I hope you have had an opportunity to spend some time away this month enjoying spring break. It has been a long, cold winter and we’ve all been working hard. I’ve been enjoying the (somewhat) warmer days and am excited to share some of the progress we’ve made so far this spring in growing our new Colorado Online @ Consortium:
- Registration for Summer and Fall is open and the required course materials have been selected for pooled course sections offered through Colorado Online @. A self-service web form has been created so that instructors can easily view the list of required materials for Summer 2023 pooled sections, and request copy access to optional instructor resources in D2L. Fall 2023 courses will be added in the next week. Feedback will be included within each of the interim resource shells to indicate how the existing resource aligns with key aspects of the new Healthy Course Checklist. Instructor resources will be available at least one month before the semester starts.
- Expanded Online Library Resources will be available in May. As I mentioned last month, the CCCS libraries have been hard at work for the last two years curating a robust set of online library databases and services. Funding has been approved and resources will be available to all faculty and students across our CCCS colleges starting in May. Attend one of the CCCS Library’s Database and Library Resource Link Workshops to learn more about how to update course links for Summer 2023 or Fall 2023 courses.
- We have streamlined the process for identifying required course materials for Spring 2024 pooled courses. State Discipline Chairs will work with faculty to select required course materials for pooled courses to be offered in Spring 2024 (one vote per college). The State Discipline Chair will cast the deciding vote if there is a tie and will submit the final selection using an online form no later than May 15, including the ISBN and the URL of the recommended resource site in D2L. Drop in Q&A sessions will be available starting next week.
- We recognize that the level of systemwide collaboration needed to run the Colorado Online @ Consortium has greatly increased expectations of our State Discipline Chairs. I have asked Danen Jobe and Tammy Vercauteren to convene a representative team of faculty, deans, and VPs to update the role of the State Discipline Chair, including recommending training and potential stipends associated with the increased workload during this transition.
- The central learning design and professional development team will begin shifting its focus from production of fully developed online courses to include more professional development and support services for faculty and instructors. At our Wednesday morning information session I will answer questions about the vision for Learning Design in the Colorado Online @ Consortium. If you would like to share feedback related to learning design services, professional development, and other forms of support I also invite you to complete the team’s online survey by Tuesday, April 11.
We are still in the process of moving to our new Inside Colorado Online web site, but want to give you early access to our new glossary of commonly used terms, such as “home college” and “pooled” sections. We will be adding dates for workshops and info sessions to the Events tool, and the new site will also link to the new SharePoint site where we store commonly requested resource documents, such as the course transition timeline and section distribution lists for each semester. You will continue to have access to the Colorado Online @ blog until the move is complete.
Don’t hesitate to contact me or Tammy Vercauteren, Project Director of Online Strategic Planning, if you have any questions about the Colorado Online @ project.
Landon