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)

Making accessible documents with Word 2010

from Ted Major at Shelton State Community College in Alabama.

POT newsletter #37 (December 2011)

Program for Online Teaching Newsletter #37

December 2011

Update your class information for students

It’s that time again — students are registering for their online and hybrid classes and want to know about your class. In SURF, all online and hybrid classes are linked to the Distance Education page and the online/hybrid schedule. Here’s how you can let students know what’s up:

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Thursday conversation in Google Plus

Tomorrow at 11 am Pacific Time, the POT Certificate Class will have an open discussion on current issues in online education. We will meet in Google Plus, so make sure you have Lisa in one of your Circles so you see the Hangout.

This Friday: iPad Apps workshop and First Friday face-to-face session

2:00-2:50 Sam Arenivar’s  iPad Apps for MiraCostans 1.0
Discover a world where we can truly be paper free. Whether you own an iPad or are just thinking about getting an iPad, this first iPad Friday workshop will demonstrate iPad apps that can make our lives as a MiraCosta faculty or staff member easier. The apps that we will explore include: Note Taker HD, iAnnotate PDF, Outliner, and Attendance. (Collaborate/Elluminate session is here.)

3:00-3:50 Face-To-Face (F2F) about Online Teaching: Online Teaching with Apps and More with Laura Paciorek
This workshop is sponsored by the Program for Online Teaching. This workshop is immediately after the first Friday workshop about iPad apps. The face-to-face setting may provide an opportunity to continue the discussion about blogging or go into different interests that are brought up by the instructors in attendance. Please bring questions and ideas. Faculty will benefit from this workshop by learning tips to improve instruction. Students will potentially benefit as participants may be able to create new learning experiences for them based upon what is discussed in the workshop.

Dec 2 is our last Simulearn session for the year

Next semester POT will offer online sessions on the Third Thursday of each month, and First Friday will be dedicated to face-to-face meetups at Oceanside.

Spring flex week activities (tentative)

Tuesday, January 17
2:00-3:50 pm POT workshop: Screencasting for Student Success
Wednesday, January 18
10:00-11:50 Second Life: What’s in it for Educators?
1:00-2:20 POT workshop:  Moodle as a Stand-Alone Discussion Board
Thursday, January 19: All-Day Workshop!
POT workshop: Beyond the Basics: Choosing Tools and Creating Learning Units Online
You’ve got an online or hybrid class set up, you know some Blackboard and maybe a cool website or two to start you off, but you know there’s so much more! Lunch is included in this all-day workshop if you attend the whole thing, and activities will move between classroom and computer lab. Workshops may also be taken separately.
10-11:50 POT workshop: How to Choose Good Tools for Onine, Hybrid and Web-Enhanced Teaching
12-12:50 POT workshop: Lunch with Roundtable Discussion of Online Teaching
1-2:50 POT workshop: Creating Learning Units for Online and Hybrid Classes
3-3:50 POT workshop: Drop-in Pedagogy Lab for Online, Hybrid  and Web-Enhanced Teaching

New things to try

Here are some applications and websites we’ve been trying out lately:

Screenr — like Jing, but even easier because it’s all web-based, this is a simple program for creating under-5-minute screencasts

Google Plus Hangouts — up to 10 people can see and hear each other at once, with overflow attendees able to watch and listen

Top Tools 2011 — every year Jane Hart publishes a list of the top internet tools

Summary posts are up for Pedagogy First!

The first semester of the POT Certificate Class is winding down, and participants are posting their lists of links from throughout the first semester. Come take a look! We start up the second semester on February 1, and all are welcome to join for any of the activities. If you are considering earning a certificate, the next class begins September 1, 2012.

 

Happy online, hybrid, and web-enhanced teaching,

Lisa

 

 

Skim for drawing on a pdf on a Mac

How Lisa uses Skim and Screenr to record drawing freehand on a pdf document, useful for talking people through a form or document.

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POT Newsletter #36 (Nov 2011)

Program for Online Teaching Newsletter #36

November 2011

POT workshops

Last First Fridays for Fall — December 2

2:00-2:50 Sam Arenivar’s  iPad Apps for MiraCostans 1.0
Discover a world where we can truly be paper free. Whether you own an iPad or are just thinking about getting an iPad, this first iPad Friday workshop will demonstrate iPad apps that can make our lives as a MiraCosta faculty or staff member easier. The apps that we will explore include: Note Taker HD, iAnnotate PDF, Outliner, and Attendance. (Elluminate session is here.)

3:00-3:50 Face-To-Face (F2F) about Online Teaching: Online Teaching with Apps and More with Laura Paciorek
This workshop is sponsored by the Program for Online Teaching. This workshop is immediately after the first Friday workshop about iPad apps. The face-to-face setting may provide an opportunity to continue the discussion about blogging or go into different interests that are brought up by the instructors in attendance. Please bring questions and ideas. Faculty will benefit from this workshop by learning tips to improve instruction. Students will potentially benefit as participants may be able to create new learning experiences for them based upon what is discussed in the workshop.

Recording of First Friday session from November

Giving Students the Bird: Using Twitter in the Classroom, with Eric Robertson. Also available as : audio only, slides with audio, full session separate recordings.

New stuff

New tutorials available at the POT site:

Using Open Office to create good-looking pages
For students: joining a Facebook group with some privacy

Using Moodle in links from an interactive syllabus
Activating Google Plus

Spring flex week

POT’s tentative schedule for spring flex week is:

Tuesday, January 17 2:00-3:50 pm Screencasting for Student Success
with Robert Kelley and Jim Sullivan, OC4607

Sharing mini-lecturettes, replying to students, demonstrating a method, or providing students with feedback on their assignments/quizzes can be achieved with screencasting. We’ll focus on learning the basics of Jing, and providing your students with a tour or introduction to your class, website, or learning unit. Hands-on included.

Wednesday, January 18 1:00-2:20   Moodle as a Stand-Alone Discussion Board
with Lisa M Lane, OC 4610
Love the idea of Moodle but don’t want to put a whole class there? Moodle’s greatest strength is its discussion forums, which can be used alone as a stand-alone application or for a whole class.

Thursday, January 19: All-Day Workshop!

Beyond the Basics: Choosing Tools and Creating Learning Units Online
with Pilar Hernandez, Jim Sullivan, Robert Kelley, Laura Paciorek, Lisa M Lane, and Claudia Faulk

You’ve got  an online or hybrid class set up, you know some Blackboard and maybe a cool website or two to start you off, but you know there’s so much more! Lunch is included in this all-day workshop if you attend the whole thing, and activities will move between classroom and computer lab. Workshops may also be taken separately. Bring your laptop if you have one. You can register for all day or:

10-11:50  How to Choose Good Tools for Online, Hybrid  and Web-Enhanced Teaching
Begin with your own teaching method, then explore which tools will be best for you to realize your pedagogical goals. Hands-on included.

12-12:50 Lunch with Roundtable Discussion of Online Teaching
Included for those attending all day or available as an optional one-hour roundtable discussion for all instructors teaching online, hybrid, or web-enhanced classes.

1-2:50 Creating Learning Units for Online and Hybrid Classes
Learn how to organize your class in a way that makes sense for students, based on the familiar principles of a syllabus, with activities as part of a coherent whole. This method works in Blackboard, other systems, and on its own.  Hands-on activities included.

3-3:50 Drop-in Pedagogy Lab for Online, Hybrid  and Web-Enhanced Teaching
Come get help with your approaches and techniques for online courses and materials!

Plans for Spring Semester: First Fridays at Oceanside, Third Thursdays online

First Friday workshops will continue as First Friday Face-to-Face Workshops  led by Laura Paciorek.

Online workshops will be offered on the Third Thursday of each month, and will focus on various topics.

POT Certificate Class

The POT Certificate Class is wrapping up its first semester with over 85 participants from MiraCosta and other schools and countries around the globe. Come see what everyone’s up to at Pedagogy First!

Activating Google Plus