San Diego College of Continuing Education Online Faculty Mentors
Submitted By: Ingrid Greenberg
San Diego Adult Education Regional Consortium
Website: https://sdce.edu/organization/instructional-services
Type of Practice: Technology & Distance Learning
Program Area(s): ABE / ASE, ESL / EL Civics / Citizenship, CTE / Workforce Prep / Pre-apprenticeship, Adults with Disabilities
Region: San Diego - Imperial
Consortia Involved: San Diego Adult Education Regional Consortium
Program Overview
The SDCCE Online Faculty Mentoring program supported more than 300 instructors and counselors in providing distance education.
The Program of Practice
In March 2020, when San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE) converted to remote and distance education in response to COVID-19, more than 300 adult educators needed professional development to learn how to teach online.
The Response
At SDCCE, one way the distance education (DE) leadership responded was by launching customized multi-tiered professional development during the week of March 16, 2020. Here are a few highlights of how faculty have learned to serve our students in remote and online settings.
SDCCE Distance Education faculty leadership launched a website for remote and online instruction at the Google Site CEDER: https://sites.google.com/view/sdceder/home?authuser=0.
Fifteen Volunteer Online Faculty Mentors provided one-to-one mentoring sessions to faculty to help learn Zoom and Canvas. Eleven Volunteer Classified Professional Mentors provided one-to-one mentoring sessions to faculty to learn Zoom. We used Google Sheets to schedule the group and one-to-one mentoring sessions. Please see the initial Google Sheet, SDCCE Distance Education Scheduler: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_wXbPeZJsYYHnAJTHoj6zVuQfLYoC4oK_7JYWlk3ZNo/edit?usp=sharing
Accomplishments: These volunteers served more than 100 faculty hours of one-to-one mentoring and group training as SDCCE transitioned to remote and online education after the week of March 16, 2020. More importantly, these volunteers set the tone for a year of collaboration and support for each other.
The Unique Features of the Program
Since spring 2020, SDCCE has provided Online Faculty Mentor support for more than 300 instructors and counselors. Each semester, under the leadership of DE leaders including Dr. Michelle Fischthal, Vice President Instructional Services, and Dr. Ingrid Greenberg, Online Faculty Mentor Coordinator, a team of faculty mentors has provided support to faculty in a number of ways, including:
• Support to complete the District's Online Faculty Certification Program.
• Email technical assistance for online education questions. Most of the time we can resolve technology questions through email. Sometimes we need to set up mentoring sessions.
• One-to-one mentoring by appointment for online education and design, including Canvas, Zoom, and Studio.
• Group trainings. We created and provided workshops to respond to requests for even more online instructional design and online equity.
Mentors developed a YouTube channel with customized video tutorials for online teaching: SDCE Teach and Learn Online (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1BeL83CIEUy17uj8v93I7A)
The Outcome
With the support of Online Faculty Mentors, SDCCE faculty completion rate of the District's Online Faculty Certification Program was 87%, January 2021.Please see these Google Slides for more details regarding faculty professional development and accomplishments.
Accomplishments: These volunteers served more than 100 faculty hours of one-to-one mentoring and group training as SDCCE transitioned to remote and online education after the week of March 16, 2020. More importantly, these volunteers set the tone for a year of collaboration and support for each other.
SDCCE Online Faculty Mentors 2020-2021 AY: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zJTyCpKwJ3i_JJerA_h3sqcqD2IrKhd8PpX2_J-F-c4/edit?usp=sharing
Please see the presentation slides from the CAEP Virtual Conference 2020:"Innovative Professional Development: Mentoring adult educators converting to online education" by Dr. Fischthal and Dr. Greenberg.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1S337ZeYh2j24VT7rEvPBsBDW1M0aaWM_omWuNUaZwh4/edit?usp=sharing
What are some of the benefits of Online Faculty Mentoring for faculty and students?
Professor Anthony Nuncio, Healthcare Careers, explains in this video recorded interview (1:29) the instructional benefits of one-to-one online faculty mentoring for him as well as his students, including case scenarios and chunking content/lessons. Here is the link for this video (https://youtu.be/YO5eOQV9jYs).