Sean and curry talk with Jim Julius, the director of distance education at MiraCosta, about what faculty and students should know about “remote instruction.” We ask Jim to clarify what expectations are being placed on faculty and on students, and we discuss various resources created to support remote teaching and learning.
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)
Feeling overwhelmed about the quick transition to teaching fully online? Unsure how you can keep your students interactive in the learning process? This workshop will go over some simple methods of infusing active learning into your online classes. We will be going over the basics of Zoom and Canvas. We will also explore free online tools like Kahoot, Mentimeter and Poll Everywhere. This workshop has been designed for faculty with little to no experience teaching online.
With the rapid transition of face-to-face classes into the online environment, many faculty have questions about how to translate on-ground curriculum into Canvas for instructional continuity. Learn how you can translate your activities into Canvas and online activities. For instance, if in class you would have conducted a lecture, held a structured class discussion or an open-ended Q&A session, divided students into groups for activities, given a quiz, assigned peer work, had students present – how can you achieve any of these in Canvas? This session will provide an overview of Canvas activity setup, and provide resources to assist with rapid course development, focused on the needs and questions of those in attendance.
CSIT Department faculty member Rick Cassoni will show techniques that faculty can potentially use for distant (remote) instruction. The session will include the following topics:
How to Get / Obtain Zoom
Updating Profile Pix, Cloud Recordings, and Personal Meeting ID (PMI) settings
Launching / Starting Zoom
Creating Weekly Intro Videos that kicks off and summarizes the week of instruction
Tips and Thoughts for (Synchronous) Instruction Techniques
Tips and Thoughts for Student (Office) Hours including screen sharing and gaining remote access to a student’s computer
curry will share a few simple activities and methods for scaffolding an interactive, collaborative Zoom workshop. Then we will spend some time in small groups discussing how Zoom might help us support our students through the remainder of the semester. At the end of the meeting, we will discuss flexible and compassionate practices–such as attendance policies and creating asynchronous means for participation–to ensure we’re using Zoom to help each other (faculty and students) cross the finish line.
***Note: We will assume you are familiar with Zoom’s basic tools, so if you are brand new to Zoom, please attend Rick Cassoni’s workshop prior to this one or please watch these brief tutorials on using Zoom before the workshop begins: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials
Join colleagues for socializing, brainstorming, Q&A, demonstrations, and Zoom practice.
Also today, 1-1 support is available in Zoom from 10 am – 4 pm and 7 – 10 pm – connect with volunteer colleagues to help you think through your technological and pedagogical shifts!
Okay, so here is the full schedule for Monday, March 23:
10 to 11 am – Jim and Sean: Overview of Support Resources and the Plan for the Week, Q&A Jim Julius and Sean Davis will walk you through the various resources available to faculty to support your transition to remote instruction. There will be time to address your burning questions as we launch into this unprecedented effort!
11 am to 1 pm – Liezl Madrona: Canvas Basics
Learn the basics of creating and developing a course in Canvas. Participants will get an overview of Canvas’ layout and navigation. In addition, participants will learn how to add materials to a course, use Discussions, create and grade Assignments, and create a FrontPage. This workshop will serve as an introduction to, and a general overview of, the Canvas system. We will learn:
The basic navigational links/course menu items in a blank course shell
How to create a Front Page
How to make a course published to students
How to create a Discussion
How to create an Assignment
Participants will have access to free adaptable and accessible Canvas course layouts for rapid course development. Student support pages are included to orient and provide technical support for various tools that may be used in Canvas (such as Studio, Zoom, Assignments, and Quizzes.) Ensure you have all of the essential information students should know and adapt your own Canvas course layout today!
1 to 2 pm – curry mitchell: Connecting with Students in Canvas
A session on using Canvas tools to connect, collaborate, and sustain community with students
curry will share a few simple activities and methods for scaffolding assignments using various Canvas tools: discussions, Google docs shared in Canvas, screencast/videos embedded in announcements, and even quizzes. Then we will spend some time in small groups discussing what Canvas tools might help you deliver your basic collaborative activities to your students remotely.
2 to 3 pm – Liezl Madrona & MiraCosta CE Faculty: Course Demos & Online Teaching Discussion
Are you curious about how other MiraCosta faculty organize and present their Canvas courses? Join some of our great faculty who will showcase their courses that they designed and developed with our 2019-20 CE instructional designer. Find some new ideas about student navigation and leveraging Canvas’s built-in tools for rapid course development!
3 to 4 pm – Liezl Madrona: Canvas & Video Accessibility Basics Many faculty have questions about how to address accessibility requirements for instructional materials in order to support students of disability. When using Canvas to support online teaching, following best practices can help deliver an accessible and usable online class for all students. Learn the top five easy things you can do in Canvas to help all of your students be successful. Participants will be able to:
Determine the best format/strategy for delivering content, whether it should remain as a PDF, in a Word Doc, or a Canvas page.
Explain how formatting impacts assistive technologies’ ability to access and interpret information.
Utilize the Rich Content Editor to properly format content pages using the acronym ‘LIST’.
Run the Canvas’ Page Accessibility Checker UDOIT and interpret its results to remediate inaccessible instructional materials.
Determine a workflow to caption videos based on authorship
***ALL WORKSHOPS WILL BE RECORDED AND MADE AVAILABLE BY THE END OF EACH DAY***
Thanks to an outpouring of support from our colleagues who are willing to volunteer their time, effort, and expertise, we are pleased to present you with the schedule of events for the Instructional Continuity Professional Development Week. We have a full slate of online workshops, one-on-one (1-1) support, external offerings, and additional resources for you to review here.
Online Workshops via Zoom
Our week of training and faculty support starts tomorrow – Monday, March 23. There is a full schedule of workshops Monday through Friday that runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm, featuring sessions focusing on Canvas, Zoom, Equity in Remote Instruction, the Library, Student Services, Academic Support, and much more.
You can enter the online sessions at any time during each day. We have one Zoom meeting that will be used for all of the online sessions. Each workshop will be recorded and made available on the schedule by the end of each day.
Each day in this meeting will begin with a Virtual Coffee Hour (Tuesday through Friday) from 9 to 10 am and end with a Virtual Happy Hour (Monday through Friday) from 4 to 5 pm. The purpose of these sessions is for brainstorming, sharing, Q&A, Zoom practicing, and course tours.
1-1 Drop-in Canvas and Course Design via Zoom
We have a fantastic group of MiraCostans who have volunteered their time to serve with one-on-one (1-1) support. The week is filled with willing contributors, and we hope you take advantage of the assistance these folks are willing to provide. The 1-1 support schedule is intended for MiraCosta faculty looking for guidance in the use of Canvas, preparing for remote instruction, and teaching online. Those planning to be online during any given hour are listed on the schedule. The Zoom meeting includes breakout rooms so that help-seekers can go into their own online space with the person providing support.
You can enter the drop-in support sessions at any time by entering the 1-1 Drop-in Canvas and Course Design Support Zoom meeting. Support sessions are being offered from 10 am – 4 pm and 7 pm – 10 pm daily, with additional sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
*Phone 1-1 support is also being offered by several faculty members. Scroll below the 1-1 schedule for names, phone numbers, and availability*
External Webinars and Other Support
We have begun to compile a schedule of external support for the transition to remote instruction. While these webinars run concurrent with our local support offerings, we want to provide a breadth of options so folks can get the appropriate training that is most pertinent to their situation. We will post the recordings of these workshops when/if they become available.
Please review the MiraCosta Faculty Support for Instructional Continuity spreadsheet if you’re looking to connect with a departmental colleague for support. If you’re willing to provide such support but don’t appear on the sheet, please let us know so we can add you!
FAQs for Faculty
We want to make sure you are aware of the Remote Instruction FAQs for Faculty document. Here you will find answers to questions on schedule changes, support for the transition to remote instruction, student support services/resources, and facilities/technology access.
We are looking forward to connecting with you during this busy week of transition. We will be sending a daily early-morning email with a breakdown of the day’s events and links to the previous day’s recorded sessions.
