Dear Colorado Online Instructors:
Thank you for teaching a pooled online course through Colorado Online this coming spring semester! Please read through the rest of this email for important information about pooled sections, and the resources available to you and your students.
Unique needs of pooled sections
- All pooled teaching sections must use course materials (textbooks, lab kits, etc.) that were selected by the state discipline faculty. These materials are listed, along with their cost, when students register (in keeping with the Higher Education Act of 2008).
- When you are assigned to teach a Colorado Online course section, a blank course shell will appear for you in D2L. The instructor uses this course shell to build their own course section, either starting from scratch or building upon available teaching resources.
- As you begin work on your syllabus, remember that students may be taking your online course from anywhere in the world, and may have enrolled through another college! They will not necessarily have access to your local tutoring center, testing center, or other services, so be sure to direct them to their home college or to online support services.
- Both you and your students deserve to take the spring break that aligns with your home college, but that means as the instructor you need to build flexibility into your course content and due dates so that both you and your students can take the spring break that aligns with their home college.
Colorado Online has been working diligently to provide many resources to all those teaching pooled Colorado Online sections in the coming semester. Please use the links below for more details:
Pooled Course Materials
- Through the Colorado Online Course Materials and Teaching Resource Shells dashboard, you will see the course materials (textbooks, lab kit, etc.) that have been selected by the state discipline faculty for use in all pooled sections of your course, along with optional course shells and other teaching resources you can use to help to set up the blank course shell that was built for you in D2L when you were assigned your teaching section.
- This document outlines materials and course resource types
- Detailed information about the types of resources available and how they were selected
- If you have required publisher materials for your section, your name will be sent to the publisher.
- If your course requires a lab kit, it will be ordered 1-3 business days after census 1 (view Key Dates for Spring 2024)
- Please view the Lab Kit FAQ for more information.
- If you receive an email stating you have missing addresses for some of your students, please have the student contact bookstore.online@cccs.edu ASAP.
Instructor Support Resources
- Colorado Online Professional Development Resources Shell contains great ‘just in time’ resources. You will be registered for this resource when your course is officially assigned to you in Banner. Once inside this course shell go to “Content” for more information on Colorado Online and how to set up your course. You can self-enroll for the Professional Development course at this link. If you still cannot access the Resource Shell, please email at at.support.online@cccs.edu.
- Please review the full Library Resources FA23 Update from Colorado Online.
- Pooled Section Orientations: CCCS is hosting orientation sessions for those teaching pooled Colorado Online @ sections: Session times and links to sessions and recordings
Thursday, 12/7/23, 8-9am
Friday, 12/15/23, 8:30-9:30am
Monday, 1/8/24, 12-1pm
Wednesday, 1/10/24, 5-6pm
Friday, 1/12/24, 1-2 pm
Thursday, 2/8/24, 1-2pm
Tuesday, 3/5/24, 4:30-5:30pm
- The Colorado Online Learning Design Team will provide drop-in support between December 15 and January 15.
Friday, 12/15/23, 1:00-2:00pm
Tuesday, 1/9/24, 8:30-9:30am
Thursday, 1/11/24, 12:00-1:00pm
Saturday, 1/13/24, 10:00am-12:00pm
Monday, 1/15/24, 9:00-10:00am
You may also find the schedule with Zoom links in the PD Faculty Resources Course.
- The Colorado Online Learning Design Team is also offering a brand-new webinar series for instructors who will be building their courses from the Common Course Framework (CCF). These sessions are titled “Getting Started: Building Your Course from the Common Course Framework.”
Wednesday, 12/6/23, 11:30am-12:30pm
Friday, 12/15/23, 10:00-11:00am
Thursday, 1/4/24, 12:00-1:00pm
- Self-access technical support is accessible at help.cccs.edu.
- Extended night and evening technical support is available for faculty/instructors:
• For 24×7 Support Desk assistance, call 1-888-800-9198 or request help at CCCS Self Help Service Desk.
• NOTE: Faculty and Instructors may also contact extended-hour support (5pm – 9pm M – F and 8am – 5pm S/S) directly by calling (720) 858-2900 or emailing at.support.online@cccs.edu.
Additional Resources
- The Inside Colorado Online Website contains public facing information, resources, and events related to Colorado Online.
- The CCCS Colorado Online SharePoint Site stores commonly requested resource documents, such as the course transition timeline, semester section distribution, important dates, contact information and more. An access request will be displayed if you don’t yet have it and requests are processed as quickly as possible.