We are the Program for Online Teaching, a group of volunteer faculty helping other faculty teach better online.

Our focus is on pedagogy as the guiding force for using technologies for teaching.

Many of us are from MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California. MiraCostans may access the Teaching/Technology Innovations Center for technical help, resources, news and more.

The POT Network

  • POT Diigo group
    (see tutorial on how to save bookmarks)
  • POT Facebook group
  • POT Vimeo Channel (workshops)
  • POT YouTube Channel
  • Twittter (please use hashtag #potcomm)

POT Newsletter #49 (August 2013)

Fall Flex 2013 is Monday, August 12

Creativity in Online Teaching series

Monday, August 12 10:00 am – 2:00 pm +
Location: OC4802

What’s the best approach to the challenges of online teaching? Creativity! POT’s fall flex workshop day will focus on the enthusiasm, tip, tools, and generative process of building online components for student learning. As always, POT’s focus is on realizing your teaching goals through technology, rather than letting the technology control what you do.

Cost $15/participant for all day, $10 if bringing own lunch, $5 donation requested for single workshop (make checks payable to MCC Academic Senate with POT Workshop in the subject line).

10:00-10:50 Creativity When Starting Out

How can you be creative about building your online class? Faced with a bunch of Blackboard buttons or a blank screen, it’s hard to focus on your own teaching strengths and design a good learning experience for students. We’ll share a process and some tips for getting started.

11-11:50 Creativity in Presentation and Discussion

Great lecturers and facilitators can take advantage of the web’s many resources and tools to create engaging presentations and discussions for their classes. We’ll share tool-choosing tips and ways to help make decisions based on your own teaching strengths.

12:00-12:50 Creativity in Online Teaching lunch with seminar

Come join us for a lunch a lively roundtable based on your requests for topics (add them at http://bit.ly/potcreativity).

1:00-1:50 Creativity in Interactivity and Student-Led Projects

Creative classes use individual and group shared projects, media creation, and projects led by the students themselves. Come discuss the many options for featuring more active learning in your online class.

Additional workshop: 2-3:30 Screencasting, OC4804

Don’t just tell your online students – show them! Screencasting is a great way to share mini-lecturettes, make quick replies to students, demonstrate a method, or provide students with feedback on their assignments/quizzes. Importantly, you’ll get hands on experience with how to do this easily and for free! We’ll focus on learning the basics of Screencast-O-Matic. You’ll learn how to share your screencasts either as a URL link or how to embed the video directly within your course (e.g. using Bb or Moodle).

Sign up at the flex website.

POT Online Teaching Certificate Class starts September 1

The POT Cert class returns for its fourth year, helping faculty from everywhere to learn how to teach effectively in the online environment. The class features…

  • a focus on pedagogy, with technology at the service of teaching
  • an opportunity to be an online student
  • experimentation with the latest online tools and techniques
  • a creative teaching and learning environment
  • participation in a community with participants from all over the world
  • participant documentation and reflection
  • maximum flex hours

For more information, see the class website at http://pedagogyfirst.org/wppf13. To join the class, email Lisa.

Two POT workshops/discussions in Fall

Friday, Sept 13 2-3:20pm Student engagement online, Room TBA at Oceanside

This time of the semester, some students are starting to fade from our online sections. Despite the traditionally higher drop rate for online classes, there are ways to help those who are losing interest, getting lost, or just “forgetting” to attend. Come discuss what factors can help keep students engaged in online classes. Please bring your own ideas for discussion – successes, challenges, and things you’re trying.
Friday, Oct 11 2-3:20 pm Skills and tools for online instructors, Room TBA at Oceanside
At this workshop, we’ll demo some free internet tools that can be used for online classes, and talk about ways in which we can learn new skills through networking. Because we’ll have a hands-on component, registration is limited to 24. Please also bring  your own ideas for tools you’re using or would like to use.

Moodle 2: Best Online Class!

@ONE’s Joan van Duzer teaches the best Moodle 2 class around October 14-November 18. See http://www.onefortraining.org/node/669 for more information. Fee is $65.

Web app of the month

Educlipper is a new, free web 2.0 application that, like Pinterest, allows you to clip from the web (or your own files, images, and pdfs) to create online boards in various subjects. Image resolution is excellent, and the community is focused on education rather than hobbies.

Happy online, hybrid and technology-enhanced teaching,

Lisa

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