Happy Spring!
Blackboard email Issues
Last spring, AOL and Yahoo changed some of their email rules (aka “DMARC”) to try to cut down on spam. Email messages with return addresses from AOL and Yahoo-family domains which did not actually originate from one of their servers are rejected by email systems following the DMARC rules, meaning that for some people, email they send from Blackboard is not received by others. We expect AIS to put a workaround in place over spring break. It does not fix email generated by Blackboard from tools such as announcements, grade center, and discussion boards. Email from these areas should be fixed during the next major Blackboard version upgrade, which is planned to take place between the spring and summer semesters.
Online Teaching Conference: Call for Proposals
The Online Teaching Conference will again be in San Diego, June 18-19. The call for proposals is open until March 15. As in recent years, I anticipate being able to help fund attendance, especially for accepted presenters, so please let me know if you are interested. (Note that because this conference is outside of the fall/spring semesters, it is not Flex-eligible for associate faculty.)
Online Education Initiative (OEI) updates
See the latest update on the OEI from executive director Pat James, with details about the selection of Canvas as the OEI common course management system, and insights from an OEI professional development summit held in San Diego last month (which was attended by four MiraCostans). Upcoming opportunities to learn more about the OEI include an ASCCC online education meeting on March 21, an OEI Town Hall at the Campus Technology conference in Long Beach on April 8, and the Online Teaching Conference in San Diego, June 18-19.
Late Start Online Learning Orientations for Students
This spring’s last two Student Orientation to Online Learning sessions will be held on the OC campus 3/24, and online 3/25. Details are on the TASC student success workshop site.
Professional Learning Opportunities – All Flex-Eligible
- Free online courses being run in Canvas: Becoming a Blended Learning Designer (already underway) and Learning to Learn Online (starts Mar. 9).
- The ASCCC (Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges) is holding free Online Education regional meetings. The southern CA meeting is March 21 at Mt. San Antonio College. Learn more and sign up here.
- Recommended reading: the 2015 Horizon Report on emerging technologies in higher education, and the 12th annual Online Learning Consortium report on the state of online learning in the US.
- See the new MOE faculty resources website with links to local resources and workshop archives, as well as a list of recommended ed tech and online ed conferences.
Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education
