Want to teach online? 

Day​	Time	​Phone	​Zoom Office
Mondays	​3:00 PM - 4:00 PM	​ ​(559) 730-3981 ​​	JOIN HERE There will be no office hours on the following dates due to scheduling conflicts: M 9/23, TH 9/26, M 10/7, TH 10/11, TH 11/7
Thursdays​	​11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Need a different time? Email Elise Baker (eliseb@cos.edu) ​to arrange an appointment. ​​​​

2025-2026 DE Works​​hops - Schedule and Recordings ​(open to all Faculty)​​

Trainings and workshops for those currently teaching online, or interested in online instruction and Canvas tools. Always FLEX-approved.

Workshop Title	Date and Time	Presenter/Co-presenters	Infor​mation and access link
COSTA, COSAFA, and DE Walk into a Workshop: *NEW* Contractual Online Training Requirements	Thursday, August 7, 2025 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM Friday, October 17, 2025  12:00 PM-1:00 PM  Thursday, January 8, 2026 12:30 PM-1:30 PM	Elise Baker, DE Coordinator Tracy Redden, COSTA President Danielle Alberti, COSAFA President	A collaborative workshop between both faculty unions and the distance education coordinator. Come "meet" the new contract stuff related to online training and certification to teach in DE modalities. Elise Baker will present on the three pathways to certification and how to sign up, and your union leaders will cover the contract language, timeline to participate, compensation, and more.
Who do I go to, the DE Coordinator of the Instructional Designer?	Thursday, August 7, 2025 2:30 - 3:30 PM	Elise Baker, DE Coordinator Erin Heasley, Instructional Designer /Professional Development Coordinator	Come meet the Distance Education Coordinator and the Instructional Designer/Professional Development Coordinator, learn about their roles and what sorts of support you can get from each of them. Attendees wi​​ll leave with a clear idea of what kind of support each these faculty coordinators offer to streamline and expedite your questions and requests during the year.
​TILT your Assignment Guidelines with AI ​	​Tuesday, October 21, 2025  2:00-3:00 PM	​Elise Baker, DE Coordinator	Have you ever wished you had an assistant that could handle some of the less subject-based tasks like updating assignment guidelines, reviewing language for clarity, and breaking complex processes into step-by-step guides? In this workshop based on an assignment in the COS Online Certification in Teaching and Accessibility (OCTA) course, we'll explore how instructors can use AI to apply a useful, student-supportive framework known as “TILT" to new or old assignments so you spend less time drafting directions, and so your students know what they're doing, why they're doing it, and how to do it well.  ​
​Mind the Gap, Build the Bridge: Designing Data-driven Online Courses ​	​Friday, October 31, 2025 9:00-10:00 AM	​Elise Baker, DE Coordinator​	​This workshop will equip faculty with ideas and strategies to design online courses that actively address gaps in student success based on instructional modality. We will examine our local data about success and retention in online courses, discuss the reasons for the gaps based on modality, and learn how the choices we make in course design about access, materials, policies, and interaction can bridge (or widen) equity gaps for students taking online courses at COS.  ​ View the slides​
​Tool Training: Pope Tech Accessibility	​Wednesday, November 19, 2025 12-1 PM	​Elise Baker, DE Coordinator Erin Heasley, Instructional Designer	​Designing an accessible course can feel like fighting a hydra - fix one issue, and two more seem to appear in its place. Pope Tech is here to help! Pope Tech is a friendly Canvas-integrated tool that scans your course for accessibility issues and walks alongside you as you fix them step-by-step. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to enable to tool and run your first scan, interpret the results and prioritize what matters most for students, and practice resolving common issues like headings, alt text, and color contrast. You’ll leave with a new skill and the confidence to use a tool that will improve accessibility in your courses across all modalities​
​Fixer Upper: Online Course Edition	​Thursday, January 8, 2026	Elise Baker, DE Coordinator	​​"The bones are good, but it could use some love." If this is how you'd describe your online course, this session might be for you. It will guide you through simple, high-impact design tweaks that make online courses more navigable, more accessible, and more inviting. There will be an interactive “before-and-after” demonstration as we practice transforming a cluttered or text-heavy Canvas course into a student-friendly learning space, and some time to work independently on your own course.
​“Did They Even Watch It?”: Using Canvas Studio to Track (and Reward) Video Engagement	​Thursday, Feburary 26, 2026	​Elise Baker, DE Coordinator	​Canvas can't measure attention, but it can track meaningful interaction with our videos. In this immediately applicable session, you'll learn how to use Canvas Studio's built-in quiz feature to encourage meaningful student engagement with your video content, provide low-stakes accountability, and reduce manual grading. Elise will demonstrate the full setup from within Canvas Studio, adding in-video quiz questions and connecting it all to your Gradebook. There will be time scheduled into the session for you to do it yourself, with Elise available to guide and troubleshoot. Participants will leave with a step-by-step workflow PDF for doing this “at home." To get the most out of this workshop, please come with a video you plan to use already uploaded to Canvas Studio. (How do I upload media to Canvas Studio?)
​Stop Uploading PDFs!: How to Make Content Accessible and Easier to Update	​Friday, March 20, 2026 9:00-10:00 AM JOIN THE TRAINING ON ZOOM	​Elise Baker, DE Coordinator	​Many of us move our teaching online by uploading the same documents we use in face-to-face classes. It's quick and familiar, but it can also create real barriers for students. In light of upcoming Title II  (ADA) legal updates, we'll need to stop uploading files whenever possible, and instead start creating more accessible online web content. The good news is that there are all kinds of tools to help us with this, and once you start, you'll really love the way your course looks and how easy it is to update. In this hands-on session, we'll explore why Word docs and PDFs can be difficult for many learners to access, why today's web content accessibility guidelines are asking that we shift to Canvas pages, and how this simple shift can make your course more inclusive, easier to navigate, and even easier to teach and update. You'll learn strategies and take-home tools for converting documents into clear, organized Canvas pages with improved readability and navigation. Bring one document (Word or PDF) that you use in your online course, and you'll leave having created a fully-accessible Canvas version.

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California Virtual Campus Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) 2025-26 Webinars

CVC@ONE provides high-quality professional development, inclusive instructional resources, and a supportive network in service of staff, faculty, and administrators in the California Community College system. 

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​Asynchronous​ Trainings, Workshops, and Webinars

​Training Title	​Link to learn	​Description
​Review for RSI Workshop	​Watch the training HERE	​A recording of the live Zoom training held 9/25/24 for COS faculty. Content includes RSI overview, distinction between law and academic freedom, and a guide for how the ACCJC will determine whether or not RSI is occuring in online courses.
​Canvas "New Quizzes" Webinar for Newbies	​Watch the training HERE	​Canvas has introduced a new tool for giving quizzes and exams. It has more features, more question types, and is generally seen to be an improvement in function and interface​ on the prior version. ​
Canvas Training Portal: "​New Quizzes" Essentials	​Enroll HERE	​New Quizzes is an enhanced quizzing tool available inside of Canvas. The tool offers a variety of interactive question types to promote engagement in your assessments. This course explores New Quizzes including the creation process, moderation and grading options, item bank management, as well as how to import and migrate existing quiz content.​​
​​PlayPosit Interactive Video Training	Watch the training HERE	​​Overview and training on a cool new Canvas tech integration PlayPosit from the developer, play with the tool from the student perspective, build an interactive video you can use immediately, Q&A with the developer, plus resources.  Resources:    Introductory Session Blurb and Objectives.pdf PlayPosit Resource Handout​​
​Make Your Course Beautiful (and more effective) with HTML Basics	​Watch the webinar HERE	​We don’t pay attention to boring things, and after a while Canvas can get a bit boring. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to add visual elements like borders, horizontal lines, callout boxes, and responsive banners, even how to make text wrap around an image to your Canvas course. With just a little HTML know-how, it’s easier than you may think to create an engaging, visually-stimulating and organized online course.  ​ Resources: ​HTML Snippets Cheat Sheet​
​Designing Inclusive and Accessible OER Courses: Focus on Equity, Diversity, and UDL	​Watch the webinar HERE	​Explore the powerful combination of Open Educational Resources (OER) and inclusive pedagogical practices, with an emphasis on promoting equity, embracing diversity, and implementing Universal Design for Learning. Experts guide you through best practices, practical strategies, and valuable resources to ensure your OER course materials are accessible, engaging, and meaningful for all learners. ​
​​​Death to "Dry" Discussion Boards ​	​Watch the training	​Students and teachers alike dread the "Make an initial post and reply to two of your peers' posts..." discussion board prompt. But we have to do it, because it's the peer-to-peer piece of RSI, right? This session will offer some ideas on making discussion boards less tedious, more interactive, accessible, and fun for both grader and student.  Resources: ​Dry Discussion Boards Doc.pdf
​Tilt your Assignment Guidelines with AI	​ coming soon!	​Resources:  TILTing with AI Prompting Guide.pdf

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​Created by Instructional Council, this Canvas-hosted Resource Guide gives new faculty useful information ​on navigating systems at COS and finding comfort and success.  

• ​Online Learning Readiness Module: Content was developed by the California Virtual Campus – Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) as part of a California Community College Chancellor’s Office initiative. This content is licensed by the CVC-OEI with a Creative Commons Attribution license and be imported directly into your online course from Canvas Commons. ​​

• ​Teaching Online: Reflections and Suggestions (from retired Distance Ed Coordinator ​Deborah Nolan) is licensed un​der a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

• Online Instruction Policy FAQ:  COS Academic Senate Guidance for Instructors  (Revised 12/10/20)​
  

• Five Principles for Qua​​lity Online Teaching: The principles were developed from the original @ONE Standards for Quality Online Teaching and best practices supported through current research. 
  

• CVC/OER Course Design Rubric: developed in 2014 by the OEI Professional Development work group to assure that all courses offered as part of the initiative promote student success and meet existing regulatory and accreditation requirements. It has undergone three major revisions since then, including the current iteration, in response to changes in available instructional technology and feedback from both instructors and reviewers.​​​​​