Remote Instruction – Support and Resources for Faculty and Students

Hello, Faculty Community! 

We hope things are going as well as can be expected. We want to keep you updated on the support and resources that are available to our students and you. Please review the following – 

Support for students that faculty are encouraged to share and reinforce:

  • The Student Support Hub in Canvas includes many excellent services featuring live online support experts from the library, tutoring, STEM/Math Learning Centers, Writing Center, Counseling, Career Center, Computer Labs, and Student Help Desk
  • NetTutor was added to all Canvas course menus last month – this allows all students to access online tutoring directly from all Canvas courses; you can remove this from your course menu if you don’t think this would be helpful to your students
  • The Student FAQs document is kind of like a virtual MiraCosta campus – students can find answers to many questions that they would have asked on campus, and find contact information to pursue any needs further
  • The Reshaping Your School Schedule During Remote Instruction document has excellent info for students on good habits for online student success, self-care and mental health tips, online learning netiquette, Zoom tech tips, and more
  • Students who are need of technology resources or have other major life concerns making it difficult to continue their studies, they can self-refer, or you can refer them for support via the CARE form

Support for faculty to better support students:

  • The MiraCosta APC is dedicating staff time to helping faculty reach out to students who are falling behind. Fill out the attached form if you’d like them to work with you and your students.
  • Faculty in need of webcams, headsets, or other resources to help you work from home should fill out the Help Desk request form on the Portal – details about this and additional remote working information is on AIS’s Remote Work Resources site
  • The Remote Instruction Faculty FAQs document includes lots of guidance and resources for MiraCosta faculty at this time
  • Check out the library support options if you want to ensure that students who were using textbooks on reserve in the library will continue to have access to crucial course material
  • Check out the CVC-OEI schedule featuring daily online office hours for faculty as well as a variety of webinars
  • Center of Urban Education – Webinar: The Importance of Equity-Minded Virtual Practices during COVID-19 on Thursday, April 23 at 12 pm.

Take good care,
Sean and Jim

S.A.F.E. Topics Vol. 1, No. 9 April 15, 2020

Going Remote – Personal Health

In the ninth episode of the S.A.F.E. Topics podcast, we continue our special series on Going Remote. Hosts curry and Sean were joined by Ghada Osman (Health Services) this week to discuss the psychological and sociological impacts on the topic of mental care in a remote setting.

Health Services Information

What to listen for:

  • Transitioning to Zoom and having privacy.
  • Student health services during the summer.
  • Telehealth vs. in-person sessions.
  • Both unique and similar situations for counselors and students.
  • The good and challenging aspects of using Zoom in this space.
  • “A culture of positivity” and toxic positivity explained.
  • The stages and process of grief.
  • Holding on or letting go.
  • The importance of community and the institution for our students.
  • Consequences of social distancing to mental health.
  • “Physical distancing and social connections.”
  • Being in a fear zone, learning zone, and growth zone.
  • Emotional flexibility.
  • The juxtaposition of face-to-face classes and online classes in this moment.
  • A positive send off from Ghada.

You can connect with the S.A.F.E. Topics podcast on Instagram: @safetopics_podcast and share this podcast with this link.

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team:
curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – SDICCCA Fellow and Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes)

FAQ Followups to Zoom security advice for MiraCosta faculty

Some quick FAQ follow-ups to all recipients of yesterday’s message:

Q: I am confused. What exactly am I supposed to do and not do if I use Zoom?

A: At this point, there are few absolute requirements. You are getting a variety of recommendations to consider. If you are comfortable with the way that you and your students use Zoom, nobody is requiring to you to use extra security measures or change your practice. However, if you use the ConferZoom LTI tool inside of Canvas for scheduling meetings, passwords are automatically imposed upon your meetings, and you do not have the option to use the Waiting Room.

Q: Waiting Room sounds good, but won’t it take a long time to check my roster and admit students? And be a big pain to manage once class starts?

A: This definitely adds time to your use of Zoom. Thus, the recommendations yesterday to try to get students to show up early and be sure to provide their real names as they access your Zoom meeting. Via the Participants window, you have the option to admit everyone in the Waiting Room at once if you can tell that everyone there is legit. Another recommendation was to consider adding a trusted student as a co-host, to help you screen and admit participants from the Waiting Room.

Upon reflection and input from a number of you, I know that not everyone is a master of the class roster. So here’s a shower thought: there could be some creative and fun ways to manage your student names so the admission process is easier (and Zoom becomes more interesting!). Work with your class to decide on a new naming scheme. Be creative but here are some ideas:

  • If everyone is comfortable providing their pronouns, include those. (e.g. Jim Julius (he/him) ).
  • Have everyone pick a descriptive and alliterative adjective to precede their name with. (e.g. Jolly Jim Julius)
  • Have everyone pick something neutral, such as a favorite color, to precede their name with (e.g. Green Jim Julius)

I’m sure you and your class can come up with something! If everyone accesses Zoom with a consistent naming scheme, it will be very easy to tell who can be admitted to the meeting without having to reference your class roster.

Q: I liked using the scheduling tool for online office hours that is built into the ConferZoom LTI. Should I stop using that?

Yeah, that probably was the best thing about the LTI. I am not sure what impact the changes to the way Zoom operates via the LTI will have on that feature, but you could continue to give it a try and see. As an alternative, the Canvas calendar has a pretty great feature for booking office hour time slots. You could use that Canvas scheduler for students to book their times to meet with you at a Zoom meeting link that you set up via conferzoom.org and post inside Canvas.

Q: Did you leave anything out of your message yesterday?

A: Thanks for asking! Yes, one important tip: Please make sure your Zoom client software is up-to-date! If you’re not certain if you have the latest version of the Zoom client, look for a Security shield on the Zoom toolbar when you start your meeting (it has some quick controls for altering security settings during your meetings). District computers should have this software automatically updated. But if you don’t have the latest version of Zoom, you can get it from http://zoom.us/downloads

Q: You’ve given me some great tips on how to use Zoom technically, but how can I make my Zoom sessions more inclusive and meaningful for students?

Great question – just today the Chronicle ran a good article on 8 Ways to Be More Inclusive in Your Zoom Teaching!

Q: Thank you!

A: You are very welcome!

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education
jjulius@miracosta.edu

S.A.F.E. Topics Vol. 1, No. 8 April 8, 2020

Going Remote – Supporting Ourselves

In the eighth episode of the S.A.F.E. Topics podcast, we continue our special series on Going Remote. As we enter the second week of remote instruction, hosts Sean and curry were joined by Casey McFarland (Kinesiology), Jeff Murico (Religion/Philosophy), Thao Ha (Sociology), and Rachel Hastings (Communication) to discuss how we can continue moving forward as faculty and for our students.

What to listen for:

  • The importance of moving.
  • Taking care of our pets during these times.
  • “Corona cut” hair cuts.
  • The realities of working from home.
  • “Silent struggles.”
  • Ensuring our students get adequate resources.
  • Being flexible, forgiving, and structured.
  • Humanizing our experiences.
  • Practicing mindfulness and being in the moment.
  • Goals and routines.
  • “The Attitude of Gratitude”
  • Different perspectives on this moment in history.

You can connect with the S.A.F.E. Topics podcast on Instagram: @safetopics_podcast and share this podcast with this link.

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team:
curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – SDICCCA Fellow and Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes)

Zoom security advice for MiraCosta faculty

To: All MiraCosta faculty and deans

Quick takeaways for Zoom-using faculty from this email:

(1) Use Waiting Rooms, not passwords;

(2) If you use the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas, discontinue that and use conferzoom.org directly.

Details:

As you are likely aware, “Zoombombing” has been in the news. A few incidents have even happened at MiraCosta. Though some, including Zoom, have recommended or required passwords for Zoom meetings in response, it’s also increasingly clear that many or most of these incidents are occurring when students share Zoom meeting access information with others who are looking to cause mischief or worse. Passwords will not stop intruders like this.

Therefore we recommend that you:

  • ask students to access your Zoom meetings using their real names;
  • remind students that it is a violation of student responsibilities to share Zoom meeting access information with others outside of their class;
  • use Zoom’s Waiting Room feature to screen participants.

Please review some tips (with links to tutorials) about how to use the Zoom Waiting Room. If you haven’t already checked it out, please also see our 2-page Zoom tips document, which includes lots of recommendations for running a secure and smooth Zoom meeting.

ALSO: If you have been using Zoom through the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas:

  • Passwords appear to have been imposed upon all your meetings this week. We do not understand why this occurred (and it hasn’t happened to anyone who uses ConferZoom direclty), but it is causing problems for many students.
  • If you create new meetings through the ConferZoom LTI, passwords are included.
  • You are not able to use the Zoom Waiting Room for meetings created through the ConferZoom LTI.


Therefore we recommend discontinuing use of the ConferZoom LTI tool in Canvas. Rather, schedule and manage your ConferZoom meetings and recordings directly through http://conferzoom.org and share the links to your meetings/recordings with your students inside Canvas.

If you have any questions about any of this, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

– Jim

To: All MiraCosta faculty and deans

Quick takeaways for Zoom-using faculty from this email:

(1) Use Waiting Rooms, not passwords;

(2) If you use the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas, discontinue that and use conferzoom.org directly.

Details:

As you are likely aware, “Zoombombing” has been in the news. A few incidents have even happened at MiraCosta. Though some, including Zoom, have recommended or required passwords for Zoom meetings in response, it’s also increasingly clear that many or most of these incidents are occurring when students share Zoom meeting access information with others who are looking to cause mischief or worse. Passwords will not stop intruders like this.

Therefore we recommend that you:

  • ask students to access your Zoom meetings using their real names;
  • remind students that it is a violation of student responsibilities to share Zoom meeting access information with others outside of their class;
  • use Zoom’s Waiting Room feature to screen participants.

Please review some tips (with links to tutorials) about how to use the Zoom Waiting Room. If you haven’t already checked it out, please also see our 2-page Zoom tips document, which includes lots of recommendations for running a secure and smooth Zoom meeting.

ALSO: If you have been using Zoom through the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas:

  • Passwords appear to have been imposed upon all your meetings this week. We do not understand why this occurred (and it hasn’t happened to anyone who uses ConferZoom directly), but it is causing problems for many students.
  • If you create new meetings through the ConferZoom LTI, passwords are included.
  • You are not able to use the Zoom Waiting Room for meetings created through the ConferZoom LTI.


Therefore we recommend discontinuing use of the ConferZoom LTI tool in Canvas. Rather, schedule and manage your ConferZoom meetings and recordings directly through http://conferzoom.org and share the links to your meetings/recordings with your students inside Canvas.

If you have any questions about any of this, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
jjulius@miracosta.edu

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