Spring 2021 | Feb. Edition
Online Education Newsletter
February 2021
Dear Faculty,

Welcome to Spring! We hope the transition between semesters is growing easier now that most of you are online mavens, having nearly completed your first full year remotely. In this month's OE newsletter you will find helpful information on Canvas updates, the First Name Campaign, avoiding digital burnout, as well as workshops, and PD opportunities.

We love to hear from you, so please feel free to contact Brett Myhren or me, Bridget Hoida, your Online Education Faculty Co-Coordinators if you have any questions.

We wish you a delightful Spring semester!
Your Saddleback College OE Team
In This Issue...
  • First Name Campaign
  • Help & Support: Canvas Photos & Profiles
  • New OE Buzz Words: HyFlex & Polysynchronous
  • Preventing Teaching Burnout
  • Canvas UC & CSU expansion
  • Student Support Hub    
  • Canvas Update: New Text Editor
  • Assessment & Encouraging Academic Integrity


  • ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) Courses
  • Avoiding Zoom Bombs: Protection from Unwanted Guests 
  • OE Updates: Cameras in the Classroom
  • FAQs Document 
  • Faculty Center Hours & Appointments
  • CVC-OEI (@One) Self-Paced Canvas Training 
  • Local POCR 
  • Thank you!
First Name Campaign: Preferred Name of Choice
Due to the fact that our classroom experience is largely virtual, online presence is necessarily heightened. In an asynchronous classroom, this means that student presence can be strictly limited to a name. Unlike the face-to-face classroom, where preferred first names, nicknames, and names of choice are made known from the first roll call, in the online classroom, students may feel limited, and worse yet, even required to use and respond to the "legal" name that is linked to their student account in Canvas. As we all know, the name you are given isn't always the name you go by.

Thankfully, at SOCCCD, we have the First Name Campaign, and believe that "My Name is My Choice." As the district website details: "Many people use names that differ from their legal names. These kinds of names are often referred to as preferred names, chosen names, or nicknames. The District recognizes that for many people, these chosen, or preferred, names represent an important component of their identity."

The First Name Campaign allows students to select the first and middle names they would like to be called within the District community, where such usage is currently supported, and obtain a new student ID card in that name.

To learn more, and to share this valuable information with your students, please see the video and links below:



Names matter. At Saddleback, we would like all students to know that "We use the name you choose." We appreciate you sharing this vital information with your students.
Help & Support:
Adding a Profile, Bio, Photo and/or Avatar to Canvas

Just as it is important to encourage and allow students to select their preferred name in Canvas, effective online teaching also encourages instructors to humanize their online classrooms by requesting that students upload a profile, bio, photo, and/or avatar to their Canvas profile.

I often tell my students that by adding an image, preferred name, pronouns, and brief bio, they help to enhance our digital community. Recognizing that not everyone is comfortable uploading a photo of themselves online, I also include the following note to my students: "Profiles allow you to update your name, photo, preferred contact methods, and any personal links for your account. Please note you do not have to use a photo of yourself, you can choose any appropriate photo to represent you (like a pet, flower, coffee cup, etc.). Your profile information can be viewed by all users in your courses."

New Year, New OE Buzz Words!

Welcome to 2021. Thanks to the pandemic, most educators and students are now overwhelmingly familiar with the terms asynchronous and synchronous learning. However, you may also be hearing about HyFlex and Polysynchronous learning. If you are curious about what these learning modalities entail, please see the helpful definitions below:

HyFlex: “HyFlex (hybrid + flexibility) course design,” according to the Online Learning Consortium, “provides a hybrid format for face-to-face and online students and adds a flexible participation policy for students. Students may choose to attend face-to-face synchronous class sessions or complete course learning activities online without attending class in person. In a HyFlex course, the instructor provides instructional structure, content, and activities to meet the needs of students participating both in class and online.” 

Polysynchronous: Polysynchronous learning was defined by Dalgarno (2014 , p.674) as “the integration of learner-learner, learner-content, and learner-teacher interaction through a blending of multiple channels of face to face, asynchronous online and synchronous online communication.” Like HyFlex, “polysynchronous learning involves the use of educational technologies to enable remote and face-to-face students to simultaneously participate in live classes.” 
Prevent Teaching Burnout in the Digital Classroom

What can you do this semester to protect your well-being and support your students?

In the helpful article, 8 Strategies to Prevent Teaching Burnout, Flower Darby, offers sage words of encouragement and advice, as well as actionable steps you can take in your virtual classrooms today. 

Helpful topics of note include: keeping it simple, building in breaks, scheduling wisely, being candid with your students, streamlining grading, and communicating strategically and sustainably.
Canvas: Plans for Expansion to all UC and CSU Campuses
As you are well aware, "in California, the Community College System moved en masse to Canvas as its systemwide LMS starting in 2015 through the Online Education Initiative (OEI)." But did you know that "More than half of the UC campuses and 23 of the Cal State campuses are already using Canvas?"

According to an article by Phil Hill, "With this year’s budget, the governor has allocated funding to start moving from systemwide to statewide LMS usage, at least for online courses." This means our online students who transfer to UCs or CSUs will be familiar with the LMS as there are plans to use Canvas across all of California's systems (UC and Cal State).
Encouraging Academic Integrity & Reducing Plagiarism & Cheating in the Online Classroom
Thank you to everyone who joined us during Spring PD week for an interactive discussion on encouraging academic integrity and reducing plagiarism and cheating in the online classroom via scaffolding, reverse course design, and innovative pedagogy. It was a fabulous group of educators from all divisions, and we have already expanded the depth and reach of our presentation due to your wonderful feedback, ideas, and support.

Missed the Live Meeting?
Consider these helpful links & resources on assessment & reducing plagiarism and cheating in the online classroom:
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ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) Program:
Stipends Available

The Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Team is excited to share an opportunity with faculty for the 2020-2021 academic year. We are accepting applications for faculty members who are interested in replacing fee-based course materials with zero textbook cost alternatives.
 
As the costs of traditional textbooks rise and online learning is the new normal, zero textbook cost courses can help remove barriers to success that many students face. College Administration, the College’s Academic Senate, Office of Instruction, and Articulation Office all support the use of Open Educational Resources and other Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) materials at our college. OER/ZTC is also an integral part of the College Promise Program, Pathways, Equity, and Student Success. Students can now search the class schedule for courses without textbook costs by searching “zero textbook cost” in the grouping tab.
 
Selected faculty will receive a $500 stipend for successful ZTC course conversion and will need to meet the stipend deliverables below. This stipend is being offered for each course conversion. All faculty are encouraged to apply for the stipend; however, some disciples have limited resources and will require additional steps for ZTC conversion. 

Please contact Nicole Major and Jennifer Pakula, Co-Chairs of ZTC/OER Work Group, or visit the ZTC/OER website
Faculty Center Support:
For Canvas & Instructional Technology Needs

Our amazing Faculty Center provides support for Canvas and Instructional Technology. They are available, by appointment, to work with faculty who need assistance before, during, and after building their online classes in Canvas. 

 
The best way to get help is to email: scfacultycenter@saddleback.edu
 
(Due to the fact that the Faculty Center is extremely busy, it is best not to email individual staff members or call their voicemails, as they are understandably backlogged). Messages to the main line (949) 582-4515 will be returned by Cora Swanson.
 
If you have already taught online, hybrid, or have previously completed the Online Educator Certificate and/or are just interested in learning more on your own, you are always welcome to check out the brief self-help videos available on the Faculty Center web page or use these Additional Canvas and Zoom tutorials.

@ One and CVC Canvas Training 

@One and CVC offer several online professional development courses that are designed to support faculty in becoming effective online instructors. 

There are facilitated courses and self-paced courses. There are three self-paced courses that you might find very helpful, especially if you are prepping online classes for the first time: Introduction to Teaching with Canvas, Accessibility in Canvas, and Video Captioning. 

The self-paced courses are free for California Community College instructors!
Thank you!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about online education, please feel free to contact Brett Myhren or me, Bridget Hoida, your Online Education Faculty Co-Coordinators. We love to hear from you!

We hope your Spring semester is filled with health, community, and growth.

Sincerely,
Bridget Hoida, Brett Myhren & the OE Team