Distance Education Newsletter

The holiday season is a good time to connect with each other. What can we do to show our students, our colleagues, our friends, and our family members that we care? In this era of fragmentation and disconnection, even small gifts of attention and encouragement can make a huge difference. And be sure to take the time to care for yourself, too, in these last few days before the frenzy of finals.

As you prepare for the coming semester, here’s a little reminder on how to migrate your content easily from one Laulima site to another...

MAHALO to the wonderful online instructors who have been incorporating Success for Online Learners (SŌL) Module 1 into their courses to support student readiness and preparation for online learning! If you plan to do so again in Spring 2022, here are a couple of important reminders:

Reminder 1:

Please Embed/Link Video for Students - Before You Begin SŌL Module 1

The video (1:30) informs students to complete five (5) important steps in order to access and complete the module successfully; not following the steps may result in students not being able to access all components of the module, such as the Certificate of Completion form at the end of the module. Please embed the video or provide a link to the video in your course site before/near SŌL Module 1 so that it can be readily seen/accessed by students before beginning the module.

Reminder 2:

Additional Certificate of Completion

As a reminder, effective Fall 2021, you may be seeing an additional “new” Certificate of Completion (in addition to the “traditional” SŌL certificate). Students who are newly admitted into the Kapiʻolani Liberal Arts AA Online and the Kapiʻolani Accounting Certificate of Achievement Online programs are invited to complete a Kapiʻolani Online Learning Orientation (optional). This orientation uses a wayfinding metaphor in relation to students’ online learning journey and is created and facilitated in Laulima. It is more “in-depth” than SŌL in some areas and takes longer to complete (about 2.5 hours, self-paced). Besides gaining some exposure to and practice using some of the Laulima tools, modules include the following topics:

• Module 1: Basics of Online Learning

• Module 2: Communication & Engagement

• Module 3: Self Management Strategies

• Module 4: Technology

• Module 5: Support & Resources

• Additional Tools & Information

Students earn a Certificate of Completion for the Kapi’olani Online Learning Orientation (sample below). Since this orientation covers everything that SŌL does and more, students are told that they could choose to complete this orientation instead (as an option) and submit this Certificate of Completion for the SŌL assignment.

If you have any questions or concerns, please donʻt hesitate to let me know. MAHALO again for your tremendous support!

Kristie Malterre / Counselor, Online Learner Success / kristies@hawaii.edu

Laulima will see another version update (Sakai v. 20.4) on December 26th. As a result, Laulima will be down from 3 am to 2 pm on 12/26/21. This version will bring minor changes and bug fixes, including:

• Updated look-and-feel of menus and other user interfaces, for example:

• Date Manager - a new tool in Site Info to batch change the dates of assignments, tests, forums, etc:

• New Content Templates in the CKEditor - lets you quickly create attractive content for easier reading:

• Assignments - the new grader interface with document view allows the instructor to view and provide feedback on student submissions all within the browser, without having to download student files.

TIP: You can safely import content into the Spring 2022 sites now but may want to change the dates after the upgrade, as the new Date Manager tool will save you time.

Register for an upcoming webinar Laulima v20 Upgrades & Tips (UHOIC) to take place on January 14, 2022, 10-11 am.

Looking for new cool tools to engage your students? Wordwall can help you create activities for your online classroom. Wordwall activities are templated and interactive, just pick one, add your content and go! You can create a match up, game show quiz, word search, true and false activities and more. These activities can be embedded in Laulima and the best part? The activities have sound effects to excite your students!

Important Reminder - When trying out new tools, be sure to first check the University of Hawai'i ITS Reviewed Instructional Third Party Online Tools or Microservices (Widgets) for Faculty. If you find a tool that has not been reviewed and approved, please submit a request for the tool to be reviewed by UH ITS.

Our DE Class Review efforts have been collegial, collaborative, and constructive thanks to our amazing course reviewers and reviewees. Everyone involved in the process has also been learning so much by asking hard questions and sharing the answers.

Every month, we plan to highlight two Q&As from our Peer Reviewers’ FAQ archives as we believe that some of the information will be helpful for anyone teaching online.

This month’s questions and answers are:

• If a PDF opens in a browser vs. being downloaded, would that affect the accessibility status? Meaning if it passes in one would it pass in the other as well?

If the file itself is made accessible, it doesn't matter how you open it. If it's made accessible, it will be accessible via browser as well as via Acrobat Reader, etc.

• Is it possible to have a mini-tutorial (video) or training to talk about the accessibility checker for PDFs? Many of us see the list that pops up and don’t understand some of the items.

Sure, watch this video: Demystifying the Review of PDF Accessibility (15:40)

Here's a bonus Q&A as the grades for Fall 2021 are about to be distributed:

• Is it okay if instructors send grade info via UH email to students, e.g. grade updates, or does that violate FERPA?

As long as a grade is sent to that individual student only, there is no FERPA violation. However, we do not recommend using UH email since it is not always the most secure method. Right now, the best method is if they use Laulima or FileDrop (but that means they would have to send a separate file for every student). -- UH Data Governance

This is a great time to upskill and update your digital content before the new semester. All employees across the UH System are welcome to enroll in the fully online, self-paced, Kapi‘olani-created professional development program focused on Digital Accessibility!

This is a self-paced learning resource with the option to complete a competency assessment to earn a digital credential. Learn about important fundamental concepts of accessibility and - most importantly - how to apply your new knowledge to your digital learning content! The anytime/anywhere format makes this a flexible way to learn (and re-visit) key constructs.

Register Here

65 individuals have earned their digital credential thus far. Here's what a few of them are saying about their experience...

Mahalo! This was super fun, and very helpful. I love the design, look, and experience of the course. This is not like ANYTHING I had on Laulima when I was in school at UHM. Even though I've studied this topic frequently, and recently I still was able to learn new things. I really liked the practice documents.

I REALLY enjoyed the Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility training. The course is very well designed - I love that each section starts with an explanation, then it follows with an instructional video, then finishes with an opportunity to practice.

The course was excellent. I learned SO much, and I've already started working on making my online class that I teach to be ADA accessible. I've recommended this course to my colleagues.

Questions? Just reach out to Youxin Zhang (youxin@hawaii.edu) & Jamie Sickel (jsickel@hawaii.edu)

Making Waves: Innovations in Learning

The Teaching, Colleges, & Community (TCC) Online Conference will be held April 12-14, 2022. The event is a collaboration between TCC Hawaii, LearningTimes, & the Learning Design and Technology (LTEC) Department in the College of Education at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. This is a widely attended annual event and registration is typically covered for all UHCC employees, courtesy of Wo Learning Champions.

TCC 2022 invites proposals for presentations and papers relevant to online teaching and learning with emerging technologies and transforming learning in innovative environments. For information about session formats and how to submit, visit TCC 2022 Call for Proposals.

Currently, Kapi‘olani CC has a subscription with Go2Knowledge, which offers Kap‘olani CC faculty and staff free access to dozens of Innovative Educators webinars, both live and on demand (pre-recorded). Many of them are quite good! Here's a sampling to pique your interest:

Upcoming live webinars:

• Addressing the Unique Mental Health Needs of Minority Students: Wed 12/8 at 8:00 - 9:00 am HST

• Utilizing Dual Enrollment to Bridge Equity Gaps & Positively Impact Enrollment Initiatives: Wed 12/8 at 10:00 - 11:00 am HST

• How to Remove Completion Barriers for Non-Traditional Students: Tues 1/25 at 10:00 - 11:30 am HST

Recently-added on demand webinars:

• Pandemic Proctoring: Practical Approaches for Hybrid Proctoring: 60 min.
• How to Make Online Courses More Accessible & Inclusive: Compliance, Diversity & Ethics: 75 min.
  

• How to Increase Engagement during Synchronous Online Sessions: 60 min.

And many, many more. Sign up at Kapi‘olani CC's G2K account page and browse through the offerings.

The UH ITS Help Desk provides technical support for Laulima, UH Google Workspace, and other UH-supported technology. You can contact them anytime with your questions and/or requests for technical assistance...and now, there’s a new option to get in touch!

UH ITS Help Desk Live Chat support is now available Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 3:00pm (excluding Holidays)

Got a question after hours? No worries! The ITS Help Desk is staffed 24/7/365 so you can call (808-956-2108 or toll free for neighbor islands 800-558-2669) for immediate assistance any time of day, any day of the year. You can also get help via e-mail (help@hawaii.edu), or submit a ticket by clicking the Request Assistance link at the bottom of any Laulima page.

Did you know that UH has upgraded its Google License from Google Workspace for Education Standard (Free) to Google Workspace for Education Plus (Compare the Editions)? Most of the Plus features are in Google Meet, internal cloud search, and advanced security, however, now an unlimited number of Originality Reports (i.e. plagiarism detection) can be run in Google Classroom or Google Assignments in Laulima. Currently, only the instructors are entitled to an unlimited number of originality reports. Students are still limited to 3 reports per Laulima site.

If you are interested in exploring Google Assignments in Laulima, please contact us at celtt@hawaii.edu or email ITS at help@hawaii.edu.

Understanding the sharing rules is an essential prerequisite for collaboration within Google Docs and will help a Google Doc owner find the optimal way for collaborators to engage with the desired document. Have you scratched your head when pondering or puzzling over the sharing rules in Google Docs in order to provide an appropriate, accurate, and custom permission level for your collaborators? If you need a refresher on this subject or interested in learning about it as a new concept, feel free to check out Understanding the Sharing Rules in Google Docs. This handout outlined the primary considerations for both Google Docs owner and collaborators as well as provided some resources (e.g., video, text) for further exploration.

• Adventures with Snapchat in an Online Course (article, Faculty Focus)

Are you already incorporating social media in your courses? Or interested in learning more? Learn more about how this teacher uses “snaps” to engage students.

• The Benefits of Online Learning Are Also Its Weaknesses. That’s Where Advisors Help. (article, EdSurge)

“The students who are least likely to ask for help are those who need it most.” A longtime instructor explains the ways online education both serves and challenges adult learners and makes the case for proactive outreach and human contact.

• What Omicron Could Mean for Colleges (article, Insider Higher Ed)

The Omicron variant of COVID is likely to appear and spread at US institutions of higher ed; colleges should prepare by declining to relax vaccine mandates and prevention protocols or reinstating them if already relaxed.

• DE Newsletter - November 2021
• DE Newsletter - October 2021
• DE Newsletter - September 2021
• DE Newsletter - August 2021
• DE Newsletter - July 2021
• DE Newsletter - June 2021
• DE Newsletter - May 2021
• DE Newsletter - April 2021
• DE Newsletter - March 2021
• DE Newsletter - February 2021
• DE Newsletter - January 2021