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Connecting the Dots on SPOT: Prepping to Teach Online in Fall 2021

This post is from Assistant Distance Learning Coordinator, Catherine McKee Before March 2020, SPOT (Skills and Pedagogy for Online Teaching) was Mt. SAC’s required certification program for faculty teaching online (including hybrid courses). Then COVID hit and the college transitioned to Temporary Remote Instruction (TRI) and allowed non-SPOT-certified faculty to teach online if they completed…Continue Reading Connecting the Dots on SPOT: Prepping to Teach Online in Fall 2021

Incredible Embeddables to Expand Course Engagement!

Embedding content in Canvas can be an easy way to add more interactive and engaging elements in a course. What is embedding? How do you do it? What kinds of activities and interaction can be embedded in Canvas? Read on to learn more! What is Embedding? A Window to Another Website Embedding is a way…Continue Reading Incredible Embeddables to Expand Course Engagement!

Encouraging Help-Seeking Behavior

How Can You Encourage Students to Use Help Resources? As you prepare your materials for spring term, consider how you incorporate student resources and what language you use to encourage help-seeking behavior with your students. Taking steps to support awareness of available student resources is especially useful in the remote teaching format. The FCLT’s surveys…Continue Reading Encouraging Help-Seeking Behavior

Getting A-HEAD on Headers in Canvas: Tips for Completing SPOT

This post includes SPOT Tips from Assistant Distance Learning Coordinator & SPOT Facilitator Catherine McKee.  TRUE or FALSE: The best way to create headings in Canvas is by adding formatting to the heading text such as bold, underlining, or typing text in all capital letters.   The answer is False! Read on to learn more about…Continue Reading Getting A-HEAD on Headers in Canvas: Tips for Completing SPOT

Take Advantage of our Mt. SAC EDUCAUSE Membership!

EDUCAUSE is the leading nonprofit organization on technology in higher education with over 85,000 members from over 2,000 educational institutions. And Mt. SAC is an EDUCAUSE member! What does that mean for you? That’s what this post is about! What does EDUCAUSE offer to faculty? EDUCAUSE offers training, informative reporting, and programs that support technological…Continue Reading Take Advantage of our Mt. SAC EDUCAUSE Membership!

Let’s talk Distance Learning Amendment Forms

This post was created in collaboration with Mt. SAC Distance Learning Coordinator Carol Impara. In April 2020, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) announced that all classes offered online starting Summer 2020 would be considered distance education — even classes offered because of an emergency campus closure. As a result, Mt. SAC needs all…Continue Reading Let’s talk Distance Learning Amendment Forms

Can I show a movie in my online class?

Every so often, we get this question. Perhaps more people wonder about this, especially in the online environment. When I say movies, I’m not talking about the videos you created or freely available stuff on the open web from sites like YouTube, TED.com, or Vimeo, etc. (though I’ll talk about that toward the end so…Continue Reading Can I show a movie in my online class?

SPOT Training: What is the SPOT Pre-Check? And how do I pass it?

This guest post is by Mt. SAC’s Assistant Distance Learning Coordinator,  Catherine McKee.  As the Assistance Distance Learning Coordinator at Mt. SAC, I facilitate SPOT (Skills and Pedagogy for Online Teaching), Mt. SAC’s certification process for professors planning to teach courses online at our college. If you have signed up for SPOT or you are interested in completing…Continue Reading SPOT Training: What is the SPOT Pre-Check? And how do I pass it?

Orienting Your Students to Online Learning

Your course design can orient students to online learning  Even though fall courses have begun, the job of orienting students to learning online takes ongoing effort. Good course design that is easy to navigate can improve student retention and success. Here are some suggestions on how to build orienting elements into your courses.   Orienting…Continue Reading Orienting Your Students to Online Learning

Introducing FCLT News Bytes!

Welcome to our blog! Here on FCLT News Bytes, we’ll share “byte”-sized posts to help you improve course design, discover features in Canvas, explore instructional technology tools, and find resources to support your teaching whether it’s in person, hybrid, or online! You can see our blog posts several ways: subscribe (in the footer) to get…Continue Reading Introducing FCLT News Bytes!