Narrator: OTAN. Outreach and Technical Assistance Network.

Martha Clayton: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Martha Clayton. I am an ESL instructor at Los Angeles City College. I'm going to just share my screen here with everyone. So, good afternoon. As I was saying, my name is Martha Clayton. I am an ESL instructor at Los Angeles City College. I am also the digital literacy coordinator and DLAC team leader. And with me is Carmen Delgado. Go ahead, Carmen.

CARMEN L. DELGADO: My name is Carmen Delgado. I teach computer basics and Los Angeles City College. I am a DLAC team member and computer instructor coordinator.

Martha Clayton: It's no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.

CARMEN L. DELGADO: When we started our participation in DLAC, we had two goals. We wanted to create student workshops that offer scaffolding to low-tech proficiency students So. We could increase learning and engagement with our student information system and Office 365 Suite. We also wanted to create Digital EL Civics, learning materials, and assessments in order to increase student participation.

This goals are complementary, and they have been very successful projects. We saw increases in student engagement with technology because instructors were collaborating. ESL and computer technology instructors develop concurrent curriculum and supported each other and students.

Martha Clayton: Through surveys, informal interviews, and class projects, students were asked to share their feelings about the web enhance flips and hybrid class experiences. "I like the online classes because it saves time and no need to travel to the college campus." "I like using Canvas because I can do homework on my phone, tablet, or computer." "I like using Canvas for our online classroom because there are no papers. You just see your assignments and reply on the spot."

So we knew that students were excited but also had some apprehension. This encouraged us to develop course materials and more collaboration opportunities that would increase learner competencies and confidence. "I'm using Android cell phone, and I'm having a hard time looking at the screen very small." "I don't like online classes because I can't interact with my friends and teacher." "Sometimes it's hard that everyone is talking and listening at the same time." We began to make plans for future semesters based on the data that we compiled during the pilot phase of our projects.

CARMEN L. DELGADO: Maybe it's not the distance but how you handle it. And then COVID-19 happened, and we switched to emergency remote instruction. But in order to be successful as remote instructors, we needed to develop a rapid response with situation that none of us had ever experienced before. So we created a centralized resource, communications, and training hub in campus called Digital Literacy.

We were able to initiate this because of our leadership training and distance learning training. We focus on people's strengths to share the workload. We utilize our DL 101 and 102 training to design the digital literacy shell so it could support faculty needs and simultaneously model effective distance learning methods, techniques, and resource management.

Martha Clayton: In the past, distance impeded our ability to move forward with our DLAC projects. When team members were at different home campuses, it was challenging. So we reformed the team to include more instructors from the same home campus. At that time, the idea that team members could effectively collaborate via Zoom seemed impossible even though we were in the same city.

Now, distance is offering us an opportunity to explore new ideas and offer students opportunities that would have been impossible prior to our transition to remote instruction. For example, I recently finished a class project called "Cooking With Imperatives." This project would not have been possible in the traditional classroom setting.

[video playback]

[music playing]

- Can you see me OK?

- OK. Yes.

- OK, so what is my first step?

- You have all the ingredients ready, right?

- Check the garlic and the ginger.

- What I'm excited for is next week to see some of your recipes. Everyone goes quiet then.

[laughter]

Look at how big this pile of garlic is. It's huge. How should I cut the ginger?

- Oh, I don't remember.

[interposing voices]

- Beans?

- I heard someone say it. What was the--

[interposing voices]

- It's beans?

- Yeah, the shape that sticks through. Do you remember that word?

- It's beans?

-- Batons.

Karen Ruano: Oh, yeah.

- That was the word he used, right? And we looked at the picture. What about ginger? How do people feel about ginger? Yes or like ginger? Like or dislike?

- I like it.

- Look, here are some little ones.

[interposing voices]

- It's matchsticks? Matchsticks?

- It's actually a good way of-- that's a good thing. That's a good name for it too. What do I do next?

- You put the pot on the stove so you can get hot.

- Yeah, the oil first.

- Does anyone know how many tablespoons of oil? Do you remember?

- It's like two or three because you put a lot.

- OK. You have to make this recipe at home. Change-- if you don't eat pork, put beef in it. Or you could even do this with lamb. I think you could even do with ground turkey.

[end playback]

Martha Clayton: OK. Let's see if we can get our PowerPoint going again here. [chuckles] Thank you for your patience. OK. Go ahead, Carmen, if you're there.

CARMEN L. DELGADO: Yes.

Martha Clayton: OK.

CARMEN L. DELGADO: Where do we go from here? While we aren't completely sure what the future has in store for us, we do know that DLAC has given us the skills and knowledge we needed to make this abrupt transition to remote teaching possible. Our instructors are supported through hands-on training, shared resources, and increased collaboration, while students are supported through level and made appropriate course design, presentation, and communication.

Martha Clayton: Additionally, we recently participated in field testing of EL Civics COAAP's remote assessments. And the faculty in our program are currently collaborating on a four-week series that focuses on identifying our core values as a community of practice and how they can be implemented to support our students in the future.

And as we close, we would like to thank everyone at OTAN for their support, guidance, and patience over the past two years, especially our phenomenal coach, Susan Gaer. This has been an incredible experience. We would also like to thank the amazing team at City College. We have been supported by almost 80 adjunct instructors, an incredible team of coordinators, and our deans, Angelica Ramirez and Dr. Imelda Perez. We could not have done this without their unwavering support. Thank you.