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)

Blackboard 9 Tutorials

Karen Korstad has created an entire class of modules for learning Blackboard 9. These count for flex credit as you work through Beginning, Intermediate and (soon) Advanced levels. Each unit successfully completed within the following Bb Modules is worth 1 hour of Flex credit.   To successfully complete a unit you MUST take the exam and get a passing grade.  Please refer to the specific unit as to how many questions you must get right to get a pass grade.  You can take the exams as many times as necessary until you achieve a Pass grade.

To access, log in to MiraCosta’s Blackboard. Check out the POT class inside BB:

 

Lisa’s Introduction to Moodle

Screencast for students on why Moodle is being used for a class.

by Lisa M Lane

First Fridays for Spring 2011

NEW! Recordings of all FF sessions now available!

Every First Friday of the month features a simulearn session in OC 4607 / Elluminate online, followed by a face-to-face meet-up, also in 4607. Register for all at the flex site. See our Simulearn Orientation.

Friday, February 4

1:30-2:20 Workshop: Blackboard Wiki vs. External Wikis (with Donna Marques)
4607 at Oceanside/ Here’s the (Elluminate recording)
A workshop discussing the implications of private vs. public spaces in online teaching.  Participants will explore Blackboard Wiki and PBWiki and create their own Wiki space. (OT400: Experiential)

2:45-3:35: f2f Face-To-Face Get-Together about Online Teaching: Stories and Support (with Laura Paciorek)
We would like to have an opportunity a few weeks after the “Beginners Workshop” on January 20 for instructors who are beginning the online teaching journey to meet with one another and more experienced online instructors.  Instructors who are new to online teaching can have a forum to ask questions or share thoughts.  Instructors with more experience may have an opportunity to mentor faculty who are new to online teaching.  Please bring a snack, questions, and ideas.

Friday, March 4

1:30-2:20 Workshop: Strategies for Groups (with Claudia Faulk)
(Elluminate recording)
Handout: Groups Chart [docx]
Simple strategies to maximize the potential in cooperative learning exercises that range from one class “period” to multi-week group projects. Use blackboard discussion board or google docs to track student progress. (OT100 Pedagogy)

2:45-3:35: f2f Face-To-Face Get-Together about Online Teaching: Connections (with Laura Paciorek)
This workshop is immediately after the first Friday workshop about group work in online classes.  The face-to-face setting may provide an opportunity to continue the discussion about group work or go into different interests that are brought up by the instructors in attendance.  Instructors who are new to online teaching can have a forum to ask questions or share thoughts. Instructors with more experience may have an opportunity to mentor faculty who are new to online teaching. Please bring a snack, 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.

Friday, April 1

1:30-2:20 Workshop: Google Forms (with Barbara McPherson)
Oceanside 4607 or Online: Elluminate recording (requires Blackboard log-in)
A hands-on workshop discussing and integrating Google.forms into your Blackboard course or as a standalone tool designed to capture student responses. Google.forms can be used as a simple survey or as an instrument designed to capture your students’ online class activities and homework assignments.  When using Google.forms all student responses are captured within one convenient spreadsheet. (OT200 Design Elements)

2:45-3:35: f2f Face-To-Face Get-Together about Online Teaching: Experiences with Tools (with Laura Paciorek)
This workshop is immediately after the first Friday workshop about Google Forms.  The face-to-face setting may provide an opportunity to continue the discussion about Google Forms and other online tools or go into different interests that are brought up by the instructors in attendance.  Instructors who are new to online teaching can have a forum to ask questions or share thoughts. Instructors with more experience may have an opportunity to mentor faculty who are new to online teaching. Please bring a snack, 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.

Friday, May 6

1:30-2:20 Workshop: Redesigning Your Class (with Jim Sullivan)
Oceanside 4607 or Online: Elluminate recording
You’ve taught the class once, or more than once, and it’s time to redesign. Come discuss how to respond to what’s been working and not working, select elements suitable for redesign, and bring your class up to date. (OT100 Pedagogy)

2:45-3:35: f2f Face-To-Face Get-Together about Online Teaching: Online Class Design (with David Detwiler)
This workshop is immediately after the first Friday workshop about redesigning your online class.  The face-to-face setting may provide an opportunity to continue the discussion about course design or go into different interests that are brought up by the instructors in attendance.  Instructors who are new to online teaching can have a forum to ask questions or share thoughts. Instructors with more experience may have an opportunity to mentor faculty who are new to online teaching. Please bring a snack, 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. David will start the conversation with a short demo of Voki, a fun way to communicate with students.

How to embed a YouTube video in a Moodle forum

by Lisa M Lane

POT Newsletter #32 (April 2011)

Program for Online Teaching Newsletter #32

April 2011

http://www.miracosta.edu/onlineteaching

Last First Friday for spring is May 6

 

1:30-2:20 Workshop: Redesigning Your Class (with Jim Sullivan)
Oceanside 4607 or Online: Elluminate link
You’ve taught the class once, or more than once, and it’s time to redesign. Come discuss how to respond to what’s been working and not working, select elements suitable for redesign, and bring your class up to date.

2:45-3:35: f2f Face-To-Face Get-Together about Online Teaching: Online Class Design (with David Detwiler)
This workshop is immediately after the first Friday workshop about redesigning your online class.  The face-to-face setting may provide an opportunity to continue the discussion about course design or go into different interests that are brought up by the instructors in attendance.  Instructors who are new to online teaching can have a forum to ask questions or share thoughts. Instructors with more experience may have an opportunity to mentor faculty who are new to online teaching. Please bring a snack, 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. David will start the conversation with a short demo of Voki, a fun way to communicate with students.​

POT Certificate Class starts September 1

 

Would you like to earn a POT Online Teaching Certificate? The next cohort begins September 1.

 

The Certificate has been streamlined, and now consists of a single Certificate Class, taken for two semesters, for 12 weeks in each semester. No more workshops, on campus attendance, or OT number designations required — just two semesters of online learning, reading, playing and community.

Weekly tasks include textbook and article readings, experimenting with online tools, and posting to the blog.

Don’t want the full class but want to learn on your own? Join us for any portion of the class at any time! The Certificate Class is being offered as an open course, available to all.

The class is free, and is taught by POT facilitators. See the POT Certificate page for details.

 

Fall Flex Week: POT day is Tuesday, August 16

We have planned independent POT workshops but all on one day, Tuesday August 16, Lab 4607. Sign ups will be available soon at the flex website.

9:00-10:50 Robert Kelley: Jing – Show Your Online Students What You Are Talking About

Jing makes integrating video into your online class a breeze – whether it is for sharing mini-lecturettes, replies to students, demos, or providing students with feedback on their assignments/quizzes. During the first hour, we’ll focus on learning the basics of Jing. In the following half hour, we’ll focus on using Jing to provide your students with a tour or introduction to your class, website, or learning unit. In the last half hour, we’ll explore where to upload your videos. Instructional improvement.
11-11:50 Jim Sullivan: Catch the Wave: Explore MiraCosta’s Professional Development Resources for Online Educators

From the Program for Online Teaching’s home page to MiraCosta’s blackboard training workshops and Pedagogy First–a blog where MiraCosta faculty share tools and reflect on their online teaching–MiraCosta has a strong and ever-growing set of resources for faculty interested in developing their online teaching skils while earning FLEX credit. This workshop will introduce you to those resources and give you some time to explore them.
12:00-12:50 f2f Brown Bag Lunch for Online Teaching with Julie Vignato

This workshop is the place to come with questions regarding online teaching.  We can talk about basic online teaching, review a current online course, or discuss items from the current online flex workshops. Come for a fun chat!

 

1:30-2:20 Laura Paciorek and Andrea Petri: A New Wardrobe for Blackboard: Technical Basics of Instructional Design

Workshop participants will learn some beginning strategies for instructional design using Blackboard.  Course examples will be shown during this workshop that will also include a demonstration of how to design content including creating tables, inserting images, and linking.  Basic suggestions for learning module layout and content will be provided with an emphasis on instructor preferences.  This workshop focuses on student and instructional improvement since the ideas will help faculty create better instructional experiences from which students may benefit.
1:30-3:30 SECOND LIFE workshop (OC 4610) with Randall Cornish and Carolyn O’Barr

Second Life is an animated 3D virtual world where your instructor avatar can teach via the Internet using the free Second Life software program. Class can be conducted in real time in this virtual environment, and include video, slideshows, and voice discussion.
2:30-3:20 Robert Kelley and Laura Paciorek: Drop-In Work Session for Online Teaching

Facilitators Robert Kelley and Laura Paciorek will be available to work with faculty who are creating or updating their online courses (or online materials for an on campus course). Participation is limited to 6 attendees only.

Coming for Fall First Fridays

 

POT continues with Simul-learn sessions at OC 4607 and in Elluminate the first Friday of every month in Fall.

 

Tentative topics are:

2 Sept: More Than a Passing Fancy: How Blogs Are Enriching Online Teaching and Learning with Jim Sullivan
7 Oct: Something Cool and Wimba-ish with Sue Simpson
4 Nov: Giving Students the Bird: Using Twitter in the Classroom with Eric Robertson
2 Dec: iPad Apps for MiraCostans 1.0 with Sam Arenivar

 

Workshops meet in OC4607 from 2:00-2:50, with a f2f Face-to-Face Get Together in OC T413 from 3:00-3:50 on a related topic.

 

Happy online, hybrid, and technology-enhanced teaching,

 

Lisa