Featured Faculty
Name: Kristie Malterre
Department: Student Affairs
What are your responsibilities regarding online education at Kapi‘olani CC?
I work as a counselor with online learner success. I basically focus on student preparation, adjustment, and success in online learning and also help students to navigate the college environment and connect with academic/student supports in order to successfully pursue their educational goals.
What made you decide to focus on DE?
I’ve worked as a counselor in different capacities at the college, ranging from liberal arts counseling/advising to supporting students enrolled in our “developmental” courses to successfully transition to “college level” coursework. With our campus’ increasing focus on distance education and providing quality opportunities and learning experiences for students, I began working with online learner support and have been extremely thankful for this shift and chance to grow. My role has always been to support students in their journey toward reaching their own unique academic, personal, and career goals. I am very fortunate to work amongst an amazing, talented, knowledgeable, passionate, and committed community on campus, including instructional designers, DE coordinator, data analyst, and many online instructors (both “new” and “veteran”), who collaboratively work to improve, build, and implement quality online learning opportunities for students every single day. I really can’t think of any better working experience!
Who takes online classes and what are their needs?
Can you believe that in Spring 2020, 50% of our Kapiʻolani Community College students are taking at least one online class, and about 11% of students are enrolled in only online classes? And, despite a general decline in overall enrollment, demand and enrollment in online classes at Kapi’olani CC continues to rise. The ability to mix in-person with online classes semester to semester is correlated with more successful outcomes in terms of graduation and transfer. What may this imply for our students? Learning online is a valuable opportunity for students to reach their educational goals. Since many of our students take online classes, the “profile” of online students parallels the diversity of our general student population, including the fact that many are enrolled part-time and have other life responsibilities “on their plate.” Although our population of completely online learners changes from semester to semester, a greater proportion of students tend to be older, female, employed part to full time, and are caregivers. Like all students, partially and fully online students have needs, including but not limited to areas such as career exploration, academic and course support, academic and major/program planning, college success skills, personal well being, disability accommodations, effective learning strategies, and financial aid support.
What support resources are available for online students?
We work at a wonderful campus where there are a wide variety of quality student support resources and services available for both online and in-person students.
Academic/Course Support: instructors, tutors (in-person and via tutor.com), online library and success resources
Student Services: admissions, registration, financial aid, bookstore, STAR, etc.
Counseling & Advising:
Academic program counselors (most in Academic Affairs)
Focus primarily on academic advising, course/registration planning, graduation and transfer planning, career counseling, and personal counseling.
Includes: Maida Kamber Center (liberal arts & transfer); Health Sciences & Nursing; Business/Legal/Technology; Culinary & Hospitality; First Year Experience (focus on first year undecided and pre-Health/Nursing students).
Targeted population counselors (in Student Affairs)
Focus primarily on providing targeted, population-specific support, including focus on retention, connecting with resources, personal counseling, etc.
Includes: Kapoʻoloku Native Hawaiian Student Success, Student Parent Program, TRIO, Kuilei (high school connections), Pāhihi (returning adults), Veterans & Military, Mental Health and Wellness, International Students, Employment Prep, Disability Services, Online Learner Success.
As an entire campus community, we are a dynamic team in supporting online learners in reaching their learning, academic, and career goals. Together, we can! I look forward to the years to come as online learning continues to strengthen opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for our students.
Accessibility in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
Have you wondered how to check for ADA accessibility of your documents created in Google Docs?
Well, there is an amazing little tool called Grackle Docs! And thanks to UH ITS, all hawaii.edu account holders have free access to Grackle Suite which are add-ons to the Google suite of apps (Docs, Sheets, and Slides). Grackle will help you:
check and correct accessibility issues with your G Suite documents
generate PDF/UA output (Docs and Slides)
create accessible HTML (Sheets).
Note that Grackle works only in Chrome. See How to use Grackle Docs (UH ITS) and watch Grackle Docs Short Overview.
Zoom Update
Accessibility Tip (Lists)
Using different types of lists, such as bulleted lists, numbered lists, to group information according to its nature. Please do not manually type spaces, dashes, or numbers to list items (instead, use the default feature "Insert Numbered/Bulleted List" in Microsoft Word or Laulima Rich Text Editor).
Applying a different labeling scheme at each level when you create a nested/multilevel list helps screen readers differentiate the structure of a list. Solid bullets and hollow bullets make no difference when screen reader users navigate to a list with shortcut keys.
March 2-6 Is Open Ed Week!
What We Are Reading, Listening to, or Watching Now
Coronavirus Forces Universities Online (article: Inside Higher Ed)
- Drilling Down Into Distance Education Data (article: Inside Higher Ed)
Through an exploration of what it means to make work meaningful, this book offers practical strategies and tips to support higher education professionals in efficiently managing and effectively using a wide range of technologies and productivity tools.
Helen Torigoe
htorigoe@hawaii.edu, x9855
Jamie Sickel
jsickel@hawaii.edu, x9849
Youxin (Yoyo) Zhang
youxin@hawaii.edu, x9822
Nadine Wolff
nwolff@hawaii.edu, x9787
Kelli Nakamura
kellinak@hawaii.edu, x9420
Kara Plamann Wagoner
karapw@hawaii.edu, x9778
Melissa Nakamura
mchar@hawaii.edu, x9152
Kristie Malterre
kristies@hawaii.edu, x344
Leigh Dooley
ldooley@hawaii.edu, x9703