions in Canvas, did you know that you can allow students to create their own threads? This function can be helpful when students are working collaboratively on a project, studying for a test together, or looking for a more informal space in Canvas to connect. 

(1) Question

Do you need control? What happens when you let go?

Stay joyful,

Sean Davis
Joyful Teacher in Residence 🙂

C3-2-1 Newsletter – Fall 2021 Week Four!

Hello, Faculty Community! 

Celebrating being an HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) does not start and end with this week.

These weekly newsletters feature 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.

C321 Newsletter

(3) Resources

1. National Hispanic Heritage Month Resources for Teachers

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15. The mid-month start date marks the independence anniversary of five countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. It is followed by Mexico’s Independence Day on Sept. 16 and Chile’s on Sept. 18.

There is much more to learn here and plenty of ways to include timely material and activities in your classes. 

2. Five Minute Fixes to Simplify Online Teaching

Tuesday, October 5 at 8 pm in Zoom

Want to make a quick fix that makes a difference? See how you can simplify your online teaching. We’ll share ideas for how to prevent students from getting lost, liven up discussion, stop spending so much time grading, and answer fewer student questions—presented by Laura Paciorek and Lisa M. Lane, sponsored by MiraCosta Online Mentors.

3. Faculty Show & Tell – How Do You Build Community?

We had our first faculty Show & Tell session this week, and the participants shared some great icebreakers and community-building exercises. The title link includes some rough notes on the activities faculty walked us through. 

We would love to hear what you want our future sessions to focus on – Faculty Show & Tell Topics Form.

We hope you will join us for future sessions!

When: Tuesdays at 2 pm
Dates: Sep 14, Sep 28, Oct 12, Oct 26, Nov 9, Nov 30
Zoom Room: Faculty Show & Tell

(2) Online Tips and Tricks

1. Comment Library in SpeedGrader

The Comment Library allows instructors to save and reuse commonly used text feedback in SpeedGrader. As an instructor, you can add new comments and delete existing comments in the Comment Library. This tool can serve as an excellent time-saver when grading! The feedback you add to the Comment Library is accessible from each course you are enrolled in as an instructor in Canvas.

2. Enabling live real-time captioning in Zoom

When hosting a meeting in Zoom, you can enable an automated live transcript. The quality of these automatic captions is remarkable and can greatly benefit participants by making your meetings more accessible.

(1) Question

What do you need? What do you have to offer and share? 

Stay joyful,

Sean Davis
Joyful Teacher in Residence 🙂

Ensuring Online Class Availability to Students by Monday 8/23/2021

Dear Faculty,

I wanted to give a quick reminder/heads-up that 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. This ensures a minimum of confusion for students, and compliance with student authentication requirements for distance education classes.

This has long been an expectation in practice, and the MiraCosta Online Educators subcommittee of the Academic Senate further clarified and strengthened this expectation last spring. To be clear, this is true for hybrid and scheduled online classes as well. If you have a scheduled meeting with your distance ed class and prefer to “reveal” the class to students during that first meeting, you may keep most components of the class unpublished until then, but the class itself should be published along with basic information such as a syllabus and/or class home page.

If you would like to learn more about the rationale behind this practice, and/or to view some recommendations for good practice in helping your students learn how to get started with your class, please see MiraCosta Distance Education Class Authentication Compliance, Start-of-Term Availability Procedures, and Recommendations.

If you’re looking for last minute help this weekend, remember that we have 24×7 phone and chat support from Canvas (click Tech Help at the bottom left of Canvas). And if you’d like more than just Canvas support, our MiraCosta peer faculty helpers are ready for you to contact them – see their details here!

Best wishes for a great start to the semester!

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

MiraCosta Online Support for Students

Did you know? It’s now a requirement for MiraCosta faculty to “Help students in a DE course section to be aware of MiraCosta College support services and resources, especially those available online.”(MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines)

While there are lots of ways you may do this, here are some important ones to consider adding to your syllabus, your Canvas home page, and/or your introductory week discussions with students:

Student Support Hub

Point your students to the Student Support Hub in Canvas. Share the link and direct them to the Student Support button on the left in Canvas for quick access to online support, including live help, online appointments, and access to key resources from:

  • Library
  • STEM & Math Learning Center
  • Tutoring & Academic Support Center
  • Writing Center
  • Academic Counseling
  • Career Center
  • CARE (including technology device requests)
  • Health Services (including virtual physical and mental health appointments)
  • Open computer lab staff
  • Student Help Desk

Online Help Hut

The Help Hut on the MiraCosta website is a quick way for current and prospective students to connect online with student support areas including Financial Aid, Admissions & Records, Academic Counseling, and the Student Help Desk.

Tech Help in Canvas

The Tech Help button at bottom left in Canvas provides students (and faculty) with quick access to 24s7 phone and chat support from Canvas, as well as local technology support from the Student Help Desk.

Student Orientation to Online Learning Workshops

In collaboration with the library, I’ll be again offering about two dozen Student Orientation to Online Learning workshops this fall – see all dates and times on the TASC site and in Canvas announcements. These workshops help to familiarize students with these great online resources, to become more comfortable with Zoom, and Canvas, and to consider time management strategies. Encourage your students to attend and, if you like, find out which of your students participated in order to incentivize their attendance.

Please let me know if you have questions about any of these great resources!

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

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