- 7th Annual Canadian e-Learning Conference Info Booth
- Academic Integrity & Plagiarism: An Online Adventure
- BCNET: Enabling Innovation for Research and Learning
- Bringing the Faculty of Education to YOU
- The Design and Integration of a Novel Online Problem-based Learning Resource to Enhance Undergraduate Medical Education
- Digital Media Project: Helping Students get Ahead with the New Web!
- Digital Tattoo: What’s Yours?
- Easy Assessment and Grading of Student Writing with the New Turnitin PowerLink in Bb Vista
- EFM Survey Tool
- The Evaluation of E-learning: The Unfolding Model
- Harvesting Innovative Practices: Why you need a Learning Centre
- Health Sciences Online
- Honouring Chalk, Talk and Walk with Untethered Computing
- IT Pit Stop – Getting You Ready for Web Applications
- Kuali Student at UBC
- LEAP, We Help You Learn
- Learning Pathology Online: The Digitization of Pathology Specimens and Development of Online Pathology Teaching Cases
- Online Course Accessibility
- Open Education at UBC and Beyond
- Podcasting – Continuing Education for Medical Practitioners
- Strategies for Enhancing Learning through Live HD Video Conference Courses
- Teaching ePortfolios
- UBCevents – Your Campus-Wide Events Calendar
- Vote Here: Using iClicker at UBC
- WebCT/Blackboard Vista – Navigate a Path through Enhanced Learning and Teaching
1. 7th Annual Canadian e-Learning Conference Info Booth
Office of Learning Technology and ETUG
The 2009 Canadian e-Learning Conference (CeLC), with its theme, “From Implementation to Innovation”, will provide participants with the opportunity to examine current best practices and explore emerging areas in the use of technology to support and enhance teaching and learning. This conference will celebrate Canada’s long history of innovative use of learning technologies, including the outstanding contributions of the British Columbia Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG), who celebrate their 15th anniversary in 2009! The program will be diverse, including panels, hands-on workshops, posters and seminars. Please, join us in making this the most interactive, lively gathering of elearning professionals that Canada has ever seen!
2. Academic Integrity & Plagiarism: An Online Adventure
UBC Library, Chapman Learning Commons
Looking for a fun and interactive way for students to learn about Academic Integrity and Plagiarism? Our interactive flash tutorial, written and developed by students, educates and informs users about these key issues. Choose a character, watch the scenarios and select your course of action wisely!
3. BCNET: Enabling Innovation for Research and Learning
BCNET
BCNET is powering innovation at UBC through super, high speed optical networks. Today, BCNET’s network boasts the largest capacity in its 20 year history. Up to 10,000 times faster than the commercial Internet, the network can transfer massive amounts of data at lightning-speed. Learn how these networks are enabling new opportunities for UBC’s faculty and students to engage in collaborative research, life-like meeting experiences, eLearning and more…
- BCNET’s advanced optical research network provides the infrastructure for over 110,000 higher education students to complete research, collaborate on group projects, and network over the internet every day.
- Optical Advanced Networks in British Columbia deliver the power to transport high-definition videoconferencing to BC’s universities, generating exceptional life-like meeting experiences. The adoption of this technology is helping university administrators, faculty and students save time and money by eliminating travel, and creating virtual forums where they may come together from distant locations.
- Today’s scientists increasingly collaborate in global experiments that require the sharing of enormous amounts of digital information. For example, underwater seismic sensors, instruments and video cameras harvest data off the ocean’s floor and transmit readings in real-time to scientists around the world. This experiment and many others that make use of emerging applications require optical advanced networks as the platform to both support these devices and enable researchers to work together and share data.
- Optical networks are the backbone for accessing WestGrid’s high-performance computing, collaboration and visualization infrastructure across Western Canada. Western Canadian researchers who need to solve advanced computational problems rely on optical networks to utilize the power and capacity of WestGrid’s supercomputers.
4. Bringing the Faculty of Education to YOU
Faculty of Education / External Programs and Learning Technologies (EPLT)
Community Generated Media: The Mobile Muse Network applies mobile media technologies to enhance the learning potentials of open public spaces. In our current third phase of applied research (MUSE3) we have created a two-way mobile social media platform that enables the general public to interact with cultural programming and events using a mobile phone and popular social media channels. For example, live video captured by event audience members can be VJ’ed live for display on giant public screens. We call it “Community Generated Media”. We have showcase projects underway in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and at Whistler.
Developing the capacity to provide clinical experience for students at a greater distance: The UBC M.Ed. Counselling Psychology, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselling offers an evidence-informed, state of the art, interactive, and engaging graduate program. The program may include orientation and/or seminars at UBC or affiliated clinical sites, with a distance option for those who are not able to attend in person. There are significant clinical practica courses in Year 2 and Year 3 of the program. The clinical courses can be done with a qualified supervisor with a recognized Master’s degree at student’s location.
5. The Design and Integration of a Novel Online Problem-based Learning Resource to Enhance Undergraduate Medical Education
The Department of Urological Sciences
To bridge the gap between pre-clinical knowledge and the diagnostic approach to common genitourinary conditions, the UBC Department of Urologic Sciences created an online library of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) modules. The cases were published on Diagnosis X server as a collaborative project between UBC and the Molson Medical Informatics Institute and McGill University. Diagnosis X was launched to provide learners from all UBC distributed medical sites with a variety of easily accessible cases.
6. Digital Media Project: Helping Students get Ahead with the New Web!
School of Library, Archival and Information Studies
Our project has been tasked with creating Web 2.0 learning opportunities for students at UBC. Developing 4 distinct projects that all encompass our keywords: situational, modular and collaborative, the Digital Media Interns have lots to share on the topic of student applications for the new web and launching technology-related workshops in the UBC environment.
7. Digital Tattoo: What’s Yours?
Access and Diversity, Career Services, Office of Learning Technology, Student Development, UBC Library, Writing Centre
Digital Tattoo is a new UBC initiative which offers students advice about managing their online reputations. With the advance of Web 2.0 technologies, students are shaping identities online more and more. Digital Tattoo gives students the tools they need to navigate the wired world: how to avoid identity theft, maintain their privacy, and use the Internet to their advantage both for school and on the career front. The project has been featured in the Globe and Mail and has attracted over 1700 participants through the web tutorial and in-person workshops.
8. Easy Assessment and Grading of Student Writing with the New Turnitin PowerLink in Bb Vista
Office of Learning Technology / Skylight / Sociology
The Turnitin suite of web-based tools, licensed by UBC and available to all instructors, allows easy originality checking of student work, easy web-based grading and annotation of student writing, and easy creation of peer-review-of-writing activities for students.
The campus-wide adoption of Bb Vista as our standard course management system (CMS) makes using Turnitin even easier, because the Turnitin suite can now be directly integrated into your course website. No more separate logins! No more headaches over student enrollment! No more mystery course codes! No more laborious downloading and uploading of student documents from your Vista site! No more manual transfer of Turnitin grades to your course gradebook!
In this presentation we will demonstrate a recent pilot integration of Turnitin into the Vista course site of SOCI430: Perspectives on Global Citizenship. We will describe and demonstrate the ways in which this new integration makes originality checking and grading even easier, and will highlight enthusiastic feedback from instructors already using this integrated tool.
Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) is a Canadian-hosted survey solution complying with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This enterprise-level survey tool is web-based, and is a comparable alternative to the US-based Survey Monkey. UBC IT subscribes to EFM through a consortium of BC Higher Education Institutions and is planning to offer use of the tool to the campus community in the coming months.
10. The Evaluation of E-learning: The Unfolding Model
Evaluation Studies Unit / Faculty of Medicine
The presenters will showcase the Unfolding Model, a new, comprehensive approach to the evaluation of e-learning. This model was developed from the scientific literature of test validity and from authentic evaluation studies of diverse post-secondary courses in BC. The presenters will explain the model, and illustrate it with findings from authentic evaluation studies. Finally, because the model is adaptive and dynamic, the audience will be asked how they might supplement or adapt the model so that it remains relevant to new and emerging technologies and learning environments. The model has just been published in a book entitled “The Evaluation of Distance and E-learning: the Unfolding Model” by Guilford Press.
11. Harvesting Innovative Practices: Why you need a Learning Centre
Faculty of Land and Food Systems / Learning Centre
Do you have innovative practices occurring in your faculty with nobody to notice them? Not sure how to nurture your best teachers? The Faculty of Land and Food Systems has The Learning Centre (LFSLC) to promote excellence in teaching and learning. The LFSLC also provides information & communication technologies (ICT) support and promotes classroom best practices. By supporting and nurturing its community, the LFSLC promotes innovation by fostering an environment of measured risk taking. Come discuss how the Land and Food Systems Learning Centre model could work for you.
12. Health Sciences Online
School of Population and Public Health / Department of Health Care and Epidemiology
Health Sciences Online (www.hso.info) has been called “a visionary undertaking” (by former CDC Director Jeff Koplan), is expected to “globally democratize health science knowledge” (by World Bank), and is thought by WHO “to make a considerable contribution to the advancement of e-learning worldwide.” Anne Margulies (Executive Director of Open Course Ware at MIT) says that “HSO is an incredible resource for health professionals all over the world. Open access to health information should literally save millions of lives and lead to important new discoveries.”
HSO is a sieve that includes world-class materials (currently numbering >50,000 resources), hand-selected by clinicians from already-existing reliable sources and resource collections. This includes medical specialty societies, accredited continuing education organizations, governments, and top-ranked universities such as Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Penn, and UCSF. Founding collaborators for this site include WHO, CDC, NATO, World Bank, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and our home institution, UBC. Funding has been obtained from the Canadian and British Columbian governments, WHO, NATO, the Ulrich and Ruth Frank Foundation for International Health, and several generous and committed individuals. Health providers and scientists, in training and in practice, have donated thousands of hours, identifying and making materials accessible for HSO users.
Health sciences information and training are vital for health and socioeconomic development, but excellent, free learning resources are difficult to find. In recent years, information and communication technologies, particularly the Internet, have been central to remedying this situation. But there are still significant hurdles to accessing online content. WHO and others have shown that there is an enormous need to identify selective, current, accessible online educational and training resources to promote appropriate care and policies. In our 2007, 11-country pilot, nearly all users indicated that the HSO website will make their work more effective and productive, help them learn, and increase their motivation and interest in learning.
HSO launched in Summer 2008 as a virtual learning center with browse and search functions. HSO provides free, online linkages to a comprehensive collection of top-quality courses and references in medicine, public health, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, basic sciences, and other health sciences disciplines. These materials are donated, hosted, and maintained by our distinguished content partners, so quality is maintained, and materials can be constantly updated.
For more information or to contribute, contact Erica Frank, MD, MPH, HSO Founder/Executive Director, efrank@emory.edu or Erica.Frank@ubc.ca
13. Honouring Chalk, Talk and Walk with Untethered Computing
Faculty of Applied Science CIS
The Faculty of Applied Science is piloting the use of untethered computing in the classroom, honouring the long tradition of “Chalk and Talk” with a technology twist. Using a tablet PC that is wireless connected to both projector and iClicker antenna, this allows the faculty member to roam the classroom while they “Chalk, Talk and Walk”.
14. IT Pit Stop – Getting You Ready for Web Applications
Arts ISIT
Do you know much about computers? Do you find it inconvenient to follow step by step instructions on websites to figure out if your computer is compatible with web applications? The Arts one-stop Pit Stop offers computer system diagnostic to help identify the specifications of your computer and automatically submits the report to the support help desk to speed up the trouble-shooting process.
15. Kuali Student at UBC
Enrolment Services
Kuali Student System is a next generation Student Service System currently under development. It will be person centric, flexible, and will use a modular approach to support future sustainment.
UBC’s current Student Information System (SIS) is mature, robust, and functionally-rich. It is constantly expanding and while the technology architecture is reasonably current, it requires an update. Having explored the costs and benefits of other options – UBC endorsed and adopted the recommendation to pursue the Kuali Student Service System.
Our presentation at Open House 2009 will cover what KS is – how it’s being built – when it will be delivered – what implementation will involve – and why this is exciting on so many fronts.
16. LEAP, We Help You Learn
Office of Student Development
LEAP stands for Learning Enhancement [through] Academic Partnership. We are a student-led, collaborative project team responsible for providing academic support resources for the UBC community. Since our launch in 2005, we have involved over 500 students (providing content, strategic direction, tutoring, technical implementation, blog entries, feedback, conference presentations and seminar offerings). We’ve partnered with faculty and staff members at both campuses (who contribute content, assist with tutor training and partner on various learning support projects). We look forward to forming new partnerships and having more faculty involvement in the coming year to provide resources to learners!
17. Learning Pathology Online: The Digitization of Pathology Specimens and Development of Online Pathology Teaching Cases
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
The UBC David F. Hardwick Pathology Learning Centre (DHPLC) is a unique educational resource for learning about the causes and mechanisms of human disease, and for studying clinicopathologic correlations. Although the DHPLC is physically located in Vancouver’s Diamond Health Care Centre, it also contains an additional virtual component which includes digitized specimens from the William Boyd Museum of Pathology (termed the Virtual Collections), as well as online pathology teaching cases for medical students and postgraduate trainees.
The Virtual Collections consist of hundreds of anonymized specimens representing the gamut of macroscopic pathological conditions, along with descriptive case histories. These specimens offer medical students and postgraduate trainees an opportunity to see for themselves real examples of pathologies which they will otherwise see only in textbooks.
In addition, the online DHPLC website is also home to 50+ hematopathology cases, a web-based educational resource in hematology/hematopathology for UBC residents and medical students. Each case consists of a concise patient history and physical examination findings, pertinent laboratory investigations, as well as digitized slides of peripheral blood smears, bone marrow aspirates/biopsies, and lymph node biopsies digitally annotated to highlight important diagnostic features. The digitization of such glass slides into an electronic format has increased the availability and ease of access of hematopathology educational materials to learners disseminated across the province as a part of UBC’s distributed medical curriculum.
18. Online Course Accessibility
Office of Learning Technology
This poster presentation details different techniques and guidelines that make online courses more accessible. Accessibility checkers and guidelines vary widely in their application and often require a thorough understanding of accessibility techniques within the particular Learning Management System (LMS). We will share our view and definition of accessible courses as well as some lessons learned from designing accessible courses at the University of British Columbia.
The accessibility team has used W3C Web Accessibility guidelines as the main guidelines and has been developing an accessibility checklist for others involved in course development at UBC. Depending on the subject of online courses, the team has taken different approaches. For example, to assure that the methods and techniques enhanced students’ accessibility, one course was tested with JAWS, a screen reader and the result was satisfactory.
This poster presentation will share experiences in how online courses can be designed to be more accessible from the beginning – in terms of the strategy employed during planning stages, through to evaluating accessibility.
19. Open Education at UBC and Beyond
Office of Learning Technology
An overview of the basic principles and prominent activities of the global open education movement. Special emphasis on the many diverse open educational initiatives at UBC.
20. Podcasting – Continuing Education for Medical Practitioners
Therapeutics Initiative / Pharmacology
We have experience producing and publishing a weekly podcast for clinicians for almost a year. Over 45 episodes have been produced, and it is currently the number one medical podcast in Canada in iTunes.
21. Strategies for Enhancing Learning through Live HD Video Conference Courses
Sauder School of Business / Learning and Technology Services
The need to make classroom-based learning accessible to students in multiple geographic locations presents significant pedagogical and technical challenges to faculty and professional staff at the Sauder School of Business. The recent installation and implementation of a high definition video conference system in the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses offers excellent facilities with potential to meet this challenge. At the same time, the new system highlights the need to refine strategies for planning and delivering classes that actively engage students in the learning process. To respond to this change challenge, the Learning Technologies and Strategy Department at the business school ran a high level, appreciative research project, involving all key stakeholders using the system, to generate ideas on how to enhance teaching and learning using the video conference system. Their findings recommend: improving usability; making technologies less visible and obtrusive; designing classes to be more participatory, and; integrating interactive and collaborative tools into the system. Most notably, the research revealed a need for supportive change programs to help faculty discover ways in which they can maximize the potential of existing and emerging technologies to enhance their teaching practice in technology-mediated learning environments.
22. Teaching ePortfolios
Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth
Given the variety of approaches, practices and strategies involved, how can we document professional growth in teaching? One possibility is the development of a teaching e-portfolio.
The teaching portfolio is a documented statement of an instructor’s teaching philosophy, responsibilities, goals and accomplishments as a teacher. It contributes to good teaching by encouraging self-reflection and stimulating self-analysis and is a creative way to improve on your teaching.
This poster presentation will outline the “what” of e-portfolios and present some of the “whys” for developing one.
23. UBCevents – Your Campus-Wide Events Calendar
UBC Public Affairs, UBC IT, and the Office of the VP-Students
UBCevents, launched in August 2008, is the new campus-wide events calendar and was developed by UBC Public Affairs, UBC IT, and the Office of the VP-Students. Recognizing that events are integral to the student experience, provide various opportunities for the strengthening of the relationship between faculty and staff, and allow alumni to reconnect with campus life, UBCevents attempts to showcase the breadth and richness of the UBC community for these, and other groups. The site contains many features, including a dynamic homepage with featured events, multiple search functions, and RSS feeding. Come check us out at www.events.ubc.ca!
24. Vote Here: Using iClicker at UBC
Office of Learning Technology
In an effort to increase in-class participation, generate discussion, and improve the conceptual understanding of material by students, more and more instructors are using iClickers in the classroom.
iClickers are wireless handheld devices that allows students to easily and quickly respond to in-class polls given by their instructors. These remote-like devices let students immediately see their classes aggregate polling results, and gives instructors a way to simultaneously tell if their students are engaged or not. Since September 2008, more than 80 instructors have started using iClicker here at UBC Vancouver and, as a result, just under 50 classrooms have been equipped for iClicker use. An iClicker registration system has also been developed and is embedded right into WebCT Vista. This makes it secure and easy for students to register their clickers as well as simplifies the process of exporting clicker scores into the Vista gradebook.
Come visit our booth to find out more about the iClicker, get a firsthand look at it, and find out if iClickers are right for your course!
25. WebCT/Blackboard Vista – Navigate a Path through Enhanced Learning and Teaching
Office of Learning Technology and UBC IT
Go beyond the basics of WebCT/Blackboard Vista functionality to learn about supplementary tools that can enhance your learning and teaching experiences! Join the friendly and knowledgeable staff from the Information Technology and Office of Learning Technology units, partners in supporting WebCT/Blackboard Vista, to learn more about:
Tools or plugins that work with WebCT/Blackboard Vista:
- iClicker
- Turnitin
- Wimba Voice Tools & Live Classroom
- Respondus
General Help to support your learning and teaching with the CMS:
- Access to a self-paced on-line training tutorial
- Interactive face-to-face bootcamp sessions
- “Ask an Expert” assistance for instructors and students – at the Learning Technologies Support Hub
Make your way to our booth to learn how you can enhance your online learning and teaching experience with WebCT/Blackboard Vista and UBC’s set of tools/plugins.
