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December 2022 Vol.2 Issue 6
A look back at innovation
Dave Smulders, Program Manager, Faculty Development
One of our goals at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation (CTLI) is to support faculty in their work, not only on the curriculum development side but also on aspects of the delivery –or teaching—part, like helping set up Blackboard course environments and ensuring everyone has access to the materials and resources they need to do their work.
Because we work in a service area that provides support, we get used to the idea that almost everything around course delivery is URGENT. Help! My final exam isn’t working! (and it’s at the hour of the dreaded exam). Help! My powerpoint won’t load! (and there are a full room of students waiting for your powerpoint to load). Help! I don’t have a key to CL133 and class started 5 minutes ago! (and students are milling about in the corridor). Help!…
Wait a minute. At CTLI, we don’t even have keys to classrooms. The same applies to technological issues, like log-in troubles or crashed networks. There are other areas like Tech Services or Facilities that have the means to provide the right service like assisting with log-ins or opening locked doors, among a host of other invaluable services. So, Help is more layered than one might think. Help can be a technological or technical service, but it can be something more in depth as well.
At CTLI, well before the on-the-spot provision of Help, we strive to develop relationships over the long term, to work with folks from the program areas on courses and to see that process all the way through. So when something goes awry, what are we supposed to do? We can’t help, really, not in all cases, but we can fly around looking for solutions and finding the right people to help. And so that’s what we tend to do.
However, support work can have its limitations. And instead of beating back the tide every day, maybe it’s sometimes better to think about finding new and better ways to live with the ocean. Along with our ability to help others do their day-to-day work, we also pride ourselves on our efforts to support innovation. This often occurs in our project work, contributing design ideas in courses and programs, looking for different solutions to ongoing issues, and finding new and interesting ways of doing things in education. That includes exploring the potential of Open Education and Open Pedagogy, using new technologies like H5P or Virtual Reality, reimagining ways of assessing learning and engaging students in valuable learning experiences, challenging old assumptions about how we learn and how we teach, and creating new partnerships with clients and collaborators, both within JIBC and beyond into the wider education community.
As we’ve arrived at the end of the calendar year, this issue of the Learning Hub brings all those presentations back together to help remind us of the great work going on at JIBC among faculty, staff and students.
All in all, we can see that there are lots of JI folks who are keenly interested in innovation and applying thoughtful design to their courses. We intend to continue providing support, both in the moment and also with longer-term initiatives that allow us to research and experiment and innovate. This is the work that we do. If you think you’ve been doing good work here that we haven’t heard about, maybe DemoFest is the venue for you. Please consider being a presenter/contributor next year when we put out our call for presenters. We’d like to celebrate your great work and let others know about it. But hurry, you’ve got less than a year to come up with a good idea to showcase. We’ll be calling for you.
At CTLI, we wish everyone a replenishing holiday break. We’ll be back in the new year with more issues and ideas. As always, we are looking for contributors for articles, interviews, you name it. Please consider joining the fun as we try to make JIBC a leader in education on all kinds of fronts.
Happy Holidays!
Land Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge that we work from the New Westminister campus which is located on unceded traditional territories of the Qiqéyt (Qayqayt), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and Coast Salish Peoples. This is a land where the river meets the great sea and the mountains overlook the vast and fertile valleys. This is a land of confluence and crossovers, connecting people, cultures, and ideas. We are grateful to learn about the history of these lands and to join in new traditions.
Upcoming Events
Holiday Break for Drop-ins
We’ll be taking a holiday break from drop-ins and returning in the new year. But never fear! We’re still around until the winter break. Need help? You can still book a time with us by emailing ctli@jibc.ca.
Recap of the Virtual Day 1
Our first day of DemoFest was all online, with our guest speakers joining in from all parts of the province. Engaging talks, creative ideas and lots of things to think about, our day one was a huge success and we are so grateful for having these wonderful presenters attend.
Please go check out the recordings below if you haven’t already. They are awesome! We learned about the BC Open Textbook Collection, the use of SPLOTS! in Jessica’s course (if you don’t know what a SPLOT! is, you had better tune in), and Ethical Educational Technology, which is a sprawling, diverse topic of incredible importance for all of us in this business. We opened the day in a good way, having Elder Larry Grant open our virtual day, and although we had every technical issue under the sun challenge us that morning, nothing could outshine our guests and their really wonderful presentations. Let’s not forget to say thank you to those brave souls who made a brief celebratory video for their projects (which were showcased in our Day 2 event!).
Ethical EdTech
ANNE-MARIE SCOTT
Deputy Provost, Athabasca University
Anne–Marie is a leader in the ed tech world. An internationally recognized authority on educational technology and open education, among numerous other pursuits, she has worked in a wide variety of leadership roles in post–secondary education, both here in Canada and abroad. Anne-Marie shared with us her thoughts around Ethics in Educational Technology. She gave all of us lots to think about and consider as we move forward in our Teaching & Learning space.
Click the button to read more about her presentation.
BC Open Collection
CLINT LALONDE
Acting Director, Open Education, BCcampus
Wrangler of learning technologies by day, Dad, cyclist, soccer fan and lately, home roaster of coffee by night, Clint’s educational interests include network learning, social learning, open education and open educational resources.
Clint showcased the new BC Open Collection, a great open educational resource site that anyone can access, developed by BCcampus.
Check out the BC Open Collection by clicking the button.
SPLOTS
DR. JESSICA MOTHERWELL-MCFARLANE, Ph.D.
Jessica is Counsellor, Educator, Researcher, Speaker, Innovator. Passionate about counselling and teaching, Jessica has dedicated three decades to focusing on gender, youth, women’s issues, and transitions across the whole life span. Jessica specializes in offering workshops in anti-racism, truth and reconciliation, implicit bias, and social justice.
Jessica presented the use of SPLOTS in her courses and we even got to try a little hands on contributions. View her slides by clicking the button below.
DemoFest Day 1
And without further ado, here are our guests from DemoFest Day 1, talking about Ethical Ed Tech, the BC Open Textbook Collection, and SPLOTS!
Synopsis of Day 2: On Campus!
Day 2 of our event brought us to campus, the JIBC’s New Westminster Campus, to be exact. We had presenters lining up the hallway from the bookstore to the cafeteria, and even had a few doing demonstrations in A128!
In the corridor outside the cafeteria we saw the following topics on display:
– Virtual Reality (VR) for training police recruits.
– Praxis, a JIBC-developed technology tool to design and conduct in-depth discussions and simulations.
– ePortfolios, and the deliberate implementation of reflective activities in classes
– multimedia-based simulation exercises
– work-integrated and community-based learning initiatives
– microcredential development in the area of cyber security
– peer assessment, active learning strategies, and assessment redesign for greater student engagement and evaluation integrity
– richer and more visual online learning environments in newly designed courses
– internal resources for JIBC staff/faculty from the Library, CTLI, the Writing Centre and JI Live
– the work of the JI Student Union to promote student perspectives, specifically the interest and commitment to Open Education initiatives like Open Textbook development
If you didn’t catch the event on the day, you can read about the various projects that were showcased by visiting the DemoFest event page or clicking the button below.
Images taken by Dennis Yip. Copyright 2022.
Save the Date
ETUG Spring Workshop!
JUNE 1 - 2, 2023
The Education Technology Users Group (ETUG) is hosting a spring workshop! Think about presenting or attending. These are great learning experiences. Here is their invite…
Join us in June for our first face-to-face workshop since the Spring of 2019! We’ll be gathering on Musqueam land at Kwantlen Polytechnic University – Richmond Campus on Thursday, June 1st and Friday June 2nd. We hope to offer this workshop as a HyFlex event with both on-campus and online access. More information about the workshop will be coming in the new year.
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Next Issue: ACCESSIBILITY!
Do you enjoy reading the Learning Hub? Do you have any great ideas or advice for our upcoming issues on ACCESSIBILITY? Reach out to our team, we’d love to hear from you and maybe you could be featured in a future Hub!
Happy Holidays! From ...
The Faculty Development Team!
Team Praxis, Simulations & Multimedia!
The IDs!
The Web Specialists Team!
The Learning Hub is a production of the good folks at the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. We welcome ideas and suggestions for edition themes and ideas for articles.
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Wanna talk?
Contact us at ctli@jibc.ca