Are we really halfway to winter break already?!?
Student Support, Online – especially for midterms!
Please remind your students about MiraCosta’s free online tutoring, online writing support, and 24×7 Ask-A-Librarian (under Ask Us) services available to all students.
Final Fall Student Orientations to Online Learning
10/14, 1-2 pm in OC 1201, and 10/16, 5:30-6:30 pm online. See TASC’s site for details and links to sign up for and attend the online session.
Blackboard Issues
Two concerns have come up more frequently this fall with Blackboard. One: anyone with an AOL or Yahoo email address sending out email to class members via Blackboard (or Moodle) will find that many will not receive that email due to changes that AOL and Yahoo made last spring to reduce spam. Two: cutting-and-pasting into the text editor in Blackboard yields inconsistent results. This is a complex issue involving browser security settings as well as Blackboard-specific bugs, and the details vary greatly depending on context. Contact me if you’d like more information about either of these.
Online Education Initiative (OEI) Update
The statewide Online Education Initiative continues. As one of 24 pilot colleges, a handful of MiraCosta departments/faculty are considering applying to offer classes through the pilot this spring, incorporating new student readiness resources the OEI is developing. Other key initiatives of the OEI at present are the selection of an online tutoring service and a common course management system. The MiraCosta Online Educators committee is hoping to host a faculty forum on the OEI in the next several weeks – look for more information soon.
Professional Learning Opportunities – Get Flex Credit
- San Diego CCD invites your participation in a faculty-led Distance Learning Summit on 10/24 – more info and sign-up link here.
- Sign up for a webinar (Oct. 15, 12 pm) on how to store and share media and other files with 3CMediaSolutions.
- Participate in free webinars this fall from the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources and from Turnitin (many offerings Oct 7-10).
- Review an archived MiraCosta online ed workshop.
Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education
