Spring 2020 Remote Learning Resources
BTS Teaching Resources in CANVAS
The best place to start is the BTS Teaching Resources shell in CANVAS. All faculty have been given access to this shell. If you can't find it for some reason, please contact Jill McDonough. The shell includes an overview of many, many easy things to do, like People pages, You Tube video channels, Zoom, Panopto, and more.
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High School+ CANVAS modules
The SBCTC has created various CANVAS modules designed to deliver High School+ curriculum. Information about High School+ can be found here. To access curriculum, you must be CANVAS certified. Email John for more information.
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I-DEA CANVAS modules
The SBCTC has created various CANVAS modules designed to deliver ESL instruction through its Integrated Digital English Acceleration (IDEA) project. Information about IDEA can be found here. To access I-DEA curriculum, you must be CANVAS certified. Email John for more information.
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Multilingual COVID-19 Resources
Public health recommendations from King County Public Health (16 languages)
COVID-19 Say Informed! webinars from Office of Immigrant and Refugee Assistance, City of Seattle (15 languages)
COVID-19 Translated Resources from Office of Immigrant and Refugee Assistance, City of Seattle (41 languages)
COVID-19 Print Resources from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (various languages)
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WELL
Ward Ryder, coordinator of the WELL, provided this Q&A document about services for spring 2020. It appears that students must have a comfort level with Zoom and/or Starfish to use the WELL. I am going to follow up with Ward to see if there are ways we can make this easier for our students. In the meantime, students can:
- Click here for drop-in Zoom tutoring, available Monday-Thursday 11 am to 5 pm though June 11.
- Click here to log into Starfish where students can make a WELL appointment.
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Zoom Captioning
We are holding a discussion on captioning in Zoom on Thursday, April 23 at 2 pm. Join at:
https://zoom.us/j/98183462236?pwd=Y0RqOVBYQjF6WDlLVEFhZTNEMmtRQT09
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Zoom and FERPA
We are holding a discussion on FERPA in Zoom on Thursday, April 23 at 2 pm. Join at:
https://zoom.us/j/98183462236?pwd=Y0RqOVBYQjF6WDlLVEFhZTNEMmtRQT09
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Block your personal number from caller ID
- Dial our Remote Dialtone number: (206) 934-8213. (You might create a shortcut/speed-dial for this.)
- After dialing (206) 934-8213 you will hear a dialtone.
- At the dialtone dial the phone number of the person you are calling preceded by a 9 for local 91 for long distance. For example, 9(206) 111-2222 for a local call or 91(509) 111-2222 for long distance. Long distance is only available to faculty and staff with a Seattle Colleges long distance code. You will be prompted to enter your code when you make a long distance call.
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Forward your office phone to your personal phone
Faculty and staff who have an office phone number can have their office phone forwarded to their personal phone. Contact Greg McBrady at greg.mcbrady@seattlecolleges.edu, providing him with your work extension and personal phone number. Greg will arrange the service for you and provide you with instructions on how you can turn this option on and off.
If you do not pick up a call to your work phone number, callers have the option to leave a message on your work voicemail. (They will not have the option to leave a message on your personal voicemail.)
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Google Voice
Google Voice is a free service that allows you to set up a separate phone number that will forward to your personal phone. It is another strategy for calling or texting your students without giving them your personal contact info.
The service only requires a free Google account and a phone. Click here to get started, or click here to see the Google Voice help page.
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Updating mailing addresses using My South (for students)
If you are planning to send packets to your students, encourage them to confirm or revise their address through MySouth on the college website. Students will need their SID and password. The password is their 6-digit date of birth (the birth year are the last two digits). For example, October 1, 2001 = 100101
Students can find a link to MySouth on the upper right of the South Seattle College homepage:
When I clicked the link, it took me to a list of classes along with another icon that allowed students to log-in to My South.
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MyDesk
MyDesk lets you log-in to your work desktop with a personal computer where you can use applications and work with your files. Learn how to access MyDesk here.
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TLC Chat (for students and faculty)
Students and faculty can find live tech support through this chat room. When I last looked, chat was available from 10 am to 7 pm.
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Requesting loaner technology for students
If you or a student lacks the technology (laptops, webcams, etc) for remote learning, you can submit a technology request here. The college has a limited number of resources it will try to get out to those with needs.
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Reporting student attendance hours
During the COVID -19 disruption, we have special permission from OCTAE (the agency that oversees our federal funds) to modify how we report student attendance for classes that would typically be offered in-person. The State Board has advised colleges to come up with what they consider a reasonable local policy for attendance and to implement the policy consistently. I am adopting a modified version of the existing distance learning policy, which gives you three options.
- Clock-time: Assign hours based on the amount of time students participate in "live," synchronous learning, such as lessons in Zoom.
- Teacher-verification: Assign hours based on assignments that you, as a teacher, can see that students have completed. If you mailed a packet to students, for example, you might determine that the packet contained 10 hours of work. If you determine that a student completed the entire packet, assign 10 hours. You may determine completion via email, phone conversation with the student, student returning the assignment via photo, or whatever manner you devise.
- Learner-mastery: Assign hours based on the student passing a test of the content. A high percentage of correct answers (70-80%) might be assigned full attendance, with lower percentages resulting in lower attendance.
You can use just one or a mix of the options above.
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Sick leave and personal days
Please email John and Teresa Y if you need to take a sick day or you want to use your personal day(s). During remote operations, we will not provide a sub unless you have a synchronous learning (Zoom or other type of "live" class) that requires coverage.
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Student evaluations
Coming soon
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Time and effort forms
Coming soon
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Tuition Waivers
For state audit/compliance purposes, we need to ask every student to request a tuition waiver. (We do not currently have a way for students to pay tuition, unless your students are familiar with their online payment options.) To request a waiver, students need to:
- Email Gracie Nguyen at gracie.nguyen@seattlecolleges.edu.
- Include their name, student ID, and teacher's name.
- Request the waiver with a simple statement such as "Please waive my spring 2020 tuition, as I cannot pay at this time."
That's all. We are hoping to receive these requests early enough to prevent students from receiving "past due" statements in the mail.
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WABERS+ forms
We will not be requiring WABERS+ forms from all students, which we typically do as part of our in-person instruction. Instead, Gina will be contacting only new students, and she will be responsible for gathering the required information/forms remotely. Gina might be in touch if you have a new students in your class who has not completed this form.
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