COOL Process Forms
The Spring 2024 COOL Process Closed March 15
Look for announcements in your Chabot email when the process resumes in the fall.
How Does the COOL Process Work?
Step 1: Complete and Submit Your Materials Packet
Participation Agreement and Online Teaching Plan (OTP): We ask all participants to complete the agreement form and plan document to be eligible for the current cohort. They ask you to reflect on your teaching experiences and pedagogy, the Chabot resources you have at your disposal, and your online teaching plans for the course you wish to work in during the COOL process.
Course Site Review: If you are participating in COOL for the first time, please note that you will also be asked to draft a Course Review Prep Worksheet and create a Canvas Sandbox site where you have built the welcome/orientation materials plus two weeks of course content. If you need a sandbox, please email Chabot Instructional Technology.
Step 2: COOL Support Team Review
You will be assigned a COOL Support Team (3-5 faculty members) to review your OTP and sandbox and provide feedback. After your team completes this step, you will be asked to make revisions to the OTP and/or sandbox as needed.
Step 3: Revisions
You have several resources at your disposal for the revision process:
- Your support team
- Chabot Workshops
- Discipline-specific COOL mentors
- Chabot's Instructional Technology Team
- Tools for Teaching
- COOL: Accessible Course Design
Everyone who submits this completed form will receive an invite to COOL: Accessible Course Design. If you did not receive the invite, please contact Instructional Technology.
We are invested in your success and here to help every step along the way.
Step 4: Recommendation
Your review team will again review your materials to ensure that you addressed any questions and completed recommended revisions before the committee votes to Recommend or Not Recommend courses to Deans.
Key Terms
COOL Status
New Faculty
If you have not completed the COOL process at all before, please submit three items to become part of the new cohort.
- Online Teaching Plan
- Course Review Prep Worksheet (optional)
- Sandbox with two weeks of content and a Welcome or Orientation module
Fast Track Faculty
If you have completed the COOL process once before (for one class in any modality), all you need to submit is your Online Teaching Plan.
If you are unsure of your status, please contact us.
Online Teaching Plan
The Online Teaching Plan (OTP) is both a reflection on your online teaching philosophy and a summary of your practices and activities over the course of the semester. It is what we will use to match you with a Support Team of 3-4 peer reviewers in your discipline. Your team, in addition to a trained ADA reviewer, will provide guidance, feedback, and resources during the entire COOL process.
Instructors will complete the OTP form online, which includes the following questions:
- Course information and modality;
- Professional development experience/training;
- Support needs; and
- For New participants, a Canvas Course ID for a sandbox site that is ready for review (see below).
The form also serves to inform instructors about state and federal requirements and regulations for Distance Education (DE). Space is provided for narrative reflections on how instructors plan to meet DE regulations such as Virtual Equivalent, Regular Effective Contact, FERPA, and Accessibility.
The completed form will be kept on file by the COOL as a record of the instructor completing the COOL process for the specific course.
Submitted Participation Agreements notify COOL Admin to send a welcome email with an individual OTP to begin personalizing. After the COOL Support Team reviews the document and posts feedback, the instructor will be able to make revisions to their COOL Online Teaching Plan (if needed). And if the instructor has any questions along the way, the COOL Support Team is available to assist. Final OTPs become part of the official educational record and are forwarded to the appropriate dean.
Course Review Prep Worksheet
The optional Course Review Prep Worksheet helps instructors prepare their sandbox for the Course Site Review. It is a combination of essential aspects from three established rubrics: Peralta Equity Rubric, Course Design Rubric, and previous COOL Course Site Review Checklists.
The worksheet includes several links to examples and tutorials to help instructors meet specific DE mandates and best practices for online teaching.
As always, please contact Chabot Instructional Technology if you have a question about Canvas or online teaching. We are available as needed to provide direct support to instructors as they integrate feedback from the COOL Support Team and design a quality online course site.
Sandbox and Course Site Review
New participants can complete their COOL materials by providing a Canvas sandbox that includes a welcome/orientation materials plus two weeks of course content.
Note: If you need a new Canvas sandbox site, please email Chabot Instructional Technology.
The Course Review Prep Worksheet should be used as a guide to ensure your Canvas course site meets specific DE mandates as well as best practices for online teaching. Your COOL Support Team will send you an editable version with feedback, advice, and encouragement.
Sample Timeline
We open new COOL cohorts in the spring and fall semesters. New cohorts typically open in the third week of the semester. Check your Chabot email for additional information.
The COOL process runs for twelve weeks.
- Weeks 1-2: Participants submit completed application; Support Teams are assigned
- Weeks 3-5: Support Teams review applications and provide feedback
- Weeks 6-8: Participants review feedback, revise forms and sandbox as needed, and attend an optional ADA consultation
- Weeks 9-10: Support Teams review changes and provide additional feedback
- Weeks 11-12: Participants review the second round of feedback and revise as needed
In Week 13, the COOL committee hears from Support Teams and officially notifies Deans of the status of each course submitted. You will either be Recommended (and considered Fast Track) or Pending (and welcome to work with Chabot's Instructional Designer over the following semester as you move toward a recommendation).
Questions? Please contact the COOL team.