POT Spring Flex Workshops

We are pleased to announce the following workshops for Spring Flex Week:

Monday, Jan 6 12-1:20 pm: “The Learning Curve in Teaching Online” (Rachèle DeMéo) OC 4802 

This workshop will unfold what to expect and not to expect from teaching online. It will discuss mistakes that can be avoided as a new instructor, communicating with students and realistically what to expect workload-wise. The workshop will also provide attendees with useful resources for teaching online and tips for preparing and organizing an online class. 

Monday, Jan 6  2-3:20 pm: “Structuring your class for deep learning” (Laura Paciorek and Louisa Moon) OC 4802 

Get your students thinking deeply through creative activities in online classes.  At this workshop, you will hear some ideas and also have some time to develop your own strategies for encouraging deep thinking in your classes.  This workshop is suitable for online educators at all levels of experience who are interested in improving instruction.

Wednesday, Jan 8 – 11:00-11:50 am “EXPLORE: Educators eXamining Professional Learning Online Resources & Experiences” (Jim Julius and Lisa M Lane ) OC4802

The array of learning resources and experiences designed for educators interested in online, hybrid, and web-enhanced teaching can be overwhelming! During this workshop, facilitators from the Program for Online Teaching and MiraCosta Online Education will provide a thoughtful overview of the many online and in-person opportunities available to you locally and online. Hear about POT’s Certificate program as well as informal First Friday discussions and all the great resources on the POT website. Review the online Blackboard tutorials and workshops from Online Education, and provide input into the design of new professional development for MiraCostans. We’ll also take a look at external online resources ranging from lengthy, more formal courses to great free sources for webinars, email updates, and online resources. We’ll discuss using social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter to build personal learning networks that can provide you with a personal filter of the latest and greatest resources, research, and advice for effective and creative online teaching. Finally, we’ll review how these various options fit within Flex.

Wednesday, Jan 8  1:30 pm-2:50 pm: “Collaborative Work Using Google”  (Robert Kelley, Laura Paciorek and  Jim Julius)  OC4804

Discover new opportunities for collaboration (e.g., in your onsite, hybrid, and online courses) and making your life simpler, using Google Docs and Sites.  We’ll cover activities for building community, the benefits of using Google Docs for posting assignments and grading rubrics (that can be updated ‘live’ and posted in more than one place), getting student input via surveys (e.g., to fuel a subsequent class discussion), and you’ll have plenty of time for guided hands on activities – to see for yourself – how easy it is to use Google Docs to share ideas and collaborate on projects (e.g., editing a shared document, presentation, spreadsheet, or site).  By the end of the workshop, you’ll have several ideas for making your classes run smoother and with greater collaboration opportunities, plus the “know how” to make it happen.

Thursday, Jan 9 – 7-7:50 pm  ”The Magic of Video Clips – tips and tricks for YouTube” (Lisa M. Lane & Todd Conaway) Online

In this online session in Collaborate, we’ll focus on YouTube and how to work with it for both online and on-site classes. YouTube has a wealth of video materials of varying quality, and to fit our pedagogy adaptations are frequently needed. Done well, video clips can enhance the learning experience in line with text and other instructional methods. Tips and tricks will include downloading videos for future use, setting start and end times, creating playlists, forcing high definition, uploading fair use clips, watching videos online with your students, and embedding effectively.  

Sign up for flex at http://www.miracosta.edu/flex

Student Online Orientations

Student Services sessions to help online students, on campus.

Student Orientation to Online Learning 
Jim Julius & Laura Paciorek

Tuesday January 14, 2 – 3 pm OC 1201

Wednesday January 15, 2 – 3 pm SAN 107

Thursday January 16, 2:45 – 3:45 pm OC 1201

Tuesday January 21, 12 – 1 pm SAN 107

Thursday January 23,  2:45 – 3:45 pm OC 1201

Wednesday January 29,  12 – 1 pm OC 1201

POT Certificate Class: Online Education

The Online Education semester, focusing on multimedia and educational theory, begins on February 1. This free professional development class should be of special interest to those already teaching online, though beginners are also welcome if they are ready to set up their own blog to post work. And it’s taught by our own volunteer POT faculty.

Please see http://bit.ly/potcert13 for more information and to register.

New for flex credit: POT Reading List!

You may already know you can earn flex hours for viewing POT videos, but now we’ve added the POT Reading List.

The rules are the same: you must do your reading on your own time and post a reflection. See the Get Flex Credit page for details.

A Couple of Cool MOOCs

In addition to the POT Certificate Class, there are two open, online classes of interest to online instructors this semester. “MOOC” stands for Massive Open Online Class.

Deeper Learning MOOC

A free, flexible, nine-week online course that will allow K-16 educators to learn about how deeper learning can be put into practice.

Rhizomatic Learning

Based on the idea that “the community is the curriculum”, a conversation about learning theory with Dave Cormier.

Happy online, hybrid and technology-enhanced teaching,

Lisa