Communication Tools and Teaching Strategies in Second Life

Colorado EduIsland will be hosting two, 1 hour sessions on Communication Tools and Teaching Strategies in SL.

Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colorado%20EduIsland/133/110/22.
When: March 29th, 2010
Session 1: 8:45 - 9:45 (MT) - First session, we will discuss simple communications technologies (e.g., chat, email, IM, etc.) then we graduate to intermediate communications technologies (e.g., blog-huds, and VoIP), next we graduate to the higher-end technologies (e.g., Media boards, Tweet Huds). We will close the first session with a quick tour of the island. There will be a discussion and question and discussion session at the end of the hour.
Session 2: 10:00 – 11:00 (MT) - Second session, we will briefly review communication tools, and then start discussing Teaching Strategies in SL. Next we will tour the new Early Childhood and Judicial learning centers; which have been established on the island for students and faculty in these disciplines to use. A follow-up discussion and question session will be held at the end of the hour.

These sessions are being broadcast LIVE, to the Iowa Community College Online Consortium 2010 Conference, but our faculty, staff and other interested parties are invited to attend these in-world events. Here is a quick start link from Linden Labs: http://static-secondlife-com.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/Second_Life_Quickstart.pdf

CCCOnline also has getting started information on the faculty wiki SecondLife home page: http://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_Other_Tools_-_Second_Life

You may also contact Cheryl Comstock directly with your questions at cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu

D2L Webinar Archives

We really appreciate all the attendees to our D2L webinars this spring. Lisa Marie Johnson did a fantastic job discussing the D2L Grades tool today. If you missed it or any other D2L Tool Webinar, you can revisit the recordings at the archive on the wiki.

If you have D2L questions or other comments, please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

D2L Grades Webinar Tomorrow

It is supposed to be a dreary day tomorrow, Friday March 26th , perk up and join us for the D2L Grades Webinar from 1-3 pm. To join us log in to http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/

D2L Grades Tip: How to release the Final Calculated Grade to Students
1. Click the Grades Tool
2. In the Grades Area>Click Manage Grades
3. Find the Final Calculated Grade in the Grades List
4. Click the Ruler with a checkmark to the right of the Final Calculated Grade
5. Scroll to the right and find the Release Final Calculated Grade Column>Click the checkbox in the column for each student,
6. Click Save
If you have questions or comments please contact me directly karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

You now have access to your Training Record!

You now have access to your Training Record with CCCOnline by logging into the Faculty Gateway .

On the left hand side you will see a link for Training Registration and History.
· To register for an upcoming training click Registration.
· To see your training record or history with CCCOnline click on History.
· If you find an error or have a question about your history, click on Training Support Form at the top of the page.

Have a wonderful spring day!
Karen Kaemmerling
Please contact me with other questions at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

D2L Grades and Webinar

Next Friday March 26 from 1-3 pm, we have the last in our series of spring D2L webinars. We conclude with the D2L Grades Tool and a Question and Answer period. To join us log in to http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/

You may also want to check out our resources for the D2L Grades tool on our faculty wiki .

If you have questions about your grades tool in D2L visit our wiki at If you have any questions, please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

Daylight Savings Time Notice

**Please do not reply to this message**

D2L has notified us of a potential issue based on the switch to Daylight Savings Time. If you have exams scheduled for Saturday night, please be aware of the following information:

"Daylight Savings Time (DST) begins this weekend. In preparation for the change in time, we would like to make you aware of potential issues with quizzes during the change in time.

Please be aware you should monitor quizzes as there could potentially be problems with retrieving or accessing data that is date/time stamp dependent.

This affects:

·Quizzes with due dates set between , 8:00pm Saturday, March 13th ET and , 2:00 am Sunday, March 14th YOUR LOCAL TIME ZONE and/or
·Quizzes with time restrictions started prior to , 8:00 pm Saturday, March 13th ET and , 2:00 am Sunday, March 14th YOUR LOCAL TIME ZONE

Please be aware you should monitor quizzes as there could potentially be problems with retrieving or accessing data that is date/time stamp dependent."

David Chatham has confirmed with D2L that if a quiz or restriction date is reset outside of the Saturday, 6 PM MT (translated from ET) to Sunday 2 AM MT (our time zone), there should be no problem.

If you have questions or concerns, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

D2L Quizzes Webinar Reminder

I know it is beautiful outside, but please consider joining us today at 1pm for the D2L Quizzes and QA webinar. The link to log in is http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/.

If you have any questions regarding D2L or our webinar series, please contact me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu.

D2L Tips and Quizzes Webinar

As March enters with a roar, here are a couple D2L tips you might find helpful.

1. When updating dates for Quizzes and Dropbox items to change availability, you must change the dates in the tools themselves. If you change dates for the quizzes and dropbox assignments links in Content, you are only changing the availability of the LINK in Content, not the assignment. If you use date release conditions for Links and Files in Content you must update each semester the dates in both Content and the Quizzes and Dropbox tools.

2. Also you may want to share with your students that they can change their own settings in Discussions. Students and Faculty can change whether they see the original message in their reply.
To change this setting:
-Go to Discussions
-Click on Settings
-Select the check box next to “Include original message text in reply” to remove the check mark, and click Save.

Finally, I want to remind everyone of the D2L Quizzes Webinar that is Friday, March 12th from 1-3pm. To log into the webinar go to http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/. For a list of upcoming Webinars and Archived Webinars, go to https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development on the faculty wiki.

D2L Essentials Workshop and D2L Quiz Tip

Are you still struggling with some essential D2L tools and functions? If so, we are offering the D2L Essentials training as a self-contained 2 week workshop from March 15-March 26. You will have a facilitator and be assigned practice shells instead of working in your sandbox courses. To register for the training, log into the Faculty Gateway and select Training.

Here is a D2L Quiz tip from D2L mentor Diane Van Os.
If your course is showing an ungraded quiz try this:

· Go to the quiz(s)
· Search on all attempts
· Locate an unchecked grade box to the right
· Check it and click update
· That should get rid of the pesky message!

Spring Session 2 Rosters Available

You can now view your Spring Session 2 class roster.

Please go to the Faculty Gateway here,

https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/login.php

Login using your S# and Password.

Please note that while you will be able to see your courser roster from the faculty gateway, students will not be loaded into your course shells until after midnight tonight (Friday, February 26). This change in process is due to a difference in the way D2L loads files.

Please contact myself or Frank Vazquez, frank.vazquez@cccs.edu, if you have any trouble accessing your roster.

Thanks!
John

D2L Webinar and Tip

We will have a D2L Dropbox Webinar and QA session Friday February 26th from 1-3 pm. You can log in as early as thirty minutes prior to the session at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE. Archives of the sessions are stored at https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Webinar_Archive for your reference should you not be able to attend.

Need to open a dropbox for a student to submit something late? Here’s how:
1. Click the Dropbox Tool
2. Find the dropbox item in the table
3. Click the pencil to the right of the item
4. Click the Restrictions Tab
5. Scroll down to the Special Access section
6. Click the radio button-Allow users with special access to submit assignments outside the normal availability dates for this folder
7. Click the Add Users to Special Access button
8. In the Special Access window identify the new time frame for which the student can submit the dropbox item & in the user section search for the student who needs special access
9. Click the checkbox to the left of their name(s)
10. Click Add Selected
11. Verify the Special Access settings
12. Click Save

If you have any questions, please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

Job Opening at Community College of Aurora

Hi Everyone-

I try not to send too many of these to everyone, but this is another local job opening.  This one is from the Community College of Aurora.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

Position Announcement
Instructional Technologist

POSITION TITLE: Instructional Technologist        POSITION #: 210340
POSITION STATUS: Exempt                FLSA STATUS:  Exempt
REPORTS TO: Director of Online Learning
SUPERVISES: May supervise Work Study Students

The Position:   Located in the beautiful Rocky Mountain Region, the Community College of Aurora is looking for someone to provide leadership for faculty in the effective use of new and current technologies, for instructional purposes to support and improve student learning. The individual hired will plan and promote learning environments and effective use of learning technologies.  This position will assume a leadership role in directing and providing faculty training and support in the use of instructional methodologies and computer technologies. This person must perform as a member of a team, as well as, possess the ability to work independently.  Competitive candidates will be creative and energetic, with a passion for student and faculty success and an enthusiasm for teaching and training others on the use of technology in the classroom. They will be able to handle multiple tasks and deadlines while maintaining the requirements and integrity of the department.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Train faculty who teach hybrid and online courses on all functions of the learning management system and other instructional technologies used online.  Examples of this would be podcasting, audio presentations, creating online content, as well as utilizing Web 2.0 technologies where appropriate. This person would assist the faculty in designing their online and hybrid courses using elements that contribute to sound pedagogy for inquiry learning.
• Train faculty to use the learning management system functions required for face-to-face courses, including training and assisting with the creation of learning objects such as presentations, videos, podcasts, etc.  This would include assisting faculty in locating learning objects available for use under creative commons licensing. 
• Train faculty on classroom educational technologies, such as clickers, and interactive whiteboards.
• Provide support for students and faculty with the use of learning technologies.
• Train and supervise work study students to assist in training of faculty and students on Desire2Learning, Course Management System.
• Assist faculty individually, and through workshops, in the integration of different forms of technology into their curriculum.
• Provide hands-on assistance to faculty in the use of instructional and computer technologies.
• Must have an understanding and the ability to demonstrate how technology can enhance the teaching and learning process and work collaboratively with faculty and department chairs to enhance the integration of technology across the curriculum.
• Must work well with a variety of people across the college.
• Must demonstrate excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Must demonstrate knowledge of various forms of multimedia such as DVD, Streaming Video, and other digital media.
• Serve as a member of CCA’s Faculty Development Committee.
• Work must be completed on-site and this individual must be willing and able to conduct workshops during the days, evenings and Saturdays.
• Other duties as assigned.

In order to perform the essential functions of this position, the individual must possess the ability to effectively communicate, concentrate, analyze data, pay attention to detail, retain learned knowledge, instruct/teach demonstrate strong organizational skills and demonstrate strong interpersonal skills.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor Degree, preferably in Instructional Technology, Educational Technology or related field.
• Strong computer skills including experience in MS Office application programs.
• Experience in course development, course conversions, and online delivery.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.
• Experience teaching in both an online and classroom environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters Degree, preferably in Instructional Technology, or Educational Technology.
• Minimum of two years of higher education experience preparing and delivering faculty and staff training in a variety of formats.
• Experience using a Learning Management System.
• A minimum of two years experience training adults.
• Experience in a community college setting
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively

Salary:   Salary is commensurate with education and experience and in accordance with the 2009-2010 Administrative Salary Schedule.  Starting salary range is mid 30’s to high 40’s.  CCA offers a competitive fringe benefit program including health, dental and life insurance.  Leave benefits and holidays are also included.  For more information on the insurance benefits, click on the following link:  http://www.cccs.edu/HR/Admin.html#ExemptBenefitMaterials.
 
Application Process: To apply, send a letter of application specifically addressing the position requirements and a professional resume to HR@CCAurora.edu  
 
Any applicant who knowingly or willfully makes a false statement on any material or fact or thing in his/her application material is guilty of perjury in the second degree as defined in section 18-8-503, Colorado Revised Statutes, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished accordingly.
 
Deadline to Submit Application Material:  Application material will be accepted until position is filled, however, we anticipate that we will begin screening on March 15, 2010.   E-mail HR@CCAurora.edu with questions regarding the application process.
   
Notice to all Applicants:

• Proof of eligibility to work in the United States must be produced within three (3) days of hire.
• Direct deposit of payroll is a condition of employment.
• Final candidate is subject to a criminal background check prior to final selection process.
• Final candidate is required to submit official transcripts.
• CCA is affiliated with the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) and as such, employees contribute to PERA in lieu of Social Security for retirement benefits.  For more information, visit www.copera.org.
• Former employees of the Colorado Community College System or one of its 13 colleges, who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination, must disclose this information in your application material.

Equal Employment Opportunity:
The Community College of Aurora does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability in the admission, access, treatment or employment in its programs or activities.  Inquiries about Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and Section 504 should be made to Debbie Irvine, 16000 E. CentreTech Parkway, Suite A201, Aurora, CO 80011-9036
 
CCA Mission:
“The Community College of Aurora provides lifelong educational opportunities, prepares the current and future workforce, and promotes excellence in teaching, learning and service to our diverse community.”

Second Life Event

Colorado EduIsland would like to introduce you to SecondLife!

When: February 19th, 2010 from 3-6 pm
Where: Colorado EduIsland in SL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colorado%20EduIsland/132/110/22
About the Event: Colorado EduIsland is hosting a “Mixer” event. This is both an educational and social event to introduce beginning users (i.e., “newbie's”) to Second Life (SL). New and experienced users are welcome to join in the fun as experienced “Avatars” escort and tour you through the educational facilities on the island. There will be discussions and valuable teaching tools for you to exhibit and see how to utilize SecondLife (SL) in on-ground and online classrooms. If you haven’t recently visited our island, you will experience some new terrain for exploration and teaching purposes. Our training facility is now equipped with a Maze and a Planetarium to get up and running in SL in no time. Activities, both structured and unstructured, will be staged around the island for educators and students to discover basic functionality, maneuvering, and broadening of proficiency skill sets. There will be a treasure hunt with door prizes and plenty of free gifts for participators! Of course you will also have a chance to meet new and old friends from various colleges around Colorado and other neighboring educational places.

Planned training stations activities and exercises will be available to instruct you on:
1. How to maneuver, fly, and teleport your avatar·
2. How to access and utilize the program menus and tools that come with your account and avatar·
3. How to Change appearances, wear objects, and work with the inventory that comes with your account·
4. Also included are fireside chats and other discussions include topics on how to teach in SL and using various teaching tools, and other valuable educational conversations

If you would like more information to get started, check out details on the CCCOnline Faculty Wiki, TechTools – SecondLife for Education

Hope to see you then.
Please contact Cheryl Comstock CCCOnline, Director Online Program Development
cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu with your questions.

Job Opening at eCollege/Pearson in Denver

Hi Everyone-

Gail Krovitz sent information about a local job opportunity some of you may be interested in.

From Gail:

I'm the Director of the Academic Training & Consulting group at Pearson eCollege, as well as being an online anthropology instructor for CCCOnline.

We are looking for another Academic Trainer and Consultant (ATC) for eCollege and I’m wondering if you know anyone you can forward the job ad to. I am looking for candidates with online and on ground teaching experience, who are excited about online education and the use of technology in education. The ATCs are the academic voice of eCollege and we work with a wide variety of faculty and administrators to help them get up to speed with online learning or to learn more advanced skills. This is a full time position in the Denver Tech Center office, but the ATCs are encouraged to continue their online teaching (if applicable), so any adjunct instructors you know who are looking for full time work might be a great fit.

If someone you know wants to apply, they should submit a resume and cover letter through this website: http://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/jd?ai=205&ji=2415932&sn=I

Please let me know if you have any questions I can answer about the position. Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Gail Krovitz
--

SUMMARY
The Academic Training and Consulting Team is committed to assisting faculty and administrators at academic and corporate institutions in the exploration and implementation of Internet Educational technology.  All Academic Trainers and Consultants are responsible for faculty development in the use of Internet technology tools for the traditional on-ground and online classrooms and in the design, development and teaching of online courses using the eCollege System. Academic Trainers and Consultants are also called upon to train on a wide variety of technical solutions that the company offers.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Consult (in person and/or via phone and email) with faculty and administrators to provide general information about online education, Internet technology, the eCollege system, and its tools, as well as specific assistance with online course design and development;
• Train users regarding process, best practices, and instructional strategies relating to the eCollege system to meet their needs through online workshops, consultations, and demonstrations;
• Works closely with Academic Services’ Project Managers and educational partners on the implementation planning for eCollege’s products, as well as train users on functionality and academic strategies relating to these systems;
• Train users on the functionality and use of additional eCollege products, solutions, and third party integrations;
• Conduct instructional design course reviews, a comprehensive quality appraisal of an individual course relative to learning theory, content presentation, and system features/tools utilization;
• Coach instructors on teaching strategies for online learning through personal knowledge of pedagogy, instructional design, and previous experience in online teaching and various available presentations;
• Maintain resources for faculty through manuals, teaching tips, student orientations, and postings that allow for self teachings;
• Write articles and tips for the Educators’ Voice and ATC Blog sections of the company newsletters;
• Other duties as assigned.
• Travel is required (up to 40% of the time)

QUALIFICATIONS  To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
 
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: Two or more years experience in classroom teaching (including curriculum design and development) is required, and previous wok in online teaching/learning is also preferred.  Master’s (or Terminal) degree in related field is required.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Required

• Ability to multitask and prioritize
• Detail-oriented
• Must be self-directed and have the ability to operate with little supervision as well as in a team environment
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to visualize on a global level and understand how online events can affect the programs and systems of an institution
• Excellent presentation and training skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to perform academic research
• Proficient with Microsoft Office
• Comfort with computers, technology, and related tools

Preferred

• Knowledge of HTML as well as a familiarity with multimedia and audio/video programs
• Understanding of educational cultures, environments, etc.

 
Travel is required (up to 40% of the time)
 

Accommodation Requests

***If you have questions about this post, please email donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu***

Due to changes in legislation around who can request accommodations in a class, we are seeing an increase in the number of accommodation requests we get from students. Remember these important "guidelines" when addressing accommodation requests:

1) Students must request accommodation every semester in which they enroll, and they do so through the appropriate office on their home campus.
2) You will receive official notification of accommodation requests from CCCOnline Student Services Staff. If a student asks you directly about accommodation and you haven't received this notice from us, please contact John Schmahl (john.schmahl@cccs.edu).
3) The primary accommodations requested are for additional time on homework and additional time on exams. Because our courses typically provide information about homework assignments from the beginning of the term, we don't as a rule provide additional time for homework. We do, however, provide additional time on exams if requested, and D2L has made that process very simple! If you need assistance setting this up for a student, please let your D2L mentor know.
4) It's a good practice to touch base with any student who has requested accommodation to be sure that the accommodation(s) granted are working for him/her.
5. Click here for some great information and a tutorial on the ADA process: https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Policies_%26_Procedures_-_Faculty_Handbook_-_Teaching_for_CCCOnline_-_Faculty_Role_In_the_Classroom_-_ADA_Training

Faculty Bloggers

Hi Everyone-

I really hope you are all finding the time to check in on the faculty bloggers.  You can find them in the Community Shell (click on content and then on Master Teacher Blogs).

If that doesn't work for you you can also follow them on Blogger -- they are 

• http://cccomaster1.blogspot.com/
• http://cccomaster2.blogspot.com/
• http://cccomaster3.blogspot.com/
• http://cccomaster4.blogspot.com/
• http://cccomaster5.blogspot.com/
• http://cccomaster6.blogspot.com/
• http://cccomaster7.blogspot.com/

There are lots of thoughts on how to improve your communication with students and how to think about incorporating new technologies in your classes.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

Discussion D2L Tip

Have you experimented with Grid View and Reading View in your D2L discussions yet? The default in D2L is to be in Reading View but many faculty and students prefer Grid View. Both you and your students control this setting for yourselves. To experiment with the views to see which is best for you:
-Click on Discussions
-Click on Settings on the left hand side
-Click on Grid View and Save
-Go back to discussions and see if you like it better.

You may also want to share this tip with students since they have to set it for themselves. I’ve started a D2L tips discussion in my course to help students adjust to D2L. For more tips on using discussions, join us from 1-3 pm for our D2L Discussion and QA Webinar today or go to the Webinars Archive page and listen to it at your convenience. To log into the webinar go to http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE ... to listen to the webinar and other ones go to https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Webinar_Archive

If you have questions, please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu rather than responding here to everyone.

CCCOnline Employment Opportunities!

Hello Everyone-

CCCOnline currently has two employment positions open: a Quality Assurance Coordinator and an Academic Technology Professional.  See the position descriptions and application procedures below.  Please feel free to forward this information to anyone you know who might be interested.  Send any questions directly to Lisa.Cheney-Steen@cccs.edu.

I strongly encourage any of you who are interested to apply!

(If the position descriptions are difficult to read in email format, please go directly to the blog for improved formatting:  www.CCCOnlineFacultyNews.blogspot.com.)

Lisa Cheney-Steen
Co-Exec. Director

Posted February 8, 2010    Open until filled

Title of Position: Quality Assurance Coordinator  Position #297880

CCCOnline is a consortia program offering online courses for Colorado’s community college system.  The Colorado Community Colleges Online is comprised of the 13 member colleges in the Colorado Community Colleges, Dawson Community College, Northwest Missouri State University, and Pickens Tech.

Through CCCOnline students can earn fully accredited Associate of Arts Degrees, Associate of Applied Science Degrees and Certificates, in various disciplines. Colorado Community Colleges are accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Job Summary

The Quality Assurance Coordinator provides leadership and expertise in the development and maintenance of an effective quality assurance model for CCCOnline. This position also assists the Training Director through workshop visits and by identifying training needs for faculty.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

The Quality Assurance Coordinator is responsible for the management and supervision of the CCCOnline Quality Assurance Program:

• Produces quality assurance reports in accordance with CCCOnline requirements and calendar.
• Compiles and reports student evaluations and quality-assurance results.
• Evaluates online curriculum to determine faculty’s use of interactive learning tools and works with faculty to add interactivity where needed and/or possible; works with faculty who are interested in new teaching methods and technologies and assists in evaluating those new teaching methodologies.
• Evaluates, plans, and designs procedures for quality-assurance review of curriculum.
• Analyzes/designs quality-review documents and checklists.
• Suggests/manages /disseminates changes in quality standards and indicators.
• Confers with and assists program chairs as needed to improve quality in course curricula and improve the Quality Assurance processes.
• Performs ongoing research into appropriate quality standards and implementation of new technologies and teaching methodologies in online courses.
• Participates in the online “Managing Discussions” workshops as the “Guest Discussant” to answer questions from new faculty about the QA guidelines and procedures.
• Organizes a roundtable discussion on quality assurance at the annual faculty conference for all faculty to promote continual communication and a mastery of the necessary skills to create a successful online environment for students.

The individual in this position is responsible for managing the faculty hiring process which includes:

• Coordinate advertisement for new faculty, work with program chairs to ensure they have appropriate faculty applicants.
• Manage the application process, including S# assignment, and all paperwork; work closely with the human resources department.
• Work with new hires to ensure they receive appropriate notification, are enrolled in appropriate training and professional development workshops, and are interacting with their faculty mentors.

This position also provides administrative support for the Assoc. Academic Dean.

Applicant Qualifications Education and Experience:

Required Qualifications

• BA degree in an appropriate field, from an accredited college or university.
• Requires excellent interpersonal and leadership skills, great attention to detail, the ability to work effectively as part of a team, and effective written and oral communication skills.
• A thorough understanding of the online-learning environment, including familiarity with at least one learning management system.
• Ability to use Microsoft Office software products at an advanced level.

Preferred Qualifications

• MA degree in an appropriate field from an accredited college or university.
• A minimum of 5 years working in a post-secondary training environment
• Experience working with faculty and students in a post-secondary setting
• Experience teaching online in a post-secondary setting.

Unique Personal Characteristics

•  Comfort working in a virtual environment.
• Familiarity and comfort with the world wide web.

Salary

• $39,000-$42,000
• Excellent benefit package including health, dental, vision, life insurance, and retirement.

Application Process
 

Submit a current resume, list of three professional references and your three most recent supervisors, copies of your transcripts (unofficial are acceptable as part of the application process – official copies will be required prior to hire) and cover letter addressing the position requirements to:
 

E-Mail: jobs@cccs.edu

Fax:  303-620-4030

Or mail to: 

Executive Director of Human Resources 

Colorado Community College System 


9101 E. Lowry Blvd.

Denver, CO 80230  


Applications will be accepted until position is filled; however, resume review will begin on February 24th.   Candidates are evaluated based on their qualifications as related to the duties and responsibilities of the position.
 

Equal Opportunity Employer -The Colorado Community College System is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability in its activities, programs, or employment practices as required by Title VI, Title IX, and Section 504, Age Discrimination Act, and Title II of the ADA.  Former employees of the Colorado Community College System or one of its 13 colleges, who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination, must disclose this within your application materials. This position may require irregular hours, including nights and weekends, as well as working more than eight (8) hours per day at certain times.  Candidates must successfully pass a criminal background check prior to hire.

Posted February 9, 2010    Open until filled
Title of Position: Academic Technology Professional   Position #298410

 

The Colorado Community College System is the state’s largest system of higher education, comprising 13 state community colleges, career/technical programs in more than 150 school districts, and program oversight for seven other post secondary institutions.  Each college offers a blend of core courses for the university-bound as well as career programs that meet local employers’ needs.  Our high school programs are designed to increase the number of qualified entry-level and skilled workers for the Colorado economy.  Altogether, we serve over 117,000 for-credit students per year.  The community colleges also serve secondary and continuing-ed constituents, increasing the total number of students served.
 

CCCOnline is a consortia program offering online courses for Colorado’s community college system.  The Colorado Community Colleges Online is comprised of the 13 member colleges in the Colorado Community Colleges, Dawson Community College, Northwest Missouri State University, and Pickens Tech.  We are a national model for utilizing advanced technology to deliver state-of-the-art academic and career education across the entire secondary through post-secondary continuum.

Through CCCOnline students can earn fully accredited Associate of Arts Degrees, Associate of Applied Science Degrees and Certificates, in various disciplines. Colorado Community Colleges are accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
 

Job Summary

The Academic Technology group at CCCOnline supports the learning management system, currently Desire 2 Learn, as well as a variety of additional learning technology solutions for the community college system.  The individual in this position will support cutting-edge-technology used to deliver educational resources to the approximately 125,000 students currently enrolled in community college courses in the state of Colorado.  S/he will work in a team environment with both local and geographically distant constituents.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

The Academic Technology Professional position will:

• Provide system administration support for Linux web servers, database servers, and a SAN arrays, including scheduled back-ups, OS and other software patches, and reviews of logs and security issues.
•  Respond quickly to server availability alerts and troubleshoot causes.
• Maintain the operability of the intranet for user access to various administrative processes, including course duplication; archival retrieval, designer and chair interfaces to name a few that operate by web forms with databases.
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for student services, the Webmaster, the designers and administration as needed concerning user access issues, web site issues, course management issues, and intranet issues.
• Work collaboratively with other technical personnel to resolve issues affecting CCCOnline courses, intranet and other administrative operations.
• The Online Course environment operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and as a result, will require participation of this position in rotating call-back coverage for vital services.

Applicant Qualifications Education and Experience:

Required Qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in CIS, computer programming, computer science, computer operations, or equivalent field of study related to the work assignment. Two years of computer, networking or programming experience may be substituted for each year of the college degree requirement.  Therefore, combinations of college and experience can complete this requirement.
• Minimum of two years of professional experience
• Experience using LINUX/UNIX operating system, maintaining and troubleshooting networking servers and Apache web servers, attached storage devices, and tape libraries.

Preferred Qualifications

• One year of experience working with a course management system or in an online business environment
• Two years experience working with MYSQL and/or SQL databases,
• Experience with PERL, XML, shell scripting, and PHP is highly desirable.
• Experience troubleshooting SAN arrays and working in a VM ware or other virtual environment.
• Experience maintaining Window 2000 server or higher is highly desirable

Unique Personal Characteristics

• Comfortable working with groups;
• Comfortable working in a virtual environment;
• Enjoys a learning environment.

Salary

• $48,000-$50,000
• Excellent benefit package including health, dental, vision, life insurance, and retirement.

Application Process
 

Submit a current resume, list of three professional references and your three most recent supervisors, copies of your transcripts (unofficial are acceptable as part of the application process – official copies will be required prior to hire) and cover letter addressing the position requirements to:

E-Mail: jobs@cccs.edu 


Fax:  303-620-4030


Or mail to: 


Executive Director of Human Resources


Colorado Community College System 


9101 E. Lowry Blvd.


Denver, CO 80230


Applications will be accepted until position is filled; however, resume review will begin on February 24th.   Candidates are evaluated based on their qualifications as related to the duties and responsibilities of the position.
 

Equal Opportunity Employer -The Colorado Community College System is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability in its activities, programs, or employment practices as required by Title VI, Title IX, and Section 504, Age Discrimination Act, and Title II of the ADA.  Former employees of the Colorado Community College System or one of its 13 colleges, who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination, must disclose this within your application materials. This position may require irregular hours, including nights and weekends, as well as working more than eight (8) hours per day at certain times.  Candidates must successfully pass a criminal background check prior to hire.

***Do not reply to this message*** If you have questions about the tutoring services offered, please email donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu; if you have questions about adding the Helpful Links widget back to your course, please contact your mentor.

As a service to students, CCCOnline offers two separate tutoring services.

NetTutor is a 24/7 web-based tutoring service. NetTutor offers real-time online tutoring and homework help for core courses and skills. NetTutor is not an answering or proofreading/editing service. Students can access live tutorials in writing across many subjects, including math, accounting, business, statistics and economics, science, world languages, English, and social sciences. In addition, students can submit writing projects to the NetTutor Paper Center. While free for students, NetTutor is NOT free to CCCOnline, so please do not send students to this service as an assignment or requirement for your courses.

Previously students had to register to obtain access to NetTutor. Students now access NetTutor by clicking the appropriate link in the Helpful Links widget in a D2L course shell. . .so we HOPE you haven’t removed that widget.

If you removed the Helpful Links widget from your course, use the following steps or visit https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_D2L_-_Homepages_and_Navigation#How_do_I_Add_a_Widget_to_the_Course_Homepage.3F for help adding it back:

1. Click on Edit Course on the Course Navigation BarClick on Homepages
2. Select the active homepage
3. Click on the Content/layout tab
4. Scroll down to Add widget on the left hand column
5. Add the Helpful Links Widget
6. Move it up with the drop down arrow to right below the instructor widget

For Home page design standards, go to the CCCOnline Community under Instructional Design.

In addition to NetTutor, CCCOnline provides free access to a computer-based grammar checker called SentenceWorks. This is a great tool for writing assignments, so encourage your students to check it out! Note that your students MUST use their CCCS system email accounts in order to use this service.

The student wiki has information for students about both of these applications. See http://students.ccconline.org/index.php?title=NetTutor.

Training Registration in the Faculty Gateway and D2L Tip!

You can now register for training through the Faculty Gateway when you select the Training Registration link at the right of the window. Currently, we are taking registration for:


-Managing Discussions from March 1-March 12- Designed for faculty new to online teaching and required in the first year after hire at CCCOnline, but also a great review of QA requirements and discussion basics.
-D2L Essentials from March 15-26- Are you struggling in D2L and need some more hands on practice? This is a self contained workshop reviewing the basic skills that are presented in D2L Essentials in the CCCOnline Community.
-Managing Discussions from April 12-23


Speaking of Discussions, here's instructions on Grading Discussions in D2L.
1. Go to the Discussions tool
2. From the Forums & Topics list, select the Ruler next to the discussion you want to grade
3. Select the Assessments tab
4. Click the student’s name in the list

5. Post the student's grade in the Topic Score dialog window

6. Be sure to click the “graded” check box
7. Click Save
8. Click Close to close the dialog window which will allow to grade the next student's discussion


For more discussion tips visit the wiki or join us on Friday Feb 12 from 1-3 for our D2L webinar. Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ We will record the first hour on reviewing the Discussion tool in D2L and the second hour will be open for questions.



If you have any questions, please contact me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu.

Master Teacher Blogs

Have you ever wondered what your fellow faculty are doing at any point in time during the semester?  What do they do when a student has technical difficulties?  How about when a student is a little challenging in class?  I'm sure there are many situations facing you that your fellow faculty also see.

This semester we've asked several faculty to blog about their class experiences throughout the semester.  We've also asked one of the program chairs, who teaches as well, to tell you a little about her classroom life. To access the blogs log into the Faculty Community shell, click on Content, and then on Master Teacher Blogs (under Academic Programs).  Remember you are a student in the Community shell, so you have to click the student tab.

This semester's bloggers are (in no particular order):

• Al Turner, 2008/2009 Teacher of the Year, Political Science
• Dan Branan, Chemistry
• Lorrie Immoor, Physical Geology
• Jennifer Harr, Health Sciences
• Vanessa Dahn, Psychology
• Nate Wadman, Information Technology
• Phyllis Dobson, Education Program Chair and Information Technology Instructor

We plan to make this an ongoing program with new bloggers each semester.  I hope you find someone in this group that strikes a chord for you!  


best,


Lisa Cheney-Steen
Co-Exec. Director, CCCOnline

D2L Grades Tip

I hope week two of the Spring semester is off to a smooth start for you.

As part of your course readiness checklist you ran the Gradebook Wizard, but I would like to point out one additional place you need to check to make sure your grades appear in the Enter Grades screen.

1. Click on Grades on the Course Navigation Bar
2. Click on Grade Settings
3. To the Right of Grade Details make sure a check mark is in the Points Grade Box.

D2L Webinar-Homepage and Navigation

Nearly one week of classes in D2L is under our belt and you probably have some questions. Join us this Friday January 29th from 1-3. We will cover the homepage, course navigation bar, html editor, instructor widget and more. Following the training portion which will be recorded, we will have an open Question and Answer session.

No RSVP required...Join us for these live sessions at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ . Instructions are located on the wiki.

We are here to help!

We will hold a D2L Tool webinar every other Friday from 1-3pm. The first part of each webinar will focus on a tool and be recorded. The second part of each webinar will be a D2L Questions and Answers session. No RSVP required...Join us for these live sessions at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ . Instructions are located on the wiki.

Friday January 29th 1-3pm Homepage, Navigation, and Instructor Widget and Q&A
Friday February 12th 1-3pm Discussion tool and Q&A
Friday February 26th 1-3pm Dropbox Tool and Q&A
Friday March 12 1-3 Quizzes tool and Q&A
Friday March 26th 1-3pm Grades Tool and Q&A

Finally tips for D2L email:
-Create a Signature
-If you find sending email confusing or you are accidentally emailing people not in your class, Send class emails to the whole class or individuals using the Classlist tool instead.
-Include in your email subject line the name of your course
-Create folders to help organize your email messages.
Check out the wiki page on using the D2L Email tool for tutorials and other information.

If you have any questions, please email me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

Spring Session1 Rosters Available

You can now view your Spring Session 1 class roster.

Please go to the Faculty Gateway here,

https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/login.php

Login using your S# and Password.

Please note that while you will be able to see your courser roster from the faculty gateway, students will not be loaded into your course shells until after midnight tonight (Friday, January 22). This change in process is due to a difference in the way D2L loads files.

Please contact myself or Frank Vazquez, frank.vazquez@cccs.edu, if you have any trouble accessing your roster.

Thanks!
John

Course Rosters and D2L

****Do Not Reply to This Message****

If you have questions, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

You sill all receive an email from student services this afternoon when course rosters are ready. HOWEVER, please note that while you will be able to see your courser roster from the faculty gateway, students will not be loaded into your course shells until after midnight tonight (Friday, January 22). This change in process is due to a difference in the way D2L loads files. We want you to be aware of this change so you don't panic when students don't appear in your courses this afternoon like they used to in Vista. Thanks!

Many of us are stressed about forgetting something when we are updating our spring classes in D2L for the first time. For a check list visit our new wiki.

We have 3 new things we have to remember in each section.
1. Reset your homepage- Make sure your instructor widget appears on the top left.
2. Clean up your Course Navigation bar- Tools to make inactive might include Competencies, Rubrics, Self-Assessments, and Glossary.
3. Run the Grades Wizard

If you didn’t get a chance to join us for the Course Readiness Webinar last Friday, I walk through these three items first. Check it out at https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Webinar_Archive
If you have specific questions about this or any other topic, please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu rather responding to this post.

Oh no! There's no content in my course!

****Do Not Reply to This Message****

If you have questions about this message, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

The beginning of the term is quickly approaching, and you've been watching your list of courses on D2L to see when you'll get your course shell. You log in and there it is! You're ready to begin working and open the course, only to find that there's no content. You get ready to email everyone you can think of. STOP!

If you haven't received the confirmation email from CCCOnline's Academic Technologies staff indicating that the course has been duped, it's not ready for you yet! The process in D2L requires that the course shell be created first, then content is added later. Usually these two tasks occur at about the same time, but sometimes there may be a delay.

So, before you panic and email David Chatham, your mentor, or someone else, check to see if you have received the confirmation email. If you don't receive that confirmation within a day or so of seeing the course listed, then contact your program chair to find out if the course really HAS been duped and there's a problem with the content. Chances are there's no problem--the process just isn't finished yet.

****Do Not Reply to This Message****
If you have questions about this message, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

Last minute Course Readiness and D2L Q&A Webinar Today!

Tuesday January 19th from 1-3pm, Join Lisa Marie Johnson and I to ask your last minute spring Course Readiness and D2L questions. This webinar will have a relaxed format with no formal presentation, will not be recorded, and you can come and go as you please. Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ and contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu with your questions.

This is my daughter, Emily, and my horse, Taken, meditating together or doing a Vulcan mind meld. Either way, I think I have a thing or two to learn from them.

Assumptions You Shouldn't Make About Online Students

******Do not reply to this message******

If you have comments or questions regarding this article excerpt, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

The following tips from the newest edition of Faculty Focus remind us, I think, to check our sometimes erroneous assumptions about online students. "What do you mean, I need a computer to take an online class?" seems like an unrealistic question, but it comes up more often than you might realize! You may already address some of these issues in your courses, and emails from student services as well as documents loaded into every CCCOnline course also address some of them, but take a quick look and give some thought to any changes you/we might be able to make to get students over these hurdles.

From the January 18, 2010 issue of Faculty Focus:

Here are some easy-to-implement best practices for kicking off your online courses:

1. Don’t assume students understand the workings of an online course. Offer them tips for online learners that include knowledge of traditional versus online learning, Web etiquette, helpful links, and where to go for help. Also include suggested study tips for online learners. Remind students that even though they are at home when they log on to complete their class work, they still need to find an environment free from distractions where they can turn off the cell phone and the iPod, have someone else watch the kids, and really focus on their class work.

2. Don’t assume students have the minimum equipment and/or skill requirements needed to be successful in an online course. Be sure to make the minimum equipment requirements readily available to students prior to the official start date. In addition to whatever postings your institution might offer, a personal email to all students enrolled is a great idea. If your institution doesn’t test students for minimum computer skills, be sure those enrolled understand the basic computer skills needed. All too many students who sign up for Web courses can’t save a file to CD or change a font to boldface.

3. Don’t assume students know how to behave in a Web course. Require them to sign a behavior and ethics contract. Said contract should outline the acceptable code of conduct for the course. With the immediacy of email, students often fire off messages without thinking about the ramifications of tone or word choice. Students routinely use email and texting for their daily communication with each other and they may not realize that what works with peers may not be appropriate in an academic setting. Explain such concepts as flaming, using all caps, and interpersonal communication (inappropriate tone) via the Web.

4. Don’t assume students know the more important rules and regulations in the syllabus. How many times do students receive a detailed syllabus only to come back and ask an obvious question? Again, give them a short syllabus quiz and require that they score 100 percent before they continue in the course. Four or five questions are plenty.

******Do not reply to this message******

If you have comments or questions regarding this article excerpt, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

Face to Face Open Lab on Monday!

Monday Jan 18th 10am -2pm Join us for a Face to face Open Lab at Lowry in Bldg 758 in rooms 138/140. No RSVP is required. No lunch is provided so bring your own snacks and drinks.

This is a drop in session with Training and Professional Development there to help answer your D2L questions, particularly those related to course readiness for the spring semester. You are not required to arrive at 10 or stay the whole time, but the room reservation ends at 2pm and we will not be able to use the lab after that. A map of the Lowry Campus can be found at http://www.ccaurora.edu/start/maps/lowrymaps.shtml
If you have any questions, contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@comcast.net

Time to Get your D2L Courses Ready for Spring!

To support your efforts at getting courses ready for spring . . .

Tomorrow Friday Jan 15 1-3pm Course Readiness Webinar-Review through the Course Readiness Checklist specifically the new items related to D2L. No registration is required and you may log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ If you have problems or need to review instructions about Elluminate before the Webinar visit https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Upcoming_Webinars

Monday Jan 18th 10am -2pm Join us for a Face to face Open Lab at Lowry in Bldg 758 in rooms 138/140. No lunch is provided so bring snacks. This is a drop in session with Training and Professional Development there to help answer your D2L questions. You are not required to arrive at 10 or stay the whole time, but the room reservation ends at 2pm and we will not be able to use the lab after that. A map of the Lowry Campus can be found at http://www.ccaurora.edu/start/maps/lowrymaps.shtml

Tuesday Jan 19th 1-3pm D2L Q&A Webinar No registration required to this open format webinar designed for your last minute questions as you prepare courses for spring. Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ If you have problems or need to review instructions about Elluminate before the Webinar visit https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Upcoming_Webinars

If you have any questions about these trainings, contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@comcast.net

D2L: Course Readiness D2L New Tasks

Getting your course/s ready for spring?

There are three additional preparation items you must do for each course you teach this spring.
1. Run the Grades Wizard For instructions visit this wiki page https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_D2L_-_Grades
2. Remove tools from your course navigation bar that you do not use in the course. Do not remove the Question Library or other tools that do not appear on the tool bar. For instructions visit the tutorials on this wiki page. https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_D2L_-_Homepages_and_Navigation
3. Reset your Homepage. During duping the homepage reverts back to the default and is missing your instructor widget ect that you worked on last fall. By resetting it to the homepage your created in your master these will return. For instructions visit the tutorials on this page https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_D2L_-_Homepages_and_Navigation

Don’t forget you can ask your mentors for help with these tasks. And we are having a recorded Course Readiness webinar this Friday from 1-3 http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ that will cover these three tasks. Please contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu with your questions.

Services for Kurt Reed

Kurt Reed, part of our Academic Technologies staff and the gentleman responsible for getting all our course dupes done so efficiently, passed away over the holiday break. Services will be held tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. at Littleton Methodist Church. There will be an open mic time to express remembrances. There will not be a graveside service.

Littleton United Methodist Church
www.littletonumc.org5894 South Datura StreetLittleton, CO 80120-2112(303) 794-6379

If you have questions, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

Passwords

Hi Everyone-

As part of our contribution to the New Year's excitement, we are changing the way we authenticate users. Because of this you may find that your current password no longer gets you into D2L. The bottom line: If your password no longer gets you into D2L use the change password link on the D2L login page to change your password. The new password will take effect immediately, no waiting. Remember that the 24/7 help desk is available if you need some assistance late at night. (http://help.cccs.edu/)

Why: All of the colleges are gradually turning on portals. Once a college has the portal available they have single sign on to D2L and a variety of other products. They also have instant password changes - no waiting a couple of hours for the batch upload to occur. That is really great and something we have wanted for a long time. The challenge from our perspective is that the portals at the colleges are being turned on over a two semester time period, so we have some students and faculty in the portal and some who are not.

CCCOnline will also have a portal that we will use to consolidate the location of most of the information you need into one location. We hope to be up and running with that in March.

How authentication worked in the past: We all used the 6 digit SSB password. CCCOnline uploads those to D2L and Vista every 2 to 4 hours. That meant that your SSB password and your D2L password were kept in synch, but if you teach for a school already using the portal, that password is different. Because more and more information is gradually being placed in the portal (such as payroll information) logging in twice with separate credentials is a hassle.

How authentication works now: LDAP is a new password database. D2L and the portals are both authenticating against that database. If you work at a school that has turned on LDAP authentication (such as CCCOnline) then D2L will look at the LDAP database to make sure you have the correct password. If you changed your portal password from your SSB password to something else then you will now have the new password in D2L also.

Back to the bottom line: If your password doesn't work just follow the link on the D2L login page to change it.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

January Training Opportunities and D2L Tip

Here are the following dates we have set up to help support you as you prepare your classes in D2L for spring 1.

• Jan 15 1-3pm Course Readiness Webinar. Review the readiness checklist and review skills to prepare your course for spring.
• Jan 18th 10am -2pm Face to face Open Lab at Lowry to help you prepare your courses for spring in D2L and get basic D2L help
• Jan 19th 1-3pm D2L Q&A webinar. Come with your last minute D2L questions before the spirng semester starts.

Also, remember if you need help any time during the spring semester, you should still contact your department’s D2L Mentor.

D2L Instructor Widget Tip
As you prepare your courses for spring, you may also need to edit your instructor widget for your course. There is a tutorial on the wiki at https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_D2L_-_Homepages_and_Navigation
Remember before you add an image to your Instructor Widget, resize it to 100x100 pixels. One free web resource to do that is picnik.com.

Happy New Year! Please contact me directly with your questions at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

Course Duplication, Verification, and Approval

Happy new year, everyone! As we get closer to spring term in our NEW learning management system, our AT staff is busy duplicating courses. If you are scheduled to teach a course in the Spring I term, you will receive an email when your course has been duplicated. In that email you will find a link to the faculty gateway and a reminder to verify, within 72 hours, that the content in your course is correct.

This is an especially important step in light of our move to D2L, so please do a thorough check of your duped course and then go to the gateway to verify the content.

As you prepare your course for the new term, use the Course Readiness Checklist found on the faculty wiki (https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Policies_%26_Procedures_-_Faculty_Handbook_-_Teaching_for_CCCOnline_-_Faculty_Role_in_Course_Development_and_Maintenance_-_Course_Readiness_Checklist) to be sure that your course is ready for the first day of class. Remember from your training that there are a few new things you must do in D2L that we did not do in Blackboard to get courses ready. When you are finished, go back into the faculty gateway to indicate that your course is ready.

At that point, QA staff will begin to do first day checks and will notify your program chair and me of any issues. All courses must be ready by 8:00 a.m. on January 21.

If you have questions about this process, please do not reply to this email. Instead, email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu. Thanks!

Happy Holidays!

I want to share with you the words to a song from the CCCS office party last week. This was sung in honor of the "Golden Elf" award (you can see Rhonda holding the elf). Everyone at CCCOnline received this very special award for all of the work we have done as we move to a new learning management system.

Sung to the tune of Jungle Bells:

Dashing through the term
with a computer and ipod
O'er the chapters we go
passing all the way

Servers begin to crash and ring
making log-ons tight!
Course shells crash and burn
as students' stomachs churn tonight

Oh D2L, D2L
rescuing us today!
Oh what fun it is to be
In the online way!

We wish for you a wonderful break from classes full of friends, family, and lots of time to rest up for the next term!

Lisa Cheney-Steen

D2L Maintenance

**DO NOT REPLY**

Just in case you were planning to work in D2L next week, please note the following planned maintenance information:

Maintenance Dec. 23 from 6 AM to 10:30 AM Users will not be able to access D2L courses during the maintenance. The offline period will be used to upgrade software version and add hardware for the Spring term that begins in January.

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS POST. If you have questions, please email me directly at donna.welschmeyer@cccs.edu

Webinar Archives

As you work on your courses for spring during the break between semesters, I wanted to remind you one last time in 2009 that you can find the D2L webinars including the one on “Preparing your D2L Courses for Spring” from yesterday in both the CCCOnline Community where you can still post questions for us and in the New Faculty Wiki.

In January of 2010, the Mentors and Training and Professional will be here to support you and answer questions, and we will also run D2L Q&A webinars and another one on getting your courses ready. After we are underway in the spring, we look forward to exploring new tools and methods with you in webinars and workshops.

Webinars Today!

We will be covering the steps to preparing your course in D2L for spring classes today in a webinar from 1-3. Join us at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ or visit this new wiki page for PDF instructions and a video demo. https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Upcoming_Webinars

Also the NROC webinar that I mentioned earlier this week is actually at noon mountain time, or 2 eastern. If you can’t make that webinar, you might be interested in the archive and those of other NROC sessions at http://www.nrocnetwork.org/nroc_commons?go=2155387.

If I don’t e-see you today at the webinar, have a wonderful holiday season!
Karen Kaemmerling Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

D2L Spring Prep Webinar and more!

In case you are eager to begin preparing your D2L duped course for spring, join Training and Professional Development on Thursday December 17th at 1pm for a webinar on “My D2L course is duped, now what?” We’ll go over the QA checklist and preparing your courses for spring. If you can’t make it we’ll record it too, and we plan to repeat this session in January. To Log in go to http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/ and/or visit this new wiki page for PDF instructions and a video demo. https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Upcoming_Webinars

Also you might be interested in an NROC webinar that is the same day and close to the same time…on establishing "Presence" in the Online Classroom:Drawing in Students with Web 2.0" Thursday, December 17, at 2pm ETPresented by: Jay Bennett, Instruction and Course Coordinator for the Michigan Virtual School Join us for this free webinar offering. Seating is limited, so please email:membership@montereyinstitute.org <mailto:membership@montereyinstitute.org> Let them know you are from CCCOnline.

If you have any questions, email me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

D2L Tip and New Faculty Wiki!

Happy Holidays Everyone,

First a D2L tip: The Groups tool is a great example of how this LMS has different pedagogy in mind with their tools. I believe these exciting differences are going to help us make stronger assignments and courses. Also, the Groups tool cannot be removed by instructors from the Course Navigation Bar. Since even if the designers remove the tool, it reappears on the course navigation bar with each dupe, we recommend that if you aren’t using groups in your courses to let students know that is a tool they don’t have to worry about. After more research and testing, we plan to release a webinar and workshop this spring on this “cool” tool. If you are eager to experiment, check out the D2L PDF resources in the CCCOnline Community, consider joining the D2L Community, and check out the D2L resources posted in the NEW FACULTY WIKI.

After listening to your suggestions, we’ve been working for almost a year to develop a more user-friendly, easily navigated WIKI with all the great information we had before. While it is still a work in progress, we thought you might particularly find the information about D2L handy during the next couple of weeks. Check out the our NEW Wiki today! https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/


I hope your final grading is going smoothly! Your mentors and I remain eager to provide you support. Please contact me directly with your questions about this post at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

Gradebook URL

There was a typo in the URL for the faculty gateway in the e-mail regarding grades. Please use the following URL to access the gateway and the gradebook.

https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/login.php

I apologize for any inconvenience.

Thanks!
John

BB Vista is back up

BB Vista is up. BB is investigating the source of the problems in the data center.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

Vista update

Here's the news from BB:

There appears to be a Datacenter event that is causing a problem for many Vista clients. This is not specific to your site but rather a more widespread infrastructure issue. Our engineers are currently working on the problem as fast as possible. I will provide additional details as they are released.

We'll let you know when we have more information.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

Vista update

Here's the news from BB:

Up again

Well as soon as I send an email to everyone BB Vista pops back up. David has not heard from BB yet, so no information on what is happening. Be sure to save any work you are doing frequently and please remind students to save test questions one question at a time as opposed to completing an entire exam and then saving.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

BB Vista is down

Hey Everyone-

It looks like BB Vista is currently down or at best very, very slow. David Chatham is contacting BB for additional information.

Lisa Cheney-Steen

Fall Grades Due December 17

Dear Faculty;

It's that time of the semester, Fall grades are due no later than Thursday, December 17, 2009.

Please follow the directions below to enter grades for your courses. If you have any questions regarding grades, please contact me (john.schmahl@cccs.edu).

Once you have submitted your grades, we will pull a daily report listing the grades and they will be entered into Banner for the students. Grades will not be viewable by the students until the day after they are entered.

If you have any students needing their grades earlier, or any students not listed on the grade roster, please contact John Schmahl, john.schmahl@cccs.edu or Roxanne Manske, roxanne.manske@cccs.edu.

To submit final grades:

Login at the Faculty Gateway here, https://at.ccconline.org/faculty/login.php/
- You can use your Blackboard login credentials

Click on the Online Gradebook

Select the appropriate section

If you are missing any section(s) or have extra section(s) listed, please contact John Schmahl, john.schmahl@cccs.edu.

Enter the appropriate grade for each student, accepted grades are listed below

Remember, developmental courses (those with course numbers under 100) must use the developmental grades, see below

**All students on the grade roster must be given a grade, even if they have not participated in the course**

Enter a Last Date of Attendance for any students receiving a grade of “F”

Click “Update” and return to the menu to select the next section if needed

Approved grades

Standard courses (course numbers 100 and above, e.g., PSY 101)
A
B
C
D
F (must include last day of attendance)

Developmental courses (course number less than 100, e.g., MAT 060)
S/A
S/B
S/C
U/D
U/F (must include last day of attendance)

Digital Content Survey

The digital content survey will be available to students beginning Sunday, December 6 and ending Sunday, December 13. If your course uses digital content, please encourage your students to complete this survey. Thanks!

If you have questions about the survey, please do not reply to this email. Instead, contact Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu. Thanks!

Still have D2L Questions?

Join us today from 1pm-3pm for a Q&A session about using D2L. Like an open lab, come ask anything and we’ll try to answer it. Log in at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/. This webinar will not be recorded or count toward training credit and does not have a schedule.

Another resource for understanding D2L are the PDFs provided by D2L and housed in the CCCOnline Community. These may come in especially useful as you are preparing your courses for spring. Learn how to use the Find, Search, Bookmarks, Pages, and Scrolling features of a PDF from the tutorial at: http://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Tech_Tools_-_Other_Tools_-_PDFs

BB Vista is back up

Blackboard completed their testing and upgrading of Vista last night near midnight. Our testing since has not revealed any new problems since that time. However, we will continue to monitor the system as the day progresses.

As a result of the problems yesterday, your students may have had difficult attaching documents, posting announcements or sending class email. Their ability to login was impacted, especially yesterday afternoon. Please take all that under consideration as you and your students complete these last two weeks of classes.


Thanks for all of your patience!

Lisa Cheney-Steen

BB Continues to Troubleshoot

Hey Everyone-

Blackboard is continuing to troubleshoot the Vista issues, but the latency and stability issues are still occurring. BB is now performing a complete audit on our database. Our AT staff is spending the evening monitoring the situation. If you attempt to work in Blackboard this evening please be careful about saving work.

Best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen