4 Week Course - Completed March 2021
This course was offered to faculty members affiliated with the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) as part of the district's efforts to provide educators opportunities for professional development. In this course, I learned that it is important for instructors to incorporate the "human" element into an asynchronous online course. Three key components to humanizing an online course are presence, empathy, and awareness. Presence in an online course is created when there is lively and meaningful interaction between the instructor and students and amongst the students themselves. Additionally, through the use of online audio and video tools, both the instructor and social presence are enhanced in an online course. Empathy is when an instructor makes him or herself available to support struggling students through difficult times. Awareness is basically knowing your students' needs. With these three components in mind, the goal is to minimize if not eliminate the isolation that may be felt by students who take online courses. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to learn important concepts and tools, and I plan on putting them into practice.
Note: I also wrote a "reflections" at the end of this course using Adobe Spark Page where I discuss my thoughts about two takeaways from this course.
Note: I also wrote a "reflections" at the end of this course using Adobe Spark Page where I discuss my thoughts about two takeaways from this course.
Online Teaching & Design Certificate - Completed May 2020
In order to improve my teaching credentials and qualifications during the Covid-19 pandemic, I enrolled in a 12-week certification course which covered online learning theory, different approaches to online course design, and strategies for supporting student success in an online learning environment. This was a fast-paced course where I had to create a comprehensive course plan for a fully online or hybrid course. The areas that were covered in the course included the following:
- Develop an orientation module for students who may not be familiar with online learning platforms.
- Establish clear guidelines and policies for students which includes online etiquette and expectations.
- Set up learning units with clear objectives aligned with learning outcomes.
- Design accessible and appropriate course content that conforms with federal, state, and district regulations.
- Create formative and summative assessments to support student learning and measure student learning.
- Importance of establishing instructor presence in order to foster frequent communication and interaction with students.
10-10-10 Communication That Matters - Completed January 2020
After taking the initial introductory course, Introduction to Teaching with Canvas, I wanted to learn more about how to integrate meaningful communication with students in an online course. My goal was to avoid creating an online course that did not reflect a correspondence course where the students had very little opportunity, if not incentive, to interact with the course instructor. Thus, I enrolled in this course through the Distance Education Department at Los Angeles Valley College to gain a better understanding of some important ideas to make an online course interactive and purposeful for the students. Topics covered in this course included:
- Concept of the power of 3 important "tens" in establishing student-instructor interaction in the first "10" minutes, in the first "10" hours, during the first "10" weeks.
- Design a welcoming homepage in your online course.
- Write a succinct and informative welcome letter.
- Develop a supportive orientation unit with policies, student services, and meaningful student-to-student interaction.
- Develop an engaging communication plan for an online course.
Introduction to Teaching with Canvas - Completed December 2019
This 4-week online course provided an overview of the basic tools in Canvas, which is a Learning Management System (LMS) platform used in most college districts in the state of California. Throughout the 4-week period, participants were required to construct modules with actual assignments which focused on the importance of interacting with online students. Although the course was self-paced, we were required to complete assignments with specific deadlines. The training was led by a faculty member in the Distance Education Department at Los Angeles Valley College.
How to create and caption an instructional video.
This is a video I made for an assignment in my Online Teaching Design course offered through Los Angeles Valley College's affiliation with @ONE (Online Network of Educators). The assignment had us create and caption an instructional video. I made a simple instructional video titled How to Learn Vocabulary! This is my very first attempt at making an online instructional video and it shows! Hopefully, a year from now, my online instructional videos will be a little more engaging and amusing.
English words in Japanese
California State University Dominguez Hills
Topic: World English
March 1st, 2017 / Time: 14:30
(Note: This was an informal presentation done voluntarily at the invitation of Dr. Wenzell in the English department.)
This brief presentation focuses on how the Japanese language reflects the globalization of English. The audience will have the opportunity to look at some commonly used words, and how some of the vocabulary have retained their original meanings while others are used in a way that may confuse native English speakers. In the end, there will be a short discussion on how English loan words can be used to complement language learning and instruction.
California State University Dominguez Hills
Topic: World English
March 1st, 2017 / Time: 14:30
(Note: This was an informal presentation done voluntarily at the invitation of Dr. Wenzell in the English department.)
This brief presentation focuses on how the Japanese language reflects the globalization of English. The audience will have the opportunity to look at some commonly used words, and how some of the vocabulary have retained their original meanings while others are used in a way that may confuse native English speakers. In the end, there will be a short discussion on how English loan words can be used to complement language learning and instruction.
Teacher Workshop: Teaching the TOEIC
Global Teaching Institute - Tokyo International University
June 23rd, 2016 / Time: 16:30
This workshop points out how we need to consider incorporating language items that are tested in the TOEIC into our regular lessons. It is important to disguise tested TOEIC skills and present them as regular lesson content which focuses on practical and meaningful language skills for our students. With this view in mind, the workshop will be an open forum of discussion where instructors are encouraged to share some ideas at the end of the presentation.
Global Teaching Institute - Tokyo International University
June 23rd, 2016 / Time: 16:30
This workshop points out how we need to consider incorporating language items that are tested in the TOEIC into our regular lessons. It is important to disguise tested TOEIC skills and present them as regular lesson content which focuses on practical and meaningful language skills for our students. With this view in mind, the workshop will be an open forum of discussion where instructors are encouraged to share some ideas at the end of the presentation.
teaching_toeic_.pdf |