• Let's Have Fun With Gamification Online

• Lions, Tigers, and Bears: Survival at its Finest

• Online Instructor Certification: One Campus' Journey

• Peer Developed Courses: Consistency, Quality, Support

• Using Classroom Response System (CSR) in My HyFlex Class

• WordPress in the Online Classroom: Lessons Learned and Suggested Practices

• Building a Successful Instructional Team: Advancing Faculty for Successful Online Teaching

• Out of State but Not Out of Mind. Online, Part-time, and the Grind.

• Using a Blended Skills Lab Model to Teaching Practice to Online Students

Abstracts

Let's Have Fun With Gamification Online
Leslie AW Van Wolvelear, EdD, Chair, Professor of Accounting, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, IL
Enrollment in online education continues to increase as students search for convenience and flexibility when completing college courses. To be successful in online learning, students need to be self-motivated and have time management skills. This study explored the problem of a lack of motivation by students resulting in high attrition and aimed to fill a gap in the use of gamification techniques in online financial accounting courses at the community college level. The purpose of the basic qualitative study was to explore online accounting students’ experiences and perceptions of how gamification techniques affect motivation, course completion, and learning. Causality orientation theory and transformational-instructor leadership theory ground the study by exploring the lived experiences of students with gamification. Fifteen online financial accounting students were interviewed for the qualitative study. Participants were selected through purposive sampling of community college students previously enrolled in an online financial accounting course with a gamification component. Themes on the motivational influence of gamification included: fun, extra practice, challenging, and competitive element. Student completion themes were: supplement to learning, confidence, availability, and study routine. Themes on the impact to learning were: a supplement to learning, a tool for problem solving, and an innovative technique. The research study may be of interest to online educators, specifically educators teaching at the community college level. Gamification implementation online could result in positive social change by increasing student engagement and motivation in the online educational modality.
Keywords: active learning, engagement, game elements, gamification, learner-centered, motivation

Lions, Tigers, and Bears: Survival at its Finest 
Cristina Sullivan, Ed.D., Dean of Academic Affairs, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX
The past couple of years have been challenging due not only to the pandemic but as online enrollment has tremendously increased at Tarrant County College Connect Campus and we have faced unique challenges such as having the highest enrollment for the district compared to the other 5 campuses, high turn around in key positions, improving the online instructor certification course and process while overall doing more with less. This session will focus on how the dean of academic affairs addressed those challenges, how the campus overcame and is still overcoming, areas where we need to improve and most importantly, lessons learned.

Implementing learning communities, collaborating with other campuses on dual credit and offering developmental education while being the campus with the largest amount of students and the least amount of faculty and staff have been a few of the projects for the dean of academic affairs. A first attempt at an online learning community included linking biology 1409 with English 2301 and challenges and opportunities to improve will be shared. Leadership strategies implemented to ensure key positions were hired while simultaneously being interim Vice President on top of dean duties will be discussed. TCC Connect offered 25 unique courses and added 5 more sections compared to last year and the first day classes began, 94% of all available seats were filled. Total enrollments on the census date increased by 21% from last year and overall success rate increased by 2.5% from last year. 

The presentation covers strategies on planning and implementing learning communities, best hiring practices, leadership skills necessary and building a unified team in order to continue to run a successful eLearning campus.
Keywords: Leadership, Learning Communities, e-Learning, Online Learning, Best Hiring Practices

Online Instructor Certification: One Campus' Journey 
Audra Barrett, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX; Kim Estes, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX; Lindsay Nichols Foster, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX
This session provided an overview of the Tarrant County College Connect Campus Online Instructor Certification course and process, which began with a 9-hour professional development course in 2021 and evolved into the 32-hour course in 2022 that covered distance learning courses, Regular and Substantive Interaction, accessibility, and instructor-student interaction. It covered the Standard OIC (a thirty-two-hour course offered within an eight-week period) along with the Accelerated OIC (an eight-hour course offered within a two-week period), the benefits and challenges associated with the course, and the feedback from participants. Among the learning outcomes of this course are best practices in online teaching and learning, coverage of Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI), adoption of best practices for accessibility of instruction, and use of Canvas tools for course construction.

The steps to create this process and apply it at a campus level were reviewed and areas of need included: developing content for in high demand courses; assessing the needs of practical application for the participants; modeling expectations for faculty such as avoiding of zero tolerance policies, modeling Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI), providing individualized, content-specific feedback. This was accomplished using the Canvas Comments Library and standardized rubrics, modeling course and module learning outcome alignment, and modeling accessibility related to WCAG AA and AAA standards. Application of process improvement strategies were utilized in the entirety of the course. For example, in one presentation, a course participant presented their perspective and review of the course in general. Resources for the process and overall course construction were shared throughout the organization.
Keywords: Professional development; process improvement; Online Instructor Certification course

Peer Developed Courses: Consistency, Quality, Support 
Kim Estes, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX; Lindsey Morris, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX; Lindsay Nichols Foster, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX
This session provided an overview of the Tarrant County College Connect Campus Peer Developed Course (PDC) process. The concept of the PDC is to standardize instructional materials by providing a course that can be customized by an incoming instructor while providing course materials and supporting structure to standardize course content and navigation. PDC course development originated with a focus on quality assurance and student success while leveraging subject matter expert (SME) experience and aligning learning outcomes with teaching tools and strategies. PDC courses are created with instructional teams of three to five Subject Matter Experts (SME) along with guidance from the TCC Connect Campus Instructional Design team. The SMEs work on the course content while the ID serves to assist with course navigation, accessibility, and structure. The PDC cycle was reviewed including the decision making team that determines scheduling of the cycles, the cycle timeline of approximately ten weeks, the budgetary and fiscal considerations, and lessons learned with regard to strengths, weaknesses and process improvement. Templates for the process as well as overall course construction were shared as resources. Time was provided for a question and answer session with presentation attendees. 
Keywords: Peer Developed Course; student success

Using Classroom Response System (CSR) in my Hyflex Classes
Roshanak Jafri, Assistant Professor of Biology, El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX
The pandemic showed us that it is time to redefine the characteristics of how instructors teach. HyFlex (Hybrid Flexible) Model holds the potential to maximize the opportunity to participate in a face-to-face learning experience under conditions of social distancing. My HyFlex class makes class meetings and materials available so that students can access them online or in-person, during or after class sessions by having a mixture of face-to-face, asynchronous, and synchronous online activities using the LMS. The course has fully developed participation alternatives: in-person and online (distance), and all students, regardless of the path taken, will achieve the same learning objectives. Also, it grants students the flexibility to study when and where they want to, depending on their own needs, desires, and preference. For HyFlex (Hybrid Flexible) to work, we need, at minimum, an LMS, a camera and microphone, videoconferencing capabilities, and some ways of concurrent interacting with the students in class and at a distance. The Classroom Response System (CRS) allows students to respond to questions and polls individually and privately using a mobile phone or other digital devices, in-person in the classroom or from a distance during the class session. A study is happening, and I am collecting data in my Hyflex classes that will allow me to determine the value of using (CRS) in students’ success statistically. Additionally, I can use the currently being collected data to compare with the previous comparable data collected from my face-to-face biology classes to determine if there is any significant difference in using CRS in two modalities of course delivery.
Keywords: Hyflex Pandemic Social Distancing Classroom Response System (CRS) LMS Videoconferencing

WordPress in the Online Classroom: Lessons Learned and Suggested Practices
Thomas Mays, Associate Professor, Miami University, West Chester, OH
The use of digital platforms including content management systems (CMS) like WordPress is becoming a greater expectation of an increasing number of employees. Not only are good writing skills critical, but also is understanding the visual aspects of communication and design including incorporating images, video, and links to online communications as well as some basic technical know-how. Communicating via written and visual digital formats is becoming more important for today's workforce.

WordPress is an open source CMS used to create and administer websites. Becoming proficient requires a broad combination of skills including technical, creative, and written. By using WordPress as a tool in the classroom, students not only gain valuable experience that can translate to the real world, but it can also help put a creative spin on course assessments.

One of the drawbacks to using WordPress is the role the teacher has in managing the student sites. There are a few approaches to streamline the process. One is to create a single WordPress site where all the students are added as authors. While easier to manage, students are not able to experience the full set of features to administer the site. Another approach is to create a separate site for each student. While this approach provides students with a broad experience, it can be a challenge to manage. However, WordPress does have an option to install a "multisite" network where the teacher can administer all student sites from a central location.
Keywords: WordPress; workplace skills; technology

Building a Successful Instructional team: Advancing Faculty for Successful Online Teaching
Carlos Morales, PhD, President, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX; Cristina Sullivan, Ed.D., Dean of Academic Affairs, Tarrant County College, TCC Connect Campus, Fort Worth, TX
Training and developing faculty for online learning continues to be one of the most important investments institutions of higher education can make. Preparing faculty for online learning is paramount for the success of an online campus. Although teaching for the modality requires a specific set of competencies, attitudes, and skills, professors also require highly specialized complementary personnel.
Keywords: e-Learning, Online Learning, Faculty Professional Development, Online Pedagogy

Out of State but Not Out of Mind. Online, Part-time, and the Grind.
Sovak, Anthony, PhD, Director of Quality Online Instruction, Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ; Marc Farrior, Adjunct Faculty, Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ; Stephanie Hoon, PhD, Adjunct Faculty, Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ; Eryka Wilson, Professor of English and Instructional Design, Keiser University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Adjunct Faculty, Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ
This paper summarizes the panel session from the instructional technology council's 2022 eLearning Conference held in Las Vegas Nevada, “Out of State but not Out of Mind. Online, Part-time, and the Grind.” The idea behind the panel was to bring together part-time faculty who work for Pima Community College online and from out of state to consider the unique circumstances of remote employment both for the college and for part-time faculty. The goal was to frame a set of inquiry questions to better explore what institutions can do to support online remote faculty and what role those faculty play in distance education programs especially given the context of increased need for institutions to hire and retain qualified online faculty in a post covid landscape. The format of the paper will follow the format of the panel where we pose questions to the group and then some or all of the respondents or everyone answers below. As a group, we have done our best to recall the questions asked by the audience members but they are summarized recollections.
Keywords: Part-time faculty; Flexibility; pre-designed courses, Communication; transparency; professional development; Burnout/workload

Using a Blended Skills Lab Model to Teaching Practice to Online Students
Alex D. Colvin, PhD, LMSW, Associate Professor, JMSW Program Director, Texas Women's University, Denton, TX; Angela N. Bullock, PhD, LGSW, Associate Professor, Program Director, The University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC; M. Sebrena Jackson, PhD, LICSW, Assistant Professor, Program Director, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
As teaching in a fully online environment becomes more prevalent, more consideration should be given to blended or hybrid learning formats for course delivery. There is a dearth of literature on the use of skills labs for teaching practice courses, particularly using a blended or hybrid approach. Using Carman’s five key constructs of blended learning (live events, online content, collaboration, assessment, and reference materials), this presentation examined the use of a blended skills lab to teach online students. As the number of online programs continues to expand, the blended skills lab model is examined as a case study, offering implications for others to consider as they formulate alternative models for online students. A blended skills lab model takes full advantage of the benefits of each platform--online and face-to-face--in order to provide an educational opportunity that can promote student learning better than either platform alone.
Keywords: blended learning; hybrid learning; course delivery, skills labs; online education