Second Life - Let's try it!

Second Life has a new version out (see link below). And yesterday An instructor asked me if we have been trying anything with Second Life. This makes me think it’s time to play with this so we can assist the instructors who want to try it.

Does anyone have a project where Second Life could be used? Something to think about . . .

http://secondlife.com/beta-viewer/

Technology Building Renovations

Some of you have likely seen the posters in the hallway talking about the upcoming renovations to the Technology Building. We met with Rick Oliver, the project manager, this morning, and he provided some information you will need to be aware of:

• The work will start very soon and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010. Within the next week or so they will be closing the road on the east side of the Technology building so they can park the big work vans there. The doors at both ends of the Tech building will remain open throughout.

• It mostly affects the spaces on the first and second floors. The third floor was added to this building about 10 years ago, so fewer renos are needed here.

• They are mostly updating piping and duct work, along with some electrical, on this floor. This means that they will need access to our offices and work spaces at various times. They will only move furniture if they have to, and will cover everything when they are working to reduce the amount of dust.

• There may be power outages at various times during the reno, and we will be notified in advance. These power outages may be across campus during the summer. The May 29-30 weekend is a scheduled power outage, and this may overlap into a day before or after the weekend. We may have to be creative during these times. Working in other locations is a possibility for those of us who have laptops. If necessary, we could sign out laptops for those of you who typically work on desktops. And if that doesn't work, well, we'll see what happens and deal with it as it comes. This could have bigger impact on the AV area if filming is in progress, for example, for the China project.

• The elevator will be closed for up to 2 to 3 weeks during the summer.

• At the end of April they will be shutting the boilers off, which means we won't have any heat for May through August. We'll have to discuss our options for staying warm during this time.

• They will be focusing on the classrooms first to ensure students will not be impacted in September when they return to class.

If you have questions or concerns, please stop by for a chat!

Karen

Accessing Information in the Future

Check this out – a possible look at accessing information in the future.

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

Thanks Ian for sending it our way!

Plans for an EET Open House and Promotion

We've started to plan an EET promotion for the Week of March 1 to 5, and an open house on Friday, March 5 (time TBD). The media specialists have really taken the lead on this one. Below you'll find a link to more detailed information, and here's a brief summary:

- Delivering trays of apples with EET promotional material to strategic locations around campus. Darcie and Rebecca have designed the theme using a tree and apples and our Empower, Create, Educate mantra.
- Updating the EET website
- Developing digital posters for the digital screens
- Producing a video, although it might not be completed by the open house on March 5.
- Planning the open house. This will include computers set up showcasing our work, food, etc. All ideas welcome for this one too!
- and yes, this means that we will ALL have to clean up our work stations and the common areas (like the photocopy room). Let's use this as an excuse for spring cleaning, okay, well, winter cleaning :)

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVdhQrmOOc6VZGdxNWs4eHpfNzJneDl2Zjhmdw&hl=en

Watch for updates over the next week or so. The more people we get involved with this, the better! If you have other ideas, please voice them!

Thanks everyone for your help.


Karen

Computer literacy - something to think about

Here's another perspective on computer literacy. We use computers so much in EET that sometimes it's hard to imagine that college students may have difficulty with the courses in their programs that require use of computers - even basic use of computers.

The staff in the upgrading program and in the Learning Cafe are seeing an increase in demand for computer literacy support. Just something to think about . . . How does this impact the design of the courses and learning materials we develop?

And the lightbulb goes to . . . . .

Adam, for amazing work on RSP151. Nicely done Adam!! Word on the street is that it was a noisy recognition in TE3218 - and that you turned a few shades of red . . .

Who's next?

EET wins intramurals . . . Wow!

Wow! Congratulations to Lorne, Lyle, Matt, Mark, Tyler, Gavin, and Marina for winning the intramural competition last week. Who knew we had such a bunch of athletes right in our midst!

Here's the blurb from Connections . . .

EET CLAIMS INTRAMURAL BRAGGING RIGHTS
They came into the weeklong competition expecting nothing, just a ragtag bunch of educators with a dream. When Lethbridge College’s staff intramural week wound up Friday, the gang from the Educational Enhancement stood atop the heap, besting teams from Physical Education, Information Technology and Maintenance. Some 40 noon-hour athletes participated in soccer, basketball, badminton, volleyball and floor hockey during the five days.

Week of February 8th . . .

• I'm in Calgary on Monday to meet with the team from Norquest who is working on the English as a Second Language / Nursing bridging course. We will be developing 4 courses (approximately 5 credit) and Norquest will be developing 2 smaller courses. Collaborations like this are always interesting, especially at the start up phase. Our goal with this project is to offer the entire program through eCampus by the end of 2011. Stacey Goldstein is the instructional designer on this project, and she and I will be attending the meeting in Calgary along with Phillip Harttrup, the Director of the English Language Centre.
• The DL Strategy should be rolling out this week with the initial communications from Peter Leclaire's. I'm anxious to get this initiative moving. As I mentioned at the EET meeting, the institution will be moving more towards blended delivery. This has implications for everyone in EET because it involves course / program design and development, curriculum reviews, audio visual production and support, and professional development. The next steps are the implementation and communication plans.
• I'm working on the final documentation for both eCampus course development projects and the Hubbard / Inukshuk project. The Hubbard documentation has to be in to Inukshuk by the end of February.
• Lorne and the media specialists have taken the lead on marketing initiatives. They are planning a blitz for the last week in February, and this will be followed by an open house in EET . . . more on this in the next couple of weeks as we get more people involved.
• We're also in inital conversations with Business Training and Development to start developing customer service materials for staff in the Badlands area of southern Alberta. I'll tell you more as this unfolds.
• eCampus update: We were successful with one of three proposals we submitted for eCampus funding this round - for the FASD program. eCampus received requests for 1.9 million dollars, and they only had $500,000 to allocate. We're happy we received a piece of the pie! We may be supporting Therapeutic Recreation - Gerontology and the Blended Electrician program with internal funds to help them move forward.
• A few people are traveling during reading week. Connie is in Costa Rica for a wedding, Sue is going to Guatemala, and Debbie is planning to go to Vegas.
• Thanks to Heather (and everyone else who helped) for organizing the celebration for Jackie and Isla last week. The waffles were wonderful!
• And Chris and Anne had a beautiful baby girl last week too. Special welcome to Masie Jane Goble. We'll be having another celebration in March for Masie!

17% increase in online learning

More stats on online learning . . .

Colleges saw a 17 percent increase in online enrollment, with more than one in four students taking at least one online course in the fall of 2008, according to the findings of an annual survey

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Colleges-See-17-Percent/20820/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en published on Tuesday by the Sloan Consortium.

Good - local - conference!

Hi Everyone

Here's a good conference we should consider attending. It's June 22 to 24 at the U of A:

"Launched in 2003, the Canadian e-Learning Conference has developed into an engaging venue for practitioners, instructors, administrators, and students alike to share ideas and evidence on technology enhanced learning and teaching. In 2010, in keeping with our conference theme of “rEvolution,” the conference comes full circle and returns to its origins at the University of Alberta."

http://blogs.elearning.ualberta.ca/wpmu/celc2010/proposals/call-for-proposals/

Anyone interested in presenting?

Karen