eLearning Updates and Professional Learning

New Canvas Classrooms for Students
This summer, we built two new Canvas classrooms to help online and hybrid students succeed here at Shoreline.

Welcome to the Virtual Campus – Each quarter, we add all online and hybrid students to this classroom.  In it, they students have quick access to our new Online Student Coach, Erin Wilson. They can also link to a FREE survey tool that assesses their readiness for online education; it’s called Smarter Measure. Erin is notified whenever a student takes the survey so she can follow up with them and direct them to resources that will boost any areas that need it. Erin has also built a module to include online students in campus life with photo contests, Shoreline Today feeds and more. In other modules, students can quickly find Canvas and eLearning resources as well as quick links to registration and advising information furnished by our eLearning Advisor, Jordan Lee.

How to be a Successful Online Student – This Canvas class is open to the public and is ideal for any student considering taking their first online course.  It also contains a link to Smarter Measure (the survey tool to assess readiness for online education).  Once a student completes the Smarter Measure assessment, they are provided with a report that breaks down their skills into 7 areas.  If an area needs improvement, the Canvas classroom has resources to help them boost those skills. Erin Wilson, our Student Success Coach is also notified when anyone takes the survey so she can follow up with them.

If you are interested in having your students take the Smarter Measure readiness survey, please let us know and we can put a link to it into your Canvas classroom.

Professional Learning Opportunities
There are many great professional development opportunities available online this quarter.  Here are some of the highlights. Please note: If it’s a free webinar, course, etc. – go ahead and sign yourself up.  If it is one that needs to be purchased, please let Amy or Brian know you are interested and eLearning will purchase access to it.  

• NW eLearning Conference
  • Olympia, Oct 23-24, 2015.  Come for one or both days.  Still time to sign up!  eLearning will pay for your expenses that exceed your ProD funds.  Check out the session list here and full details here.
• Intro to the Canvas Learning Management System for Faculty – FREE
  • This online course is provided by SBCTC.  It runs from Nov. 2-Nov. 23.  Click here to learn more & sign up.
• How to Use Open Educational Resources (OER) course – FREE
  • This online course is provided by SBCTC.  It runs from Nov 9-Nov 20.  Click here to learn more & sign up.
  • Brian is the lead for OER here at Shoreline so reach out to him if you have questions or are interested in adding OER materials to your courses.
• WAMOE (Web Accessibility MOOC for Online Educators) FREE
  • This is an excellent, five-week course that has been put together by Portland Community College.  It runs Oct 19-Nov 22, 2015.  “This MOOC will provide educators with practical, hands on professional development on how to incorporate Web accessibility into online learning.”  See full details and link to register by clicking here.
• Quality Matters Training – FREE but register through eLearning
  • If you are interested in QM, the Applying the Quality Matters Rubric course is FREE, funded by the SBCTC, and a great introduction to what QM is all about.  This two week course is pretty intense but well worth it.  Please do not register yourself; Amy in eLearning needs to do it to access the FREE seats.  More info can be found here. Classes begin almost weekly so let her know when you want to take it and she’ll get you signed up.  Once you have passed this class, you are eligible to take the Peer Reviewer Certification training and help review others’ courses and even earn a small stipend for your work.
• Introduction to COIL Webinar – FREE
  • Have you thought about using international connections to bring the world to your class?  Ursula Valdez and Natalia Dyba from the University of Washington Bothell will introduce the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) pedagogy and share best practices for developing a COIL project.   Friday, October 30, 9:00-10:30am PST.  Register by Oct. 22 by emailing uvaldez@uw.edu. You will receive a link to the webinar.
  • Read more about the UW COIL Initiative by clicking here.
• Accessibility FLC
  • Next meeting is Monday, Oct. 19, 2:30-4:00pm in Library Room 4214 (flyer attached) – all are welcome! 

This is a monthly meeting where faculty, staff and admins come together to work on making online learning activities accessible to students of all abilities. 

• SeLC (Shoreline eLearning Community)
  • Next meeting is Friday, Oct. 16, 1:30-3:20pm in Library Room 4214 (flyer attached) – all are welcome! 
  • This is a monthly meeting where “colleagues meet regularly to share ideas, techniques and tools, challenges, and strategies for successful online learning.”

Let us know if you have any questions!