 OTAN, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network. Well, welcome. Thank you for coming to our session. So our session is three teachers in a techie. And I happen to fall in the techie category. So that's me. And then there's three teachers. I just wanted to know, I created a website. Here is the URL for it. And it has some best practices for distance and hybrid learning. It has some short Canvas videos, some of them are ones that I did. Some of them are ones I pulled from the Canvas site. I also link to the community guides, which can be kind of overwhelming, but it's really helpful. You can find a lot of Canvas support there if you're a Canvas user, Zoom resources. And then this presentation is here, if you want to pull it up along with some other documents. So I just wanted to show you that you can get all of that on this particular website. I know I stole the OTAN 2021. So, hey. So I'll just start by introducing myself. I have been working at Mount Diablo for about a year and a half, but I've been doing educational technology and teacher training for almost 40 years because I'm just that old. And when I was hired at Mount Diablo, it wasn't to do tech support, but I've been really blessed with this COVID thing to be able to again work with teachers and help them to move online and be successful in this hybrid and distance learning environment. So I will let the others introduce themselves. Sherry. Good morning, everybody. I'm Sherry Becker. And I'm currently working in clinical. I'm a registered dental assistant. We're clinical and do chair side assisting and have been in the field for over 36 years. And I'm honored to be teaching with my other colleagues. I've been an educator now for over 26 years at Mount Diablo with my teaching credential and have enjoyed all aspects of it. I enjoy still the clinical aspect of working in the office as well as the teaching aspect. And I'm very honored to be presenting with my colleagues today and super happy that all of you guys are with us too. So welcome aboard. Happy to have you. Thank you, Megan. Hi, everyone. My name is Megan Coffer and I've been teaching with Mount Diablo for 34 years now. I just celebrate my 34th year anniversary on the first. And I'm still loving it. And I also had dental experience for over 20 years. I'm not going to tell you how long I've been teaching in the dental field. But I thank everyone also for joining us today. And I hope we learn something from you too. All right, Katie. Hi, my name is Katie Gerarra. And I've been a clinical dental assistant for 37 years. And an educator for 11 years with Mount Diablo School District. I love it. I love the results that we get. Our program for dental assisting and career technical education has a 100% higher rate. And I'm just happy to be a part of that and watching our students get jobs. And I'm happy to be here. And I'm happy you're here. Great, thank you. So the teachers are going to do almost all of the talking. But I just wanted to start it out. So March 16 was the date. We came together in a classroom. And the C-Tech administrators basically said, at this point, we're going to have to close the school indefinitely because they had no idea at that point, like all of us, how long. And they basically gave teachers two options. One was to move online. And the other was to cancel indefinitely. For a lot of our programs, it made sense to cancel because they had just started within the past week or two. So our EMT program, our office professional program, and our CNA program had just started. So they chose to cancel. But two of the programs were in the middle of the program. It had gone for several months. And that was surgical technology and dental assistant. So those had to think a little bit about, what do I want to do? How do I meet the needs of my students? And where do I want to go? Because it was scary. Like the dental assistant teachers had never taught online before. We didn't have any technology in place. They didn't even know me. I mean, I hadn't been working with teachers. So they're like, how do we do this? So it was a difficult decision. So they're going to share the process of what they went through and what was challenging and what is working well. Katie, do you want to start? I will. Thanks, Renee. I was shocked. It was scary. We were called into a room. We needed to quickly also, we were going to be vacating our classrooms. We also need to notify our students. And then they had questions and we didn't quite have the answers. After hearing that we needed to decide because our administrators needed to apply for an accreditation waiver to see if we could be hybrid and go online. And so they needed an answer that day. And my answer was no. I don't think we're going to do this. I couldn't quite imagine it because we are in the classroom every day. And it was just hard for me to fathom. So went home that night and my boss called me and asked if I was okay. So I guess my face had said it all. I must have looked like a ghost. Then the weekend went by and I realized this isn't about me, it's about our students and it's about getting them working and they were halfway through the program. So no matter what it took and I just would move through the fear and we would make this work. So I called them and said we're in on Monday morning. That was my story. All right, so Sherry do you want to talk about yours looked a little bit different because you teach the first class which had already completed for that cohort. So what was it like for you to have to move your program online and the changes that had to happen? So yeah, thanks Renee. So for me I teach the introductory course which is course one in our dental assisting program and my cohort was actually supposed to start in March and so that entire cohort ended up being canceled. With that being said, I usually teach in the evenings when I would come on campus with my class and so now we weren't allowed to come on campus at all and so I was kind of like a fish out of water, I guess. Not really sure direction that we were gonna be going in. There was a cohort that was in the middle of transitioning and so there was some time to put some thought to it but as far as the technology being limited I was not familiar at all with Zoom. I was not familiar at all with Canvas, not to mention too. My course was being consolidated down from an eight week course to a six week course. So the development and the progression of having to merge everything into an online format was very overwhelming. On top of that with everything that was happening environmentally with all the unknowns in COVID and with myself being involved in healthcare directly it was a very daunting and trying time and I think that Katie and me, being along with Renee's amazing assistants, they pulled it off. I mean, I was amazed. So they actually set much of the foundation for me when I was gonna be starting my next cohort but in the meantime it was like walking in a cave with one of those headlights on that you have on your head and thinking you have some sense of how to navigate or what would be expected in the cave and then all of a sudden your battery ran out on your headlight and now you are totally in the dark and just trusting basically on, I'm gonna use the analogy of somebody talking to you like sound so it was administration and it was Renee's voice of confidence and encouragement I think that really assisted us in laying our foundation and moving forward with any of this. So I was very fortunate to have some of that foundation already set for me when my next cohort was gonna be starting but there was always transitions and I know we're gonna be talking and getting a little bit deeper into the weeds in a few more minutes but so it was very, very different for me, very different. And so Mi Ying, what was it like for you? You started right away with Katie, literally just a couple of days after we found out the school was gonna close. Exactly and it was great that Katie and I were able to do this together, put our heads together and figure out how are we gonna do this? The didactic was pretty easy but doing the hands-ons because that dental assisting is hands-on skills and so how to demonstrate skills to the students was the biggest challenge and I just go back to thinking about classes that I've taken in the past and challenges that I had. And so it was hard for me to accept technology as our future and I stay open-minded and with Renee as our big helper, we made it through it. You did great. Yeah, so I just wanna mention the technology piece. So a lot of the teachers were using desktops so we had to figure out how to get them devices that they can use off campus. All of our student laptops which were Windows were imaged or set up only to be used online. So I had to work with our onsite hardware person to get them re-imaged so that the students that needed them could get a loaner laptop that could be used offline and then a lot of our laptops didn't have cameras. So then we had to figure out how do we get cameras because as you know on Zoom, being on camera is critical to being able to do Zoom synchronous time successfully. So we made sure that we got technology to the students that needed it, got technology to the teachers that needed it. And then like I said, I'm really lucky that I got the opportunity to then work with the teachers and do some training so that they felt supported and then the students got this amazing education. Well, and that's one thing I would put in there too was even back on the previous slide, Renee, is that, no, you're fine, is that the support for the teachers. So administration and Renee had set up a weekly meetings for staff for us to go through some, I'm gonna call it basic training for me anyway. And I'll just admit that I'm of the generation that is not very techy and technical. And we have computers and we do things in the dental office and I'm somewhat familiar with some systems. However, trying to learn Canvas while simultaneously also trying to learn Zoom really presented for me some vulnerabilities and along with the technology for the students too. So trying to get the students up to speed, I know we're gonna talk about that a little bit more to was a very interesting transition and it really stretched to me as an instructor on certain limitations and boundaries. So that we're gonna talk about that too in a little bit as well. But I think all in all, the choice that Katie made was very brave. I will frame it that way. Because we were, we were, I was at the very back of the cave, at the very behind everybody, but Katie was at the front of the cave and her headlight went out and she was in the dark. And like I said, it was through great support that we were able to push ahead. So. Well, we had Renee too. We would not have been able, yeah, we would not have been able to progress without her assistance. So. So we had to think out of the box. Absolutely, absolutely. All right, so these are some of the things that the teachers identified that are working well. So any of you can jump in and talk about any of them. I'll jump in with the synchronistic time. After, it's a year later, but after now I would say, I can't imagine it the old way anymore. Just from the standpoint that the students, it's more like a flipped classroom and the students use their asynchronous time to be very prepared. So when they do come in for lab skills, they have that foundation of the topics that we're studying and we're just ready to go. So it actually, I would never have thought this that ends up being much more productive when we are live instruction because of the foundation. That's been exciting. Yeah. Getting to learn different parts of Canvas has been fun, like using the breakout room for discussions and critical thinking, using scenarios that we learned from our lectures to relate it to the dental office and then also using screen share because some students need visual aid. So we're using PowerPoint on screen share was very helpful to show pictures as we gave our lectures. And we limit our lectures to just the basics. I think the three of you said that you try to not lecture more than 15 minutes during the two hours Zoom time, right? So the majority of it is breakout rooms and other discussions and other hands-on times. And Renee, I like, Maine kind of touched on it too to where the visual aid. So we gave them visual aids to take home. So if we're studying like, for example, we could do tooth number warm-ups and they have the cards they've made or we've given them teeth to take home and a little pit. And then we even, we had gone to the hardware store, that was in our panic mode of how to create a suction and an air water syringe. Yes, that's right. But I think having that, it breaks up that two-hour Zoom time with the breakout rooms, the visual aids, and then obviously doing all the lecture didactic topics. Nice. Well, and I think too, it's contributed to us as educators to rethinking how we organize our time and what materials are really critical for the students between the synchronous and the asynchronous time. So kind of pulling out some fluff that maybe we would have had previously and some of our material and really finding more of what the meat and potatoes and what's really gonna be needed for the students. And not only that, but I think as far as previously, maybe in the classroom, we were doing a lot of hand-holding, a little more spoon feeding along the way. And so this has really stretched us, I think, as far, or I can speak for myself, as far as my ability with my education skills to think like Maying said earlier, to think outside the box and what's in the student's best interest and having instead of us being a talking head for however long we would talk in the classroom, way more student engagement and different types of thinking. So we have on the slide, they're more critical thinking. So question asking, having the students be prepared with the material prior to them coming online with us has really been an asset too. And I think one of the instructors was gonna talk about some practice test things that has worked well for myself, not so much breakout rooms that I would utilize in my introductory course. For me, I did more screen sharing with the students and had them utilize their whiteboards in the class for conversations and for critical thinking and introducing a broad concept that we would then kind of have to pare down into some bullet points. And so what I enjoyed about that aspect of the synchronous time on the Zoom was that it allowed then the students to have to kind of pare down a lot of details into some bullet point thinking, which is a skill that they're going to need to utilize also in the dental office in reporting things back to the doctor when they're interviewing a patient for maybe an emergency or a new patient finding out goals and things along those lines. So utilizing the whiteboard with the students actually playing secretaries oftentimes and utilizing the screen share. However, I think that as we progress with our next cohort, I will venture into doing some breakout rooms because I think that learning that skill will be good not only for the students, but for me as well. So getting a little more practice with those breakout rooms will be good as they transition then from my course, which is now a six-week course, into the remainder of our program which is really handled with Katie and Mei Ying as the full-time educators for the remainder of that program. So those things have been helpful for me along the way and I think they've worked fairly well through the transition also. And I love that you said, I mean, something that's really critical is that it doesn't stay the same. So I love that you said, hey, I think I've talked to Mei Ying and Katie and they really find that breakout rooms are really great with the students and you're saying, I think I'm gonna try it. But I think it's also really critical that you don't try every new thing all at once. So you were learning Canvas, you were learning Zoom, you were figuring out online, you were digitizing your resources and you were dealing with the dental office in COVID all at the same time. It was not time to do breakout rooms. But now that you feel comfortable, you're all like, so you continue to move forward and try new things just not all at once, everybody. And don't feel, I think it's so important. I have teachers that will come to me and go, I'm just not ready to do breakout rooms or I just can't do the whiteboard yet. I'm like, okay, don't feel guilty. It's absolutely okay. The goal is to move forward a little bit at a time not to get so overwhelmed that you can't be successful in what you're using. But I think Sherry brought up a good point about this has led to using practice tests. Differently, Miying and Katie, can you talk about how you're using practice tests now and sort of how that's changed since you moved online? Absolutely, I love what Sherry said about cutting the apron strings. And it really has kind of forced you to do that, which works great for preparing them for their externship, which is a very self-directed career that they're embarking on and empowering the students to use all the resources. It's been very helpful and like the whiteboard and put their thoughts on there or collaborate with critical thinking in the breakout rooms. As far as the, it's been awesome to do that. As far as the tests, what we would do, we do practice tests that they can go in and take and it will be numerous questions, way more than it's on their actual tests. And I was so against that originally because I felt like, oh, they can't see the test question before they take it and that's just helping too much. But it actually has been better that they see all the material and they put in more time doing that on their own time and everybody takes those practice tests. At first we were requiring it before you qualified to take the test, but now we just, with a new cohort, we've just have it in place and they all do it. So they want the information, they wanna put in the time and I think it works well that they can do that when they're not in the classroom, that it's the asynchronous time to prepare. So it works out okay. And they can take those multiple times, right? They can take it as many times as they want. Yes. And you can scramble the answers and it's been a good thing. I resisted it, but it's worked out pretty well and their GPs have stayed 80 and above. Right. So I think that's been a good tool. Another item I think has helped is we required them to pre-read the chapters of the lectures before they come on Zoom. So that way they have questions for us if they need to ask us questions. Yeah. So that's a perfect example of a flipped classroom, right? So they're coming to you and you're not spending class time like you used to do, saying, you know, open up your textbook and go ahead and read this chapter and answer these questions. You're saying, read it ahead of time and then let's have some critical thinking and deep discussions and does anybody not understand part of it? Let's talk about it. So it's really diving deeper rather than using your synchronous time, whether it be Zoom or in person, to read a textbook that is the perfect thing to do during asynchronous time. So that, yeah, I love that that's working for you and you're feeling that the students are coming prepared to have discussions and ask questions rather than spending time reading the chapter. Right. Yeah. I know on one of the other things that all of you have brought up is that creating a Canvas course requires you to be at least somewhat organized and so, you know, organ, it's helped to organize curricular materials as well as think of how you're organizing your curriculum in general. And I think Sherry mentioned taking out quote fluff, I believe you call it, but things that really aren't critical to the learning. Does anybody want to talk about that? Sure, I'll jump in. Yeah. So I think I kind of was faced with two kinds of things, developing the course on Canvas, but also consolidating the course and then really having to put thought to the synchronous versus asynchronous time. So putting myself, I think, back into the students shoes like, and it was really hard for me, really quite honestly, because I know the material so well. So trying to pull myself back to like, if I didn't know anything, you know, how long and what would I focus on? And for myself too, and I think Katie and Mei Ying do the same, but I offer study guides for every topic that we cover. And so it's a little bit of, I wouldn't say it's the full headlight in the cave, but it's a flashlight in the cave to try to have the students be able to kind of funnel down some of the main points and give them some direction because I know that it can be daunting and overwhelming, especially for those students that haven't been in a formal education setting in quite some time, which is the majority of our students, of course. So even things as far as organizing our curriculum but inserting into the curriculum, study skills and other resources that they have for studying. And I know we're gonna talk a little bit about time management in a little bit, but this also reorganizing of the curriculum stretched me back, I think, to having to think more like if I was the student and didn't know anything, what would that look like? And then the consolidation also forced me, which wasn't a bad thing. It was uncomfortable at the beginning. And I don't think any of us like to feel like we're forced, but it did in a positive way. It did in a positive way force me anyway as an instructor to really say, okay, let's do this. I know we can do this, so let's do this. So that's just some of my insights. What did you say, Sherry, that sometimes it's better just to be pushed off the cliff? Yeah. Yeah, ready, set, go. Yeah, we can sometimes be our own worst enemies in trying to either talk ourselves out of a process or a direction. Procrastination sometimes can be our worst enemy. And so the fact that I think we didn't have a lot of time and it's easy for me to say because I wasn't involved in that first panicked Mark episode a year ago, but knowing too that there were some safety nets and there were some parachutes that were given to us, which was great and taking the pressure off. And I would also say one other thing. For me, when I was doing my curriculum, I was only one week ahead. So I could only keep up with it because it was, and I know we're gonna talk about that in a little bit on the next slide, so always. Yeah, that's a really good point. So let's go. So these were all the things that worked well and we kind of inserted a few things that were challenging, but the next slide is what has been challenging. And so go ahead and I'd love, one of you can start with, before you went online, you kind of knew your curriculum and you kind of it was done, right? You had the whole cohort done and now you're a week or two ahead because you're having to organize your material, create your Canvas course. Do you want to talk about, any of you want to talk about that a little bit and how that kind of made you feel? Being, you mean just- Just that you're having, yeah, that you're not as far ahead from the students, that you're just a week or two ahead of where the students are with all your, with basically getting your curriculum all organized and updated. I felt it was very foreign and it felt like I was unprepared. I didn't want them to think that. That we were only a week ahead, but it also was just logistically what was possible when navigating so much. And the neat thing about it being a year later and what this year has been like is that the course is created and then you tweak it and use the next time but a lot of the foundation is already there. And then you can just add things or see things that worked in a breakout room or what was engaging and what wasn't. And like Sherry said, just you have to change things because you need to give them what is most important and getting rid of. That was hard to cut out things. I felt like, oh, everything was important. So you had to think about what would most make them successful at their job, what they need to know, what's gonna best prepare them, just whittle it down and then put that kind of that curriculum in. And I think that was true for all the teachers that I worked with. I think it was really hard for them to, the two things is take out pieces but also not sort of be the overseer, like give up and say, I'm gonna allow students to read the textbook on their own, right? And I'm not gonna be there to make sure that they're reading it or, and so that was really hard. And I know some of you said that some of your challenges has been helping students manage, figuring out ways to manage their asynchronous time. Absolutely, Renee, when you said, read the textbook on their own, sometimes that doesn't happen. So what we put in measures for that is we make a PowerPoint of the chapter and ask them to, to ask question or answer, they have to answer five to 10 questions after viewing the PowerPoint. So it's just a little security that, but when we get to, it makes our time more quality when we get into the classroom. Right. Does that make sense? So we found Katie and I would have to brainstorm at times too, to think of ideas to keep the students engaged before class begins. You mean before? Yeah, so I love that you did a summary of PowerPoint that they had to watch and answer questions on. That was sort of a summary of the chapter. Exactly, just a summary, just a summary. And we put PowerPoint questions. We put questions of the last slide and in the middle. So you made sure that they didn't just watch, you know, a couple of them. So we always made sure those questions. But it's, you know, some people are more visual and they like to learn that way, you know, or it reinforces what they've read. So it works. It's, I wouldn't have thought to do that unless this had happened. So that's been good. I think another challenge too, was that, you know, we as instructors, as the educators really had, or I'll speak for myself, I had a different reliance on the resources. So for example, our publisher and our textbook, I had to view it differently because the resources now that would be available to the students through the technology, we were utilizing it very differently. So, and then offering additional resources for the students, not just with the curriculum, but with their technology, with their computers, with their connectivity, with their modems, with their phones, with their iPads, with their cameras. It was daunting for me and Renee was there with all the life preservers that you could ever ask for, but that continues, I think, to be a challenge from the student perspective with some of the technology as well. So I'm a curriculum expert. I know my curriculum, but I am not the technology expert. So having even, you know, thinking and backing the train all the way up before because my course is the first course doing certain orientation and then talking about doing a technology orientation with the students so that my eight weeks that got crunched into six weeks now isn't with the whole first week, just dealing with technology issues and pulling away from my time with curriculum. So we're still a work in progress and to see how that goes, but you know, the boundaries issue at the bottom there, the boundaries issue, talking about that is setting boundaries not just for us as educators, but also setting boundaries with the students. And I think Kitty and me, we're gonna speak into that a little bit also. That's a big piece, Sherry. That's a good point. We were getting, when we started, we were getting text messages at non-business hours. You know, when a student might be panicked about an assignment or had a question. And we were, so we went over what would be expected and same in their workplace. So we went over that you could text us from eight to six if you had a question, but you could send an email after or a notification on Canvas notifies us that way. And we would, and Sherry, I think you did the same thing. You told them that you check your email and you told them what time, right? And they could say you check it twice a day. So they knew what to expect. And they also knew office hours was a time. So we set those in place where they needed to, we needed to be available for them for their questions. And you have those every week, right? Where they could pop in to ask questions. Every Wednesday. Every Wednesday. And then sometimes they'll stay after we never get off Zoom class right away. We wait if they have any questions and then we can actually put them in a wait room to have one-on-one, a quick one with a student just before we end the day. And then the other, Maine does the best wrap-ups that have been great. I'll let her speak on that. But the other boundary too, and I called Renee, because she's not just a techie. She's a student support advocate and a teacher advocate. And I would have students sitting on their bed eating cereal during class. And then are their kids would come in and push on the camera or sit on their lap or, and then their pets, they would wanna show their pets. And all that was good. So we just, but it didn't help us transition into our classroom time. So we learned to take the first five to 10 minutes, check in with everyone. It's like a morning huddle, which they'll have in their dental offices and see how everyone is. Do a check in. Maybe they want their child to say hi before we start. And then Renee had said it's perfectly right. Okay, to expect them, ask them to sit maybe on the edge of their bed because they could go into their bedroom, I think for privacy. But yet they, it just wasn't a good learning environment to be all sprawled out on your bed eating. And it just didn't fit. So we had them get a chair and a service that they could write on. And that was a requirement as well as not turn their cameras off. And they are so good about it now that if they do turn it off, they are saying that I'm just gonna use the restroom, I'll be back or I need the two minutes and I'll be right back. So. Well, we learned something. I learned something new last night. Renee sent an email about emails on the send, the little arrow that you can respond to them, but the email will be sent to them the next morning. So you don't have to worry about them communicating with you late at night. So that was a nice way of thinking, oh, it's good way of setting boundaries. But yes, for, I love to do the wrap up in the announcement section of Canvas. I usually wrap, yeah, I usually tell them what we did that day, positive things of what we learned that day. And then I usually tell them, I make it a list of what their homework is. The assignments are coming up or the quizzes that are opening up and when it's gonna close, because they forget, even though we write it on the board in class, they still forget. So then I do that. And I also do at the end of the week, I wrap up what we learned and what's coming up the following week, what are we gonna be teaching the following week? So it gives them an idea mindset of what we're, what we're going through. And so this is daily, right? After your Zoom meeting or after your class. And can you talk about why you started it and how it's helped with the issue? Well, we started because we thought, well, maybe this will help reduce emails in Texas. So as long as they read the announcements, sometimes we have to remind them, did you read the announcement? I like to put pictures in the announcements too, if I can find good pictures, because I feel that that will help attract them to look at the announcements. Ooh, we could put pictures of them doing skills. Show them check the announcement. I love that. Yeah. So I guess it's a really good part. And has it helped? Have you found out that it has helped? It has helped. It has helped. So less emails. And I think one of you mentioned when we were doing our practice that you're having to teach different skills with the students, not just your dental assistant skills, but you're having to teach, as Sherry said, technology skills. So you're having to teach digital literacy, which is new, but also things like time management and responsibility so that they are not texting you and saying, hey, I don't know what the homework is when the homework is listed in multiple places in Canvas. Exactly. Do you want to touch on how that's been a challenge to have to incorporate like time management skills and scheduling asynchronous skills and digital literacy skills added to your curriculum? Sherry, I'll jump in first. So, excuse me. So having the students set aside that time and have a designated place also for their asynchronous time as well as their synchronous time, I think, is important. But time management, not just for the students, but for myself also as an educator has been somewhat of a challenge. So, but with the students, they're busy with work and kids and pets and things along those lines. So I remember this last cohort. I had a student who would do her synchronous time in the closet. And I would think, where are you? And so that was her only kind of quiet place that she could find at the time under her living circumstance. So, but yeah, time management, very, very important and offering the resources for the students too so that they don't impinge on our time management because time management, not just in the educator mode of it, but also in the communication mode of it as well. So having them understand, I check my email two times a day, once in the morning, once in the evening. So if you've missed that time slot, you know I'm not going to get it maybe after 6.30 on a weeknight. I'm not going to get it until 6.30 in the morning the next day. And time management with our office hours and having them be disciplined enough to know that if they have a specific concern that needs additional time to address, they need to carve out. It needs to become a priority for them. So that's a great thing for them to understand and learn as they progress, not just through our program but also when they're employed. That time management is important because in the dental office, time management is what runs our offices. So, yeah. That is great. So we kind of, since they call them wrap ups, we thought we would do a wrap up. And before all of you share. So some of the things that the teacher said is, and sorry, guys, and please clarify, but that you, if today the pandemic was done and you were given the option of going back to the way it was, you would choose to stay with hybrid learning rather than going back to full face to face, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Yeah. And I think we talked about this, but it's important to continue to grow and change, but it's important to not change all at once, right? So I think hopefully we've really shared that it was scary and the things were scary, but they took on what they could take on. They made the students part of their team saying we're all in this together, right? We're here for you. That's why we're going online. That's why we're doing this hybrid learning. We don't know what we're doing. We know our curriculum and that's what we wanna teach you, but together we're learning Zoom and Canvas because those are things that are new to all of us and students were helpful. And students, I know in your class, students will use breakout rooms on their own now when they're doing projects and things. So they are learning digital tools that hopefully will help them in the workplace and beyond things that you didn't do before, which is very cool. You've also mentioned, and maybe you can expand, one of the worries you had was that you wouldn't have enough time with them. You wouldn't have enough one-on-one time. You would feel really distant, but that with office hours and Zoom as well as you're in class time, you actually feel like there's more collaboration time and more one-on-one time. Do you wanna mention anything about that at all? Cause in case somebody hasn't done a lot of online and they're worried about that for collaboration. I notice it takes, I need to communicate and send emails to them when I grade their work, give them more commentary, just a lot more communication online to the students, positive reinforcement. But I think you said it very well. Right, cool, right. So the speed grader in Canvas has been very good because not only do you give them the grade but you actually have a place where you can comment, giving them the positive reinforcement. I haven't tried this yet. The audio one rather than just... Yeah, I haven't used the audio grader either. No. Okay, yeah. And then I know that Sherry had, when we were typing up this list, Sherry said that she's using a lot more like audio visual things that she didn't use before. So we've got a video library that students, and it's nice because students are watching them on their own. So you're not having to use your synchronous time either in class or during Zoom to watch videos, right? So you can say, I want you to go watch this video demonstration of how to dawn into off your PPE and then we'll discuss it. So it's not just reading ahead of time but it's also being prepared by watching videos or like I said, if they're doing a project they can do their own Zoom and do breakout rooms on their own. And then of course the interactive whiteboards. So there's a lot of tools that you can use to make it as collaborative, if not more collaborative than it was when you were fully face to face, right? Anything else you want to share before we open it up to the floor and I'd love to have people share what has worked well and what you still feel challenged with? Anything else, Sherry, Miying or Katie? I just want to say that I think because of the situation before we became a hybrid program my class ran in the evenings only. And so I was not available to come on campus during the day because I'm in the dental office during the day. So this has really spawned an opportunity for us as a team to get closer. And even though we've worked all these years together oftentimes I would feel sort of like the Lone Ranger at night and a little bit disconnected from the rest of the program but this has really enabled me as an educator with my colleagues, including you Renee. And including Trisha who I see there too. It's really enabled the technology in general just has really enabled I think even though it's distance, it has its own kind of minutia bringing people closer together and with a different perspective. And so I'm appreciative of that opportunity to feel more engaged and connected with the program and with the campus administration as well. So I'm appreciative of that. And I think the students have a different perspective of resources and different ways of connectivity that they're utilizing as well through not just the canvas but through Zoom like you were saying they're doing their own. They're doing their own breakout rooms and their own projects on their own where normally it would be like can we meet at the Starbucks at 10 o'clock or whatever. So it does afford new opportunities. So thank you. I like that Sherry. Even though it's distance learning it still hasn't created more intimacy in a way and way to connect with our students and each other. Isn't that something you would have thought? Yeah. So I'd love... I don't see a lot... I just reposted the website link in the chat. Somebody asked that. And then somebody just said, I'd like to hear more from me, Yang. Jump in if you wanna ask questions, if you wanna share your experiences. This is part discussion. So we'd love to have you share. Renee, this is Anthony. So hi again, everyone. So we don't all talk over each other. Just remember that there are the reactions on the bottom of your Zoom toolbar. So maybe if you do wanna raise your hand or chime in why don't we take advantage of that? And then everyone is able to come on mic. So if you wanna unmute yourself while you're asking your question you are also free to do that as well. And then Renee must stop share so we can see everyone. Sure, I will do that. And I will just take notes in case I need to add it to... Cause like I said, if you wanna share things, resources or anything, I'll add it to the website after the presentation. So would anybody like to share? How about how many of you can use the thumbs up, baby? How many of you... Trisha has her hand raised, I'm sorry. Well, okay, I guess I can call on Trisha then. Hi, Trisha. Hi guys. I put this in the chat but I just wanted to tell her because I was so impressed and hadn't really thought about this. But the other day I visited Katie and Mei Ying's class and I'm the coordinator, interim coordinator at this time but visited their class and Katie was on her computer. She was using a document camera and showing them doing some instruction and on Mei Ying's camera she was actually doing the demonstration. So I was a student because I was looking as a student I could see the instruction right here and I could see the demonstration right here and I thought, oh my goodness there is no way we could have done this in the classroom where the students would have the close up of everything they needed right there in front of them because everybody'd be circled around Mei Ying or something and they're trying to look over each other and see what she was doing. And so I was like, I would not have thought of this as being so much better than being in the classroom. So I just wanted to mention that. I know we have probably teachers here that aren't doing where it would be certain skills like in the dental office but certainly I'm sure you could think of other skills where just giving the students a better view of what you're doing would be helpful to them. Oh, I love that. Thank you for sharing. We thank the school district for letting us have this. It's called a Hue Pro Camera and I didn't bring it with me to the classroom today so I can't show you it. Yeah, I think there's tons of webcams. The advantage of the UHD is that it has a neck that you can bend really easily and the base is heavy. So I don't know if any of you worked with some webcams where there you go where you bend it and it falls over because it's because the base isn't strong enough but this one even if you bend it all the way over you can, it'll still stay standing up and it's not gonna fall forward. So those are and it's super easy to use you can use any software with it but it has built-in software to either just show it live like they were doing or to record some skills. So super easy because as we grow we're talking about if we're staying in hybrid mode to start recording some of the skills that they can put up so if students miss something they'll have a skill and you don't really want a student to come back and sit through a two hour Zoom meeting. So yes, you can record your Zoom meeting but it's pretty torturous to have to sit through two hours of Zoom but what if you sit through 10 minutes of the demonstration and so having those recorded and being able to go back and get them will be a real asset. So hopefully we'll work with the different programs and start getting a library of skills that our teachers themselves have recorded. So we're sure the skills are done properly in the way we want to teach them. So, yeah. Renee, you have B. Gable has her hand raised and then there's also a question in the chat when you want to get to that as well. Okay, so B. Gable, I don't know. What's your first name? Beth. Okay, hi Beth. Hi there. So Mi-Ying, in your program do the students have basically like a program online or do you use Canvas as your main vehicle for teaching the students? Well, we do both. We have Canvas that we do. The assignments are in Canvas. The quizzes are in Canvas. We do the share screen. Well, that's all off of Zoom, I guess. Yeah, and then we have the students come back twice a week for skills. We're shooting for a third time, third times a week, because we're getting to the point where we need to do more skills than didactic teaching lectures. So not as a big Beth, but to answer your question more is they don't have, they do have a textbook that has some electronic resources, but the majority of their curriculum is created by them and uploaded to Canvas. So they have created all their PDFs are created by them, all their skill sheets are created by them. Yeah. That's Renee's help. Yeah. That's right. Yeah, but I think the advantage to that is like what Katie says, they're very tired because they've worked a lot of hours, but hopefully next cohort, they'll be less tired because they've got the bones there and they're just kind of editing it and changing it and maybe deciding that this skill sheet needs to be edited a little bit, but everything's organized because it's all together in the course and you could just go and edit it. And so I think every time you teach it, the course gets better, but it takes you less time. So I have another quick tech question for you, Renee, because I'm not very techie. How would I change my be gable to Beth gable? Oh. I will tell you in a minute. Yes, I will send you a note to you. Sounds good. Okay. Anybody else have questions or would like to share? Yeah, Sherry, did you want to share? Yeah, I was just going to say to Beth, I don't know what you're teaching, but once you kind of have the scaffolding in place for your course, then it's just kind of a matter of filling in. And it is like building a house. So once you have the framework, then you put up the walls, then you've got the roof, and then you're going to update, you're going to redecorate, maybe move the pillow from one couch to another. So it is kind of once you have that initial scaffolding in place, which is the bulk of the work. Whoo, right? Right. Then you can modify and things aren't as daunting, but I think you hit the nail on the head with some technology things because what I find to be more daunting now is not the curricula itself, but is the keeping up with the technology and even like for this, making sure I had the updated version of Zoom. Well, for some people that's like, well, why wouldn't you have the updated version of Zoom? Well, I didn't even know that I could update Zoom. So anyway, there you go. So you're not alone. Well, I teach GED prep. So we had all of our, you know, contemporary and Steck Vaughn, and so now we have the essential ed as a supplement, which has been really, really good. It has its flaws, but it's been overall good. But then yes, I gather other resources and use Canvas and, you know, other resources. And so maybe Trisha, you could jump on because you're ASC, and like, how much of your teachers are doing, because they do GED prep and things too, how much are they using built-in curriculum and how much are they doing like their own curriculum and things? Well, why make curriculum if somebody else can do it for you, right? Right. And so we use New Readers Press online. We started using that, but that said, my teachers do use a lot of their own curriculum. We've been paying teachers curriculum development time for the last four years with WIOA money. And so that again, when you can have those two cameras, you can have, thinking of maybe science, you've got the New Readers Press open where there's a question, and then you've got another camera open over here where you're maybe doing some instruction on Newton's Law or, you know, something that force and energy and all that stuff that they get to learn in science. And so they do a little bit about they try to use a lot of their own stuff for the actual instruction because science can seem like a foreign language if you don't know a lot of the vocabulary there. And so they'll do some instruction on that, but then try to connect it to questions. So they say, see, this is why you need to learn this because there are actually questions, you know, that are gonna be just like that. Thank you. So we do have a question here from Mary Ann. So if anybody can jump in, not just our teachers, if our students were here, what do you think they would share, especially ones that started on campus and then had to go online? Good question. Well, those students, that is a good question. Mary Ann, those students are already employed. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, they're all working and hired, but I wish they were here too. They've got things to do. I know, you know, next year, I might have students come for a presentation like this year, right? Yeah, that would be awesome. So what do you think, you know, feedback-wise that the group that just got employed that graduated what in December, right? What do you think they would say? I think they would say it was a rougher start, but a good finish, you know, because we had some technology problems and they were caught in the storm. They didn't have computers. Cameras. And we had Renee's support so we could try to use the time for not all these issues, which I don't know that I could help them all with, like Renee can. So we had Renee's support to try it so we could, but we lost some class time for sure. We did, but I think you made a really good point, Katie, in that we really tried, if somebody was all like, my computer is doing da, da, da, da, da, rather than saying, hey, let's sit here and everybody's gonna watch why Renee works with Katie because her computer isn't working. No, it's like either I go to a breakout room or I'd say, hey, just hang out, learn what's going on. And right afterwards, I'll meet with you to fix the problem. So we tried to move the tech issues out of class time, but we did need some class time for tech and some class time for other skills we talked about, time management. You had to take class time of how are you managing your time, class time on how to access Canvas, how to use Adobe Acrobat to fill in a form, how to submit a form. So there's tech pieces you are having to use class time for that you didn't before. But then there's so much time, you're giving them asynchronously that you're not having to do in class that it kind of balanced out eventually. But at the beginning, it was figuring out. I think the biggest problem is we had to go four months or five months with just being on Zoom. Yes, okay. And then so when they came back, it was like, we couldn't get them to leave the classroom. They didn't want to leave. I remember that, like it ended noon and I'd be in there three and there'd still be students. I'm going, weren't they supposed to go home three hours ago? Wow. That is true. Yes. That's refreshing, right? Where they just say, you know, yeah, so they had to blend, they had to blend what they learned on Zoom into the classroom all at once right before we went to externship. So, and then externship went smoothly. They were very quick learners at the office. I always got praises from the office how great they were. They felt more insecure. So we had to say they're going to be fine and that your extra doctors know what you've been to. They know that you're ready. You're ready. I know you don't think it because you haven't spent as much time in the classroom but you're ready. Yeah. So just to try to get at, was there any particular set of skills or any of what you try to convey to them that was easier or harder because of not being face to face? And I think you're going to say not really but I'm just curious. Or maybe it was easier because of your use of the videos and demonstrations that were maybe more accessible. That's a great point. I think Sherry might even be able to share about this because we noticed there is this discrepancy with students. I'm thinking of one in particular with this last cohort and she was so engaged in the Zoom time in the classroom and Sherry started, we realized that you learn what's right and what isn't right. So we learned that we can't have too much Zoom time without having the students come to see them on campus. Like the first cohort got caught in the storm and couldn't physically come on for maybe it was almost five months. So now that Sherry had this very engaged student who just she thought, wow, I'm going to have to keep up with this student. Sherry is just on it and I really want to keep her engaged. And then when we got to her physically present doing the skills and it was a very discrepancy she was struggling. You want to focus on that Sherry? Sure. So I think that some of the students and what we're finding and I think what we're going to continue to find in the future is that some students are going to be very engaged electronically. So in this format and that the classroom setting may introduce another distraction for some students that we're not able to identify that until we can actually get them into the classroom. And so we're looking at possibly for my course getting them into the classroom a little bit sooner. We had to wait until their final week for the last cohort to get them into the classroom. But I think we're going to look at trying to integrate them into the classroom earlier so that we can help identify, excuse me, some of those skills that are not quite developed yet and things that maybe we can head off a little bit sooner and help the student determine because of course the goal is always to have the students be successful, right? So and if there is something that we can overcome because sometimes quite honestly there are some things that we can't overcome with our students. So God bless the administration and for them being able to offer resources and step in as needed. But those kinds of things I think are just inherent in this world of a hybrid class that there's going to be some things and you're going to have the students that are going to be distracted in this environment and with the technology. So finding a balance. And I think we talked earlier about I have Zoom etiquette that I introduced to the students initially and one of them is like, you know, find a quiet place work in a specific area but Zoom etiquette about muting yourself and things along those lines. We're going to, we're still in discovery and I'm sure for the next number of years we'll still be in discovery as we go along and redecorate our courses, right? As we progress. Yeah, we did forget to mention Zoom etiquette. So I know that Sherry, the goal is that Sherry is the first class. So she goes over the Zoom etiquette. So they are quote, trained when they move into the second course. And, you know, I know that Katie talked about, you know, you're not in your pajamas laying on your bed eating a bowl of cereal with your cat on your stomach. That's right. But that some students might have to have a closet. That might be their only spot. But, you know, or maybe they need their bedroom. So pull in a chair to accommodate them, but they're still in appropriate learning space. There's a space where you can sit up and you've got appropriate clothes on and you've got a flat surface that you can put your computer on and you're, and you're, like you said, your camera is on and they're trained now that their camera is on. Yeah, so it's, it's just, and they, I think the students don't know what they don't know, right? So they figured, you know, well, gosh, when I'm talking to my friend, I'm talking to my cat on my stomach eating a bowl of cereal. So just reminding them, just like, you know, we say when you text a teacher, you're using teacher language. When you're on zoom with your teachers in your class, you're using appropriate behavior, just like you would if you were working in an office. So, yeah. And so, but, but it's teaching them, right? We forget that things we didn't have to teach them before. Yeah. Well, I just thought it strikes me that the classroom is also an artificial construction in a way. It's never going to be the same as being in the office with real customers, patients or clients and your supervisor or so forth. But the online classroom is just a different one with advantages and disadvantages from the physical classroom. And then the real world is yet, that's the goal. Right. That's the real place where you are practicing and modeling behaviors in these other spaces. Yeah. And that's, and that's kind of the goal, right? That they get their externship or successful and get employed. So it's trying to model what an extra, what a real world would look like as much as possible. Yeah. Well, I want to take your program. It sounds fantastic. We started to cohort in April. So. Yes. April 26 to be exact. If anybody wants to become a dental assistant. That's the word around. Thank you, Anthony, would you be able to place the. Evaluation in and I will still be here if anybody asks questions. I'm sure our teachers will be here if you have any more questions, but I'd love to have the evaluation in the chat. Sure. I can do that in a second. I actually just wanted to kind of piggyback on, on Mary Ann's. Question slash comment here. And that, and I think you've talked about it during the presentation is not to lose sight of that student voice. You know, what is the student experience like in the middle of all this? And I think it's really, you know, from our point of view, from OTAN's point of view, for example, like, you know, we're really hoping that all of the, you know, all of you agencies when you do go back to something that is, you know, more in person, more face to face, that we don't lose sight of all of the lessons that we've learned in the last year. And, you know, again, from our point of view, from OTAN's point of view, we don't want agencies. Well, I'll speak for myself. Maybe I should speak for OTAN, but, you know, we don't want people to just go back to where you were in February and March of 2020, right? And I think that you've given us so many examples of how, you know, this is the way we did it. And then we came to this place where I had to do it differently and I wasn't necessarily convinced. But now that I tried it and did it, it's actually worked out better than I thought, right? And so it's these kinds of lessons that I want all of us, you know, to be able to bring back. And it's, you know, I've been kind of just watching the online discussions about, you know, teachers and, you know, schools and what everybody's going through and how the prospect of, you know, in essence almost going from one new system to a new new system, which is going to be hybrid or blended or whatever you want to call it and how that is another daunting prospect, right? Because wouldn't it just be easier to go back to 2019, 2020 because we know what that is like and we know what that looks like. We're set up for it. We just need to get back in our classrooms for a weekend or whatever and get that going again. But really, you know, Pandora's box is open here. I mean, it's, we, it's going to be hard, I think for all of you to go back to something that you know, really maybe didn't work as well as I thought it did. Now I have some new tools under my belt. And, you know, we can bring those back to the school and the students are more digitally literate. The teachers are more digitally literate. The staff, administrators. So why don't we, let's think about what that's going to look like, you know, come the fall 2020 or what year is this? The fall 2021, you know, the 2021-22 school, you know, we need kind of a new view. So, you know, I think Marianne's question was slash comment was a great segue to that. But I think to also say, let's not lose the student voice because it's also their experience and what they're going to be going through. And how do we make sure we speak to that? You know, speak to what the students want and need out of the adult education program. And I love that sex that we kind of went around in a circle because we started out our presentation with Katie saying the reason I said yes, even though I was scared to death is because I was thinking about the students. So thank you, Anthony. That was a perfect way to bring it full circle. And I love that we're all, you know, thinking about, no matter how hard it is for us, we're thinking about what is the best for the students. And that's great. Yeah. And I'll go ahead and pop that link in the chat. So let me do that there. So right at the end of all the presentations during TDLS, if you wouldn't mind, you know, just taking a minute or two to fill out the evaluation for the session. We'll take a look at it. We'll share it with the presenters. That feedback is like, you know, like I just said, with the student voice, you know, it's also the participant voice is also very helpful as well for all of us. So if you wouldn't take it, wouldn't mind. And I'm really good at answering emails. So I know if you're anything like me, things kind of go around in my brain and like around three in the morning, I'll think of the question that I didn't ask in a presentation. So feel free to email me at any time. And if you have a question and I know the teachers, you know, obviously they're teaching during the day, but they'll get back to you when they can. If it's a teacher related question, but feel free to reach out if you know, your brain works like mine and you get the think of the question later on. And we still have the room for 10 minutes. So if there are other questions or comments or if people want to share what's happening at their agencies as well. Right. Yeah. Well, thank you. I just wanted to say, I think you guys really are, are pioneers with a great story. And you've told it in this conference presentation. And I hope that you can share it broadly in whatever way works best because. I think people in other fields, not just the dental assistant training or sorry, my other name of the job. Right. I mean, I think that what you've done is an example for people in lots of other contexts. And I, I mean, I, I know you aren't claiming any fame here, but I think you've been pioneers and your enthusiasm and your professionalism is, it's inspiring. And I think it could inspire a lot of other people too. If you find good ways to share your story beyond the conference. Thank you. And I think for the teachers, especially they went in without being techies. So I think that's so powerful. Going, you know, I've got to figure this out. And I have no idea what I'm doing. And working together, we figured it out. And that, that's huge because. You know, it's scary when you don't know tech and you're trying to, you know, learn new stuff while teaching students at the same time. So. And just to be honest with you guys, I'm a product developer with a former ESL teaching background and also publishing background. And I, maybe we'll be able to share some things with you guys in the future. But I think that workforce education is in a very difficult place right now. And that's why I think your positive example is so powerful. And I, I just, maybe anybody can do what you did, but I'm not so sure about that. And I think that people in a lot of ways, you know, workforce training and career training context are trying very hard to figure out how they're going to do something. But to be honest, to be able to teach people how to work with teeth inside the human mouth. And that close contact. I can't think of a lot of things that are more challenging than that. You know what I mean? Yeah, I agree. They're the teacher. I always say, you know, I can help you with the tech, but I don't know your curriculum at all. So I love that they're, you know, that they have what probably close to a hundred years of experience between the three of them and working with teeth and they, and they know students and they know their curriculum. And I think that was helpful for them to be successful. Yeah. And I think also being successful as we work together as a team, we collaborate together too. I can see that. Yeah. Thank you, Mary Ann, for your kind words and enthusiasm. I appreciate it very much. Thank you. Yeah. Well, just don't underestimate the impact that you can make in a broad way with your story, whatever, you know, you write an article or you do something that you can share in social media. Just, I just think it is some really hard time. For people all over the country. Who are trying to meet the needs of these learners in so many different towns and states and contexts. And anyway, this has been a really positive thing hearing you tell your story. So thank you. All right, Anthony, no pressure. No, actually, I was going to say, so, Renee, actually came to me a few months ago at the end of 2020 and said, you know, she knew that OTAN actually published a periodic newsletter. And we got, we were in touch and I don't remember actually, Renee heard about me from someone else. I don't remember what the connection was, but anyway, she actually wrote an article sort of about this presentation in our winter newsletter. So let me bring up, yeah, let me bring up that link and you're welcome to share that as broadly as you would like. Let me just get that link here. But it's a nice, it's a nice summary of the presentation today. It touches on a number of points that Renee and the teachers discussed. So, and if my computer would cooperate, actually, if I could just copy the link here, I think you should. You know, if you tell Renee asked us to talk about this, I never thought it, never thought about it. And I love that article that Renee wrote in December. And this is a living context of that. We've never looked back, you know, and I've never thought about it. I think we're in a living context of that. We've never looked back, you know, and I don't know that we can now. Like you said, Anthony Pandora's box. No, it's a hard one to close that Pandora's box. Yeah. Let me just share my screen for a sec. I popped the link in the chat, but here's the, here's page two of the winter newsletter. So Renee did write the letter. And again, based on the experience in the, in the programs that were talked about, you know, I think that we can do that. And if you guys have a read and feel free to share it, Mary Ann and, you know, with others out there. And I'm sure I'm sure that, you know, yeah, it's always great to share those stories. So if, if, you know, if there's anything that we can do also to help spread the word as well at OTAN, we're happy to do that too. And actually for any, you know, we really, again, you know, you know, you know what you're saying in all of these agencies that are doing these blended experiments, these distance experiments and these blended experiments. And we really are able to learn from each other. Like you said, like how does the CTE program. Go from no tech to tech in a weekend or a week. And to be able to sustain it for the year as well. So. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So five minutes or so. Mount the ablans. Any other thoughts or any other questions from the field? No, I think we covered it. Okay. Maybe we get, maybe we can take off a few minutes early for lunch. Okay. All right. I popped the, I popped the, let me do the evaluation link one more time in case you missed it. Pop that in the chat right now. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. All right. Now just go back to the conference schedule later and the link will be there to complete the evaluation and we'll make sure that. My former colleagues at Mount Diablo. I used to work in Mount Diablo before I came to the 10. So. That Diablo has a big place in my heart. I know. Sweet. So, but we'll make sure to share the good feedback with, with y'all. All right. Well, hopefully. We'll see you next time. And again, feel free to reach out to any of us. You have our website that has our presentation and our emails on it. So, and if you, like I said, if you do have resources, you want to share, I can, I'll take that, the article, and I'll put it on the website too. But if you have other resources you want to share, if you email them to me, I'll just add it to the website. And, you know, if it needs to be cited, I'll be glad to cite it when I put it on.