Distance Education Newsletter

It's hard to get past the daily stresses of the COVID era! But have you noticed that in spite of this, or maybe because of it, we are all even more openly helpful to one another? Colleagues are turning to each other more for support and for tips about how to teach effectively in the new modalities. We're more often sharing with one another what we're doing in our classes. And we're more openly detailing (and celebrating!) our mistakes and what we learned from them. This spirit of mutual support and collaboration is accelerating the development of our professional expertise--we're all becoming better educators together! Keep up the good work, phenomenal educators--your open minds and willingness both to be vulnerable and to help each other out is creating the working environment we all need to survive and thrive.

An exciting announcement from our fantastic Learning Center Coordinator, Virginia Yoshida: Based on increasing student inquiries and tutor/coach session observations, the Study Hub Peer Tutors and Ho‘ā Academic Peer Coaches will be providing Technology Assistance online starting 9/29. Students can make appointments through star.hawaii.edu/appointment as well as view the specific technology each tutor/coach can support at program websites: bit.ly/thestudyhub OR bit.ly/hoacoach. Our hope is that we can tap into our current student employees' tech skills/talents to support student success with peer encouragement and modeling growth mindset.

UH ITS Help Desk is always available 24/7 for immediate tech support issues with Laulima and other UH applications, as well as Zoom, but this Kapi‘olani student-supported assistance offers support by appointment for students who need assistance learning how to use the technologies they need for their classes. Here's a comparison table of Technology Support Options for Kapi‘olani CC Students you can use and/or share with students to help determine which type of assistance might best align with their needs.

In partnership with the City and County of Honolulu, the University of Hawaiʻi is offering free job training to Oahu residents through the Oahu Back To Work Program. This initiative is financially backed by the City and County of Honolulu's CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds. Eight UH campuses are offering courses in a variety of subject areas such as health, information technology, and computer training. Most courses are being delivered online.

Kapiʻolani Community College are offering the following courses:

• IT Certification Exam Prep in Security+, Network+, A+ and Project+

• Computer MOS 2019 Certification & Career Advancement

• Information Technology Fundamentals

• Google Suite Certification for the Workplace

• Telework Toolkit

• Pharmacy Technician

• Tutor Training Certification, Level 1

To be eligible for this program, participants must be:

• Residents of the City and County of Honolulu, and

• Have their job situation affected by COVID-19 impacts (e.g. furloughed, lost hours, or unemployed)

Spread the word! Tell your family and friends! For more information, go to the Oahu Back To Work website.

October 9 (Friday) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Culturally-Sustaining & COVID-Informed Practices in the Online Classroom

Join the Zoom session: http://go.hawaii.edu/fx3

This session focuses on culturally responsive and culturally sustaining practices based on understanding key cultural norms of Pacific islanders, and delivering educational experiences in ways that support those norms, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Hattori will share practical strategies, tips, and activities based on relevant research, over two decades of distance learning experiences including teaching, student services, and faculty development, her engagement with Pacific islander communities in Hawai'i and community-based pandemic-response teams.

Thank you Leeward Community College for opening this session up to your colleagues across the UH System!

• Online Teaching & Learning Hui: Online Assessment Strategies and Tips (hosted by UH OIC)

Friday, Oct 9, 11AM - 12PM | Registration

• Online Teaching & Learning Hui: Free (or low fee) Online Tools and Resources Exchange (hosted by UH OIC)

Friday, Oct 16, 11AM - 12PM | Registration

Hungry for more? Please visit the UH OIC Professional Development page.

Information Technology Services hosts the IT All-Campus Workshop annually to share best practices, hear the latest about current and upcoming system-wide IT services, and discuss how to solve the challenges and take advantage of the new opportunities facing us daily. This year, the event is online. It's free, but you'll need to register to attend.

October 23, 2020, 9am - 12pm | Info & Registration

Kapiʻolani Community College is an institutional member of the University Professional for Continuing Education Association (UPCEA). UPCEA is an international continuing education association with members from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia. Although a continuing education association, many institutional members offer credit courses and many of the conference topics are focused on credit courses and programs.

Due to COVID-19, UPCEA is holding the annual West Region Conference online this year, and is free to all members. Held from October 12 – 14, topics covered include online learning, international, program planning, marketing, student services and community and economic engagement.

To take advantage of this free professional development opportunity, you must first be a UPCEA member. If you are not currently a UPCEA member or unsure if you are one, please contact Melissa Nakamura at mchar@hawaii.edu. If you are not a member, Melissa will add you as a member and you will be able to register for the free conference. Membership is only available to Kapiʻolani Community College faculty and staff.

Hurry! Registration ends on Tuesday, October 6, 2020!

More information can be found at the UPCEA West Region Conference website.

• Preparing an Inclusive Online Course (hosted by ACUE)

Friday, Oct 9, 6-7AM | Registration

We are seven weeks into the semester. Isn’t it a perfect time to see how you’re doing? This month’s tip is about embedding a simple CAT - Classroom Assessment Technique into Laulima.

If you are using Laulima Lesson Pages, did you know you could ask students quick multiple-choice or short answer questions without having to leave your Laulima site? On the top of your Lesson Page go to “Add Content” and navigate down to “Add Question.” Select “multiple choice” or “short answer.” Then proceed with writing your question and possible answers. You can add as many questions as you like by repeating the steps.

While you may not be able to extract the data neatly like you could in a Google Form, it’s a quick and simple way to gain feedback from your students. You will be able to view their answers by clicking on the “show grading pane” icon.

In September, we saw the dramatic spike in online enrollments at Kapi'olani CC. This month, we explore the leap in the percentage of hybrid course offerings.

For the past three years, the average number of hybrid courses was 33. In fall 2020, our campus offered six times that many with 209 hybrid courses out of 932 total classes.

If you’re an instructor who has moved from face-to-face to hybrid during the pandemic, what challenges have you transformed into opportunities? How can the campus support you going forward?

Although it may be awhile until we are ahead of COVID-19, do you think the average number of hybrid offerings will return to only 3% after the pandemic or will there be a shift in teaching modalities and learning preferences that leads to permanent change?

Zoom released a number of new updates lately. Please review New Updates for September 21, 2020 for more information.

Please note that the newly added “Self-select Breakout Room” feature is currently only supported for the Zoom desktop client running the latest software version (i.e. version 5.3.0 or higher). Both the meeting host and participants need to upgrade in order to use the choose breakout room option. The meeting host can find the option available (see screenshot below) by clicking the Breakout Rooms button once entering a Zoom meeting. For more details on how to use it from a meeting participant’s perspective, please visit Participating in breakout rooms page.

See additional resources for upgrading/updating to the latest version of Zoom.

Video tutorial on how to verify if you have the latest version of Zoom (0:57)

Reminder: ITS Zoom accounts do have waiting rooms and passcodes enabled by default, however users have the ability to disable these security features for their account or on a per meeting basis.

For scheduled Zoom meetings, the list of participants is automatically recorded. You can use the list to keep track of attendance, assign a grade, or reach out to students who may be missing your classes.

To access the attendance list for a meeting:

1. Go to hawaii.zoom.us.

2. Sign in using your UH ID and password.

3. Once logged in, click Reports on the left hand side.

4. On the Reports page, select Usage.

5. Click the meeting you want to see the attendance for.

6. Click the number in the Participants column. The Meeting participants window will show the list of attendees.

7. To export the report as a CSV file, click Export and the file will download.

It’s deemed critical to provide “equivalent experience” to your content consumers, especially for those who have disabilities, if you have information resources in the form of audio or video.

A transcription is needed for an audio file, and a video file should be closed-captioned. To get started with closed captioning, you may consider YouTube/Augusta ADA Solution (UH login required).

As for transcribing tools, you may use oTranscribe (a free web app that allows you to type the transcription as the audio plays) or Otter.ai which provides 600 mins of transcription time per month per account for free (see pricing for more details).

Additional resources:

• How to caption your video on YouTube (step-by-step handout)

• Creating Accessible Media (UH Accessibility)

• Open/closed captions VS. subtitles: What are the differences & when to use them

Name: Mary Ann Esteban

Department: Math/Science

What courses do you teach online? Math 100, 103, 111, 112, 135

How long have you been teaching online and what made you decide to teach online?

I have been teaching online for a little more than a decade now. If you can imagine, I started online instruction without any internet at home so I could only connect to students at KCC. Needless to say, I spent a LOT of time at KCC.

My primary motivation for online instruction is to be able to reach out to students who are interested in taking courses but their work or family schedules do not allow for a regular commitment to in-person classes. The other part is the CHALLENGE. I was very doubtful about providing a rigorous math course online; I wanted to ensure that students are capable of showing the entire process and achieving success in mathematics in an online format. Spending a lot of time communicating with students made me realize that learning math online is possible without compromising rigor and integrity.

Despite my confidence over time in conducting my course online, I've always felt I could do better and I found the right support and challenge with my first experience with TOPP in Spring 2019. The TOPP program has given me powerful tools in creating a more inviting and engaging Laulima site I can implement right away and copy for future semesters. I have greater confidence with creating videos with the use of several Web 2.0 tools, providing captions through YouTube, embedding videos into my Laulima site, and providing a more comprehensive and organized site where I can house resources in one location.

What is your favorite part about online teaching?

In addition to reaching out to students in a different format and the challenges that come along with online instruction and online learning, I think my favorite part is learning new techniques and ideas. I took TOPP again during Summer 2020 just for fun because I really missed the camaraderie and sharing of ideas. I really enjoyed the time and the challenges and I managed to figure some of the issues I've been trying to problem solve on my own. I truly appreciate the guidance and massive positive optimism from our KCC TOPP Gurus: Helen Torigoe, Jamie Sickel, and Youxin Zhang. They created an award winning program that truly helped elevate online teaching. I translated the online techniques to my face-to-face courses and this experience helped to organize and transition content more smoothly from week to week.

With online teaching, my favorite part being an instructor is getting to know my students and their struggles, some are personal and some are academic. Even though online teaching takes a greater amount of time with prep work, communication, and planning, I value my position in offering students a more flexible choice in taking courses from wherever and whenever they are around the world. I sense that the traditional educational modes of delivery are much more than the concrete buildings where we are housed for the day; education can take place on a more global scale with greater flexibility.

What are your biggest challenges during COVID-19 remote/online teaching and how are you overcoming them?

Zoom breakout rooms: My Math 112 required synchronous group work and students were required to take the role of teachers for the day by running a math lesson in class. My students chose to maintain synchronous meetings. How was I supposed to do that when students were at home? I had to quickly learn how to use Zoom, multitask with setting up breakout rooms for group work, and set up co-hosting capabilities for my students when they had to run a math investigation as a facilitator. I overcame these obstacles by spending lots of time exploring during Spring Break and YouTubing how to use Zoom breakout rooms and learning what to expect. My students were kind enough to allow me to make mistakes and learn from these errors.

Test Centers shut down: When I was informed by various testing centers that they were not providing testing services, how were my students supposed to take their online exams? ProctorU was not an option for many of my students who were being laid off and struggling with finances. I could allow students access to the exams like many other faculty with some kind of honor system, but I also wanted to maintain a certain level of integrity that our test centers practice. There had to be a way to do this. So after Spring Break, I began formulating a Zoom proctoring protocol for my students by converting a lesson page into a Zoom Proctoring page, with instructions on downloading Zoom onto their computer and smartphones, how-to Zoom videos, a proctoring sign up sheet, and the meeting links.

Extreme Time Management with Home Schooling: Slightly unrelated to online teaching yet I feel this was a huge impact for me during COVID and continues to affect me into fall semester. With my two kids at home, I was now responsible for tracking their online learning from school, especially my kindergartener at the time. They had their own WebEx or Zoom meetings, thankfully at different times of the day. I really had to manage my own work time for synchronous Zoom meetings and exam proctoring around their schedules in order to really focus on my students. To be effective, I needed to continue to work late overnight several times in order to keep up with my own deadlines for daily tasks.

A Positive Light: I feel that one positive thing that came out of the COVID shutdown is that people who once had the notion that online instruction was "easier" than face-to-face classes now understand the amount of time and effort in the development, planning, creation, and delivery of appropriate material for the online environment. Communicating with students eats up a huge amount of time throughout the day AND on weekends. They now understand that in the online environment, it feels like you have 30 individualized classes in your course due to each student's various needs and understanding of material at different moments of their learning.

What surprised you about teaching online?

Growth Mindset Online: Understanding and practicing growth mindset principles while employing the recommended standards pedagogies endorsed by AMATYC in Beyond Crossroads and by MAA in their Instructional Practice Guide is an ongoing challenge. I truly believe that developing and practicing a growth mindset, especially in the realm of mathematics, can break socioeconomic, financial, and gender boundaries that tend to limit success. But how was I supposed to do this in an online setting? I found out that presenting the material through videos and forum discussions was the perfect way for students to reflect upon their understanding of growth mindset and what it means for them before starting the course. Maintaining feedback and communication using growth mindset language allowed me to continue the practice of growth mindset principles throughout the course.

Connection and impact: I once had a Math 100 online student near the end of Fall 2018 who was at the end of the last chapter when tragedy struck her family. She emailed that she wanted to give up and had difficulty coping with the situation, and resigned herself to retaking Math 100. After expressing my condolences and concern for her well-being, I advised her to take a break, take care of herself, and heal with family. I let her know that whenever she was ready to continue the course, I would support her. She is such a hard worker and I did not want her to spend extra money unnecessarily, so I offered a change of grade later if she was ready by next year. She let me know how grateful she was for my support and understanding, and expressed how badly she felt for constantly requesting extensions well after finals week. Although she was grieving and clearly stressed over personal time commitments, she was surprised by my compassion and empathy, which I believed contributed to helping her regain her motivation to finish the last chapter exam and final exam before Christmas. Soon after Christmas I delivered the good news that she had succeeded and a change of grade was completed. In her last email, she said, "I really appreciate everything and your words of kindness. I wouldn't have graduated this semester without your help and I'll always be grateful."

Moments like this remind me again of the power of teaching with grace and that I am able to convey this to my students in an online setting, to my surprise.

What is your favorite web tool/technology?

I must first say that I am not tech savvy. Having gone through TOPP twice has definitely boosted my confidence and I am eager to learn more. These are a few of my top tools since they are all my current favorites.

Adobe Spark: In Summer 2020, I recently learned how to improve video creation more efficiently using Adobe Spark. I tend to make mistakes and have had to do many retakes with great screen capturing programs like Loom and Screencastify. With Adobe Spark, I only have to repeat a 30 second portion rather than redo the entire presentation. If I needed to change a small portion, I can just replace that bit quite easily.

iPad + Apple pen: This was a huge game changer for me after feeling envious of others who have an iPad to use. I am now able to correct student work by hand using the Apple pen and a notetaking app. I can video handwritten lectures using Loom.

ZoomNotes: I have to credit Nadine for taking me down the pathway to exploring how she uses Notability for correcting handwritten work. I spent some time exploring which note taking app would be best suited for my needs as a teacher and settled on ZoomNotes. You can download ZoomNotes Lite for free to explore the app, which led to my decision to purchase it. I love the various pen and color options, the infinite whiteboard, the highly customizable toolkit, layering capabilities, subpage and notes, various page layouts, zooming in (very handy when correcting and there's not much room on handwritten paper), insert audio files or record while you're writing out your notes. I wish I had this app as a college student!

OfficeLens or vFlat: I have my students download either one of these scanning apps so they can scan their work to me and submit it through Laulima Assignments as a single pdf file. OfficeLens has a 20 page limit while vFlat has the capability to scan an entire book with ease. There are so many great scanning apps and I just needed to pick a couple for my students to focus on.

Icons: I know...it's a small thing but icons make me happy, can you tell? They are my new emojis in the classroom. They create a moment for students to pause and consider the presented content. I was inspired by other DE websites to change to different kinds of icons. I really like my layout now in creating a friendly math atmosphere.

Google: I was able to create a workaround for password protecting a Google Doc by using Google Forms. This method of password protecting allowed me to use ProctorU so that I can allow my students to schedule their paper-based exams with greater flexibility if they are unable to make it to my free Zoom proctoring session.

• Don’t Turn into a Bot Online: Three Easy Strategies to Let Your Personality Shine in Your Online Course Faculty Focus (article)

Consider the following to infuse your presence in the digital environment:

1. You don't have to be a superstar to make great videos.

2. Increase interest by adding humor.

3. Touch base often with your students.

• Pandemic Campus Diaries EdSurge Podcast (series of audio podcasts)

A semester-long series of audio postcards from students and professors at 6 colleges and universities. The first 3 episodes are available now, and new ones are released every other week. Here are some salient points that have emerged so far:

1. Teaching and learning in the time of COVID is stressful and practically challenging! (For example: “What if a student gets really really sick because of my class?” If you think teaching on Zoom is fatiguing, try teaching face-to-face in the time of COVID! To find a quiet and connected space in which to work, one student plans to work out of her car in a Starbucks or MacDonald’s parking lot. There is a “constant background noise of fear.” Everyone is having a hard time finding safe ways to unwind.)
2. Teachers and students who knew they were going to be online well ahead of time are way more relaxed and prepared; last-minute and reactive changes to format and delivery cause more anxiety and stress.

3. For some students, synchronous class sessions impose an at-least-somewhat familiar and helpful structure.

4. Synchronous Zoom meetings can cause an “uncanny valley” reaction, which may be part of what makes them so emotionally exhausting.

5. We think a lot more about our students’ lives now, and how their lives impact their ability to succeed in academics. We’re way more turned-in to our students, which is good for teacher-student relationships, and also way more worried about them, which is bad for our stress levels.

6. Young people are developmentally designed to engage in risky and impulsive behavior. This means that colleges are likely to be hot-beds of COVID infection. Was it irresponsible for campuses (especially residential campuses) to open?

• Five Inconvenient Truths about How We Grade Educational Leadership (article)

A math teacher reviews standard grading practices and posits that it’s time to abandon outdated approaches. The 5 inconvenient truths are:

1. We grade everything that moves (and shouldn’t).

2. The monster is of our doing.

3. Our A-F grading schema is obsolete.

4. Assigning an overall grade on multi-standard assessments makes no sense.

5. We grade what they did (and not what they learned).

• Charting a Course to a (Better) New Normal ASCD SmartBrief (article)

The educational landscape will be forever changed by COVID-19. In this article, the author suggests a pathway to a better new normal:

1. Admit that we are in a liminal space.

2. Talk about the questions, doubts, and feelings associated with the uncertainties of the moment.

3. Hope and imagine together the possibilities of a new and better future.

4. Consider some “new rules” to follow, such as "do what is right," "own your own learning," and "learn together."

"We don't teach content, we teach the students..."

--Chris Friend from Episode 328 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, entitled "Teaching as Listening, with Chris Friend"

• DE Newsletter - September 2020

• DE Newsletter - August 2020

• DE Newsletter - July 2020

• DE Newsletter - June 2020

• DE Newsletter - May 2020

• DE Newsletter - April 2020

• DE Newsletter - March 2020

• DE Newsletter - February 2020

• DE Newsletter - January 2020