Distance Education Newsletter
Kapi‘olani Community College | June 3, 2021
Relax and Recharge!
---Data to Ponder---
---Celebrating Good Work---
Excellence in Online Teaching Award
The VCAA Excellence in Online Teaching Award (EOTA) recognizes outstanding educators for their extraordinary level of online teaching effectiveness, innovative online teaching practices visible through course design, meaningful and regular student engagement, and valuable assessment techniques that support online student success at Kapi‘olani Community College.
Please join us in congratulating the winner for the inaugural Excellence in Online Teaching Award:
Rachel Lindsey, Ph.D.
Anatomy & Physiology, Math & Sciences Department
Congratulations and mahalo, Rachel, for your continued dedication to student success at Kapi‘olani Community College!
Check out the December 2019 DE Newsletter for a DE Faculty feature by Dr. Rachel Lindsey.
---Professional Development Opportunities---
Mark Your Calendar and Submit a Proposal for Kapi‘olani Summer Camp
Kapi‘olani Summer Camp is on again this summer for August 2-5, and it’s a great opportunity for some professional service! Last year, we hosted 43 sessions, and 291 participants joined us for this virtual, Zoom-based event from across the UH System and beyond. We’re hoping to make an even bigger splash this year with some summer professional development fun for everyone!
Staff, faculty and admin are invited to apply to present in one or more of our 2021 Summer Camp session formats. It’s a supportive crowd and a fun way to engage in professional service outside of our campus!
🐟 Open Swim: This 20-minute presentation meant to share resources or strategies/processes. While we encourage all formats to include some level of engagement, there is limited time for “hands-on” learning. This session is ideal for sharing lessons learned or strategies you employ in your job that you believe will be helpful to others!
🏕️ Group Excursion: This 80-minute engaging, interactive session format is intended to provide the time to facilitate meaningful conversation and/or application of ideas. This session format is a fantastic opportunity to grapple with interesting issues, problem-solve/brainstorm as a group, and/or introduce a concept/resource while allowing participants to plan for its application in their own context!
this year will be 50-minute health and wellness-focused sessions in the afternoon. This is such an important focus for all of us always, but especially after the year we’ve had, and we’d love to have some sessions that help engage participants in planning for healthy, holistic approaches to work/life balance!
🔥 Fireside Chat: Hosted during the afternoon activity hour, these are 50-minute, small group special interest sessions during which presenters will facilitate a semi-structured or open conversation about a topic of interest (e.g., assessment, HR issues, time management, discipline-related planning, etc.)
Please share your sessions proposal(s) here: Kapi‘olani Summer Camp Proposal Submission
You are welcome to propose multiple sessions – please submit each session proposal individually. The deadline to apply is June 7, 2021 by 11:59pm HST. Presenters will be notified of their acceptance by July 9.
We hope to hear from you!
Your friendly Kapi‘olani Summer Camp counselors
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the summer camp counselors at sumrcamp@hawaii.edu
New Professional Development Program: Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility!
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new professional development program focused on Digital Accessibility! Here are the important details:
Who: You! All UH employees are welcome to participate
What: A 7-module, self-paced learning resource with the option to complete a competency assessment to earn a digital credential
When: Anytime you like! It's a self-paced and asynchronous program, so feel free to hop in and complete the training on your own schedule.
Where: Laulima (we’ll add you to the site after you register)
Why: Accessibility is a highly important topic that can be somewhat technical and a bit overwhelming – our aim is to demystify basic accessibility concepts and make digital accessibility approachable and relevant to the work you do.
How: Just Register Here to be added to the training site!
Learn about fundamental accessibility concepts, digital accessibility principles, designs, best practices, tools for evaluating accessibility, and pertinent resources for creating accessible digital documents and online course sites.
Free Conference in June (Hosted by Arizona State University)
Free Webinars!
Currently, Kapi‘olani CC has a subscription with Go2Knowledge, which offers Kap‘olani CC faculty and staff free access to dozens of Innovative Educators webinars, both live and on demand (pre-recorded). Many of them are quite good! Here's a sampling to pique your interest:
Upcoming live webinars:
Using Social Media to Promote Your Academic Support Programs (Thursday 6/10, 7:00 - 8:00 am HST)
Returning to Campus: Using a Holistic Approach to Help All Student Populations Succeed (Wednesday 6/16, 7:00 - 8:30 am HST)
Teaching Online: Best Practices for Synchronous & Asynchronous Delivery (Thursday 6/17, 7:00 - 8:00 am HST)
Recently-added on demand webinars:
Equity & Inclusion in the Online Environment (60 min)
Maintaining a Healthy Work-Life Balance while Maximizing Online Instructional Time (60 min)
Strategies to Successfully Manage COVID-related Stress (60 min)
And many, many more. Sign up at Kapi‘olani CC's G2K account page and browse through the offerings.
---Online Andragogy---
The Magical Unicorn: Tips to Enchant and Enhance Your Online Class
---Important Policy Update---
Kapi‘olani CC’s Definition of Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) is a requirement for our DE classes, and it’s an essential part of the federal DOE’s definition of what makes a class or program “Distance Education” (as opposed to “Correspondence Education”). Recent federal negotiated rulemaking sessions have revised the federal definition of RSI, and accrediting agencies (including ACCJC) are coming out with revised regulations to take this newly-revised definition of RSI into account. ACCJC’s revised DE regulations are set to take effect in July of 2022.
In preparation, Kapi‘olani CC has drafted an institutional definition of RSI in alignment with the federal definition. This RSI definition passed the Faculty Senate on April 5 and was approved by the administration on April 12. Now it’s time to share it with the Kapi‘olani CC DE Community:
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) is a requirement for Distance Education (DE) classes at Kapi‘olani Community College. In meeting this requirement, instructors are responsible for interacting with students on a predictable and regular basis. They monitor students’ academic engagement and success, and proactively engage in substantive interactions with the students. These interactions occur in at least two of the following ways:
Providing direct instruction (ie. instructor-created videos, slide presentations, or other instructional materials or meeting with the class synchronously online)
Providing feedback on assignments (preferably individualized)
Providing information and/or responding to questions
Facilitating group discussions (including discussions that utilize Web 2.0 tools such as Padlet, FlipGrid, collaborative creation tools, etc.)
Engaging in one or more of the following instructional activities:
Sending announcements, reminders or nudges to students
Holding synchronous group or individual conferences
Assigning and facilitating peer feedback
Assigning and facilitating group projects
Assigning and facilitating student-led instruction (student presentations, student-led discussions, etc.)
Sharing individualized course performance, progress, and/or early-alert reports with students
If you have questions or comments about this definition, or about RSI, we’d love to hear them! Contact Leigh at ldooley@hawaii.edu.
---The Cool Stuff at the End---
What We Are Reading, Listening to, or Watching Now
- Three Benefits of Virtual Labs in College Science Courses (article, Every Learner Everywhere)
This article explores some benefits of online labs in science classes, and includes a comparison of student success in online and on-campus labs.
Four Ideas to Spark Active Learning in an Online Classroom (article, Faculty Focus)
Four practical and discrete active learning strategies are presented (some for synchronous learning, some for asynchronous learning).
Here’s the Syllabus for Your Summer Crash Course in Online Education (article, EdSurge)
This article provides a great set of principles and a comprehensive reading list for online teachers!
- At Some Colleges, Remote Work Could Be Here to Stay (article, Chronicle of Higher Ed)
Some colleges and universities are looking to revise their policies on working from home, or even living in the city, state, or country in which the institution resides, to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining employees.