Coping with Uncertainty
There are no easy answers, but anything created online can be adapted for future hybrid classes or to supplement in-person classes, or can be used as fall-back if there's another stay-at-home order. And the process of thinking through our course material in terms of student learning needs and student outcomes achievement will undoubtedly result in a richer learning environment in any format.
The way to save time and bolster energy may not be to skimp on online class development, but to build community with one another, sharing innovations, techniques, and tools, and celebrating mistakes as learning opportunities as well as celebrating successes. We are in this together--let's support each other through it.
DE Class Review Has Begun
Thanks to HEERF, we have begun to implement the Faculty Senate-approved DE Class Review system.
Trained peer reviewers are working with DE instructors to ensure that our DE classes meet federal and ACCJC requirements, and to ensure that DE instructors have the support they need to create and facilitate effective online learning spaces. This semester, the focus is on classes that were online prior to COVID. For Spring 2022, we hope to have a better sense of which newly-online-since-COVID classes will remain online moving forward.
If your class is slated for review this semester, you should have already received notification. If your class is slated for review in Spring 2022, you’ll be notified by the end of this semester, and will have the opportunity to choose which rubric you'd like to work with. The BaRe (Basic Requirements) Rubric focuses tightly on the 5 federal and ACCJC requirements. The CoRe (Collaborative Reflective) Rubric offers an opportunity for a rich, collaborative conversation about course design and facilitation.
Want more information? Check out these Quick Facts about DE Class Review. If you have questions, please direct them to Leigh (ldooley@hawaii.edu).
The Magical Unicorn: Tips to Enchant and Enhance Your Online Class
There is value in getting to know your students as individuals, but let's be real: building rapport in an online class is tough. One strategy you can use is to ask students to complete a confidential survey (it’s really easy to send out using Google Forms). Here are several suggested questions:
Your name and the name that you would like to be called (if different from your name on the registration). What are your pronouns?
Where is your hometown?
Are you physically in Hawaii? If not, tell me where you are taking this class from.
Why have you chosen Kapi‘olani CC?
What are your goals for this class?
What are your current career goals and how does this course fit into them?
What responsibilities do you have outside of school? Work, family, extra curricular, church, etc.
What motivates you?
How comfortable are you with technology?
What can I do to help you succeed in this class?
What would you like me to know about you?
Be sure to share the same information about yourself to the entire class. I still recommend everyone introduce themselves to the whole class using tools like Laulima Forums, Flipgrid or Padlet, but the confidential survey can dig a little deeper. To students, that extra effort you took to get to know them counts!
UHCC OER Incentive Program
The UHCC OER leads from our seven colleges have put together a systemwide professional development program and awards for modification and creation projects. Professional development opportunities include textbook review workshops and more in-depth UHCC OER 101 workshops and courses. There is a call for proposals for those interested in modifying an OER resource or creating ancillaries for a TXT0 course. We are also inviting proposals to create an OER course or textbook to convert a class to TXT0.
What I Wish My College Knew: A Student Panel
Students from across the UHCC system will be sharing with us things that they wish we knew as their teachers, counselors, academic support providers, and administrators. Join us to hear from them in this virtual session brought to us by the UHCC Professional Development Consortium.
- Wednesday, September 29 at 2:00 – 3:30 pm
- Zoom session: http://go.hawaii.edu/PHt
For more information, contact Jeff Mexia (Kauai CC): jmexia@hawaii.edu
Leeward CC's Getting to Know Our Students Workshop Series
Leeward CC's "Getting to Know Our Students" Workshop Series gives students center stage to share their journeys, stories, experiences, and advice with us. For AY21-22, we will feature one student group per month. We kick off this series featuring our Native Hawaiian students and Leeward's Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Center at Puʻuloa!
Thursday, September 23rd
3pm - 4pm
Zoom Link: go.hawaii.edu/fx3
RSVP here! All UHCC employees are welcome!
What We Are Reading, Listening to, and Watching Now
- Here’s What Free Community College Might Look Like (article, Inside Higher Ed)
3 Things New Federal Data Reveal About How Colleges Fared During the Pandemic (article, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- In Early Days of Pandemic, Teaching Suffered (article, Inside Higher Ed)
A global survey reveals that even though learning objectives were largely met, the education students received at their colleges and universities early in the pandemic may have been of lower quality.
