The March 2022 Blog About Teaching & Learning Online
Welcome to Blog #2 from your Distance Education Co-Coordinator.
This month marks the 2-year anniversary of all the shifts we have made as educators, professionally and personally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let's take time to pause, to grieve, and also bring to mind our resilience, our creativity, and our innovation. So much has changed.
At the end of this blog is a more personal video I made on March 17, 2020 for my students, as Ocean campus went into lock-down. It was the last day I worked in my office, and I am very grateful for the tech tools that allowed me to reach my students so quickly during that abrupt transition.
This month's blog showcases the great work of our colleagues across the college, provides practical digital classroom tools, and shares links to media related to online education, community events, and wellness resources.
I'd love to highlight your creative work at the college. For questions or comments please email me, Dayamudra Dennehy, at adennehy@ccsf.edu.
“Since the world is round there is no way to walk away from each other, for even then we are coming back together.” ― Amanda Gorman, Call Us What We Carry
FEATURED EDUCATOR
Dr. Andrew King
Our featured educator this month is Dr. Andrew King from the English Department. Dr. King received his doctorate from San Francisco State University last year in Educational Leadership, with a focus on Equity and Social Justice. This semester he is on sabbatical, but he is still active in the Academic Senate and is completing his IOTL to teach online in the Fall. In our interview Dr. King talks about how his teaching has changed in the past 2 years, his dissertation research, and his sabbatical project.
"Looking back to March 2020 the transition to remote delivery was challenging, but I was able to adjust quickly. There was little I could do to prepare myself or my students for the transition; however, at the time, I saw the transition as an opportunity to integrate Canvas into my instructional and pedagogical toolkit.
"My ways of connecting with students certainly have evolved. I have shifted away from making my schedule convenient for me to making my schedule convenient for students. I stay connected with my students primarily with Canvas communications. I am a huge advocate of Pronto; students can chat by video or by text with me, and I can respond to their messages quickly. Whenever I am not too preoccupied, I will sometimes send individual Pronto messages to students just to share a funny emoji or to do a simple check-in. I can't recall a time in which I was able to connect so informally with my students prior to the pandemic.
"My students have inspired me to become a trained online instructor. This semester, I am participating in the online training (IOTL) here at CCSF. Over the last two years, many of them have said, “Professor King, I would not have been able to take this course if it hadn’t been online.” Although there are still many systemic institutional barriers with online learning, I see the potential of online instruction. It can provide more access points for students, and it has helped me re-envision student engagement.
" To earn my doctoral degree, I conducted a mixed methods research study exploring the relationship between student completion in early transfer courses and student-faculty interactions. I discovered that student-faculty interactions served as mediating variables between students’ classroom engagement and students’ course success. In other words, how we interact with our students influences how they engage in the course and whether they will succeed.
"The focus on my sabbatical project is conducting a review of relevant literature centered the relationship between counseling programs designed primarily for Black students and academic success. I am finding that these programs can provide students with a strong sense of ethos (belonging) and can support students’ retention. But I am also learning that, to support our students more effectively, we need stronger collaborations between Academic Affairs and Student Services.
"I am truly inspired by dedication and commitment of our colleagues. My colleagues in the English Department formed an equity workgroup to increase student equity. I am also member of the Program Review Committee of the Academic Senate; colleagues and I have been revamping the program review process to make it more student-centered. Despite the uncertainty of the college’s fiscal direction, I consistently see evidence of the unwavering commitment of faculty to student success."
TEACHING TOOLS
Creating Your Course Brand
This "Creating Your Course Brand" presentation, by Lene Whitley-Putz and Anna Stirling, breaks down how to use design tools and images, and it provides helpful size guides and templates from the design website Canva.
Below is a video with 10 Quick Tips for Designing a Welcoming Home Page.
Canva Samples
Here are some of the ways that I have used the design website Canva to create a welcoming class and share information with students in my Canvas courses. Click on any of the images below to enlarge. (Remember any infographics like this need clear alt-text to be accessible in your Canvas course. If you aren't sure, check out Day 8 of the Accessibility Challenge Complex Images.
Humanized online teaching supports the affective and cognitive components of diverse students. It involves cultivating your human presence online, fostering instructor-student relationships anchored in trust, and leveraging those relationships to build the intellectual capacity of minoritized students.
The Onliner Lounge has a whole module on Course Setup and Course Preparation. (The Onliner Lounge is restricted to trained online faculty teaching at CCSF.)
More resources for CCSF faculty teaching remote and online classes is in the Faculty Resource Center. (Only CCSF teaching faculty have access to the Resource Center located in Canvas.)
OFFICE OF STUDENT EQUITY
Upcoming Workshops & Trainings
The mission of the Office of Student Equity is to eradicate the opportunity gap among all students at CCSF. Take a look at all the services they offer students, faculty, and staff.
Spring 2022 Equity Talk Speaker Series
Equity Talks is a monthly speaker series, presented by the Office of Student Equity, that invites innovative activists, educators, and thought leaders to CCSF to facilitate conversations about topics relating to educational equity. For 2022, the Equity Talks' theme is "Health, Healing, and Wellbeing in Stressful Times".
March Equity Talk
The March 22nd Equity Talk, from 10:30 - noon, is "Healing Centered Education in our Turbulent Times", with Dr. Angel Acosta. Drawing on extensive doctoral research and professional practice, Dr. Acosta will review how practitioners and scholars have deliberately integrated the notion of healing into higher education and professional education. This talk invites participants to deeply contemplate the connection between wellness, structural inequality, and innovative responses.
Centering Student Support Programs and Services
These workshops improve educators' ability to provide student access to campus support programs, resources and services available at CCSF and hone the skills for providing a warm hand off from students to programs and services which center student success. Listen and Learn Series: Tuesdays from 1:00-2:00pm.
- Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - CalWorks Program
- Tuesday, March 15, 2022 - Guardian Scholars (Foster Youth) Program
- Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - Woman's Resource Center
EDUCATOR PODCASTS & WEBINARS
Sarah Thomas
In this episode of DIESOL podcast, co-hosts Ixchell Reyes and Brent Warner sit with Dr. Sarah Thomas, who is Regional Technology Coordinator in Maryland; the founder of EduMatch, a project that empowers educators to make global connections across common areas of interest; and co-author of the ISTE Digital Equity series, "Closing the Gap". In this episode they talk about teaching through COVID, where the future of EdTech is taking us, digital equity, and more.
Introvert Sisters
In The Introvert Sisters podcast, sisters Sharon Hurley Hall and Lisa Hurley, "celebrate the amazingness of introverts and share their relatable take on what it’s like to be two quiet girls in a noisy world. It is also a safe space where the sisters talk about broader issues that concern them as Black women." In this episode the sisters discuss, "Cameras on or cameras off on Zoom?" It is one perspective on synchronous learning spaces.
Denise Maduli-Williams & Maritez Apigo
In this webinar presented by the California Virtual Campus, CCC educators Denise and Maritez showcase how they use digital storytelling, humanizing the online experience by incorporating multimedia elements such as images, voice, music, and text. Through this asset-based practice, students are provided with flexibility and choice in their opportunities to share and respond. Every student's voice matters, and every student has a story to tell, so providing opportunities for students to tell their stories is critical, especially in the online environment where sharing builds and deepens connection. Instructors can further foster connection and engagement with students by sharing their own stories through video.
DIGITAL EDUCATION IN THE MEDIA
Stanford researchers identify four causes for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and their simple fixes. It’s not just Zoom. Popular video chat platforms have design flaws that exhaust the human mind and body. But there are easy ways to mitigate their effects.
Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. Johann Hari joins Upfront to discuss his latest book "Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again", a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening—and how to get our attention back. Hari learned how we can reclaim our focus—as individuals, and as a society—if we are determined to fight for it. "Stolen Focus" transforms the debate about attention and finally show us how to get it back.
COMMUNITY WEALTH
SF MOMA
In partnership with CCSF, SFMOMA presents Rivera’s Pan American Unity in the museum’s free-to-the-public Roberts Family Gallery on Floor 1. On view until 2023, the mural will then return to CCSF to be installed in a new performing arts center.
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY & CULTURE
The HeLa cells, named after non-consenting donor, Henrietta Lacks in 1951, were used to develop the polio vaccine, in vitro fertilization, and cloning; to study the human genome, immunology and infectious disease. Even today, HeLa cells were used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. Discover the story behind the first immortalized cell lines in medical research in the Searchable Museum.
ODC DOWNTOWN
Dance Downtown celebrates local dance company ODC's 50+ Anniversary, 5 decades of virtuosic, exuberant, and fearless dance. March 31-April 10, 2022 at YBCA. Dance Downtown features 2 seminal works by ODC Founder and Artistic Director Brenda Way that exemplify the company's emotional and virtuosic choreographic style: Investigating Grace and Speaking Volumes.
East Bay Trails Challenge
Every year more than 10,000 people participate in this free self-guided hiking and bicycling program to explore the East Bay regional parks and to keep fit outdoors. The 2022 Guidebook includes 20 detailed trail descriptions available for all levels of fitness, from easy to challenging. All 20 featured trails are available on the All Trails app.
WELLNESS
How are you staying well during the pandemic?
Deep Medicine
In her interview with Amy Goodman, Bay Area doctor/musician/activist/mother Dr. Rupa Marya, and her co-author Raj Patel, discuss their new book, "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice", which examines the social and environmental roots of poor health. “We need to understand that it has to be a multimodal response to this pandemic,” says Dr. Marya. She also discusses the influence of Indigenous resistance on the creation of this book.
March 8th at 6pm PST: Join Raj and Rupa for a rich, unique conversation as they illuminate the hidden relationships between our biological systems and the profound injustices of our political and economic systems. Explore the deep medicine of decolonization and its potential to heal not just our bodies, but the world. This is a pay-what-you can livestreamed conversation.
What's In Your "Waterhood"?
Wholly H2O catalyzes dynamic, informed connections between people and their watersheds that yield proactive and appropriate water management through conservation and reuse. Their watershed-positive educational programs engage Californians in community and citizen science, art, and green infrastructure education. Wholly H2O hosts community events and develops educational programs to engage Californians in citizen science, art exhibitions, and green infrastructure. Take a walk through your waterhood (watershed + neighborhood), learn about your community’s human history, and meet the natural world right outside of your door.
The Joy Project
Del Sol Quartet performs a set of live outdoor pieces commissioned during the pandemic to share joy, each a unique expression ranging from hopeful to contemplative to exuberant. Saturday March 5th, 1:30 - 2:30 pm, at SF's Richmond 10th Avenue Playground, 351 9th Avenue.
ABOUT DAYAMUDRA
I am Dr. Dayamudra Dennehy, ESL Faculty and OLET's new Distance Education Co-Coordinator with Ying Liu. I love teaching and learning online. I am passionate about building the most robust, inclusive, and equity-minded Distance Education program to serve all of our students, especially those traditionally-excluded from a community college education.
My Co-Coordinator Ying Liu teaches microbiology, human biology and genetics at CCSF. As one of the new DE coordinators, Ying looks forward to working with the OLET team to help the college improve and expand our online offerings to serve the needs of more students.
Ying and I represent STEM and the Humanities in our shared role as Co-Coordinators and we want to hear from you! What is working in your online program, whether it's fully asynchronous or remote instruction? How can we serve you? Send your inspirations to me at: adennehy@ccsf.edu
Here's a video I that made using Clips on March 12, 2020. It is a message I sent out to my students in our 3-day transition to emergency remote instruction.
Credits:
CCSF Ocean campus photo by Dayamudra Ann Dennehy