Category: Online Education News You Can Use

Hello everyone, and happy soon-to-be winter break!

In the interest of reducing your inbox clutter I have sent few all-faculty emails this fall. Thus, this one may be a bit lengthy, but I encourage (nay, implore!) you to at least skim through it all to make sure you are aware of all the important and useful stuff that may help you:

• NOW, as you wrap up the current semester
• Over break, if you’re looking to brush up your Canvas/online teaching skills
• Heading into the new semester, as you build your syllabi and class sites

Jim Julius
Faculty Director, Online Education

Canvas tips and reminders

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 restrict read-only access to any of your course materials for your current students beyond this semester, please review our Canvas end-of-term guide.

Video Quizzing in Canvas

Did you know that the Canvas Studio tool within Canvas allows you to create screencasts, turn videos into discussions, and even embed quiz questions into videos with grading going into the Canvas Gradebook automatically? Check out our local introductory page or jump straight to Canvas’s full set of Studio tutorials.

Combining course sections in Canvas – no can do for spring

At present, the Office of Instruction has put a moratorium on combining multiple course sections into one Canvas site due to FERPA concerns. We’ve had productive discussions this fall about methods to handle this, but this is not yet fully resolved, so we remain unable to combine such sections in Canvas for the spring semester.

Educational Resource (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Updates

Looking for Library Resources to use in your class?

A great source for high-quality course materials could be our library! If you’re not sure where to start in searching these out, go to the OER/ZTC disciplinary resource site – our librarians have recently updated it with links to resources organized BY DISCIPLINE. YES!!!

Teaching a Zero- or Low-Textbook Cost spring class?

If you are teaching any spring classes that have course material costs of $0 (zero) or under $40 (low), please be sure to designate those classes as such in SURF. This enables your class to receive a special denotation in SURF and also to be listed on the ZTC/LTC page. See directions here.

Want support to bring down course material costs for your students by adopting OER?

We still have grant funds available that can provide stipends, support for student workers, instructional design expert assistance, and more, if you are undertaking work that will save students at least 30% over current course material costs through adoption of OER. Contact me to learn more.

Faculty Professional Learning Opportunities

Online Teaching Conference – Submit a proposal?

The CCC Online Teaching Conference moves to Pasadena this year, June 17-19. MiraCosta is always well represented at this conference. Online Ed will fully fund attendance including hotel for MiraCostans who present at OTC. The Call for Proposals is open now through Jan. 31. If you’d like to go but don’t want to submit a proposal, look for more information later in the spring about potential support.

@ONE online teaching classes

@ONE offers an incredible array of online teaching classes ranging from general introductory and intermediate courses about online education, to more focused learning experiences related to topics such as culturally responsive teaching, accessibility, assessment, and much more. New facilitated classes begin January 13, and there are many self-paced classes available anytime – check out the catalog. MiraCosta travel funds can be used to pay for classes that have a cost – if you need funding please reach out to me!

Recordings from MiraCosta Online Ed workshops

Perfect for when you’ve run through the entire Netflix catalog (wait, is that even possible?). Check out a recording of a MiraCosta online ed workshop – it’s always Flex-eligible!

CVC-OEI Course Academy

If you teach a fully online C-ID approved course, you are eligible to receive support from the Online Education Initiative. Learn more about the Course Design Academy and/or sign up for an upcoming informational meeting.

Teaching Online or Hybrid classes this spring?

I will send out a more detailed message just prior to Flex week, but I wanted to briefly remind you about the following – if you have any questions about any of this that you’d like answered before Flex week, feel free to reply to me!

• Remember that regular effective student-to-student contact is now required for all distance education classes by California Title 5.
• I’ll be offering many Student Orientation to Online Learning student workshops in the spring – dates and times will be posted on the TASC site
• Point your students to the Student Support button on the left in Canvas for quick access to online support from the library, tutoring, writing center, counseling, career center, and more!
• In addition to our standard online tutoring support, online and hybrid classes may also use NetTutor, which you can provide access to directly within your Canvas class.

If you made it this far, special thanks, and enjoy this laugh:

 

Hope you had a great summer and are excited for a new semester! Please see below for important online ed-related updates and information for all MiraCosta faculty.

Online Ed Flex Workshop Highlights

Check out the full Flex schedule for details, but here is a brief on the online ed-related offerings:

• Friday (tomorrow!): Canvas open lab in the morning; Canvas Gradebook and Canvas Basics workshops in the afternoon. All of these can be attended in person or online.
• Monday: Get a “sneak peek” at the MiraCosta Distance Education Handbook/course I developed on sabbatical this spring, 4-5 pm online.
• Tuesday: Online workshops in the late afternoon and evening include an overview of the use of Studio (aka ARC – a video tool in Canvas), by MiraCosta faculty member Eric Robertson, followed by training on Studio from its creators. At 7 pm an expert from the CCC Accessibility Center will present on Canvas accessibility.
• Wednesday: Exclusively for CE faculty, an afternoon/evening sequence of in-person workshops including dinner. This will introduce CE faculty to an instructional design expert available to work with them this year, as well as provide hands-on training in Canvas, and an opportunity to discuss equity-minded online teaching and learning with MiraCosta colleagues. Seating limited, advance sign-up required.
• Thursday: A sequence of equity-minded online workshops (addressing equity-minded online teaching, gender inclusivity, and advanced Canvas accessibility) in the late afternoon/evening complements that day’s Cultural Competency Conference.
• Friday (the 16^th): After the All College Day lunch, come tour the C³ Teaching & Learning Center and see all the great resources available 24×7.
• Also, remember that you can view lots of archives of past online ed workshops and Canvas resources – time spent on these is Flex-eligible too!

Canvas Updates & Reminders

• Our Start of Semester Canvas Checklist has great tips and links to tutorials as you set up your classes in Canvas.
• The “new” Canvas gradebook is now the only Canvas gradebook. If you haven’t previously used this (it was optional last year), check out Canvas’s complete set of (new) Gradebook guides.
• Canvas Studio is the new name for ARC, a video management system integrated in Canvas which was new to us last spring. This brings new possibilities for faculty and students to create video and engage in video-based activities. See our Studio intro to learn more.

New Student Support Hub in Canvas: Easy Access to Online Support Resources for ALL Students

Have you noticed the Student Support item on the Canvas global navigation menu? This links to our new Student Support Hub, which gives students quick access from Canvas to online tutoring, counseling, writing support, library resources, and technology assistance. These services are open to all MiraCosta students in any class! Please make sure your students are aware of this and encourage them to use these resources.

Preferred Names & Pronouns for Students in SURF & Canvas

• Please make sure that students know that if they prefer to be known by a different name from their legal/formal name, they may indicate their preferred name via SURF – instructions are here. Preferred name is used in Canvas, on class rosters and student ID cards, and to borrow items from the college library. Students may also stop by Admissions and Records to submit a paper Preferred Name Change form.
• Canvas also now includes NameCoach, a tool that allows students to voice-record their own names and indicate their pronouns, making it easier to establish respectful relationships in classroom communities, whether the class meets online or in person. Encourage your students to record their names and specify their pronouns – share this MiraCosta NameCoach tutorial with them (and make sure you do it, too!).

Designating Zero- and Low-Textbook-Cost Classes

If you are teaching a ZTC or LTC (<$40) class this fall, please ensure it is designated as such in SURF – see directions to do so. You can view more details about ZTC and LTC designations, as approved by the Academic Senate.

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. Please share the schedule with your online/hybrid students and encourage their attendance. Read more, including how to get a report from SURF on which of your students attend. Over 3000 students have participated since the SOOL began in 2014. Research shows that from 2014 to 2018, 72.8% of those who attended the SOOL in the same or a previous term successfully completed DE courses vs. a 65.9% DE success rate for students who had not attended a SOOL.

Student-Student Interaction: A New Distance Education Requirement

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.

One element of the guidelines – encouraging interaction among students – is newly required (as of spring 2019) by California Title 5. “Regular effective contact among students” has not yet been incorporated into our AP 4105 or other DE documentation, but it is now required in every distance education class in California Community Colleges. If you have questions about this please get in touch with me!

Online Class Schedule – Please Update!

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 to help students prepare for success. See detailed instructions if needed. Please note: if you have done this in the past by copying text from Word or other sources, you may have introduced HTML that causes your course description to be inaccessible. Please type directly or copy in plain text only by copying from NotePad on a PC or TextEdit on a Mac.

NetTutor Online Tutoring

In addition to eTutoring, an online tutoring option for MiraCosta distance education classes is NetTutor. Unlike eTutoring, NetTutor provides extensive coverage up to 24×7 of just about any academic subject, and is available via a link embedded within 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. Learn more about enabling NetTutor in a online/hybrid class.

CVC-OEI Course Academy

If you teach a fully online C-ID approved course, you are eligible to receive support from the Online Education Initiative in preparation for possibly offering the class on the Course Exchange. Learn more about the Course Design Academy and/or sign up for an upcoming informational meeting.

Can-Innovate – Submit a Proposal?

Can-Innovate is a one-day online conference focused on Canvas use in the California Community Colleges. Mark your calendar for Friday, October 25. If you’d like to share something cool you’re doing with Canvas, please submit a presentation proposal by August 20!

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

Registration

MiraCosta faculty no longer need to sign up for Flex activities in advance. After attending a Flex workshop, record your participation on your Flex transcript under the “Record Activities” tab, selecting the “Scheduled Activities or Workshops” activity type. Visit the Flex website for more information.

Archives

After Flex week, go to the Workshop Archives to see recordings and resources from workshops below that were held online.

Fall 2019 Workshops

A full updated list of all Flex workshops can be found at:  Fall 2019 Flex Workshops

Friday August 8, 2019

Canvas Open Lab

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Karen Turpin and Jim Julius
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Hands-on in OC 4611 & Online via Zoom

This workshop is designed to give you open time to work with Canvas in a collaborative, supported environment. Attendees may be in-person in the computer lab, or online from anywhere, with opportunities to interact with fellow participants and Canvas experts. This workshop is intended to be useful for anyone from beginners to advanced Canvas users, and is open entry/exit – show up anytime and stay as long as you like. Come with your Canvas questions and your fall classes-in-progress!

The “New” Canvas Gradebook

1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
Karen Turpin
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Hands-on in OC 4611 & Online via Zoom

Until now, the “New” Canvas Gradebook was optional – now it is THE Gradebook in Canvas. Join us as we dive deeper into the functionality available in the new Canvas Gradebook. Filtering, sorting, custom colors, view/hide unpublished assignments, and manual adjustments will be explored. Basic assignment setup along with tips and tricks for an organized and effective gradebook will be covered.

• New Gradebook Guide
• Creating an Assignment Group
• Adding a rule to Assignment Groups (dropping lowest, highest, etc.)
• Weighting final grades based on Assignment Groups
• How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the New Gradebook?

Canvas Basics

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Sean Davis
Audience: Beginners
Format/Location: Hands-on in OC 4611 & Online via Zoom

This hands-on workshop is designed to give an overview of the basic tools to get started with Canvas. Learn how to set your homepage, design rich content pages, build a module, create assignments, post announcements, review your student roster and create groups, edit your profile, message students, and record grades using SpeedGrader. Participants will have time for hands-on work applying what they have learned, so make the most of this workshop by bringing documents and text to add to your Canvas course.

Monday August 12, 2019

MiraCosta DE Handbook & Course: A Sneak Peak

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Jim Julius
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

In spring 2019 while on sabbatical, Jim Julius drafted a Distance Education Handbook for MiraCosta. This handbook brings together all the essential information for faculty who teach online and hybrid classes at MiraCosta, along with some key recommended practices. The DE Handbook is built in Canvas, and can be used as a reference, but it will also be usable as a mini-course, with a badge awarded to those who complete all requirements. This can help faculty gain proficiency with the MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines, and district policies and procedures related to distance education. Come get a sneak peek at this resource, and provide your feedback to make it as useful as possible.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Studio: Video within Canvas!

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Eric Robertson
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

Studio (formerly known as ARC) enables instructors and students to easily create and use webcam and screencast video within Canvas. You can also create discussions that are based on videos. Join Eric Robertson for a demonstration of how he’s used this tool to support his MiraCosta online oral communication classes.

Studio Training

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Instructure Experts
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

Studio is a video tool within Canvas, from the creators of Canvas (Instructure). In this session, Instructure trainers will provide an overview of how faculty can use Studio as a tool for engaging students with video, viewing student video interaction, and creating and assessing video-based assignments. We will explore different use cases for Canvas Studio in the classroom. You may view the full session agenda.

Canvas Accessibility (Beginner)

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Liezl Madrona (CCC Accessibility Center Expert)
Audience: Beginners
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

“Accessibility” = student usability. Can your students easily access and quickly navigate your content to gather the information they need? Learn the top four simple things you can do in your course to create an inclusive course for all of your students! Take advantage of Canvas’ tools to create an equitable learning environment, and learn about the different ways to approach inaccessible external documents like Microsoft Word Docs, PDFs, and PowerPoints used in your course.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Unity Prep Time

1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Sean Davis, Joyful Teacher in Residence
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: C³ OC1253 Teaching and Learning Center

An opportunity for full time and associate faculty to hang out together in the new C³ Teaching and Learning Center and work on course materials for their classes — syllabi, activities, rubrics, quizzes, anything and everything teaching related. Come celebrate, cultivate and connect as you prepare for the coming semester.

CE Faculty Dinner Date: Starter – Engaging, Appealing Canvas Classes

3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Liezl Madrona
Audience: Exclusive to CE Faculty – Please sign up in advance
Format/Location: OC 4612

Meet Liezl Madrona, an instructional design expert available to support MiraCosta CE faculty this year. In this session she will guide you through hands-on activities to help improve your Canvas skills with:

• Class navigation/organization
• Visual design
• Instructor-student interaction
• Student-student interaction.

CE Faculty Dinner Date: Main

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Liezl Madrona
Audience: Exclusive to CE Faculty – Please sign up in advance
Format/Location: OC 3609

For CE Faculty who also attend the CE Faculty Dinner Date Starter and/or Dessert. Enjoy dinner and discussion while also seeing faculty demos of a variety of MiraCosta Canvas classes. You may also set up follow-up consultation and support with Liezl Madrona.

CE Faculty Dinner Date: Dessert – Equity-minded online teaching and learning

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
MCC Faculty with Liezl Madrona
Audience: Exclusive to CE Faculty – Please sign up in advance
Format/Location: OC 4612

Even if you’re not teaching fully online classes, this session will stimulate your thinking about design and teaching strategies that are equity-minded – that remove barriers to success that many students may experience in a traditional educational environment. You’ll consider practices that experts recommend to enhance the success of disproportionately impacted students, and you’ll hear from MiraCosta faculty about tools, techniques, and pedagogical strategies they’ve used in Canvas to support these kinds of practices.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Equity-minded Online Teaching and Learning

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Sean Davis, Jim Julius, and faculty
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

Even if you’re not teaching fully online classes, this session will stimulate your thinking about design and teaching strategies that are equity-minded – that remove barriers to success that many students may experience in a traditional educational environment. You’ll consider practices that experts recommend to enhance the success of disproportionately impacted students, and you’ll hear from MiraCosta faculty about tools, techniques, and pedagogical strategies they’ve used in Canvas to support these kinds of practices.

NameCoach & GRA: California’s Gender Recognition Act 

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sean Davis
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

(SB 179), signed into law on October 15, 2017 and in effect in 2019, makes it significantly easier for all transgender people who are living in or were born in California to obtain identity documents that reflect their genders. This workshop will focus on specifics about the law and how to cultivate a more inclusive environment in your Canvas course using the NameCoach.

Canvas Accessibility (Advanced)

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Liezl Madrona (CCC Accessibility Center Expert)
Audience: Intermediate/Advanced
Format/Location: Online via Zoom

Take this Advanced Canvas Accessibility workshop to learn about the last two things you can do in your course to create an equitable learning environment. Learn how to use color effectively with free color software to ensure your graphics are readable. Use videos that you own or that someone else owns? Join Liezl, our guest CE instructional designer, as she walks you through more tools and resources to add to your course design toolbox!

Friday, August 16, 2019

Tour the C3 Teaching and Learning Center! (after All College Day Lunch)

Starting at 1pm
Sean Davis (Joyful Teacher in Residence)
Jim Julius (Faculty Director of Online Education)
Karen Turpin (Online Instructional Technologist)
Liezl Madrona (Instructional Designer for Career Education)
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: C³ OC1253 Teaching and Learning Center

Celebrate. Cultivate. Connect. Join us for the C3 open house. Check out this awesome faculty space that includes the Pedagogical Lounge, Collaboration Studio, and Technology Application & Discovery Lab.

Happy summer, everyone! I’m back from sabbatical – huge thanks to Sean Davis who filled in wonderfully for me this spring. Here I have two quick, important updates that can’t wait for fall semester:

eTutoring Links Have Changed

Hopefully you are aware of eTutoring, which is available at no cost to all MiraCosta students year-round, including summer. If you’re teaching now, please check miracosta.edu/etutoring to learn more, and please share this link with your students if your discipline is supported.

On July 1, the organization supporting eTutoring changed. With that, the links to eTutoring changed as well. If you would like to provide your students with direct access to eTutoring in your courses, the key links are now:

• eTutoring login for MiraCosta: https://etutoringonline.org/login.cfm?institutionid=47&returnPage=&institution=MIRACOSTA_COLLEGE
• Live online tutor schedule for the current week: https://etutoringonline.org/public/schedule.cfm?sys=13

ARC is now Studio

Studio is a really great video tool that’s integrated inside of Canvas, which MiraCosta began piloting this spring when it was known as ARC. You’ll see Studio in the global Canvas menu (on the left). Studio is also integrated into Canvas’s Rich Content Editor toolbar:

With Studio:

• Faculty and students can easily record webcam and screencast video within Canvas
• Faculty and students can create and manage a library of videos for use in Canvas (and even to share outside of Canvas)
• Faculty can create discussion activities that are based on video (discussion comments are tied to specific points in the video)
• Faculty get data on student viewing of video
• Faculty can add quiz questions into videos; students respond while watching the video; results go directly into the gradebook
• Students can submit video assignments; faculty can provide feedback directly on specific moments in the video
• Videos can be automatically captioned and the captions can be easily edited

See MiraCosta’s Studio intro to learn more, and/or dive into the full set of Studio Guides.

– Jim

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