Professional Development

SMCCD promotes academic excellence through professional development for all members of its academic community. Professional development provides faculty, staff and administrators ways to support student learning and student success, as well as encouraging innovation and professional growth. SMCCCD offers essential training to foster high quality educational outcomes for students and the community.

Accessibility Basics with PopeTech

Digital accessibility strives for inclusive design that allows anyone to use, engage with, and enjoy digital content regardless of the level of ability, condition, or circumstances. We want all students, including those with visual, cognitive, physical, and auditory disabilities to have access to materials, so they can fully engage and thrive in our courses. This microcourse will familiarize you with using the Pope Tech tools to check the overall accessibility of your course and address common accessibility issues in one module of your course.

The Easy Button: Recordings with Zoom and Panopto

The Easy Button: Recording with Zoom and Panopto microcourse helps you leverage your Zoom skills to record lectures and other instructional videos, and easily deploy them to Panopto right inside your Canvas shell. You will learn how to use Panopto to share Zoom recordings in Canvas, add a video thumbnail image to your video, and embed it into a Canvas course of your choice.

#Ungrading Part 1

The #Ungrading microcourse aims to rethink the history of grading systems and how they impact students, through an equity lens. You will begin to explore and evaluate small steps towards more equitable grading that you may use.

Instructor Feedback

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on student learning and achievement. Giving students feedback during the learning process has been proven to increase engagement and improve student learning outcomes. During this microcourse, explore strategic choices that influence the effectiveness of delivering informational feedback in support of student learning.

Reimagining the Syllabus

The Reimagining the Syllabus microcourse invites you to approach and assess your syllabi from an equity-minded and student-centered perspective. Ultimately, the syllabus is more than just a document; it can be a powerful tool for empowerment, inclusion, connection, and liberation.

Revamping Your Course Introduction Video

This Revamping Your Course Introduction Video microcourse invites you to create or revamp your course introduction video, as a way to humanize the learning experience, welcome all students, and plan the seed for a positive social presence in your course. You will reflect on the potential of course introduction videos from a student-centered perspective, and create/revamp a course introduction video for a course of your choice.

Copyright in Education

The Copyright in Education microcourse introduces the basics of copyright in education, including key topics such as Fair Use, licensing, public domain, and SMCCCD institutional policies. You will determine how to adequately share a sample of instructional materials in your course or project, applying Fair Use factors and best practices for sharing.

The Path to Zero Textbook Cost

The high cost of textbooks can bring up significant barriers for students' learning and success, disproportionately impacting those who are experiencing food and/or housing insecurity. Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) paves a path toward social justice, providing flexibility and contributing to a more equitable and inclusive experience for students. This microcourse will familiarize you with key criteria of the ZTC course designation, and will help you identify ZTC materials for your classes.

DesignPLUS 101: Templates (Skyline Only)

Welcome to DesignPLUS Templates 101, a great way to quickly and easily apply good design templated formatting to your Canvas course. This micro course can be completed in under 2 hours and is completely self-paced (asynchronous). This software is only available at Skyline College.

RSI in Action

Effective communication is the foundation of strong relationships, both in everyday life and in the classroom. The revised standards for Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI), as outlined in Title V of the California Education Code, establish key communication practices that foster meaningful instructor-student engagement, enhance student learning outcomes, and elevate the overall educational experience. RSI in Action, our new two-hour, self-paced Canvas microcourse, provides a comprehensive overview of the updated Title V standards. This course offers practical strategies for integrating RSI into your teaching, along with examples and resources to support effective instruction across all modalities. We invite instructors to view RSI as an opportunity to enrich student engagement, promote equitable learning experiences, and cultivate deeper connections in the classroom—ultimately enhancing both student success and the teaching experience.

Other Training Opportunities

Training available through @ONE

@ONE--the Online Network of Educators-- a collaborative, system-wide network of California Community College faculty, staff, and administrators, is coordinated by the professional development team of the CCC California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI). @ONE provides training and professional development to support the effective use of digital tools and platforms to make California Community Colleges a nationally recognized leader in online teaching and learning.

@ONE Website →

Human Resources Trainings

Unconscious Bias and other trainings offered by SMCCCD Human Resources as well as those offered by the Professional Development Academy. Available trainings are not specific to faculty, but available to everyone.

Human Resources Website →

Cañada College (CIETL)

The Center of Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning brings together professional development, teaching and learning and support resources for faculty.

CIETL Website

Campus Contacts

College of San Mateo (CIPL)

The Center for integrated Professional Learning offers professional development activities, workshops and resources.

CAE Website

Campus Contacts

Skyline College (CTTL)

The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning leads and supports professional learning opportunities that enrich equitable teaching and learning across our campus.

CTTL Website

Campus Contacts