Week 10, Fall 2019

Read more in Flower Darby's Small Teaching Online

District DE Summit Recap

The District DE Summit was a full day of all things online learning! 

Here are just a few highlights:

Jory Hadsell, Executive, Director of CVC-OEI, Zoomed in to share exciting opportunities for future collaborations between the California Virtual College Online Educational Initiative (CVC-OEI) that include the potential for more support resources such as online tutoring, online counseling, and an online wellness initiative. (Important note - the CVC-OEI is for our CCCs and it is not Calibright (the online college).

The video archive will be shared once it is provided. Meanwhile, visit the CVC-OEI website for more information on the Digital Transformation Initiative, Online Pathways, and Course Exchange.

SDCCD Dean of Online and Distribute Learning, Kats Gustafson shared the SDCCD Online Focus Group Report from July 2019 which examined motivations, experiences, and perceptions of online students at SDCCD.

Katie Palacios, Instructional Designer from Mesa spoke about how teaching online is more than posting materials, it's about the relationship with instructors and students. View her presentation slides here: Humanizing Online Teaching Slidedeck

In a Zoom presentation with Anna Lindsey from Canvas Accounts, we learned that:

• 50% of students access Canvas through the mobile app
• There are nearly 3,000 active Canvas courses in our district
• A rich content editor will be available soon

Our Online Learning Pathways team, Chris Rodgers and Peter Tea talked about enrollments at SDCCD and shared a series of videos of student and faculty experiences teaching online.

Rechelle Mojica gave an overview of SPACES, a self-paced Flex Training series. Read more about it here or enroll in the self-paced course here.

Dave Gibberson Zoomed in to share the OER Resourses available on Canvas. You can access the OER shell from your Canvas Dashboard.

Guest Bloggers


David Mehlhoff
Assistant Professor, Administration of Justice

Teaching Online:
Introduction to Administration of Justice

Criminal Investigation
Criminal Procedure

Scott Moller
Assistant Professor, Administration of Justice

Teaching Online:

Introduction to Administration of Justice
Criminal Law I
Criminal Law II
Criminal Procedure
Rules of Evidence

Challenging Students' Perceptions through Dialogue

Teaching Administration of Justice courses online poses a unique problem in the area of student participation on the discussion boards because many of the question prompts in our courses are based to controversial polices and laws.  In order for the students to benefit the most from the shared dialog, and to prevent straying from the main topic into conjecture and bias, we’ve adopted a model of critical thinking, which serves to guide and enrich the quality of successful student participation.   

We design our discussion question prompts with purpose, around concepts and theories, exploring implications and consequences, and often posing a question or problem at issue that also challenges their assumptions.  The students must not only answer the complex question, they must also provide elaboration and exemplification to support their point of argument.  

The end result is a rich discussion with depth and breadth, and it also provides the students with an opportunity to share and develop their insights.

Here’s an example of one discussion question prompt:

Some criminal justice professionals believe the present peer jury system is outdated.  Take their point of view and explain why they believe this?  How might a professional jury system be more effective than the present system of peer jurors?  What are the implications to fairness in the court process if a professional jury system replaced the peer jury system?  Elaborate on your answers and support your elaboration with examples. 

Here is another example, which asks students to critically analyze and explore issues through logical argument (three issues are presented here - the actual prompt is more extensive):

Pick a fight and defend your position

Well, not exactly a fight, but I do want you to pick an issue and defend your position with logical argument. In this forum, I have posted a number of criminal justice issues, where the US Supreme Court has interpreted some part of our Constitution. I want you to analyze those interpretations.

Here is what I am asking you to do this week:

1. Post by Friday - Pick an issue and argue one position
2. Post by Saturday - Read one of your classmates' arguments and post your analysis, indicating which arguments you found persuasive or unpersuasive, and why

There are no right or wrong answers here. The point is to realize that the Supreme Court's interpretations are not set in stone. There are alternate ways to address these issues, and as citizens, students, and as potential criminal justice professionals, we should be thinking about those alternatives, so don't worry if someone has already argued an issue. Just be sure to come up with your own argument.

Below are suggested issues (but feel free to add your own, if you prefer). Have fun! I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Flag Burning/Desecration

The First Amendment protects the right to free speech. The US Supreme Court has interpreted this to include symbolic speech, e.g., burning a flag, which has generated a great deal of emotion and debate. Pick a side and argue it. Feel free to post videos or links or cite cases in the forum, if that will help your argument. Here are the sides:

1. Flag burning constitutes speech protected by the First Amendment, and laws proposed against it should be deemed unconstitutional
2. Flag burning should not be protected by the First Amendment, and it should be against the law

Protesters

The First Amendment protects the right to peaceably assemble. The Bill of Rights includes the right to assemble as a reaction to British law, which had been used to forcibly end dissent. In several incidents recently, protestors have assembled to express their anger and dissatisfaction over perceived injustices (e.g., Ferguson grand jury’s refusal to indict, protests over Eric Garner’s death in New York). Pick a side and argue it. Feel free to post videos or links or cite cases in the forum, if that will help your argument. Here are the sides:

1. In protest situations, police should take special care to avoid conflict with protestors, which could escalate the situation
2. In protest situations, police should enforce the law and ensure public safety regardless of whether such actions incite further protest

Guns

The Second Amendment grants the right to bear arms. The US Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean that US citizens can possess firearms, and the government can impose limits on the exercise of this right (e.g., felons cannot possess firearms, concealed carry laws). This topic has generated much debate. Pick a side and argue it. Feel free to post videos or links or cite cases in the forum, if that will help your argument. Here are the sides:

1. Gun control is contrary to the Second Amendment and should be eliminated
2. Gun control should be increased to promote public safety

If you experience the same, we recommend you try the techniques we described as we’ve found they work successfully.   

Canvas Hack: Dashboard Photos

When you teach several sections on Canvas, the Dashboard can get crowded. Photos are a fun way to sort different classes visually.

Here's how to add a photo to your Dashboard icons.

Go to Settings in the left hand margin of your Canvas account. Under the Course details  tab, open the three-dots menu on the upper right hand side of the image block--

Select "choose image" to upload an image that you want to associate with this section. Follow the usual upload instructions, and you'll end up with something like this:

(I teach critical thinking, and we dive deep!)

Can-Innovate: Everything You Need to Know!

Can-Innovate is Friday, October 25 from 9:00-5:00pm. This free online conference is designed for California Community College faculty and staff, featuring showcases of effective practices in Canvas.

There are two ways to join:

• Viewing Room - H-108. No need to register, simply pop by for any or all sessions throughout the day. Canvas swag and activities will be provided.

• Attend Online (from anywhere). Register for the online sessions you're interested in attending. You will receive a participation link for each session via email as well as a verification email for each session you attend.

Registration: You can register for any session you are interested in even if you cannot attend, and then you will receive a link with the video archive to view at your leisure.

Register and view the full program here: Can-Innovate 19

Earn Flex Credit by registering on the Flex site: #1390.

Share Takeaways: Throughout the day we will be sharing thoughts, links, resources, and ideas for application on our Padlet. You can do this from home or the viewing room.

Links and Resources

FlexClip looks promising as a video creator.

Images that we add to our Canvas Announcement don't come through in email, but emojis do! Emojipedia has thousands to choose from.