Good day, HCC friends,
Online Learning has been busy preparing this summer for a great Fall semester! There are some tremendous changes planned this semester that I want to share with you! First, we are looking forward to seeing you back on campus in a few weeks. We understand that the transition will be difficult and we, too, are feeling those transition woes - however, we are also excited to be able to collaborate in person and work together on some new initiatives that we think you will enjoy. If were not aware, Jewel Crowley-Custis has moved to Online Learning and in her new support role, she has been helping faculty with Canvas related questions. I'm glad to have Jewel on my team and I hope you take advantage of her help! Thanks, Jewel, for providing great support to our faculty and continuing with our goal of creating quality online learning experiences for our HCC students.
Through COVID, we have discovered new ways to work and how to use educational technologies to leverage the quality of our online courses. We have implemented Zoom, Studio and many other additional tools that some of you thought you would never use. I've recognized those efforts and also recognized areas that need improvement. I've seen some of your struggles and helped you through some of those hiccups that you experienced this past year. Jewel and I have also been frustrated with some of the ways our tools have worked and have spent this summer researching better practices that will allow you to be more efficient in your teaching. With that said, we would like to share our complete project list that is ongoing and will continue through to Spring 2022.
- Grading Schemes. Since starting at HCC, I have been working on a plan to create seamless grade integration between Peoplesoft and Canvas. I'm excited to share that we will be implementing this change in the Fall. What does this mean? Canvas Grading Schemes will now be turned in all Canvas courses. A Canvas Grading Scheme places a letter grade in your Canvas gradebook. By default, we will be setting the grading scheme to the default grading scale (90-100, A, 80-89, B, 70-79, C, 60-69, D and <59%, F). If you use a different grading scheme it is critical that you edit the grading scheme in your courses. If you do not, the students letter grade will be in error. To edit the grading scheme, follow this guide. You will need to do this for ALL OF YOUR COURSES. Good news? When you copy your course from semester to semester, this change will remain, you will not need to modify the grading scheme the following semester. Our integration will only take the letter grade from Canvas, not the percent. Therefore, if you want to override the grade, you still have that option in Peoplesoft. More on this process, soon!
Innovative Tech Grants. If you are interested in implementing a new instructional technology into your classroom (F2F, Hybrid, Online, HyFlex), you can now apply for a Technology Innovation Grant through Online Learning! The funds granted are designed to recognize innovation in the introduction and application of technology, including (but not limited to) mobile devices, in the academic environment. A faculty member may be granted one grant per fiscal year. Request for funds are classified into four categories:
Category 1: Teaching improvement. Demonstrating the application of innovative educational technology for improving teaching effectiveness.
Category 2: Classroom Innovation. Demonstrating the application of innovative technology for opportunities to increase student retention and levels of student engagement.
Category 3: Community information outreach services. Demonstrating the application of innovative technology in community service.
Applications will be available September 1st and and due back to the Online Learning office by October 1, 2021.
Yuja. Canvas Studio has worked well for us throughout Covid however, there have been some areas of improvement that you have suggested to me. Some of the concerns with Studio include: ability to organize files, ordering captions and reviewing after every video, no advanced editor and no mobile application. Because of these concerns, we have adopted Yuja as our Video Enterprise Platform for HCC. We are just now starting the process of moving towards Yuja and will be offering training this semester. Yuja is a complete video enterprise package that allows you to add documents, slides and images on top of your video as well as video quizzing with more options than Canvas Studio offered. Watch this video overview to see Yuja in action:
As we get closer to the implementation phase, we will keep you informed about the transition to Yuja. Look for the Fall training announcement where we will be doing some demonstrations this semester. And...yes...all of your Studio videos will be migrated over (as well as your Zoom videos!) to the Yuja platform. =)
- Panorama. Yuja also has a sister product called Panorama, which, I am most excited to offer here at HCC. For every hyperlink you have in a Canvas course, students will have the opportunity to convert the file in various accessible formats including a PDF, Braille File, EPUB, High Contrast HTML, HTML and many other formats (see below). This technology will allow us to more inclusive and accessible! HCC has made great strides this past year at creating instructional content that is more accessible and with Panorama, we will have the opportunity to increase these efforts even more to ensure that we are offering UDL and the highest quality possible. Again, look for training sessions this Fall to learn more about Yuja and Panorama.
- Teaching and Learning Survey. In an effort to understand the teaching and learning needs of our students and faculty, Online Learning will be deploying a strategic survey in October. This survey is a vital component to the direction and growth of instructional technologies and professional development offerings. We will be sharing these results via an Infographic with the campus as well as our Teaching and Learning Advisory Board. Once the results are reviewed, decisions on the future direction of HCC initiatives can be reviewed. We will be announcing the survey in early Fall and would appreciate your participation in the survey as well as your students participation.
- Teaching and Learning Advisory Board. Historically, there have
been two Advisory Boards that have closely related; 1) IDC Advisory
Board and 2) Online Learning Advisory Board. In collaboration with the
Faculty Academy Coordinators, we have decided to merge these two
Advisory Boards into one called the "Teaching and Learning Advisory
Board". Together, we will be sharing the new charter with members and
hold our first kick-off meeting on September 7th. More details will
follow. This Advisory Board will be instrumental in reviewing the
results of the Teaching and and Learning Survey as well as making
recommendations for professional development needs and the modalities
that she should be offered in.
Quality Matters. Heartland Community College (HCC) is dedicated to providing a high-quality online education both pre and post COVID. The College recently earned the Quality Matters (QM) Certification Mark following a rigorous review process for BIOL 191 Microbiology.
The QM Certification Mark is the internationally recognized symbol of online and blended course design quality and represents HCC’s ongoing commitment to creating learning environments that provide learners with a clear pathway to success.
The certification is the result of HCC’s dedication to continuous improvement, including the innovative work of Dr. Manju Kishore, Biology Instructor and Mallory White, Adjunct Biology Instructor. Due to their foresight and dedication, HCC’s BIOL 191 course is now listed on the QM directory of certified courses. Congratulations to Dr. Manju White and Mallory White on your hard work and dedication to quality online learning experiences for your students!
These are a just a few of the exciting projects coming this Fall! Online Learning saw tremendous growth throughout Covid and the innovative practices put forth are not all lost! My goal is to take those strengths, and weakness, and further HCC's commitment to the quality of Online learning. I'm extremely proud of your efforts and looking forward to these new initiatives. In addition, I'll be sharing my Online Learning Framework proposal with the campus this Fall. The proposal address various Pillars that will help hold our institution to a high standard of excellence.
If you have questions about any of these projects OR you would like to learn more about Quality Matters, please feel free to email me at anna.catterson@heartland.edu.
Take care,
Anna
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