I am a counselor at Grossmont College in San Diego. As part of my role, I teach a course in Study Skills and Time Management.  In an effort to support my students, I applied for sabbatical leave in the Fall 2018 semester to curate three OER (Open Educational Resources) for my course and to be shared amongst common College Success classes at Grossmont College. This post will provide an overview of how I produced my OERs and showcase some exciting data about the impact OERs have had on my students’ success and retention.

Writing With a Little Help From My Friends

To start with my OER development process, I researched existing high-quality College Success OERs shared with Creative Commons-Attribution (CC-BY) open licensing and used Pressbooks to “reuse” and “remix” some of the existing content and integrate my own original content.  Then members of the Rebus Community conducted a blind peer review of my work – and I held my breath.

With some terrific constructive criticism and suggestions from the reviewers, I edited, edited, and edited some more.  The OER text also went through an accessibility review (thanks Will Pines!) and a student review.  Thanks to folks at Pressbooks and the Rebus Community, I am proud of the resulting three Blueprint for Success in College OER textbooks being used for College Success and Personal Growth courses, orientations, and first year experience programs (officially published by the Rebus Community, 2018):

• Blueprint for Success in College and Career
• Blueprint for Success: Indispensable Study Skills and Time Management Strategies
• Blueprint for Success in Career Decision Making

The Student Experience

These openly licensed OER textbooks are FREE to students digitally.  Many studies have found that college students (especially community college students) do not purchase textbooks because of their cost. Therefore, having access to high quality, openly licensed, and free textbooks on day one of a course is helpful for many students.

Digital OER textbooks also provide students with many access options. OER designed with Pressbooks are accessible on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, Kindles, and Nooks.  Students may also download the texts so they can access them offline, which is especially useful for students in rural areas. These options allow students to have the learning material on (or before) the first day of classes and also ensures their access does not expire after the course ends.  This can be helpful for students who are taking courses in a sequence, repeating courses, or studying for post class or graduate exams. There is no need to purchase an access code again.

For students who prefer to have a print copy of the text, lulu.com provides high quality print versions at a low cost (only the cost of printing and paper) with no royalties and no tax that students have to pay for. The 456-page Blueprint for Success in College and Career OER textbook would cost a student just $8.45 via lulu.com (black and white) plus $3.99 for shipping.

Here are a few quotes from my students:

“I learned so much from the book that I now use it on a daily basis. I even help my little sister by telling her all these lessons. It just has so much goodness jam packed into it.”  - Jasmine Pineda

“I love the free, accessible textbook. Thank you so much for that.” - Margaret Yakou

“My favorite part of the class would have to be reading the book. There was an abundant amount of helpful information that taught me many new perspectives and ideas.” - Bladimir Enriquez

Measuring the Impact

Although the three Blueprint OER texts I produced were only released a few months ago and there has been no organized effort to market them, they are spreading around the California Community Colleges by word of mouth.  At least one instructor from each of the following nine colleges is using one of the Blueprint texts (or an adaptation of one of them): Grossmont, Hancock, San Diego City, Mesa, Miramar, Pasadena City, Reedley, Saddleback, West Hills Lemoore.  In addition, the texts are also being used in Oregon, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.

During my sabbatical, I was also eager to analyze how using OER in my teaching was impacting student success and retention. I started teaching with OER in the Spring of 2018 and I noticed almost immediately that students were more engaged.  With assistance from our local Institutional Research (thanks Stacy Teeters!) we were able to collect data from every course I taught at Grossmont over the last 10 years and compare the courses in which I used commercial textbooks that students had to purchase with the four sections I taught with OER in the Spring and Summer of 2018.  The data, as they say, doesn’t lie.

Although not statistically significant, the data illustrated in the charts above is consistent with a larger study recently conducted at the University of Georgia.  I have been teaching online recently as my children are young and I appreciate the convenience it gives me.  As the success, retention, and grade distribution are exceeding some face-to-face numbers, I would call this a victory for both OER and online teaching.

What’s Ahead

Although the Blueprint College Success OER texts continue to be a work in progress, there are ancillaries in development that may make the content even more engaging to students and give faculty options and incentives to adopt OER.  Currently, we are working on an audio version of the texts that students will be able to listen to, a cultural competency/global awareness chapter, and we’re planning a Spanish version.

If you would like more information and/or are interested in collaborating on any of these projects:

• Leave a comment below or contact me via email or Twitter.
• View the archive of my recent Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges (ASCCC) College Success OER webinar.

Through the leadership of California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI), all 114 California Community Colleges have adopted Canvas as their learning management system. Our systemwide move to Canvas enables our colleges to leverage the economy of scale and utilize resources more effectively. Moreover, part-time faculty who teach at more than one campus can now focus more of their time on teaching, as opposed to designing courses in multiple platforms. And, most importantly, our students who learn at more than one college will have a more consistent experience, which is particularly important as CVC-OEI expands access to online courses through cross-campus enrollment. Furthermore, our systemwide adoption of Canvas unites all of us — CCC faculty, staff, administrators, and students — to work towards the common goal of learning how to best utilize Canvas to support the needs of our diverse student population.

Last year, in pursuit of this goal, American River College in the Los Rios District in partnership with CVC-OEI and Instructure, hosted Can•Innovate 2017, a conference for faculty, staff, and administrators who use Canvas. Roughly 237 CCC educators attended that event.  This year, on October 26, 2018, @ONE (The Online Network of Educators), which serves as the professional development arm of CVC-OEI, hosted the 2nd annual Can•Innovate —this time in the form of a free online conference. 

Why a Free, Online Conference?

The decision to design Can•Innovate with a virtual program was made to support the needs of our CCC educators, comprised of 60,000+ faculty (70% of which are part-time) and approximately 30,000 classified staff and administrators. Leveraging what we learned from CCC Digital Learning Day, we designed the day to ensure everyone with a desire to learn and grow had the opportunity to do so.

In partnership with an advisory committee of faculty and staff, a robust online program was designed and delivered entirely through ConferZoom. The final program consisted of 19 sessions presented by 29 speakers including CCC faculty, staff, and administrators; national thought leaders; representatives from CVC-OEI ecosysystem, Instructure, and CCC supported tools; as well as a student keynote speaker, Natalie Miller. Attendees were provided 3 options to participate:  

1. Online — from one’s own device
2. On-Campus — from one of the 32 group viewing rooms across the system
3. On-Campus -- from one of the 5 regional hubs

The Outcomes

Can•Innovate 2018 was well-attended by faculty, staff, and administrators from across the state. Some highlights of the attendee data are:

• 5,870 advanced online session registrations (duplicated headcount)
• 3,285 session attendances (duplicated headcount)
• 1,131 people attended.
• The large majority of attendees (87%, n=982) participated online from their own device, while 7% (n=76) attended from an on-campus group viewing room, and 6% (n=41) attended on-campus at a regional hub.
• Attendees represented 108 out of 114 California Community Colleges (94.7%).
• The event attracted a diverse group comprised of: 76% faculty — split by full-time 42% (467) and part-time 34% (374) 12% classified (127) 7% administrators (78) 1% students (7) 4% other (46).

A 4.4 Star Event

A total of 270 attendees (40%) responded to the evaluation survey, providing us with rich user experience data from which we plan to learn and improve. Most of the evaluation responses (226 or 83%) came from those who attended online. The large majority (76%) online attendees indicated that convenience was the main reason they chose to attend from their own device, followed by “it is how I learn best” (6%), I live too far from a hub (6.6%) and my campus did not coordinate an on-campus viewing room (5%). Overall, attendees (all types) were very satisfied with their experience. Attendees gave their overall Can•Innovate experience an average 4.4 out of 5 stars. The distribution is shown below (all attendee types included):

★ ★ ★ ★ - 155

★ ★ ★ - 85

★★ ★ - 24

★ ★- 4

★- 3

Online attendees were slightly more satisfied (average 4.46 stars, n=226) than group viewing room attendees (4.28 stars, n=38) and hub attendees (3.85 stars, n=7). The data collected from the open-ended questions support high satisfaction levels. Those who attended online cited flexibility, the ability to learn without traveling, and efficiency as the top drivers of satisfaction. It is worth noting that these similar to the reasons students site for taking online classes.

Participants who attended from on-campus sited an appreciation for being able to converse with colleagues during and between the sessions, and on-site subject matter experts expand upon the presentations. Below are excerpts from the open-ended comments:

What did you like best about attending online?

• It is the most convenient way for the PT faculty to be included in P-Dev., so thank you for offering it online.
• I was paying full attention unlike face to face where you can fall asleep.asy to schedule and sign up for the classes that fit time schedule.
• While there were many in attendance the facilitators and moderators made the experience feel very singular and personal.
• I loved the fact that online was not just an afterthought; it was the point of the conference!
• I like learning and as an online teacher/ remote worker having a sense of community meets a need.  
• I did not have to commute.
  
• I liked the on-demand expectation of online events and seeing questions by my peers  answered in real time during the event!
• I didn't have to miss work, I just picked sessions to fit in my schedule.
• No waste of time / money / carbon traveling to a conference (or even my campus), and the efficiency of the Zoom presentations that were all business and well moderated
• Such dynamic presenters with innovative ideas to spark our imagination.

What did you like best about attending in a group viewing room?

• We added other sessions and an open lab. Faculty liked being able to choose. We also held our event in 3 classrooms with glass windows that faced a center gathering space. It helped to be able to look in each room to see what was going on, how many were in there, etc. We could see if the webinar had started even from outside the room.
• Having the opportunity to discuss the material with my peers as we watched it.
• Getting out of my office! Camaraderie, opportunity to explain/assist things with others, and pizza.
• Networking with my school's Canvas admin and her input during the different presentations.
• We were able to use the 15 minute breaks to review the session content for participants, clarify, answer questions, and describe how we can help with whatever was being presented.
• I think our participants really enjoyed being able to participate in a communal setting and be able to ask questions.

What did you like best about attending at a regional hub?

• Well organized.
• Being at home and in good hands for hand-on training Being with my colleagues.
• Chance to connect with others.

What did we learn?

For all the talk about student equity, it's also really nice to have opportunities for Teacher/Instructor equity as well. Online Conferences without exorbitant fees or limiting travel arrangements are the way to go - Thank you! — Elli England (@Toxicgrin)

Free, online conferences are a new form of professional development provided by CVC-OEI/@ONE. With each event, we seek to learn and improve. Can•Innovate has reconfirmed the value of untethering professional development from a time and place. By granting faculty, staff, and administrators the opportunity to learn and grow without needing to travel, more people are served and more students will benefit. Here are some of our key takeaways:

• Most of those who responded to the survey indicated that they learned about Can•Innovate from a campus announcement, which stresses the importance of building relationships with those who coordinate professional development across the system.
• Just over a quarter (27%) of respondents indicated this was their first time participating in an @ONE professional development offering, reinforcing the widespread impact of untethered professional development.
• Nearly half (46.5%) of respondents said they received flex credit for attending the sessions, which was a preference we identified from CCC Digital Learning Day and the reason we required registration at the session level for Can•Innovate. This granular registration process creates more steps for users and more links to manage, but there was no evidence in the conference evaluation data that suggested this process was problematic.
• Use of a Twitter hashtag (#CanInnovate18) proved to be an effective way to enable connections across campus. More than 700 Tweets were sent with the hashtag, promoting the sharing of feedback and resources, photos of viewing experiences, and reflections about the day. We hope more of you join in on Twitter in the future (follow us @ONEforTraining).
• Sharing across campuses opens eyes to new ways of thinking and breaks down silos. Professional development must utilize technology to deliver content and connect people. Professional networks are central to professional growth.
• Professional development must be designed with equity in mind. Attending traditional conferences is a great way to learn and connect with peers, but proportionately few educators in our system have the resources to fund conferences. Part-time faculty play a critical role in supporting the needs of our students and are often unable to attend on-campus professional development events.
• This untethered professional development model lightens the load of those on campus who coordinate professional development while providing attendees with options to participate in a way that suits them best.

If you have any thoughts about our Can•Innovate findings, we’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or reach out to me directly.

… and mark your calendar for our next untethered event, CCC Digital Learning Day, which will be held on Thursday, February 28, 2019! Let us know what topics you’d like to learn about by contributing in our social upvoting forum, which is open until November 30!

In the 6 1/2 minute video below, Wendy Bass discusses the value of using weekly, informal videos in her online teaching. The videos provide students with a brief preview of the new module and a sense of who their instructor really is, promoting her social presence.

Additional resources:

• 3C Media Solutions
• ConferZoom
• Humanizing Online Teaching & Learning, a 4-week online professional development course

Tables can be a useful way to organize certain types of content visually. But tables add an extra layer of complexity for students using a screen reader device which means it’s imperative your tables are formatted properly. Never fear! The Canvas Accessibility Checker is here to save the day.

What if you could meet regularly with peers from neighboring community colleges to share solutions and ideas about online education?  For faculty and staff at California community colleges located in southern border counties, this wish has come true.

The San Diego/ Imperial County Community College Association (SDICCCA) has an Instructional Services subcommittee on Distance Education that was founded in late 2012.  The subcommittee is made up of Distance Education representatives from nine community colleges in the San Diego and Imperial County area.  SDICCA members meet at the San Diego Community College District offices on the first Friday of each month. Together, we discuss and provide leadership on DE issues such as practices for supporting and preparing faculty and students, strategies for improving student retention and success, as well as effective practices for meeting accreditation requirements and state/national distance education regulations.

Finding My Community 

As the new DE Coordinator for Palomar College, I just started attending these SDICCA meetings this year and I have learned so much from the other long-time members of the group.  For example, since community colleges are making compliance with accessibility laws and regulations a big priority this year, we have explored ideas for handling vendor software that is out of compliance.  Here are a problem and proposed solution that I have taken away from my experiences. Many mathematics instructors use MyMathLab in their online classes and, currently, MyMathLab does not meet the minimum acceptable standards for accessibility.  SDICCCA members shared with the group other software that may be substituted such as Knewton or MyOpenMath, which has some accessibility issues but not as many as MyMathLab.

In our last meeting, each college DE representative shared something about the various software packages they were using to support DE classes.  Together, we discovered:

• Many colleges in our region are looking at third-party tools to augment the discussion board feature in Canvas. These tools include Harmonize and Notebowl, which deliver more social learning experiences with multimedia integration.  Also, VoiceThread is already being used by some for multimedia discussions and student-generated projects.
• Palomar College is making use of Proctorio, a remote way to proctor exams and it was noted that Proctorio is available at no-cost to those at  OEI consortium colleges.

In addition to discussions around key themes, members share concerns about DE issues, report back to each other on what is happening at the state level, and they give an annual presentation to administrators to help them understand the benefits of online education, as well as the challenges we confront in expanding this teaching modality.

I highly recommend that other regional community colleges form DE groups of their own.  The sharing of ideas, concerns, and technology with each other are extremely beneficial! 

Ever have students who seem to think “online” means self-paced? They want to zoom ahead and they’re asking you about Module 8 in the third week of class. Ensuring students are working on the material at the same time is one aspect of building a sense of community. Canvas has a nifty little feature that will help you do just that.

The Current State of Support for Our Fully Online Students

If you haven’t done so already, take the time to pretend you are a fully online student and try to navigate the many tasks that students need to do on a regular basis. What do you find? Are the services available to our online population equitable to those that are available on-ground at their college campus? What is the web presence like of your college's critical student services?  Which students are utilizing the services and which students are not and why? These are the many questions that we must ask when evaluating our distance education programs. On my campus, online course offerings are the first to fill but in turn, they have inferior success rates than our on-ground courses. Many times these students find themselves staring at a closed door looking for support that is limited.

What Online Support Should Look Like

Online support should be equitable to services offered in person.  As an example, on my campus, we have a financial aid lab for students to get help with their FAFSA or navigating their online financial aid portal.  Is this same support available to our online student population? If not, how can we provide this resource to our online student population? Maybe the solution involves leveraging the staff that currently work in the financial aid lab but have them utilize Cranium Café to offer the same services remotely. Additionally, we offer many workshops on all topics on campus but nothing online except for the orientation.  What if we recorded all of our workshops and made them available online? Or better yet provide a distance option for students to participate remotely with our students that are on-ground.

Online Support Supports All Students

Online Mental Health (MH) services provide anonymity, creating a safe environment to receive services. Once a student has participated in MH services online they may be more likely to reach out for additional support in person. In addition to MH services, other support services like tutoring, other health center services, special resource center or other services may have a stigma attached to them and preclude students from seeking help in person where they may feel comfort in reaching out online.

Inclusivity

This means providing the tools and support services for all of our students regardless of their background or how they are taking their courses. Online students must also be included in all of our equity conversations.

With all the buzz around Guided Pathways, how are we implementing the concepts of the 4 pillars for our online students?  Online students also need to be able to enter the path easily, have clarity in their path, have the support to stay on their path and to also ensure their learning on the path.

Personalized learning is recognized as crucial element of student-centered teaching. But with 30, 40, 50 students in your online class, how the heck are you supposed to accomplish it?! Here’s one way you can help close learning gaps and support greater success among all your students.

For years, @ONE has advocated that effective online courses should include a student readiness assessment. I begrudgingly included one in my online courses because it is a practice endorsed by leaders in the field, but felt like a hypocrite each semester as I assigned the readiness quiz to my students. In my heart, I felt readiness assessments were antithetical to my teaching values. Let me explain.

The assessment I used was similar to the Online Readiness Questionnaires used by UNC Chapel Hill and Penn State, or the Online Readiness Self-Assessment used by Stanislaus State. There are multiple iterations of these readiness tests online. The ability to easily share resources (which can be such an asset to online educators) meant that a single model of readiness assessment proliferated across institutions, resulting in very little variety in the content of readiness tests. These cookie-cutter assessments, often developed by highly competitive 4-year universities, ask the question, “Are you ready for online learning?”

While this may seem like a reasonable question, the assessments are designed to separate students into two buckets, the ready and the unready. The students deemed ready are encouraged to take online courses, and those deemed unready are discouraged from participating in online learning. Ostensibly, this type of readiness assessment helps students make informed decisions about the learning modality that is best for them, gently guiding them to the best fit. The reality, though, is problematic. These types of self-assessment may not be reliable or valid indicators of students’ actual abilities, as our answers may be biased toward the response that seems most desirable. In addition, for students who are taking the assessment seriously, the approach is culturally tone-deaf.

The cultural problem with this approach is two-fold. First, the community college students who are dissuaded from taking online courses after taking a readiness assessment developed by 4-year universities are precisely the community college students who may be most in need of the flexibility offered by online learning, such as working students and students with families. Second, the students deemed “unready” have the most to gain from taking a well-designed, supportive online course (more on this later).

Examining Assumptions

I encourage you to take one of the readiness assessments linked above. What you’ll find is a series of questions that gauge a student’s:

• Self-Direction
• Learning Preferences
• Study Habits
• Technology Skills
• Computer Equipment

Behind these categories, however, are several assumptions that need to be examined.

Assumption #1: Successful Online Learners Must Be Self-Directed and Self-Motivated

A host of questions in traditional readiness assessments focus on ideal traits for online learners that support a myth that online learners are doing their work in isolation. For instance, questions like “I’m good at setting goals and deadlines for myself” seem to suggest that online courses don’t include clear learning goals or tools for alerting students about upcoming deadlines. The onus for staying on track is placed clearly on the shoulders of the student.

This myth is amplified in online education by the embrace of andragogic learning principles--the belief that college students are (or at least should be) self-directed adult learners, and if they are not, they are somehow deficient. The reality is, however, that many college students are on the way to being self-directed, but they may need support from teachers and peers along the way.

Assumption #2: Learning Online Is Fundamentally Different from Learning in Person

I want to place the emphasis here on learning. Traditional readiness tests ask questions such as “My learning style usually requires a structured lecture at its core,” or “I have to read something to learn it best.” Questions like these suggest online courses use a single modality--usually text. The reality, however, is that advancements in course management systems have made it easy to archive course material in multiple modes, from text, to audio, to video (including synchronous, live video conferencing). All courses across the spectrum--in-person, hybrid, and fully online--can now use systems like Canvas to streamline student access to course materials presented in a variety of modalities, with benefits to teaching a web-enhanced or flipped class being universally reported for many years. Let’s bust this myth for good, because online courses don’t narrow the options for teaching and learning--they increase them.

The assumption that online learning is fundamentally different also distorts a major characteristic of all learning in higher education--the fact that the majority of the studying and learning students do in all college courses is outside the classroom. Readiness tests often ask, for instance, if students are willing to spend 10-20 hours per week on a class, if they have a quiet place to study, or if they can work with distractions, suggesting that only online learners must study at home, while in-person classes don’t require study time outside of the classroom, distractions and all. We would never stand at the door of our in-person classes, asking students if they have the time and a distraction-free work place before allowing them entry to the class, so why are we doing this in our online classes?

Assumption #3: Online Learners Need Technology and Tech Savvy

This is, perhaps, the most problematic of the assumptions made by traditional readiness assessments. Questions that reinforce that students should own a new computer with high-speed internet access privilege wealthy students, and disproportionately discourage students who need financial aid. Some readiness assessments go so far as to suggest online students should not rely on campus computers or share a family computer. In addition, when readiness assessments ask if students have someone to help them with technology problems, they underscore the ways cultural capital, or lack thereof, affects the options available to lower-income students who may not have peers or family members to assist them with technology, an issue researchers such as Peter Sacks brought to the forefront of higher education over a decade ago.

When students of lower income are discouraged from taking online courses because of older technology, there is a problem. This problem is exacerbated, however, when students are asked to draw upon social connections to troubleshoot technology issues. Moreover, the focus on access to course materials via a computer with internet access overlooks an interesting trend in technology--a growing number of students access some, if not all, of their online course material via their mobile devices. The shift in technology use warrants a close look at our belief that desktop computers are the most effective tools for accessing online information.

Viable Alternatives

When I first started teaching online, the traditional readiness assessments felt wrong in my gut. Some of you may experience a similar feeling at the thought of allowing underprepared students to take an online class. Let me offer some evidence to reassure you that struggling in an online class is better than being dissuaded from taking the course.

In their comprehensive analysis of online learning outcomes in California Community Colleges, the Public Policy Institute of California (2014) noted that there is a persistent success gap when comparing completion rates in online courses to in-person courses. However, taking online courses “is strongly associated with improved long-term success rates” (Online Learning and Student Outcomes in California’s Community Colleges, p. 12). The PPIC report concludes that there is significant long-term value in taking online courses.

Guided Pathways

The 2017 Distance Education Report notes that we are “embarking on a comprehensive approach to redesign the community college student experience through the Guided Pathways framework. Guided Pathways helps put the PPIC report and student readiness for online learning into context by reinforcing the notion that all students, regardless of modality, should have access to courses that include integrated basic skills, on-boarding, advising, and instructional support.

The Four Pillars of Guided Pathways

A New Paradigm

The Guided Pathways framework, which focuses on long-term goals, recognizes that students are not in two buckets--the ready and the not-ready. Instead, all students deserve and receive individualized support along the way. In this paradigm, a readiness assessment is not designed to separate the wheat from the chaff, but rather can be used to help students, instructors, and counselors identify areas in which students may need additional support.

The Online Education Initiative’s “Quest for Success” breaks with traditional readiness assessments by offering students a deeper, more nuanced assessment of skills they may need for online learning, and then following up with a series of interactive learning modules that allow students to gain practical skills to support their long-term success. Rather than locking some students out of the benefits of online learning by separating them into a ready or not-ready buckets, the “Quest” program assumes all students are on a learning pathway, and meets the student where they are by supporting them in their online courses.

There is a caveat. The assessment portion of “Quest” is longer and more time-consuming than the 5-minute traditional readiness tests (and well worth the time), and there are a variety of follow-up modules from which to choose. Some campuses may choose to use the “Quest” program as an orientation to online learning. Others, however, may ask instructors to integrate the program into their online courses. Assigning students to complete the entire “Quest” program as part of your class may lead to information overload. To meaningfully support students, teachers and counselors should intentionally assign specific modules, and perhaps even tailor assignments to their course.

For instance, in my Communication courses, I ask students new to online learning to complete the first two modules, which focus on developing online learning skills, but allow students who have successfully completed an online course to choose from any of the other 9 modules. In our first week’s discussion, students share what they have learned from the modules, and develop learning communities to support one another. In a private reflection to me, each student is asked to identify an online learning skill they have mastered, and one in which they feel they may need support. I, in turn, use their reflections to tailor my support.

Are You Ready?

Traditional readiness assessments reinforce unrealistic and harmful assumptions about online learning, but the tools to push against these assumptions are in our hands. The “Quest for Success” program is an open educational resource free to all California Community Colleges. In addition, the CVC-OEI’s @ONE offers professional development courses to help faculty and instructional designers develop mobile-friendly, media-rich, accessible courses that include robust teacher-to-student and student-to-student interaction. We need to stop asking if students are ready for online learning--the continued growth of online courses clearly indicates they are. Instead, we should shift our focus to our courses and support services, asking, instead, if we’re ready for online teaching.

Want to get a closer look at the Quest Tutorials? Check out Introduction to Online Learning

Pssst! Want a quick way to add some visual interest to your Canvas pages? Don’t let a little HTML code scare you! There’s no reason why you can’t have beautiful callout boxes in your course. In this episode of Byte-sized, I walk you through the steps (it’s simpler than you may think).

Here's a handy cheatsheet with the HTML coding snippets you need for each of the four callout boxes.

Have you heard the buzz about Can•Innovate, the free, one-day online conference we are planning for Friday, October 26, 2018? Can•Innovate is brought to you by the CCC Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) and @ONE (Online Network of Educators) with contributions from Instructure. This innovative professional development event is designed for California Community College faculty and staff Canvas users. Registration is open to the general public. 

Free, Untethered Professional Development

Supporting the professional growth and development of our immense system of 90,000+ faculty and staff requires creativity and innovation. Can•Innovate is designed to be an untethered event. The robust online program paired with optional face-to-face interaction providing access to faculty and staff regardless of where they are on October 26. No travel is required and registration for the sessions is completely free. With built-in verification of attendance, Can•Innovate also provides a simple way to expand opportunities for faculty and staff to earn flex credit (check with your local flex coordinator for more information).

3 Ways to Attend:

1. Remotely - If you have access to an internet connected device on Friday, October 26, you have all you need to attend the Can•Innovate sessions of your choice! All remote attendees will receive an automated email verifying their attendance within 24 hours after the session. We encourage attendees to use that verification email towards flex credit (please check with your local flex coordinator to find out if Can•Innovate is eligible for flex at your college).
2. From a Regional Hub College - The following colleges will be coordinating on-campus events in support of the Can•Innovate online program. You are invited to visit and engage in professional networking and learning with your regional peers. More details will be provided soon. Sign up to receive a weekly email update.
   • American River College
   • Clovis College
   • De Anza Community College
   • Mt. San Antonio College
   • Palomar College
3. From an On-Campus Viewing Room - Community colleges across California are coordinating on-campus viewing rooms to support peer-to-peer interaction and discussion around the online program. Take a peek to see a list of participating colleges (or sign up to coordinate a viewing room for your college!).

Register Now!

The full program includes 9 time slots, 20 sessions, and 30 speakers. Whether you are a Canvas novice or a seasoned expert, there's something for you! Just select the sessions that interest you, register online (it's free), and at the time of each session on October 26 click the session link that you received in your email. 

As California Community College students begin their Fall semester, student services departments are gearing up to provide students access to support services. According to the 2017 California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Distance Education Report:

“Increasing numbers of distance education course sessions, coupled with increasing numbers of students taking these courses, have led to subsequent increases in full-time equivalent students (FTES). Currently, nearly one in three students take a distance education course in an academic year.”

As the number of online students continues to grow, many colleges struggle to provide online students the same type of support and success preparation as they provide their in-person students. The California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) understands the struggle that comes with finding the right tools to provide online support services. In an effort to close the equity gap in online education, the CVC-OEI provides colleges a list of vetted online resources that can help distance education programs support their students and at the same time meet accreditation standards. Online counseling is a perfect example of how online tools can help promote an inclusive and supportive online learning environment. Helping students feel connected means finding a way to meet them where they are and providing the support they need during hours that align with their schedules.

7 Questions to Consider When Choosing an Online Counseling Platform

1. Accessibility - has the tool gone through an accessibility audit to confirm that it complies with the WCAG2.1 standards. Students with disabilities must be able to trust and rely on a counseling tool that will provide the best quality services.
2. FERPA, HIPAA & Security- is the tool FERPA and HIPAA compliant? Are there security features integrated into the platform to protect student information? For example: single sign-on authentication and a student consent form.
3. LMS & LTI Opportunities- does the tool have Learning Management System and Learning Tool Interoperability opportunities? Meaning, it allows services like online counseling to integrate with the learning management system, as single sign-on tool. Ultimately can your students access the counseling tool through Canvas- the learning management system used by the California Community College system.  
4. Student Information System Integration- does the online counseling tool connect to the college SIS system in order to keep track of data; reason codes for Management Information System (MIS) reporting needed for state and federal funding.  
5. Group customization- does the tool allow for department/group customization. When colleges provide counseling services there are departments that are also providing counseling services but they are not considered part of the general counseling department. Can the platform separate general counseling from EOPS counseling, DSPS counseling, Veteran Services Counseling and Mental Health counseling?
6. User Friendly-  does tool have features that go beyond a live video stream? A user friendly tool should provide all modes of communication in one single platform, are there opportunities to communicate through; live video stream, chat and email?  Does it allow users to download information and documents in real-time? Is the tool easy to navigate? Does it allow for features that create more interactive sessions like: screen share, document upload and real-time document editing? Does the tool provide options for  “small meetings” and “large meetings” It is important to remember that students seek support from counseling departments depending on the services that are available: will your department offer online counseling appointments? online walk-in sessions? online webinars or online orientations?
7. Surveys- does the tool provide the opportunity to embed an evaluation or survey? It is important to collect data that provides insight on the student experience, in order to evaluate the counseling services along with the counseling platform. Surveys will provide counseling departments the feedback they need to make sure they are aware of their student needs when they create a plan of action.

The CVC-OEI is here to support existing CCC distance education programs. If you are interested in learning more about the online student support resources that have been vetted through the CVC-OEI, please visit our website CVC-OEI.  You may also contact Jessica Hurtado, Program Supervisor-Student Experience for the CVC-OEI at jhurtado@ccconlineed.org or leave a comment below.