About us

Expanded opportunities for technology-related training for all Pierce students and faculty.

PierceOnLine is the department name for all things Distance Education at Pierce College. Distance Education refers to any instructors using the Learning Management System (Canvas) to either teach online or web enhance their courses. The faculty and staff in PierceOnLine are responsible for programming of all Distance Education and web-enhanced class shells – plus district files for student uploads. Additionally, they keep the Distance Education website current, train faculty in Canvas and provide support for all faculty and students via email, telephone, and appointments both on and off campus.

PierceOnLine personnel are responsible for:

  • Programming of all Distance Education and web-enhanced class shells – plus district files for student uploads
  • Keeping the Distance Education website current
  • Training new faculty in Canvas
  • Providing support to Distance Education faculty via email, telephone, and appointments both on and off campus
  • Providing support to all Distance Education students via email and telephone
  • Answering all Distance Education questions
  • Attending Distance Education district meetings
  • Maintaining sections of classes per semester on our LMS
  • Working with District Academic Senate on DE issues
  • Offering Workshops on different useful tools for teaching in the LMS, Canvas

Professional Development for Faculty and Staff

PierceOnline also provides numerous workshops every month. The following workshops have or are currently being offered at Pierce at PierceOnline:

  • Canvas Basics
  • Using Rubrics for Grading
  • Setting Up Activities in SoftChalk
  • Using the Intelecom Video Repository
  • Using Moodle Tools
  • Building an Online Community
  • Using Canvas to Web Enhance Your Class
  • Implementing Gradebook

Meet the staff

Distance Education Vision

At Pierce, we have also created a distributive/distance education vision:

  • To offer students an opportunity to access their materials and coursework through integrated technology anywhere and anytime to enable successful completion.
  • Using alternative delivery methods, allow students an opportunity to take college courses leading to a degree, transfer, certificates, and/or job opportunity.
  • To build online communities where students are engaged and cultivate knowledge from collaborative learning activities.
  • Develop distance education program in which the standards and practices of our on-site courses are reflected.

Our online courses are created specifically to ensure that students learn course content through engagement with course materials, and ongoing effective interactions with the instructor and fellow students. In order to teach online, instructors at Pierce must complete intensive training that not only teaches how to use the course management tools, but also encompasses online pedagogy including how to set up courses so students learn best.

Within the Learning Management System (LMS) Training, instructors are specifically trained in how to set up their course shell for optimal organization, management, and conduciveness to the development of critical thinking skills in different course activities. Additionally, Los Angeles Pierce College passed a policy that Moodle is the only campus-supported LMS. This policy enables students to focus on course content rather than learning multiple systems.