October 8 Flex Day

In this hands-on workshop you will learn about and engage with key aspects of digital content accessibility and cognitive accessibility. The bulk of our time together will be spent in collaborative learning, exploring scenarios from courses across disciplines, and engaging in productive discussions on best practices for accessible online instructional design.

Effective communication is the foundation of strong relationships, both in everyday life and in the classroom. The revised standards for Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI), as outlined in Title V of the California Education Code, establish key communication practices that foster meaningful instructor-student engagement, enhance student learning outcomes, and elevate the overall educational experience. RSI in Action, our new two-hour, self-paced Canvas microcourse, provides a comprehensive overview of the updated Title V standards. This course offers practical strategies for integrating RSI into your teaching, along with examples and resources to support effective instruction across all modalities. We invite instructors to view RSI as an opportunity to enrich student engagement, promote equitable learning experiences, and cultivate deeper connections in the classroom—ultimately enhancing both student success and the teaching experience.

This microcourse helps you leverage your Zoom skills to record lectures and other instructional videos, and easily deploy them to Panopto right inside your Canvas shell. You will learn how to use Panopto to share Zoom recordings in Canvas, add a video thumbnail image to your video, and embed it into a Canvas course of your choice.

Are you someone that values a healthy, livable planet now and for generations to come? Do you value civic engagement and service learning opportunities for our students? Please join the Earth Day Every Day team for a collaborative session to share your ideas for EDED's proposal for a Center for Sustainability and Civic Engagement. Together, let's envision what the Center could be and how it could support students, staff, faculty and our community around the topics of sustainability, civic engagement and service learning. In order to best support a meaningful cross-campus collaboration, we welcome participants to engage and share ideas asynchronously through our Canvas page . Please email thigpenm@smccd.edu if you have any difficulty accessing the Canvas page.

The high cost of textbooks can bring up significant barriers for students' learning and success, disproportionately impacting those who are experiencing food and/or housing insecurity. Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) paves a path toward social justice, providing flexibility and contributing to a more equitable and inclusive experience for students. This microcourse will familiarize you with key criteria of the ZTC course designation, and will help you identify ZTC materials for your classes. Please note that this microcourse is not intended to provide a deep dive, but an initial exploration of the path to ZTC.

This highly interactive workshop will explore and apply Multi-Modal approaches to teaching and learning, benefits and obstacles of multi-modal pedagogy, and how they meet CLO’s in order to consider--or reconsider, how faculty and staff might structure, organize and deliver their coursework, assignments and activities through a multi-modal lens.

Digital accessibility strives for inclusive design that allows anyone to use, engage with, and enjoy digital content regardless of the level of ability, condition, or circumstances. We want all students, including those with visual, cognitive, physical, and auditory disabilities to have access to materials, so they can fully engage and thrive in our courses. This microcourse will familiarize you with using the Pope Tech tools to check the overall accessibility of your course and address common accessibility issues in one module of your course.

Did you know that, according to the My Robot Teacher Podcast, AI is the new sex education? In the official launch event of the AI CoP, attendees will get a high-level overview of the SMCCD's AI CoP, its goals, and what we hope to gain from joining together to explore, critique, and share the District's ideas on AI in our work.

Recent immigration enforcement actions have raised real concerns for our employees, students, and communities. This session will provide clarity on the San Mateo County Community College District’s protocols for responding to federal immigration enforcement activities on our campuses. Using the Undocumented Community Resources webpage as a foundation, the session will: Review districtwide protocols and legal protections Explain our revised approach regarding public and non-public spaces Walk through how employees should respond if approached by enforcement officers Share resources available to support undocumented students and communities Participants will leave with practical knowledge and strategies to help foster a safe, supportive campus environment. Time: 11 am – 12 pm Modality: Online via Zoom Webinar Facilitator: Dr. Aaron McVean, Vice Chancellor of Educational Services & Planning Zoom Webinar https://smccd.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9JIVvBJ6R0adnzl8i19FvQLink:

This module provides an overview of who undocumented students are in the California Community Colleges, as well as promising practices for supporting them. In addition to covering the protection of student information and how undocumented students can pay for college, it includes a robust set of resources for undocumented students and allies to make use of. Empowering Undocumented Students: Knowledge & Tools for Meaningful Support

The ACCJC keeps moving the goalposts: yesterday it was Regular and Effective Contact (REC), today it’s Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI). But beyond the acronyms, what’s really at stake? This training unpacks the newest guidelines, challenges us to rethink compliance-driven teaching, and reframes RSI as a chance to build genuine connection with students. Through hands-on use of Canvas analytics, self-assessment, and strategy sharing, we’ll cut through the noise and focus on what matters most: meaningful interaction that drives student success.

This microcourse invites you to approach and assess your syllabi from an equity-minded and student-centered perspective. Ultimately, the syllabus is more than just a document; it can be a powerful tool for empowerment, inclusion, connection, and liberation.

This microcourse invites you to create or revamp your course introduction video, as a way to humanize the learning experience, welcome all students, and plan the seed for a positive social presence in your course. You will reflect on the potential of course introduction videos from a student-centered perspective, and create/revamp a course introduction video for a course of your choice. Completion Time: 2 hours.

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on student learning and achievement. Giving students feedback during the learning process has been proven to increase engagement and improve student learning outcomes. During this microcourse, explore strategic choices that influence the effectiveness of delivering informational feedback in support of student learning.

Skyline College continues to lead the way in reducing barriers to student success through Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) and Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives. In this session, we’ll share exciting updates on four newly funded ZTC degree and certificate pathways, ongoing efforts to promote our existing ZTC programs, and opportunities for faculty to get involved—and get compensated—for their contributions to affordable, accessible education. Join us to learn how you can be part of this impactful movement!

Ease into better formatting in your courses using basic DesignPLUS tips, templates, and themes. Help your students to navigate your Canvas courses by improving layout and design structure, using some simple design and formatting tips. Course design can be powerful in addressing cognitive overload with content organization, improving comprehension, visual recognition, interactivity, and flow of curriculum. The session will be recorded for later viewing if desired.

This workshop helps participants reduce financial stress and gain confidence with money. You'll learn the foundations of budgeting, retirement planning, and wealth preservation, while also exploring concepts like compound growth, tax-advantaged strategies, and other wealth concepts in simple, practical terms. Designed to make financial literacy accessible--especially for communities that may not have had access to this knowledge--this session provides actionable steps for protecting income today and building long-term security for the future.

This microcourse introduces the basics of copyright in education, including key topics such as Fair Use, licensing, public domain, and SMCCCD institutional policies. You will determine how to adequately share a sample of instructional materials in your course or project, applying Fair Use factors and best practices for sharing.

Welcome to DesignPLUS Templates 101, a great way to quickly and easily apply good design templated formatting to your Canvas course.

The #ungrading microcourse aims to rethink the history of grading systems and how they impact students, through an equity lens. You will begin to explore and evaluate small steps towards more equitable grading that you may use.

To prepare on-campus employers for the transition to JobSpeaker by November 3, including how to request an employer account, post and manage student assistant job openings, extend job offers, and navigate the updated Federal Work-Study process within the platform.