Distance Education Newsletter

TS Eliot tells us that April is the cruelest month, and that may be true for many in academics as we study for finals and work on culminating projects and portfolios. It's a great time to gift your students, your colleagues, and yourself with a little understanding and grace. And don't forget that summer is coming soon!

Thinking of upskilling your online course design and facilitation this summer? (Or do you know a colleague looking for an effective PD?) Please consider joining one or more Teaching Online Prep Program (TOPP) modules this summer.

• TOPP Course Planning for Active Learning
  May 23 to June 3, 2022 (2 weeks)
  Design an SLO-aligned active learning space for your students
  Apply online by April 18, 2022
  

• TOPP Building an Online Classroom
  June 6 to July 1, 2022 (4 weeks)
  Build an engaging online/hybrid class in Laulima enhanced by Web tools
  Apply online by April 18, 2022

• TOPP Applying Digital Accessibility
  July 11 to August 5, 2022 (4 weeks)
  Join accountability groups to learn together and revise your classes for accessibility.
  More details coming soon!

Please contact kaptopp@hawaii.edu if you have questions.

Would you like to join a supportive community to collaboratively revise your digital resources to meet ADA accessibility requirements? A NEW PD will be coming in July! "Applying Digital Accessibility" will facilitate and support communities of faculty revising their digital resources/classes together.

Leigh Dooley and ‘Iwalani Koide represented Kapi‘olani CC superbly at the March 15th ACCJC webinar, “Changes in Distance Education Regulations.” They discussed how Kapi‘olani’s DE Team proactively created the campus definition of RSI (Regular Substantive Interaction, required by Federal DOE and ACCJC in all online classes) to align with the revisions being made by the Federal rulemaking negotiators, and shared how our DE Class Quality Review/Coaching process has helped to ensure quality and RSI, and created opportunities for collegial conversations about teaching online. If you missed the webinar, you can catch the recording. Kapi‘olani’s dynamic duo begin at 18:54.

Other Upcoming ACCJC Webinars

Date/Time: April 8, 2022, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Are you teaching online? Want to connect with others to share, discuss, grow, and learn from each other? We heard your requests for a space to connect and would love for you to join in with other colleagues across the system to share, collaborate, and improve online teaching and learning at UH. Join the inaugural 2022 UH Online Unconference, with topics and discussions driven by faculty and staff across the UH system.

Some topics you can join: Strategies & Tips for Sync/Async Learning, Culture-Based Learning, Assessment, Student Engagement, Building Empathy, Accessibility, Tech Tools Exchange, and more. Visit the newly launched Unconference webpage for details and register now!

The Technology, Colleges, and Community (TCC) is a three-day, entirely online worldwide conference for post-secondary faculty and staff that features a wide range of topics related to educational technology, distance learning, and emerging technologies for teaching and learning.

It will be held on April 12-14 (Tuesday - Thursday) again this year. You’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the emerging technology for teaching and learning as well as connect with subject matter experts and/or expand your professional network.

For more information about registration and how to engage with this professional development opportunity, feel free to visit TCC’s website.

“Part of creating a culture of connected learners is making sure that everyone feels welcome and seen.”

Who are the ghosts and what causes them to ghost in your online class? What best practices and solutions can prevent students from becoming ghosts? This was an engaging, relatable, and helpful webcast based on data, research, and the presenters’ own experiences. Find out how you can become an adept ghostbuster!

Resources from the webcast:

• Webcast slides

• Webcast recording (YouTube)

• Read the webcast chat for additional thoughts from your colleagues

• Additional Q&A responses from our panelists

We are out of Spring Break and in the home stretch of our semester. Have you checked on your students lately? Adding a simple question in your class site can mean a world of difference for a student. If you are using Laulima Lesson Pages, you can 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.” This is a perfect opportunity to ask students, “How are you doing?”

Select multiple choice or short answer. Then proceed with writing your question and possible answers (doing awesome, need more help, I’m lost, etc.). You can view their answers by clicking on the “show grading pane” icon. Of course, when asking how students are doing, be sure to follow up with your contact information and/or contacts for our incredible student resources on campus.

Our DE Class Coaching efforts have been collegial, collaborative, and constructive thanks to our amazing course coaches and coachees. 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 Coaches FAQ archives as we believe that some of the information will be helpful for anyone teaching online.

This month’s questions and answers are in regard to making accessible tables:

• A big takeaway for me in the training site was to not use tables for formatting purposes.

Rule of thumb: Use tables only when it’s necessary. If a table is the best way to present your data, you should create a separate plain-text version and place the link near the table.

• How do you know if you need just column headers or both column and row?

Consider why you laid out the table as you did.

• Is it ok to have that top left cell empty?

You can type something in the empty cell and white the text out. If you put something like “empty cell,” the screen reader will read it as empty cell to the user.

Zoom’s new Avatar feature allows you to conduct video calls and webinars using an animated avatar, much like Apple’s Memoji feature. Zoom’s software uses the device’s camera to detect where your face is on the screen and it applies a virtual animated avatar that mimics your expressions and head movements. To create your avatar presence:

1. Update your Zoom to the latest version (5.10.1)

2. Go to Background & Effects (or “Choose Virtual Background” if you are in a meeting)

Now, even the most camera-shy student might be willing to join your class through an avatar and you’ll at least know when they are smiling or nodding their head! 😀

Back in January before the Spring term began, many of us found the new Date Manager in Laulima’s Site Info tool useful, as we could batch change all open/due dates in one place. If you haven’t checked out the Date Manager since then, you may be pleasantly surprised to hear that ITS has implemented an even more powerful way to update the dates.

At the top of the Date Manager screen, there is now an option to “Shift dates by ___ day(s).” For example, after importing the course content from Summer 2021 to Summer 2022, you can calculate the difference between the first day of the terms by using Excel or using a Web app such as Timeanddate then enter the value in the Date Manager. You can choose to “Apply to all dates” or “Apply to expanded sections only.” Be sure to scroll down and save changes. If you need assistance or have questions, please contact ITS at help@hawaii.edu.

Now, what will you do with all the time that you will save by not having to update each date in Laulima? 😄🏄🪴😴

We learned that Hawai‘i Community College is using the new Focus Mode function in Zoom to proctor exams (credit: Leanne Urasaki) at their Testing Center. However we see the potential for using Focus Mode in any online synchronous classroom for proctoring exams. Here are some tips from Hawai‘i CC:

What’s new:

• Available starting with Zoom version 5.7.3, Focus mode allows the webcam feeds and shared screens of all participants to be visible only to hosts and co-hosts and not to other participants. (How to update Zoom.)

How to Video:

• Zoom Focus Mode: How to Hide All Participant Video in Zoom Meeting

What Works Better Now with Focus Mode:

• Able to monitor all students in the main room. (Proctors may not need to use Breakout Rooms.)

• Identity verification by showing student IDs on screen can be done in Focus mode since other students can only see the host's/co-host’s video.

• Using the Pin feature, instructors can “zoom in” on one student’s screen to verify actions, observe test submissions, etc.

What Still Doesn’t Work Well:

• Unmuting student microphones is likely to cause disruptions, but remaining muted means that sounds from each student’s test taking location will not be audible to proctors.

• Communication between host and student will need to be done via Chat.

Considerations:

• Set up chat so participants can only chat with the host (proctor)

Need to create quick meeting notes? Make a checklist? Start your Google Doc with “@” and you will get a menu of quick links such as people you often interact with, a meeting note template, often used files and media, list format, etc. This feature will boost your productivity in drafting notes, memos, assignments, etc.

• Short and Sweet: The Educational Benefits of Microlectures and Active Learning (article, Educause)

The combination of short videos and the techniques of active learning can create rich, engaging educational experiences to maximize learning.

• Why the “Why” Matters to Adult Learners (article, Faculty Focus)

More adults are returning to the [online] classrooms. We need to emphasize the six andragogical principles developed by Knowles (1995) based on assumptions that adults (1) are independent and have a strong concept of self, (2) rely on their background and previous experiences, (3) seek to learn based on external influences, (4) attempt to connect learning to everyday applications, (5) are inherently motivated to learn, and (6) require rationale or the “why” of assignments.

• DE Newsletter - March 2022
• DE Newsletter - February 2022
• DE Newsletter - January 2022
• DE Newsletter - December 2021
• 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