News & Updates

• Reminders for Faculty – Planning Ahead:
  • Preparing for Online Exams: Offering an exam asynchronously via eClass, or using eClass to deliver the exam in the classroom? We recommend scheduling a consultation for exam design/support to ensure a smooth experience for you and your students. Please schedule appointments 2-5 days prior to exam administration to ensure staff availability.
  • Finalizing eClass Gradebooks: Want to ensure your grades are calculated accurately in eClass? Make an appointment with us!
  • Preparing for Fall 2024: Fall eClass courses were made available to faculty shortly after Commencement. Visit your “Future” courses on the eClass homepage to find your upcoming courses. If your anticipated courses are not yet available on eClass, please confirm that you have been assigned to those courses by the Registrar’s Office.
• Reminders for Chairpersons – Faculty Workshop Requirements: As you continue to hire for Summer/Fall courses currently listed as “Instructor TBA”:
  • eClass Basics for Faculty: All new faculty members must participate in the asynchronous/self-paced training “eClass Basics”, regardless of course modality. New faculty members are provided with training information in their on-boarding packets from Academic Affairs. Please help us encourage participation.
  • Required Certification to Teach HYB/OL: To teach hybrid and/or fully online courses at MSMC, faculty must become certified through the “Training to Teach Online.” Upon hiring/assigning instructors to teach HYB/OL courses, please notify Kayla Gori who will assist in determining if certification or re-certification will be needed. Since it is meant to help instructors prepare themselves and their courses in alignment with quality benchmarks, faculty should engage in this workshop prior to the course start date. Enrollment in to the workshop occurs on a rolling basis. Again, kindly follow up with Kayla as soon as TBAs are filled to give your instructors the maximum time possible to participate and prepare.
• Reminders for Advisors and Academic Coaches – OL Tutorial Hold/OLSOT:
  • As students enroll in OL courses for the first time, the “OL Tutorial” hold will be placed on their account. Students will now be notified via automated email about the hold and the related training (the Online Student Orientation Tutorial – aka “OLSOT”) that must be completed in order to resolve it. This hold will prevent registration until it is resolved.
  • As it is meant to prepare them for the online learning environment, please encourage students with this hold to complete the training prior to taking their OL course this summer or fall.
• DLIDS in the Community:
  • Members of DLIDS attended the Online Learning Consortium’s virtual conference April 23-25. The conference theme is “Elevating Pathways: Navigating the Terrain of Future Learning.”
  • Members of DLIDS and the Office of Disability Services will be participating in a 4-week long Universal Design for Learning (UDL) virtual workshop this Summer, with plans to offer faculty a workshop on UDL in Fall 2024.

• Reminders for Faculty – Planning Ahead:
  • Preparing for Spring 2024 Final Exams: Offering a final exam asynchronously via eClass, or using eClass to deliver the exam in the classroom? Please be sure to plan ahead and schedule a consultation for exam design/support in advance at http://digitallearning.msmc.edu/make-an-appointment/. To ensure staff availability, please schedule any necessary appointments before May 8, 2024.
  • Finalizing eClass gradebooks for Spring 2024: Want to ensure your grades are calculating accurately in eClass before entering final grades on the Portal? Make an appointment with us at http://digitallearning.msmc.edu/make-an-appointment/! To ensure staff availability, please schedule any necessary appointments before May 17, 2024.
  • Preparing for Summer 2024: Faculty were notified on March 13 that Summer 2024 eClass courses are now available. Visit your “Future” courses on the eClass homepage to find your summer eClass courses. If you need any support, please email or call the office.
  • Preparing for Fall 2024: Fall eClass courses will be made available to faculty shortly after Commencement. An email announcement to notify faculty of course availability will be sent on or around May 20.
• Reminders for Chairpersons – Faculty Workshop Requirements: As you continue to hire for Summer/Fall courses currently listed as “Instructor TBA”:
  • eClass Basics for Faculty: All new faculty members must participate in the asynchronous/self-paced training “eClass Basics,” regardless of course modality. New faculty members are provided with training information in their on-boarding packets from Academic Affairs. Please help us encourage participation.
  • Required Certification to Teach HYB/OL: To teach hybrid and/or fully online courses at MSMC, faculty must become certified through “Training to Teach Online.” Upon hiring/assigning instructors to teach HYB/OL courses, please notify Kayla Gori who will assist in determining if certification or recertification will be needed. Since it is meant to help instructors prepare themselves and their courses in alignment with quality benchmarks, faculty should engage in this workshop prior to the course start date. Enrollment into the workshop occurs on a rolling basis. Again, kindly follow up with Kayla as soon as TBAs are filled to give your instructors the maximum time possible to participate and prepare.
• Reminders for Advisors and Academic Coaches – OL Tutorial Hold/OLSOT:
  • As students enroll in OL courses for the first time, the “OL Tutorial” hold will be placed on their account. Students will now be notified via automated email about the hold and the related training (the Online Student Orientation Tutorial – aka “OLSOT”) that must be completed in order to resolve it. This hold will prevent registration until it is resolved.
  • As it is meant to prepare them for the online learning environment, please encourage students with this hold to complete the training prior to taking their OL course this summer or fall.
• DLIDS in the Community:
  • Members of DLIDS will be attending the Online Learning Consortium’s virtual conference April 23-25. The conference theme is “Elevating Pathways: Navigating the Terrain of Future Learning.” During this time, the office will be available via phone/email, but appointments will be limited. To follow the conference, the staff will be curating messaging/resources to share with the faculty.
  • Members of DLIDS and the Office of Disability Services will be participating in a four-week Universal Design for Learning (UDL) virtual workshop this Summer, with plans to offer faculty a workshop on UDL in Fall 2024.

• Mid-Term Grades: As a reminder, Midterm grades are due on March 14. If you have any need for gradebook assistance, please make your consultation appointments as soon as you are able to. Also, eClass does not automatically pass grades to the Registrar’s office. They must be separately submitted to the Portal.
• Make an Appointment with us here.
• We have created a new training “eClass Basics for Staff” specifically for non-faculty staff members that may be managing any class site. You can find that by clicking “Getting Started” on the top of the eClass homepage.

• eClass upgrade is coming on December 21: eClass will be upgraded from version 3.11 to 4.1. eClass will be unavailable starting at 4 a.m. on this date. Please plan ahead accordingly. We will be sending additional reminders as the upgrade draws closer.
• Visit our website for more details about this upgrade, as well as a sneak peek video of what is coming soon!
  • digitallearning.msmc.edu/news-and-updates/
  • DLIDS Youtube Channel
• We will be updating all of our video resources and eClass documentation to reflect the new changes coming to eClass. These will be available on our website and YouTube channel following the update. Please visit digitallearning.msmc.edu for our self-paced resources.
• Upcoming finals appointments: As finals are quickly approaching, please make sure to email us your requests for support or appointments in advance (if needed) for on or before December 14.

• NEW WEBSITE: Our office has developed a new resource website, with an updated web address to reflect our current office name: digitallearning.msmc.edu. The site has now been made available to all faculty, and can serve as a resource for questions related to eClass, digital pedagogies, and online/hybrid course development.
• RELOCATION: Our office has recently relocated to Guzman Hall. Feel free to continue to schedule appointments with us via our website, where in-person options for meetings will soon become available as we get settled in.
• FACULTY OUTREACH: We have launched our new outreach plan for MSMC Faculty, which we are calling “Digital Teaching Toolkits.” Inspired by the Writing Center’s “Writing Wednesday” mailings, these will serve as ways to share tips and tools with faculty to benefit their online interactions with students.
• FACULTY TRAINING: In Summer 2023, our office supported a large number of faculty members as they worked toward recertification to teach online at MSMC. This mostly consisted of faculty members who were originally certified during the pandemic and are still teaching hybrid/online today. All of them are due for their 3-year recertification.
• STUDENTS: When students register for a 100 percent online course for the first time at MSMC, the “Online Tutorial Hold” is placed on their account and prompts them to complete the OLSOT (Online Student Orientation Tutorial). This was previously implemented as a “soft hold,” as to not prevent access to course registration. However, a high rate of noncompletion was seen in the 22-23 AY. Delivering an orientation for online students is a Middle States expectation, so as a best practice measure to ensure compliance, the “Online Tutorial Hold” has been changed to be a “hard hold” moving forward. Academic advisors should encourage students to complete the OLSOT to release the hold. If the hold is present for a student not taking current/upcoming online courses, please email us for support.

eCLASS:

• Reminder to have all Spring 2023 gradebook support requests sent and/or support appointments scheduled prior to Thursday, May 18. Email digitallearning@msmc.edu.
• Fall 2023 courses are now available for faculty to begin preparations. Please email digitallearning@msmc.edu for support as needed.
• Faculty Training Reminders:
• All new FT and PT faculty joining the college must complete eClass Basics (self-paced) training. Faculty can self-enroll anytime by visiting eClass and clicking the “Getting Started” link on the homepage.
• Faculty teaching fully online courses are required to obtain a certification to teach online and maintain that certification by participating in a “refresher” every three years. Our office works with chairpersons to identify those needing certification/recertification. We will be reaching out to the faculty who must participate in anticipation of the Fall semester shortly.

NEW WEBSITE: Our website, which was a main hub for eClass and online teaching/learning resources, was lost in the cyber incident in December. This summer, we will be building a new website, which will have an updated web address to reflect our current office name: http://digitallearning.msmc.edu/.  The site is not live yet, but an announcement will be made to the faculty and all-emp list servs when the website is available.

• eClass Authentication Method (Spring 2023)
  • eClass is temporarily relying on faculty, staff, and student Google accounts for authentication purposes. eClass will go back to traditional authentication methods with the eventual restoration of single sign-on (CAS system).
  • Full-time faculty and staff who previously used @msmc.edu address for authentication on eClass may experience difficulties with the Zoom and Turnitin integrations on eClass during this time. Temporary workarounds were suggested in an email to the MSMC community on February 8, and can be reviewed here.
• General Faculty Support (eClass/Online Instruction)
  • Our office continues to see exponential increases in eClass support requests, indicating continued growth of digital instruction/educational technologies usage across all course modalities (traditional, hybrid, and fully online).
  • Faculty interested in 1-1 support with eClass and online/digital instruction can make appointments with us by emailing digitallearning@msmc.edu.
• Faculty Workshops and Trainings
  • eClass Basics for Faculty: As of August 2022, new faculty joining our institution are now expected to participate in this 100 percent online, self-paced workshop in order to become familiar with our learning management system. After completion, new faculty are welcome to request more personalized support as needed. Existing and returning faculty can also take this and other self-paced eClass proficiency training under the “Getting Started” area of the eClass homepage.
  • Certification to Teach Online: In preparation to teach hybrid and online courses in Spring 2023, three full-time and part-time faculty participated in the certification workshop “Training to Teach Online.” This workshop focuses on online pedagogy and developing high quality online learning experiences.
• Online Course Development Projects
  • We are continuing to support the School of Business with the development of several fully online courses as part of the Online MBA program, which began January 2023.
• Student Workshops
  • The Online Learning Student Orientation Tutorial (OLSOT), or “Online Tutorial,” is a required, self-paced, asynchronous tutorial that prepares first-time online students for the online learning environment. The OLSOT provides important information and policies regarding online courses, opportunities for hands-on practice with online activities, and tips and resources for being successful within the online learning environment. So far this academic year, 217 students have completed this training.
• New Staff Member
  • Kaitlin Zani joined our team as Instructional Support Specialist on February 20, 2023. Kaitlin is an alum of the Mount and holds a BA in Advertising and Public Relations. In her previous role at Thayer Leadership in West Point, she supported faculty and participants with event coordination and planning. In her role as Instructional Support Specialist, Kaitlin will be providing eClass training and support to faculty, staff, and students as well as departmental coordination for our team.