Microsoft Word 2013 Class --Done!

Even though I have taught MS Office suite programs in the past, this was a humbling experience for me and I learned so much! I finally completed all the assignments for the free online class, but it wasn’t easy. The instructions for the quizzes were very wordy and if you didn’t complete the tasks in the order they were asked, you didn’t get credit (or at least not full credit). Therefore, this experience will serve me to write clear and brief instructions for my students.   

Since I had due dates to fulfill (and reminders that if I didn’t complete the assignments on time, I was going to be dropped from the class), I felt the pressure “to do my homework” in a timely manner. After being a student for 22 years in a row (Kindergarten to Grad School), I had taken a long break “off” –12 years! so this pressure wasn’t taken lightly : -) I was finally put back in my students’ shoes and this was another humbling experience.

Overall, I really enjoy this FREE online class and I am looking forward to enrolling in PowerPoint 2013! 

Online Class 1 @One!

Introduction to Online
Teaching and Learning

Unit 2: Designing Your Online Course

Last week, we learned how to design our online class by developing a plan, having a solid foundation, and adding meaningful activities. 

Some of the activities I worked on were:

• Created a course policy/procedures for my online class
• Identified the elements of effective online course navigation
• Identified the elements of an effective learning unit
• Designed a course road map  
• Wrote 3 learning outcomes to support one learning unit

Course Policies by elimiracosta on Scribd

Last week, I also really enjoyed learning more about Bloom’s taxonomy (https://onefortraining.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/cB89ayAFJSweTE/html. I had used this taxonomy while writing new courses (as required per my institution), but I had not had the chance to review its history; so I definitively learned something new. I really enjoyed the simple infographic created by Joseph Becker   http://ictjoseph.com/2012/06/revised-blooms-taxonomy/ to review the difference between the revised and original versions of the classification. 

Online Class 1 @One!

Introduction to Online
Teaching and Learning

Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning

Last week, I started a conventional class to learn about online teaching and learning, and was introduced to CANVAS! And what a great timing… since today, Jim Julius, our faculty Director for Online Education, presented a workshop featuring Blackboard, Canvas, and Moodle.  He mentioned that MiraCosta College will be conducting a course management re-evaluation. The results of the study will be shared during FLEX week in the fall, so for now, I will continue to upload my lessons and content to Blackboard; however, I will start learning Canvas in case we switch our current learning management system.

The Learning Objective for this class are:

• Develop online activities and apply tools and strategies to fulfill Chickering and Gamson’s "Seven Principles of Effective Teaching," and other sound online learning theories of best practices.
• Demonstrate and incorporate California Community College distance education policies and procedures and Title 5 requirements.
• Develop class policies including, but not limited to, those for grading, providing timely feedback, and student conduct issues.
• Build an online course design map based on learning outcomes.
• Design learning activities that support a variety of learning styles and promote interaction.
• Create an instructional module for an online course or program that is the basis for the development of a complete online course.
• Apply principles of copyright and "fair use" to online content.
• Locate Creative Commons licensed content for use in your online course.

I have also been taking advantage if this wonderful free website https://www.futurelearn.com  to learn about online education. The class I am currently taking is called “Getting Started with Online Learning” and it’s a great way to get yourself (or your students) familiar with online learning.   

Online Class 1 @One!

Introduction to Online
Teaching and Learning 

Unit 1: Welcome to the World of
Online Teaching and Learning!

This week, I created an important element for an online class –a welcome letter!

See my sample below: 

Dear Online Students Letterhead by elimiracosta on Scribd

Week 1: Making Connections

During the first week of my sabbatical, I searched for online ESL/Language classes and contacted different professors to see if I could observe their online classes. I contacted three Spanish professors, one Italian professor, two math instructors, and several ESL instructors. I also researched tutorials for CANVAS since I will be using that platform for one of the classes I will take at @one http://www.onefortraining.org/ site. I also contacted OTAN http://www.otan.us/ to see if they could refer me to professors who teach noncredit blended (hybrid) or online classes throughout the state of California.

This week, I also started to search for free online classes that I could take to improve my teaching. After reviewing several sites that offer open/free online courses, I started my first OPEN University Course to experience online education: Getting Started with Online Learning at www.futurelearn.com.

I also researched free Microsoft tutorials to add to the lab class and to improve my Microsoft Word and PowerPoint skills. Besides the many free you tube videos I found online, I also discovered this wonderful free website:  www.gcflearnfree.org. This site, offers free online tutorials where the student needs to complete assignments, turns them in for review, and pass the tests in order to move to the next module. As a student, you must register and turn your work in within the due dates. If due dates aren’t met, you are dropped from the class. Apparently, the classes are very popular because I tried registering three different times and after waiting for 2+ hours each time, when I clicked “register”, I got a message saying that the class was full; therefore, I emailed GCFLearnFree and sent screen shots with my waiting time :-) and I was able to register through the back door!

I am excited to start this sabbatical and to be able to learn more about online education.