We Are Thankful for You
ʻAneʻane pau ke Kau Kula. We are nearing the end of fall 2022 and preparing ourselves to hoʻomaha (pause) and mahalo (give thanks). What or who are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season? We are deeply thankful for our resilient students and steadfast teachers who tirelessly prepare engaging learning spaces for their students, whether it is online, hybrid, or in-person.
We wish you a warm Thanksgiving with your ‘ohana, sharing simple joys and making many happy memories. Our dollars may not go as far as before, and there may be a little less food on the table, but may your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with what really counts: gratitude and good rest.
It’s time to review and update student evaluation surveys of your Fall 2022 courses in the Course Evaluation System (CES). The faculty edit period will end on November 25 this semester. Please note that there will be no open-ended questions unless the instructor (or the department) adds them each semester. If you want qualitative feedback from your students, please add your own questions to your surveys. Email ecafe-kcc@lists.hawaii.edu if you need assistance.
Note these recent changes to CES:
Non-traditional (aka part-of-term) surveys are by default open to students for 7 days, just like the traditional surveys. Instructors can still extend and re-open the surveys. Email notifications to the students regarding the non-traditional surveys are automatically sent on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email notifications to instructors with upcoming non-traditional surveys are sent out on Monday of the week before the survey opens to the students, so the instructor can add questions to the upcoming survey if desired.
Starting in Fall 2021, CES creates one survey for each instructor for every course in Banner. Previously, CES created one survey per course and co-instructors had to ‘share’ the survey. While each instructor now has his/her own survey where he/she can select questions, the students will only see one survey per course. If a course has more than one instructor, the student view of the survey will have multiple sections (one section per instructor) followed by the questions set by the campus/college/division/department and subject.
ITS has also created a new set of how-to documents (requires logging into your hawaii.edu Google account). Please share this information widely, and submit your requests or questions on the CES Request Assistance page.
- Add questions relevant to evaluating online courses. Browse the DE-Specific questions recommended for DE classes for recommendations.
What courses do you teach online? How long have you been teaching online and what made you decide to teach online?
I teach HIST 151/152 synchronously as well as asynchronously in different formats (16-week traditional courses, 6-week courses, and 5-week courses). Both ES 101 and HIST 281 remain asynchronous classes. All my classes started out as face-to-face classes but I was already teaching online since 2013 (or so) due to growing student interest in online classes. Some of our courses have only been offered online (such as HIST 281) as students seemed to prefer to take 200-level history classes online.
What is your favorite part about teaching online?
In general, one of the best parts of teaching is constantly learning and I am always being introduced to new delivery methods and engagement tools with online learning. I am also in constant awe of the creativity of my colleagues and students who challenge and inspire me to improve!
What is the most challenging part of teaching online?
Communication is always a challenging issue as it is sometimes difficult to communicate empathy and understanding with just an email message, phone call or zoom. It can also be challenging to manage student expectations about response time (some students expect immediate response times regardless of holidays and weekends). I do try to be flexible but I also do need to sleep and won't likely respond between 12-3 am!
What surprised you about teaching online?
As many faculty members were already teaching online or starting to explore teaching online before the pandemic, online teaching became an incredibly helpful tool to navigate some of the unprecedented circumstances that arose with the shutdown. I was surprised at how much more acceptable online teaching became and its recognition as a valid delivery method of teaching and learning.
What is your favorite Web tool/technology?
Does UH ITS's 24/7 tech support count? I appreciate their immediate assistance as I navigate old technologies (excel, word) and new technologies. I am also eternally grateful to our Instructional Designers for their creativity, patience, and helpfulness!
What is one piece of advice that you would give to a fellow online instructor?
Never be afraid to reach out with questions and take advantage of the incredible professional development opportunities offered at your home campus and throughout the UH system. We have a lot of brilliant people who are happy to share their experiences and expertise.
ʻIwalani Koide
Hawaiian Language Kumu
Youxin Zhang
Instructional Designer, CELTT
Jamie Sickel
Melissa Nakamura
Co-chair, Faculty Senate DE Committee
mchar@hawaii.edu
Man Beryl Yang
Michelle Dela Cruz
Kara Plamann Wagoner
Kristie Malterre
Counselor, Online Learner Success
Kawehi Sellers
Online Faculty, Hospitality & Tourism
