24th Annual TCC | Online Conference | April 16-18, 2019

Sustainable Learning, Accessible Technologies, & Diverse Contexts

20-Minute Session

The Efficient Online Instructor

Session Description
When teaching in an online classroom, thoughtful written communication and feedback is often the primary mode of instruction and can be quite time-consuming. “The Efficient Online Instructor” presentation will give tips and tools to help instructors give effective, personalized feedback to students in a streamlined manner. Specifically, the presentation will cover how to create efficient rubrics, set up resource and discussion post banks, and utilize QuickParts in Microsoft Word.
Presenter(s)
Frances Pistoresi
Frances Pistoresi, University of Phoenix, Online, USA
Frances Pistoresi currently teaches online developmental English classes full-time for University of Phoenix as well as part-time for Lake Tahoe Community College. Prior to her nine years of teaching in-person and online English at the college-level, she taught middle school for eight years, including a two-year stint with Teach for America in Los Angeles, CA and was a founding member of the Colorado Literacy Corps, and Americorps Program. Frances obtained her BA and MA in English from Georgetown University in Washington DC, focusing her study on Depression Era American Literature.
Session Type
20-Minute Session
Audience
All Audiences

A recording of this presentation is available.
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Best Practices for Supporting Military Students in the Online Classroom

Session Description
Creating a welcoming learning environment for military-affiliated students may involve adapting the online education experience. This involves applying adult learning principles to discipline-specific content (Smucny & Glover, 2013). Recommendations for creating a military-friendly institution involve both campus initiatives as well as teaching practices (Baker, 2013). Inclusive definitions of the military-affiliated student include active duty servicemembers, veterans, reservists, family members, and those with professional/work experience with the Department of Defense.

While these students bring positive attributes to the online classroom, there are also known challenges that may impact student success. A theoretical framework for these challenges can be described using Schossberg’s theory of marginality and mattering (Schlossberg, 1989). Knowledge of the issues involved in military-to-academic transitioning is important for educators, including the possibility of both visible and invisible service-connected disabilities (Tinoco, 2014/2015).

Implications for educators include reflective teaching practices that focus on personal attitudes towards the military and war, female servicemembers, combat experience, and war trauma (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009). Specific teaching practices and knowledge can support these students, including “welcoming in” behaviors, familiarity with campus resources, utilizing referrals, managing frustrating classroom scenarios, and recognizing the unique obligations of those in the military (Maryland Veterans Resilience Initiative, 2014). Androgogical approaches to teaching and learning involve strategies in course design and online instruction, as well as possible modifications in individual teaching behaviors; these are useful in all disciplines (Smucny & Glover, 2013), validating the importance of professional development in this area.

Presenter(s)
Claire DeCristofaro
Claire DeCristofaro, Ashford University, California, USA
Claire DeCristofaro, MD, is a graduate of Hunter College of CUNY and Albert Einstein Medical School in New York City; her family practice has been in urban (inner city) New York City, rural Tennessee and both rural and urban South Carolina, including the free clinic setting. Her academic faculty appointments have been as a traditional and distance educator in healthcare and psychology programs, and she has served as a clinical preceptor for graduate healthcare students. She regularly authors Continuing Education for nurses/APRNs, PAs and pharmacists, in both the live conference setting and online, is a SAMHSA federal grant reviewer, and has published on various clinical topics as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Cole McFarren
Cole McFarren, Ashford University, Iowa, USA
Mr. Cole McFarren received his bachelor’s degree from Illinois College where he double majored in Communication and Rhetorical Studies in addition to Theatre. Shortly after graduation, he began working for Ashford University in 2010 as a writing instructional specialist and teaching assistant, where he also received his master’s degree in organizational management. He was later promoted to manager of this department and worked in that capacity until the dissolution of the roles in 2013. Cole worked on Ashford’s former campus in Iowa as an academic technology administrator. He then transitioned to a role in the Academic Integrity department investigating student appeals and plagiarism issues. After a year in that role, Cole moved to the role of manager in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Currently, Cole manages a team of six faculty support and development associates in Clinton, Iowa. He has specifically supported initiatives like the faculty classroom experience, Civitas Inspire for Faculty, Military and Veteran Student Task Force, and advocating faculty video presence in the classroom. Additionally, he has been an associate faculty member with Ashford University since 2015 teaching entry-point courses.
Session Type
20-Minute Session
Audience
All Audiences

A recording of this presentation is available.
Click the button to the right to access the session archive.

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from this session by clicking the button on the right.

Improving the Accessibility of Open Education Resources

Session Description
While the development and curation of open education resources (OERs) have been increasing, many of these materials are not fully accessible. This presentation examines some of the issues to consider when selecting OERs and how instructors/developers could improve the accessibility of these materials. Participants will be given guidelines to evaluate the accessibility of their own instructional content as well as resources to assist them with creating accessible open education materials. An overview of ongoing projects (such as the OER and Accessibility Project with Merlot http://oeraccess.merlot.org/) will be discussed. A resource handout will be provided.
Presenter(s)
Mary Hricko
Mary Hricko, Kent State University, Burton, Ohio, USA
Dr. Mary Hricko is a Professor of University Libraries at Kent State University (Ohio) where she serves as the Library Director at the KSU Geauga Campus and the Regional Academic Center. In her role as one of Ohiolink’s system leaders for Affordable Learning, she promotes and supports directives realted to the development of accessible OERs. She has written numerous articles and books on web accessibility and quality assurance in online education. In 2018, she was named the ALAO’s Distance Education Visionary.
Session Type
20-Minute Session
Audience
All Audiences

A recording of this presentation is available.
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Beyond Discussion Posts: Creating an Interactive Learning Experience into Weekly Discussions

Session Description
This session will explore how we can use creativity in weekly discussion posts. The presenters will examine the current format and how we can make these weekly student requirements into an enriching interactive experience. In the online format the discussion board has typically been the center of learning and student interaction, with an initial post and follow up post to peers. Often times, students do the bare minimum and might not gain the experience that students in other formats engage in. This presentation seeks to go beyond the typical asynchronous discussion board format to create an environment where students can engage in activities that simulate more of an application and manipulation of the material both individually and working with their peers. The presenters will discuss ideas that they have used or are incorporating into their classroom environments to develop an enriching and different experience than many students in the online format have had in the past. Through the use of technology and creativity, the presenters’ aim in the classroom is to create a student-centered environment, where active learning is encouraged.
Presenter(s)
Cara Metz
Cara Metz, Ashford Unveristy, San Diego, CA, USA
Dr. Cara Metz is an Assistant Professor and Lead Faculty for the Masters of Counseling program at Ashford University. Dr. Metz has taught full time in both hybrid and fully online courses since 2013. In addition, since 2006, she has been a counselor and supervisor, where she finds her passion in counseling teens and young adults. She brings a person-centered approach to both her counseling and her teaching. Her research interests include: faculty and counselor wellness, person-centered education, and creative and effective online counselor education.
Sarah Jarvie
Sarah Jarvie, Colorado Christian University, Lakewood, CO, USA
Dr. Sarah Jarvie is an Assistant Professor at Colorado Christian University. She has been a full-time counselor educator since 2014. She has a background in community mental health. Presently, she is part of a small private practice in Colorado Springs where she sees children, adolescents, and adults. Dr. Jarvie enjoys infusing connection between clinical practice and the classroom. Her research interests include person-centered education, teaching applications to counseling, and counselor and counselor educator wellness.
Session Type
20-Minute Session
Audience
All Audiences

A recording of this presentation is available.
Click the button to the right to access the session archive.

Collaborative Learning in a Global World

Session Description
The 21st century has brought about changes in every aspect of life through ubiquitous technology and Internet-based social media. The distances between cultures and continents have narrowed, the world has become flatter, and multicultural, international work-teams have become a daily reality in global businesses. In spite of the power of Web 2.0 platforms to help people create and share information online, the impact of online collaboration tools and practices is not yet widespread in education in general and in higher education specifically. To better prepare students for the information age, researchers and policy makers are beginning to reach an agreement about the skills needed for shared knowledge construction that is ubiquitous in online collaborative learning. Indeed, the education systems in several different countries have begun to integrate these skills into teaching and learning and are beginning to place emphasis on their implementation. For example, in 2015 the OECD PISA exam included assessment of collaborative problem-solving in its country-by-country comparisons for the first time. Collaborative teaching and learning approaches are thus gaining in popularity and an “Online Collaborative Learning” (OCL) theory has recently been developed to better reflect the skills required in the information age. However, online collaborative learning is not a trivial challenge nor is it intuitive for all teachers and learners. New tools and practices become available at a rate that outpaces the abilities of many higher-education institutions to adopt and implement, so practices in teacher education lag behind industry in using global communications technologies. This presentation will present ideas from the book “Collaborative Learning in a Global World” that surveys the current state of online collaborative learning and provides theoretical guidance and practical examples to help meet the gaps in research, development, and practice. The book presented can serve as a compendium of ideas for research faculties of education, classroom instructors, and practitioners to find rationales, ideas, and teaching approaches that support collaborative learning in a global context. The writers of the book will discuss main issues aroused while writing and working on this subject.
Presenter(s)
Miri Shonfeld
Miri Shonfeld, Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv, Israel
Miri Shonfeld was the head of ICT at Kibbutzim College of Education and the head of the forum for ICT coordinators in teacher education. She was involved in writing the national program for the 21th century, as well as numerous position papers. She was invited by universities all over the world to present her philosophy and pedagogy on using ICT in education and she is one of the international leaders of AACE (Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education) and the EduSummit supported by UNESCO. Her research deals with online learning environments, collaborative work, intercultural links and faculty development. She received the unity award in 2018 for the TEC center from the and from the Ministry of education for the unique pedagogical initiative in 2013 and a prize for outstanding educational project for tolerance in 2010. She is currently the head of the Technology, Education, and Cultural Diversity (TEC) Center at Mofet Institute and a faculty member of the graduate program in Technology in Education at Kibbutzim College of Education in Tel-Aviv.
Session Type
20-Minute Session
Audience
All Audiences

A recording of this presentation is available.
Click the button to the right to access the session archive.

Access/download any related materials/handouts
from this session by clicking the button on the right.