These dates are subject to change.
Next up! Spring 2026: January 20-March 16, 2026
Fall 2026 Dates TBD (check back April 2026)
I'm excited to have you here! I'm really looking forward to working together. This site is meant to give you a brief introduction to the course and let you know what tools you'll need, how to get started in Canvas, and how to contact me. Please view my brief introduction video below!
I'm Ashli Bumgardner, and I'm the Distance Education Coordinator at Columbia College. I was an English undergraduate and former MJC student (our sister college!). I have a single-subject teaching credential in English, and I have a Master of Science in Instructional Science and Technology from CSU Monterey Bay. (I love being a student!)
When I'm not on the computer, I like to play fetch with my dogs Belle🔔 and Maple🍁, hang out with my younger siblings, and go on road trips with my husband.
I just go by Ashli. 😎
Learning to teach online is important for everyone in the field of education now more than ever. The skills you learn here will probably spill over to your face-to-face classes as well, because these tools and resources are helpful for all modalities! Faculty will design and build the first four weeks of their online course during this training. Faculty who complete the training with 90% or better will become certified to teach online courses at Columbia!
The training focuses on two areas:
Designing an accessible online course based on student equity principles
Building an Online Community that Supports Equity, Retention, and Success
This is a student-centered, project-based course and revision is an important part of the process!
Audience: Faculty who have not been through the Online Instruction Training before, especially faculty who plan to teach online/hybrid or faculty who are interested in a refresher.
Compensation: 3 academic equivalent units, 120 hours Professional/FLEX time, or $1500 stipend*
*stipend is contingent upon funding and only upon completion with a score of 90% or higher
Please also note: a stipend or units is only available to faculty who have not earned either for completing the training in the past.
Modality: Fully online through Canvas with no required synchronous meetings. (Optional drop-in style office hours will be hosted online through Zoom weekly during the course.)
Work: About 12-15 hours of work per week for 8 weeks. (The course typically spans 8 weeks. A course timeline some semesters may extend to 9 weeks to allow for breaks at holidays.)
There isn't a required textbook, but you will need
a laptop/desktop computer not more than five years old (recommended: a wide-screen monitor or two monitors and/or a laptop with a docking station)
access to a high-speed internet connection and an updated browser
a webcam (built-in to the computer works!) for recording videos
a microphone (often, the ones built-in to laptops, webcams, or phones work just fine, but sometimes a separate microphone may be required for optimal sound quality)
By the end of this course, you will be able to
Design an online course
Operate Canvas to exploit its rich potential for student learning
Build the first four weeks of an equitable and accessible online course geared for high retention and success
Leverage research-based techniques for enhancing equity in online courses
Construct engaging, project-based assignments and assessments
Establish “instructor presence” through embedded video and other techniques and technologies
My teaching philosophy is that everyone, the facilitator/instructor included, should be an active part of the learning community in a course. I’m always learning new things about online teaching and design, and I welcome feedback. I acknowledge the various experiences we all bring to our course, and I want to honor those differences and share them so that we can learn from one another. That means we have to be able to build trust in one another to feel safe enough to try new things and be honest in our discussions. We have to be supportive of one another as we struggle through the messy process that is learning.
Our goal is to create online courses that are designed with student success as a guiding factor through relevant content, responsive communication, and community-centered activities. All of this is in hopes to help our students stay on their educational and career paths that can eventually help lead them to the lives they want.
I will be an active participant in our online course by posting announcements and responding to questions in our Open Q & A discussion.
I will do my best to respond to all messages within 24-48 hours.
I will remember that we all have busy lives, so I will be flexible to best support your success.
I will do my best to provide individualized feedback on all assignments within 1 week of the due dates.
I will provide you with ways to improve when needed and opportunities to try again in order to succeed.
I will respect the learning process and experiences of you as a learner.
I commit to being an active learner myself and continue to look for ways to improve my own teaching strategies and learn from you the best ways to support you.
You will log in every week by no later than Monday to take a look at the week's activities and due dates.
You will reach out to me and/or to your colleagues using the communication channels when you have questions about the activities.
You will communicate with me if there is a due date that will not work so that we can work out a plan that will work for you.
You will check your grade feedback weekly to access the individualized feedback and revise/resubmit as needed.
You will respect the learning process and experiences of yourself and your colleagues. Be patient with yourself. Choose kind, constructive language and interactions in our online forums.
Whenever I try a new course design idea or technology tool, it is rare that the first iteration or attempt is what I want. I try things over and over (and I'm always learning better ways to design!).
I recommend you lean in to the process, struggles and all. Try new things. You can't break Canvas! Sandboxes are for the messy test-runs. They're our space to figure things out. It's all a great big work-in-progress. My advice for success is to
log in every Monday to evaluate the due dates for the week. This will help give you a clear focus for the week.
log in multiple times throughout the week to check announcements, grade feedback, and discussion threads.
use Google Chrome as your browser. It's the recommended browser for Canvas, and there are lots of cool extensions for Chrome.
set up Canvas notifications to get notified of course activity such as announcements, discussion replies, and grade feedback.
if you find that a due date won't work, please communicate with me. We can work something out.
Canvas and Technical Support are available to support your success in our course. If you have accommodations, please send me an email!
Columbia's Online Learning page includes resources for students and faculty, including contact information for our Online Learning Help Desk.
24/7 Canvas Support via Live Chat! Seriously, it's great. It's a real human available for live chat 24/7. They can help with most Canvas questions.
Go to the Canvas Support Page
Select "Contact Support" (upper or lower right)
Select "Yes, contact support"
Choose "Chat"
Daytime Canvas Support at Columbia: Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30 pm, Call Columbia's Distance Education Instructional Support Specialist at 209-588-5011. Schedule meetings via Zoom or in person in the ITC (Juniper 104) or drop in to Open Lab Hours.
Daytime Tech Support: Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, call the YCCD Help Desk at (209) 588-5385
The course is designed to be accessible for all. If you have any necessary accomodations, please let me know. Send me a message before the course begins through email bumgardnera@yosemite.edu or through the Canvas Inbox after the course begins. I can work with you. I do my best to make sure everyone who takes this course has a positive experience so they can be successful.
Use your Yosemite email and password
hint: bookmark this page for easy access
Contact Daytime Tech and Canvas Support
Call (209) 588-5385
Call our Distance Education Instructional Support Specialist at (209) 588-5011
Check out the current semester's syllabus in Simple Syllabus--filter for the subject "CEDUC" and look for my name, Ashli Bumgardner 😊
Graphics free from Canva
Photo 1 (My Teaching Philosophy) by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
Photo 2 (My Advice for Success) by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash