Online Teaching Conference 2014: The Live Sessions (Part One)

The 2014 Online Teaching Conference had terrific presentations and - since it was sold out a month before the conference - you may have missed them. Heck, even if you were at the conference, you couldn't attend more than one session at a time, so everyone missed some of these. But we were able to capture many of the presentations, and I'm happy to share the links with you here. Enjoy!

Caveats for Use of Social Media for Teaching with Judy Baker, Foothill College.Social media and cloud services such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Slideshare, LinkedIn, VoiceThread, Edmodo, Wikispaces, Instagram, and Flickr can provide engaging and powerful learning experiences for our students. However, before faculty use these resources as part of course requirements, they must employ safeguards that comply with laws regarding student privacy, copyright, and accessibility as well as protect students’ intellectual property. This presentation discusses how to provide your innovative faculty with the guidance they need to use social media and cloud services for instruction responsibly and effectively.

 The Center: An Online Learning Community for California's 112 Community Colleges with Michelle Pacansky-Brock, @ONE . The Center, launched in October 2013, is @ONE's newest program. Coordinated by Michelle Pacansky-Brock, the online community is anchored by a Google+ community and a Twitter presence (@Center_Ed). Its focus is to connect all of CA's 112 community colleges in a social conversation about innovations in teaching and learning through technology. Learn how to be notified about regular Hangouts on Air (live online video conversations between CCC community members), how to use participate in our bi-weekly Twitter chats, improve your personal learning network through participation in The Center, and explore ways to leverage Center events in on-campus workshops. Join The Center and experience next-gen professional development!

 Creating Dynamic Discussions to Energize Your Class with Jim Marteney, West Los Angeles College. This session explores strategies you can use to make your discussions more appealing and thought provoking. It examines uses for discussions from icebreakers to debates, to user generated content and examine strategies for grading discussions. It also provides some very specific approaches you can use to improve your discussions in your class.

Developing a Course Specific Online Orientation to Increase Student Success & Retention with Anna Stirling, Mt. San Jacinto College. By creating an orientation that is explicit to your course, you can introduce the tools and structure your students need to be familiar with to succeed in your course. Using this course orientation as the check-in process removes the burden of "teaching" the tech while you are teaching the content. The examples provided in this presentation are specific to Blackboard, but the concepts apply to any course or learning management system. Anna provides example activities you can use, along with help links and videos, to get your students past the learning curve of the course management system and focused on learning the curriculum content.

Engaging Students Using Live Chats with Judith Crozier and Rachel Roske, El Camino College, Compton Center.Often missing in the online classroom are real-time conversations where students converse and collaborate in an immediate way. Live Chats provides a fun, interactive experience for the online student! This innovative teaching tool allows students to generate their own small group discussions via a platform already familiar to them. Designed with accessibility in mind, Live Chats are a democratic forum where all students have their voices heard. Live Chats also accommodate various learning styles since dialogues are driven by students’ own perspectives and ways of processing information.

 Familia Online: Overcoming the Isolation of Online Learning
 with Marc Coronado, Mia Hernandez, and Michelle Nunez Alvarez, DeAnza College. This workshop was offered by two DeAnza Community College students who created and continue to mentor for a high-tech/high-touch online class where they build relationships through the use of the familia concept, a commitment to service learning, and by using social media technology in addition to standard English Composition curriculum.

Google Apps for Education with Joshua Kitzerow of Mt. San Jacinto Community College.Terrific, spirited overview of the free, online Google tools that you and your students can use to make great projects, collaborative shared documents and presentations, and a lot more. Joshua shows how to work more efficiently by searching for information within the documents utilizing the embedded research tool. This is also a presentation that lets you see
how others are using these tools in online and classroom teaching.

 How can Online Learning Orientations Contribute to Student Success?  with Jim Julius, MiraCosta College. In spring 2014, MiraCosta College offered in-person online learning orientation sessions for the first time. What content is essential to include? What are some effective ways to get students to participate? How should the sessions be organized similarly or differently for live in-person offering vs. live online vs. asynchronous online? What effect, if any, does participation in these orientations have upon student retention and success? What are some ways to track these effects?

Interactive Learning with NearPod  with Michael Kieley, Loyola Marymount University. NearPod is a game changing app for interactive learning. Imagine transforming a set of PowerPoint slides into a rich, multimedia experience which allows students to express their opinions, answer quiz questions, and even make drawings related to the content. NearPod summarizes these responses in vivid pie charts, which can be shared with students immediately, and NearPod Reports archive all the student input for later review by the teacher.

Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online with DeAnna Kirchen, Golden West College. This presentation covers the top ten things you should be doing in your online class according to the “Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online” by Judith V. Boettcher, PhD. If you’re new to online teaching, this will help you get off to a great start. If you’re a seasoned online teacher, see if you are doing all 10 things!

 Tips and Tricks for Using Blackboard with Eric Wilson, Orange Coast Community College. A fun session that shows Blackboard users more effective ways to build content in their courses.

A Wealth of Information: Online Learning & the Library with Gretchen Keer, CSU, East Bay.  This presentation offers practical tips, including best practices for online information literacy instruction and a guide on collaborating with your local librarian. It is presented by an academic librarian with ten years of experience embedding library services and resources into the online environment.

Some Virtual Presentations from Online Teaching Conference 2014

For the first time, we've sold out all seats to the Online Teaching Conference, but - thanks to the wonders of online teaching technology - you can attend many sessions virtually. In fact, you can attend some of the sessions before the conference even begins! Several sessions were pre-recorded for various reasons, and will not be presented during the actual conference June 20 and 21. So stick on a name tag and enjoy! (We had so many virtual presentations, I'll have to spread these out over several posts.)




5 Ways to Encourage Student Engagement Online. This presentation outlines 5 methods successfully utilized to enhance student engagement: the use of the group function in Collaborate to produce a video project; the use of student podcasting; the use of student voice applications for discussion forums; the student use of Camtasia for individual ad group online projects/presentations; the use of the journal on, for example, Blackboard and other LMS's. Student responses to these methods and sample work are showcased during the presentation. By Douglas Borcoman of Coastline Community College.



Creating a Community of Acceptance for Students with Asperger's Syndrome. Students with learning disabilities caused from Asperger Syndrome face many challenges. These challenges can derive from difficulties pertaining to social interaction in the classroom and collaboration when working in a group environment. The presentation provides a strategy the includes indicators signaling the need for additional instructor intervention and how to encourage communication and collaboration.  By Dr. Henry Roehrich of Park University.




Creating an Online Interactive Syllabus. This presentation shows how to create an interactive and engaging electronic syllabus. Learn how to create a magazine look for your syllabus in full color that includes hyperlinks in an index. This is a great way to engage your students from the start of the class. By Deanna Heikkinen of Los Angeles Valley College.





Cyberbullying of Faculty in Online Classrooms. The number of students enrolled in online courses is increasing. With the growth, online learning is experiencing an increase in cyber-assaults, written and verbal assaults, and cyber=bullying. The presentation addresses the growing problem of faculty bullying by students in the online classroom. Policies and protections available to online faculty are addressed, with recommendations for preventing and addressing cyber-bullying. By Michael Eskey of Park University.




Decreasing Student Procrastination Through E-Mails and Multimedia Tools in Online Courses. A research study on student procrastination examined the impact of using a multimedia method o Voki videos (animation) as well as consistent e-mail communication as a strategy to increase on-time student postings of the weekly discussions and written assignments. Based on the methods, the researchers hypothesize that there will be a connected impact with higher levels of student retention and greater interactivity leading to higher levels o student satisfaction with online learning. The findings will be used as a form of best practices in order to improve student interactivity and student retention online. By Sonja Bethune and Steve Brownson of Ashford University.




Designing Successful Faculty Training for Online Teaching. As online courses and programs in the colleges increase year by year, the training of online instructors has not kept up with "the demand for excellence," according to Dr. Rena Palloff, one of the authors of The Excellent Online Instructor (2011). This workshop discusses research into the characteristics of good online instructors and courses, the pedagogy paradigm shift for instructors, as well as current faculty development models such as Quality Matters, all of which contribute to producing the excellent online instructor. Faculty training models that are developing in the colleges are also discussed. By Dr. Rolando Regino of Victor Valley College.

Sail Into Online Student Success: Come to San Diego This June!

We've finalized the program for the 2014 Online Teaching Conference and looks like a terrific lineup! If you're an online educator, you spend a lot of time alone with your computer and your problems. At OTC, you're not alone! You can get critical insights directly from your colleagues, share your experiences, learn the latest strategies, and become a part of our wonderful community of online professionals. Join us June 20 and 21 for a comprehensive exploration of online teaching and learning. Get ready for two interactive days of learning that will prepare you to lead your institution with new ideas to power up online student success.

The OTC team has put together a top-notch program of sessions - presented by real online education professionals. Join us in San Diego for a unique professional development and networking event with opportunities to learn from distance education leaders about online teaching techniques and tools that will improve your bottom line and help your students fulfill their educational goals.

Online teaching conference 2014 from bvmorrow

Online Teaching 2013: The State of the Art

The 2013 Online Teaching Conference in Long Beach, California encompassed myriad topics that reflect the major trends and concerns of the profession: MOOCs, legislation related to distance education and open educational resources, YouTube, the rapid changes in the educational environment, hybrid options and design, collaboration, faculty training, social media, online student services, digital textbooks, tutoring, disruption, and innovation. Thanks to the great work of the OTC professionals, here's a sample of the recorded sessions.

Online Teaching: What the Experts Say

The Online Teaching Conference is days away, and there will be lots of exciting and informative presentations in Long Beach June 19-21. But why wait? Some of the presenters have already pre-recorded their presentations. Take a look - and make sure you register for the conference so you don't miss more!
You're Teaching a Course Online! Did You Do It Right? In this session Mauricio Cadavid discusses strategies for student success, engagement, and a positive learning experience. The audience will learn about developing rapport with their online students, as well as acquire a list of web-tools that can be used as effective design of class activities and participation.



The Importance of the Application of Critical Thinking in the Online Classroom.
Michael Eskey addresses teaching critical thinking skills to our online students. Research indicates that academics and students have differing perceptions of what happens in university classrooms, particularly in regard to higher order thinking, in particular, critical thinking. Higher education is challenged with encouraging students to pursue higher-order thinking and often fall short according to industry standards. The current research that will be discussed is directed at responses from full-time and adjunct faculty teaching either face-to-face or online mainly in the disciplines of criminal justice and political science to assess their views and application of teaching critical skills. The findings are applicable to all disciplines and emphasize the importance of specific instructor training to apply to the classroom in this area.



Yo Ho Blackboard Inline Grading For Me!
Eric Wilson explains that Blackboard recently updated the way you can grade Assignments and Discussions! With the new Inline Grading System, this recorded workshop will show you how to create Assignment and Discussions and how to grade both with the new inline system and paperless. Eric reviews the built in rubric system as well. It is so easy and can literally make grading painless.




Recruiting, Training, Maintaining, and Retaining Online Adjunct Instructors
Dr. Henry Roehrich with Dr. Michael Eskey explain that the development of online adjunct instructors requires a professional adult learning approach that incorporates a facilitation training program, mentoring process and instructor informational resources. The presentation outlines and discusses how this process can be effective and tailored to the needs of institutions in higher education. This will include the required online adjunct recruiting process, required training, online resources, professional development opportunities, the formal / informal mentoring process, required and optional refresher training. Additionally, there is a discussion of online adjunct and online student perceptions of instructional needs and requirements.



Does a Face Make a Difference? Comparing Synchronous Online Education with Other Instructional Methods at California Community Colleges and the Impact on Student Retention Rates
Claudia Tornsaufer
The main focus of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in mean institutional retention rates among California community college students by the following institutional characteristics: 1) instructional method (on-campus, asynchronous and synchronous online courses); 2) ethnicity; gender; and age groups. The study’s findings on student outcomes will shed light on the impact of increased online student-teacher, student-student and student-content interaction in synchronous online courses and how it compares to the interaction on on-campus and asynchronous courses.