Canvas panda waving and saying Before You Log Off... Canvas Discussions & Announcements: New Look, New Features

Meet the Redesigned Discussions & Announcements in Canvas

Canvas panda waving and saying Before You Log Off... Canvas Discussions & Announcements: New Look, New Features

Canvas Discussions and Announcements have a new look and new features. You can enable them now in a sandbox to try them out. But don’t worry; if you enable the redesign, updates will automatically be applied to any previous discussions and announcements. You will not lose any posts or replies. Things will just look a…Continue Reading Meet the Redesigned Discussions & Announcements in Canvas

Demystifying the “Substantive” of Regular & Substantive Interaction (RSI)

woman with gray hair smiling using tablet

Did you know that Merriam-Webster has a Word of the Day podcast? I learned this as I was searching for the dictionary definition of “substantive” and synonyms for “substantive.” Due to it’s spelling, I assumed that it was closest in meaning to “substantial,” but it is actually closer to “significant.” Here’s the Word of the…Continue Reading Demystifying the “Substantive” of Regular & Substantive Interaction (RSI)

Make Group Projects Easier with Pronto

Pronto logo over diverse students' hands collaborating on laptop

Do you ask students to work together on any type of course project? Then you should check out Pronto! This versatile and simple tool flexibly supports group coordination and helps you manage group projects. Peer collaboration is a great practice in all types of classes, but Canvas doesn’t have the greatest tools to support group…Continue Reading Make Group Projects Easier with Pronto

RSI Round-Up: Part 2

In RSI Round-Up: Part 1, I highlighted a few previous blog posts. In our transition from our old blog platform to Edublogs, some posts hadn’t been marked as RSI. Below, I’m including additional blog posts that we’ve written about RSI topics. What’s a new-to-you RSI strategy that you’d like to try? Did we miss one…Continue Reading RSI Round-Up: Part 2

RSI Round-Up: Part 1

As you may have heard, the ACCJC Review Team completed an off-site technical review of our 2024 ISER as part of the accreditation process and identified Ensuring Regular and Substantive Interaction in Distance Education Courses as one of the Core Inquiries, or areas of focus, for their in-person site visit in February 2024. We, the…Continue Reading RSI Round-Up: Part 1

GIFs: Fun and Quick, But Not Always Accessible

Decorative image

GIFs, or Graphics Interchange Format, have become a popular way to express emotions, reactions, and ideas on the internet. I know you’ve all experienced GIFs before. We are living in the meme generation, and some of the most fun ways to interact with others is through the sharing of memes via animated GIFs. Heck, popular…Continue Reading GIFs: Fun and Quick, But Not Always Accessible

Sometimes The Best Things in Life are Free

Today marks the end of the annual Open Education Week – a time of global awareness-raising, training and outreach about Open Educational Resources (OER). At Mt. SAC we have a several initiatives that support the adoption and creation of OER, so let’s take some time to briefly go over why OER are critical for student…Continue Reading Sometimes The Best Things in Life are Free

DEI Collaborative

At the Peralta Equity Conference in 2022, I attended a session about the DEI Collaborative. I loved what they were doing and signed up to participate. The DEI Collaborative is a cross-institution project to connect quality course design standards to best practices for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion so they can be cross-referenced. Here’s a short…Continue Reading DEI Collaborative

Thank you, professors!

Thank you professors for all you do!

Thank you for all you do for our students, our colleagues, and our college. Here’s a quirky, feel-good video from Kid President. If you haven’t seen his videos, I recommend them for a little laughter and a little inspiration (for you and/or your students). You may also watch Kid President’s Pep Talk to Teachers and…Continue Reading Thank you, professors!

Our Words Make a Difference

I listened to this TED Talk recently, How everyday interactions shape your future, in which Mesmin Destin presents research that shows how strongly we are affected by the things that people say about our education and career interests. After listening to this talk, I reflected on my own path and the discouragement that I received…Continue Reading Our Words Make a Difference

Highlights from the 2023 CCC LGBTQ+ Conference

This year, I was fortunate to get to attend the 5th Annual CCC LGBTQ+ Conference. The conference theme for 2023 was “Fiercer Together: uplifting queer and trans students on our campuses.” Throughout the California Community Colleges, support has expanded for LGBTQ+ students, bolstered by the recent, one-time allocation of $10 million dollars in the Postsecondary…Continue Reading Highlights from the 2023 CCC LGBTQ+ Conference