Update on Many EET Activities . . .

Good morning everyone

Here's the update I posted on the MFD site this morning. Thought you might be interested . . . it's very long . . . .

Angel Transition:

• Overall, the transition from WebCT to Angel is on schedule and the feedback from instructors has been very positive so far.

• The May Angel Pilot is up and running. We are offering a total of 12 courses in Angel (7 on-campus and 5 DL courses). Some of these courses end in May, and some run until the end of August. The 12 instructors facilitating these courses have stepped up to become comfortable in Angel. EET staff are monitoring the pilot courses to ensure everything is working. A survey is being developed for the students in the pilot as well.

• We had focus groups of instructors and students in to give us feedback on the Angel configuration. The implementation team also discussed the possibilities with Angel staff, before settling on a configuration to use for the Pilot.

• The Angel orientation / training sessions also started last week. We did two preliminary sessions first with the Angel pilot instructors and then with the Angel Champions, and now we are into the daily sessions that will run the first three weeks in May. As of May 13, a total of 91 instructors have attended the face-to-face training, and 160 instructors are signed up to take the online self-paced instructor course. We’re in the process of writing a survey to gather feedback on these sessions.

• When instructors sign up for the online self-paced course, they are also given access to a training course where they can design / build a course in Angel. This has worked very well. Instructors can also request additional shells so they could potentially prepare for all the courses they are teaching in the fall. They have to be aware, however, that they will have to backup and restore this content from their training shells to their “real” fall Angel shells in preparation for fall.

• If you haven’t attended an Angel orientation session yet, or applied for access to the online self-paced instructor course, please do very soon. Because faculty are scheduled to come on campus later this year (end of August), there won’t be much time for additional training before classes start.

• We’re still waiting for the Datatel synchronization to be completed. This is the only factor we can foresee that could stall the complete transition for fall.

• Our WebCT license expires the end of August. This has BIG implications for instructors who have content stored in WebCT from previous semester. We’ll be communicating this to faculty many times over the next weeks and months reminding them that they have to ensure they have transitioned their content to Angel. This will come out in the form of Angel Updates.

• Instructors and students will access Angel through www.lconline.ca, and not through the portal as we did with WebCT. Students and instructors will also have access to 24/ 7 support.

• We’re working with Web Services to ensure a link to Angel is provided on the LC home page in August. Web Services is also searching the website to identify anywhere that “WebCT” is used.

• Angel Community of Practice: To provide an environment where we can continue to learn about Angel and share what we’re learning, we are planning to host an Angel Community of Practice in weekly sessions throughout the year. More info on this will be announced in May with a projected September start.

• FAQ’s: We’re working on a list of FAQ’s and answers that will be posted on the learn.lethbridgecollege.net site.

• The implementation team is spending a lot of time searching for answers to questions and exploring new opportunities in Angel. Lots to learn!


Audio Visual
The AV staff have been very busy supporting the many functions that are scheduled on campus in the spring. This includes convocation, symposium, conferences, video-conferences, and other often urgent and sometimes unscheduled events. They are also busy with video production as well as maintaining and replacing projectors in various areas across campus.

DL
We will be starting a variety of new DL course development projects in May. These will be funded through both internal funds and eCampus Alberta Online Course Development Funds (OCDF). We are continuing to fine-tune our processes so we are better able to meet timelines and quality standards. Other priorities in DL:
• eCampus Demonstration Modules: We’ve been asked to provide sample modules to eCampus to post on their website. Their purpose will be to demonstrate online course content to potential students.
• DL instructor pay scale: A subcommittee of the DL Task Team has been working for over a year on changing the current DL pay scale. This is an urgent need because some experienced DL instructors are declining the DL positions because of the pay grid and the increased workload necessary to facilitate using the online environment.
• Course evaluations: We’re in the process of revising the DL course evaluation questions and method of collecting the information. The revised processes and questions will have to be approved at ALT.

Instructional Development
We currently have 71 course development projects in the works. This includes developing new courses as well as transitioning print based courses to the online environment. In addition to these 71 projects, this month we’ll be starting the 8 eCampusAlberta courses we received funding to develop. And then over the next 6 months we’ll be starting work on approximately 22 more courses that programs have identified as priorities.

Professional Development
Debbie Baggs and Julie Boras facilitated another Instructional Skills Workshop last week (May 4-8). ICP2 is currently running and is facilitated by Leanne Elias and Ian Hepher. A Facilitators Development Workshop (FDW) is planned for the last week in May.


Curriculum Development
Nine program or curriculum reviews are being completed before the end of this academic year: General Studies, Business, Culinary, Unit Clerk, Office Admin, Exercise Science, Massage Therapy, CUPP and CYC. Three more are in process: Interior Design, ECE, and PGM.


Blended Learning Project for 09
All instructors will be receiving information within the next week on the proposed Blended Learning Project for 09/10. We’re proposing to do 4 projects that will involve building a true blended course that will have podcasts, vodcasts, and mobile learning initiatives. Now we just need to find 4 instructors (or teams of instructors) willing to join us in this adventure!


Hubbard Digitization Project / Inukshuk Wireless Funded
This Hubbard Digitization project is on schedule. Projected completion date is November 1, 2009. Two instructors from Environmental Science, Shane Roersma and Eliot Terry, are working with two program graduates, Cameron Wood and Deanna McCormick, to prepare content for the site. Matt Smith, a media specialist from EET, has designed the website. The main task currently is to take the photos of the Hubbard collection specimens and prepare them to post on the site. Here’s a link to the first draft of the site: http://www.lcvirtualwildlife.ca/. Over the next few months we’ll be focusing on completing the content and on enhancing the learning opportunities through games, audio, and video.

China Course Development Projects
We are starting to develop the final five courses needed to be able to deliver the entire Business Admin Diploma in China. Students in China are now completing semester 2.