Registration
MiraCosta faculty no longer need to sign up for Flex activities in advance. After attending a Flex workshop, record your participation on your Flex transcript under the “Record Activities” tab, selecting the “Scheduled Activities or Workshops” activity type. Visit the Flex website for more information.
Archives
After Flex week, go to the Workshop Archives to see recordings and resources from workshops below that were held online.
Fall 2019 Workshops
A full updated list of all Flex workshops can be found at: Fall 2019 Flex Workshops
Friday August 8, 2019
Canvas Open Lab
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Karen Turpin and Jim Julius
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Hands-on in OC 4611 & Online via Zoom
This workshop is designed to give you open time to work with Canvas in a collaborative, supported environment. Attendees may be in-person in the computer lab, or online from anywhere, with opportunities to interact with fellow participants and Canvas experts. This workshop is intended to be useful for anyone from beginners to advanced Canvas users, and is open entry/exit – show up anytime and stay as long as you like. Come with your Canvas questions and your fall classes-in-progress!
The “New” Canvas Gradebook
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
Karen Turpin
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Hands-on in OC 4611 & Online via Zoom
Until now, the “New” Canvas Gradebook was optional – now it is THE Gradebook in Canvas. Join us as we dive deeper into the functionality available in the new Canvas Gradebook. Filtering, sorting, custom colors, view/hide unpublished assignments, and manual adjustments will be explored. Basic assignment setup along with tips and tricks for an organized and effective gradebook will be covered.
- New Gradebook Guide
- Creating an Assignment Group
- Adding a rule to Assignment Groups (dropping lowest, highest, etc.)
- Weighting final grades based on Assignment Groups
- How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the New Gradebook?
Canvas Basics
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Sean Davis
Audience: Beginners
Format/Location: Hands-on in OC 4611 & Online via Zoom
This hands-on workshop is designed to give an overview of the basic tools to get started with Canvas. Learn how to set your homepage, design rich content pages, build a module, create assignments, post announcements, review your student roster and create groups, edit your profile, message students, and record grades using SpeedGrader. Participants will have time for hands-on work applying what they have learned, so make the most of this workshop by bringing documents and text to add to your Canvas course.
Monday August 12, 2019
MiraCosta DE Handbook & Course: A Sneak Peak
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Jim Julius
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
In spring 2019 while on sabbatical, Jim Julius drafted a Distance Education Handbook for MiraCosta. This handbook brings together all the essential information for faculty who teach online and hybrid classes at MiraCosta, along with some key recommended practices. The DE Handbook is built in Canvas, and can be used as a reference, but it will also be usable as a mini-course, with a badge awarded to those who complete all requirements. This can help faculty gain proficiency with the MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines, and district policies and procedures related to distance education. Come get a sneak peek at this resource, and provide your feedback to make it as useful as possible.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Studio: Video within Canvas!
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Eric Robertson
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
Studio (formerly known as ARC) enables instructors and students to easily create and use webcam and screencast video within Canvas. You can also create discussions that are based on videos. Join Eric Robertson for a demonstration of how he’s used this tool to support his MiraCosta online oral communication classes.
Studio Training
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Instructure Experts
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
Studio is a video tool within Canvas, from the creators of Canvas (Instructure). In this session, Instructure trainers will provide an overview of how faculty can use Studio as a tool for engaging students with video, viewing student video interaction, and creating and assessing video-based assignments. We will explore different use cases for Canvas Studio in the classroom. You may view the full session agenda.
Canvas Accessibility (Beginner)
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Liezl Madrona (CCC Accessibility Center Expert)
Audience: Beginners
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
“Accessibility” = student usability. Can your students easily access and quickly navigate your content to gather the information they need? Learn the top four simple things you can do in your course to create an inclusive course for all of your students! Take advantage of Canvas’ tools to create an equitable learning environment, and learn about the different ways to approach inaccessible external documents like Microsoft Word Docs, PDFs, and PowerPoints used in your course.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Unity Prep Time
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Sean Davis, Joyful Teacher in Residence
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: C3 OC1253 Teaching and Learning Center
An opportunity for full time and associate faculty to hang out together in the new C3 Teaching and Learning Center and work on course materials for their classes — syllabi, activities, rubrics, quizzes, anything and everything teaching related. Come celebrate, cultivate and connect as you prepare for the coming semester.
CE Faculty Dinner Date: Starter – Engaging, Appealing Canvas Classes
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Liezl Madrona
Audience: Exclusive to CE Faculty – Please sign up in advance
Format/Location: OC 4612
Meet Liezl Madrona, an instructional design expert available to support MiraCosta CE faculty this year. In this session she will guide you through hands-on activities to help improve your Canvas skills with:
- Class navigation/organization
- Visual design
- Instructor-student interaction
- Student-student interaction.
CE Faculty Dinner Date: Main
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Liezl Madrona
Audience: Exclusive to CE Faculty – Please sign up in advance
Format/Location: OC 3609
For CE Faculty who also attend the CE Faculty Dinner Date Starter and/or Dessert. Enjoy dinner and discussion while also seeing faculty demos of a variety of MiraCosta Canvas classes. You may also set up follow-up consultation and support with Liezl Madrona.
CE Faculty Dinner Date: Dessert – Equity-minded online teaching and learning
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
MCC Faculty with Liezl Madrona
Audience: Exclusive to CE Faculty – Please sign up in advance
Format/Location: OC 4612
Even if you’re not teaching fully online classes, this session will stimulate your thinking about design and teaching strategies that are equity-minded – that remove barriers to success that many students may experience in a traditional educational environment. You’ll consider practices that experts recommend to enhance the success of disproportionately impacted students, and you’ll hear from MiraCosta faculty about tools, techniques, and pedagogical strategies they’ve used in Canvas to support these kinds of practices.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Equity-minded Online Teaching and Learning
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Sean Davis, Jim Julius, and faculty
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
Even if you’re not teaching fully online classes, this session will stimulate your thinking about design and teaching strategies that are equity-minded – that remove barriers to success that many students may experience in a traditional educational environment. You’ll consider practices that experts recommend to enhance the success of disproportionately impacted students, and you’ll hear from MiraCosta faculty about tools, techniques, and pedagogical strategies they’ve used in Canvas to support these kinds of practices.
NameCoach & GRA: California’s Gender Recognition Act
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sean Davis
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
(SB 179), signed into law on October 15, 2017 and in effect in 2019, makes it significantly easier for all transgender people who are living in or were born in California to obtain identity documents that reflect their genders. This workshop will focus on specifics about the law and how to cultivate a more inclusive environment in your Canvas course using the NameCoach.
Canvas Accessibility (Advanced)
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Liezl Madrona (CCC Accessibility Center Expert)
Audience: Intermediate/Advanced
Format/Location: Online via Zoom
Take this Advanced Canvas Accessibility workshop to learn about the last two things you can do in your course to create an equitable learning environment. Learn how to use color effectively with free color software to ensure your graphics are readable. Use videos that you own or that someone else owns? Join Liezl, our guest CE instructional designer, as she walks you through more tools and resources to add to your course design toolbox!
Friday, August 16, 2019
Tour the C3 Teaching and Learning Center! (after All College Day Lunch)
Starting at 1pm
Sean Davis (Joyful Teacher in Residence)
Jim Julius (Faculty Director of Online Education)
Karen Turpin (Online Instructional Technologist)
Liezl Madrona (Instructional Designer for Career Education)
Audience: Everyone
Format/Location: C3 OC1253 Teaching and Learning Center
Celebrate. Cultivate. Connect. Join us for the C3 open house. Check out this awesome faculty space that includes the Pedagogical Lounge, Collaboration Studio, and Technology Application & Discovery Lab.
