Well, we collectively made it through an amazingly disruptive year! Here's hoping for a happier, safer 2021.
Since you're here, you've obviously noticed the new format for our eLearning Newsletter! By moving the newsletter into Canvas we can embed more rich media, better curate our content, save archives of the newsletter, and bring more visitors to our Faculty Development Canvas course. While you're here, consider self-enrolling in the course for easy access! This new Newsletter format is still a work in progress, so please email feedback, comments, and suggestions to eLearning Instructional Designer Caleb at caleb.hutchins@ccs.spokane.edu.
Canvas Rich Content Editor
As the comic says, Canvas is rolling out some changes to the Rich Content Editor. This may affect your workflow when creating and editing content in Canvas, so be sure to read all about it in the Canvas Updates tab below. You can manually enable the new design right away if you'd like to start using it early, and it will automatically become available in all courses on January 16th.
Tech Talks & Professional Development
If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to tune in for our new professional development videocast, Tech Talks! Every Tuesday at 1:00pm we will host short (15-20 minute) demonstrations on a helpful eLearning technology. Our goal for Tech Talks is that you can quickly learn about something of interest and be able to apply to your courses right away. Click on the Professional Development tab below to get the details about Tech Talks and our asynchronous Faculty Development training this month!
Quick Tip: Check your courses in Student View With the start of the new term, now would be a good time to double-check that your links are working correctly, your modules are published, and your assignment dates are updated. An easy way to do this is to view your course in Student View, which lets you see everything just as your students see them.
To look at your course in Student View, click on the glasses icon at the top-right corner of any page of your course. Click around your course — especially your home page, "start here" module, and week 1 materials — and ensure that everything is visible and working for your students!
Tuesdays at 1:00pm we host a short (15-20 minute) discussion of an eLearning technology or technique. We will be hosting the training on Zoom while also live streaming on YouTube. If you'd like to be part of the recording, join the Zoom session. If you'd like to view the presentation and interact on chat, visit the live YouTube broadcast. You'll also be able to watch the YouTube recordings at any time after the broadcast.
With the release of the much anticipated updates, We've decided to circle back and provide updates to our original Panopto training. Whether Panopto is new to you, or you're an experienced pro, this training has something for everyone. For beginner users, we have created a series of tutorial videos to get you started with lecture capture. For experienced users, Panopto's newest features (quizzes, captions, gradebook integrations) are a must learn as they have the ability to increase student engagement, give immediate feedback or self-check, and provide another avenue for formative assessment all within your recorded videos.
Faculty who complete the objectives will also qualify to receive the $25 monthly stipend for their work. Interested in signing up for the eLearning Professional Development Course? All are welcome! Enroll todayLinks to an external site..
Quality Matters Workshops
Quality Matters is a professional development organization designed to help faculty design online courses and to promote continuous improvement in online course development. SCC's Diamond Wilson had this to say after going through the QM training:
"This training has certainly informed my viewpoint on best practices for utilizing Canvas as a tool to help instructors organize an online course or a course with online components in a way that students can more easily navigate"
Improving Your Online Course, Feb. 4 - Feb. 23
The “Improving Your Online Course” workshop explores the QM Rubric and provides a framework to improve the quality of online and blended courses. Participants will use the QM Rubric to review their own course and develop a course improvement plan. Sign up for this training hereLinks to an external site.!
Applying the QM Rubric, Jan. 14 - Feb. 2 The Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) workshop is QM's flagship workshop on the QM Rubric and the process of using the QM Rubric to review online courses. Participants will use the QM rubric to review an example course. Sign up for this training hereLinks to an external site.!
The New Rich Content Editor
What is the New Rich Content Editor (RCE)?
The New Rich Content Editor is an updated version of the Canvas Rich Content Editor. It provides a condensed, more intuitive toolbar that is grouped by common icons and interactions.
When will it be turned on in Canvas?
The New RCE will “go live" for all users on January 16, 2021. If you want to use it before then, here are instructions on how to activate it in your individual course(s):
Navigate to your course Settings menu;
Select the “Feature Options” tab at the top;
Scroll down to the “RCE Enhancements” option and click the grey “X” button to turn it on;
Scroll down to the “RCE Auto-Save” option and turn that on, as well.
The status button on the right will now display green and show a checkmark. The new RCE is now on and ready to use.
Where will I find the New RCE?
Instructors will see it in Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Quizzes and the Syllabus page, where direct text entry is available.
Students will see it anywhere that they are required to input text directly into Canvas. Generally, this will be in assignments where text entry is required, discussions. and quiz questions where direct text entry is required (i.e. essay questions).
What changes will I see?
You will see a change in the overall look and feel of the tool bar and editor window. The tool bar has been redesigned to be ADA compliant and will work with all screen readers.
In the content area, you can add and preview the page content.
In the menu bar, you can use the menu options to format the page content.
In the toolbar, you can format text.
insert links, images, media, and documents.
open external tools.
format paragraphs.
clear formatting.
add tables.
and insert an equation.
When content in a browser window is long enough to require a scroll bar, the toolbar is fixed at the top of the browser window.
The menu bar resizes based on the available display area on the device you are using. If you do not see an option that you had previously seen, click on the More Options icon (looks like three vertical dotes) and the hidden items will display. Alternatively, you can resize the window.
Many of the things you did before from the two-line menu bar can now be accessed from the drop down menu bar [2]. Those same items can be accessed from the single-line menu bar, as well. When you hover your mouse over a menu item, the associated alt-tag for that item will display indicating what it does. The same thing happened in the old RCE.
In the old RCE, you had two separate areas that you had to look at to find content:
In the new RCE you will notice that the Content Selector area [3] has been removed. That content is now accessed from either the menu bar or the top drop-down menu. For those of you that like to muck about in the HTML editor, you will now see an icon at the bottom of the editor that looks like this: </>. This will allow you to switch back and forth between the text editor and the HTML editor.
Where can I Find More Information and See a Video?
Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), which is used to deliver instructional content to students. This can take the form of information, assignments, quizzes, discussions, and videos.
Panopto, a video capture application that runs from within Canvas and allows you torecord, edit and distribute video content.
Respondus Lockdown Browser & Monitor, a tool that is used to reduce the incidence of cheating while taking quizzes in Canvas, through the use of a locked down browser that prevents the student from accessing unauthorized web-based content and unauthorized resources on their computer. It also includes a “monitor” component that records video of the student while they take the exam, for later examination by the instructor.
Zoom, which is used outside of Canvas and is a synchronous video communication tool. You can use it to communicate with your students in real time. This is a very helpful tool for office hours and when a student cannot come to you.
Additional Support Services
Instructional design support for course development, modality transitions, course reviews, anddesign and delivery consultations.
Media production support for beginning-to-end video production, professional production studio, offsite filming, aerial drone filming, video conversion and close captioning of videos.
Professional development in the areas of course design and delivery, eLearning Technology, monthly faculty development modules, on-demand on-line training, live workshops and presentation and Quality Matters.
Note: Support for publisher content is limited to ensuring that the correct integration tool is installed in Canvas. Support for the content itself is provided by the publisher, although we are available to work with you and the publisher to install and troubleshoot content.
CCS Instructional Designers
What can we help you with?
Services
Full online course development
Course transitions
Face-to-Face to Web Enhanced
Web Enhanced to Hybrid
Hybrid to Online
Quality Matters online course review
Open Education resources assistance
Accessibility consultations
Assistance with developing multimedia
Assessment consultations
Course navigation design
Office365 and Canvas integration
Departmental or group training
Trainings
Panopto/ Lecture capture
Zoom/ synchronous online learning
Transparency in Learning & Teaching (TILT)
Canvas basic training
Instructor presence
Accessibility
Online groupwork
Digging deeper into Canvas tools
Quizzes
Assignments
Calendar
Question banks
Discussion boards
Syllabus
Course alignment
Groups
Homepage and Announcements
eLearning Media Production
What media production services are available at CCS?
Video Services
Beginning-to-end instructional video production
Professional-grade studio with backdrops
On-location filming available
High-end picture quality
Robust lighting options
Dynamic sound quality
Aerial footage from FAA certified drone pilot
Conversion of DVD, VHS, and other media into online files
Panopto Trainings
Create webcam videos for your course
Edit and manipulate videos for an enhanced learning experience
Add quizzes and links to your Panopto videos
Connect videos to Canvas
View Panopto Analytics
Closed Captioning
Many turn-around times available
Captions are directly delivered into your Panopto or YouTube recordings
eLearning Faculty Innovation Studios
eLearning has created a dedicated space at each college designed to help faculty easily create eLearning content for courses in any modality. In the Faculty Innovation Studios, you can record lectures, host synchronous class sessions, and explore new technologies. Best of all, an eLearning team member is only steps away should you need assistance.
Each Faculty Innovation Studio is equipped with acoustic panels, professional-grade lighting, a dual-monitor touchscreen PC, premium audio & video recording equipment, and a document camera. You’ll also find the latest and greatest in eLearning authoring software including Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and Camtasia 9. Come record a lecture at the touch of a button or dig deeper to create simulations and learning games!
Contact Rick Suhr to reserve an Innovation Studio session
The SCC Faculty Innovation Studio is located in the Teaching and Learning Center in Building 1, Room 1-1220B.
The SFCC Faculty Innovation Studio is located in the Library in Building 2, Room 2-005C.
Online Student Support
What support services are available to online students?
The Success Coach Model
Students that are enrolled entirely online are partnered with an eLearning Student Success Coach to aid with navigating online learning and accessing student services remotely. The role of coaches is to:
Provide Canvas-based support using non-academic course shell
Offer personalized assistance via direct phone and email customer service
Provide regular communication utilizing a rhetorical style that combines wit, warmth, and useful information
Student Services Supplemental Support
Admissions and Enrollment:
Navigating from point of initial inquiry to registration
Priority registration to help with online course availabilities
Concurrent enrollment assistance
Troubleshooting ctcLink registration issues, and registering/overriding when appropriate (i.e. confirmed requisites, permission, etc.)
Advising Support:
How to figure out degree progression / self-advising
Preparing for appointments and communicating with Advisors
Narrowing outstanding requirement choices to only those available online
Financial Aid Support:
Deadline and timeline reminders
Helping to understand common FA processes and regulations
Helping to avoid common missteps and miscommunications
Activating IDs and talking about how to use their ctcLink Student Homepage
Teaching students to use online and ctcLink course catalogs
Academic Supplemental Support
Organization and Time Management
Referrals to counseling, tutoring centers, and DSS when appropriate
Coaching students through confusing instructions, technological difficulties, and logistical problems
Teaching self-advocacy
eLearning Department Contacts
Instructional Technology Support
Rick Suhr Instructional Media Specialist I can help you create video and other media for your courses and projects Rick.Suhr@ccs.spokane.edu 509-533-3443
Jerry Troupe LMS Administrator I can help with eLearning technical support and software training Jerry.Troupe@ccs.spokane.edu 509-723-6241
Instructional Design Support We can help faculty with course design and instructional strategies