Article on Accessibility . . . or lack of . . .

This is an interesting article. It's US based, but the information included is relevant to Canada as well. One example the author uses is the accessibility issues in Google docs and Gmail.

We've had several meetings with Disability Services about the accessibility and successful related practices in Angel and our online courses. We have a "Duty to Accommodate" students with disabilities, so this is an area we will need to focus on as we continue to develop digital content.

Web Accessibility: What will it take to sustain online accessibility?

Evidence!

Last week in our ID meeting we discussed the results of the survey we sent out to subject matter experts and writers who have worked on course development projects with us over the last year or so. The survey consisted of 47 questions that covered project start up, communication, copyright, development processes, etc. Fourteen people completed the survey, which is a 50% response rate.

The results of the survey are very informative as we now have a better idea of what we're doing well, and what areas need work. We have some evidence! So what did we learn?

• 92% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt supported by EET.
• 79% of respondents have taught online before, but only 43% have taken an online course.
• 57% said they were "very experienced" in the classroom teaching environment; only 14% were "very experienced" in the online environment.
• Only 54% said they received their contracts in a timely manner (we're already working on this one!)
• 53% said the media development process worked for them. The comments explained this further: Some respondents said they had more ideas than could be developed, while another respondent wanted more independence in making changes in Angel. There seemed to be some confusion over what "media development" means.
• 61% responded with "neutral" to the statement of "Having access to Angel demonstration courses in Angel was helpful". Interesting! We think this might have to do with the need for discipline specific Angel courses.
• 85% agreed or strongly agreed that the feedback they received was timely.
• 77% said they would be interested in developing another online course.
• There's a lot more information that could be included here, so if you'd like to read the complete analysis, please ask me or one of the IDs.
  

We learned that we are doing many things well, but other areas need some work, and this will be ongoing. We'll be sending the survey out again next year to the SMEs and writers who have completed projects.

And thanks to all the IDs for helping develop the survey!

Sue, our new Manager of Curriculum Development and Renewal

Sue has accepted the position of Manager, Curriculum Development and Renewal, effective July 1, 2011. This position is similar to the work that Sue currently does, but she will have some additional responsibilities. This position is also an out-of-scope position, so it means that Sue will be working with us full-time, continuing from now on. This brings strong continuity to the position and department. Congrats Sue!!

Quote from eCampus review of PSY160

Here is a comment we received from the eCampus reviewers on PSY160. Kudos to Stacey and the team that worked on this project. Great job!

"This excellent online course was well designed, well-organized and engaging. The writing was excellent. The rich student resources would be of great benefit to the learners. The course met all of the eCA Essential Quality Standards and would be a worthy exemplar to other online course designers. Kudos to the course developers!"

Comments on Info discussed at EET meeting . . .

One more post before I send the link out to remind all of you to read . . . .

One of the things we talked about at the EET meeting last week was the changing focus within our department as we respond to the needs of instructors, programs and institutional initiatives. This is a good place for us to be, as we can jump on opportunities when they arise. Few more comments . . .

• We have allocated all of our course development funds for this year; this means we will be limiting the number of new contracts we initiate and making fewer payments to our subject matter experts / writers before the end of June. We still need to complete our course development projects for May and Sept delivery, so there is still a lot of work to do.
  

• We're focusing more on Professional Development (PD) initiatives. This is primarily in response to the end goal of the DL Strategy: All courses will have a blended component by June 2013. This involves two things - supporting instructors and developing resources. We're also developing a PD plan around the DL Strategy implementation.

• The media specialists also have some research and development (R&D) projects underway on mobile technology, augmented reality, html5, virtual spaces . . . Lots of very exciting stuff happening here. We are investing resources in this area for two purposes - to enable our media specialists to stay current, as well as to enable us to be innovative and responsive to other departments with innovative requests. See related links in a previous posting.

• Balance: We'll have to work on balancing our regular work with innovative requests and projects, our focus on course development and curriculum reviews with professional development . . . This may be a challenge at times.
  

• Staffing changes: As you know, several EET staff will be moving on to other opportunities at the end of June. Connie, Julie, and Ian are all transitioning back to full-time teaching, so we'll be planning celebrations for their contributions to EET. And Stacey will start her mat leave around the middle of April. We'll celebrate babies too (including Mark and Laura's new baby, and Lyle and Ellie's (due in May)!
  

• We'll also be hiring for several new positions in the next couple of months. If all goes according to plan, this will include a Course Development Coordinator / Lead Instructional Designer, a Curriculum Consultant, and a half-time Online Learning /DL Coordinator. I'll let you know when these are posted.

• And I'm still on a mission to go paperless. Sorry to say I've been working on this since the fall; it's been slower than planned, and some days are better than others, but it's still been a successful journey. Good thing I have this big monitor!
  

Thanks to all of you for the effort you are putting into your work! It's making a difference in ways that we may not realize until some time in the future.

Updates from Management Forum today - Monday, March 14

The Management Forum meets monthly. Members include Senior Leadership, Deans, Chairs, Directors, and Managers from across campus.

• The new Occupational Health & Safety Policy is now posted to the LC website (login to the portal / click on Policies). As the guidelines are currently under development, any queries re specific procedures, etc., should be directed to Ray Ambler, Kim Hardy or Linda Davidson.
• Discussion around ways to recognize our community partners that support practicum/clinical included signs (various sizes), certificates, dinner, etc. Please forward ideas to Jane Friesen by March 23 (noon).
• The Make It Count focus for March is “Wear Your Nametag”; April will focus on “Face-to-Face Fridays,” encouraging a reduction in e-mail and more effort to interact with other staff when it makes sense operationally. Request was made for a more prominent link to the Make it Count website.
• You are all encouraged to nominate someone for the Employee Excellence Awards. Nomination deadline is this Wednesday, March 16.
• A debrief circle for any staff or students affected by the Japan earthquake will take place in the E.C. Fredricks Theatre Tuesday, March 15, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
• Program Chairs were asked to encourage all programs to offer an orientation as part of College Life 101 at (orientations at 2:00 p.m. on September 6).

Agenda / Visual from EET meeting - Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Here's the visual from our meeting this morning. I'm trying to show how the things we are doing in EET are connected . . . .

Please read the other blog posts for more information on each item.

Kudos to . . .

• Lorne, for the great job he did on the Angel Upgrade this last week. Cool as a cucumber . . . (at least that's the way it looked)
• Chris G., for facilitating an Angel info session for faculty last Friday. Good example of open and transparent communication . . .
• Elio, Rebecca, Lorne, and Diana - for quick response to an issue in a course that impacted students
• All the media specialists for work they've put into the Research and Development projects. Amazing stuff!
  
• Liz, for setting up the project management spreadsheets for the pilot project
• Brenda, for coming up with the idea for the Amazing Race - and starting to organize it
• All the formatters, for their expertise in formatting. I've had a couple specific external requests lately for their help in complex formatting
• Julie, for organizing the CTS workshops over Reading Week. Sounds like they were very successful!
• Jackie, for developing expertise in app development
  
• And the list goes on . . . .
  

Send other examples my way, please! There's a ton of good things happening!!

LInks from Research and Dev Presentation

Here are the links from Tyler on the Research and Development projects:

Augmented Reality

Mindmap of research stream: http://www.mindmeister.com/maps/show/83571580

Examples:

http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/augmented_reality

http://www.wikitude.org/en/category/02_wikitude/world-browser

http://vimeo.com/14024785

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_7NW_u3VFo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16K2e08

Advanced Web Programming

http://creativefan.com/20-shockingly-cool-html5-canvas-applications/

http://www.focus.com/images/view/11905/

EET Website Redevelopment - Presentation

http://ge.tt/7wGWh48
(Tyler recommends downloading the file, but I got an error message . . .)

Pirates of Snow Island

The app that Jackie and her (external) team developed is now available in the iTunes store. Search for Pirates of SI (Pirates of Snow Island) to check out this app that Jackie took a lead in developing while she was on mat leave. Congrats Jackie!

" Pirates of Snow Island preschool educational applications aim to help prepare young learners with skills in early literacy, numeracy, hand/eye coordination and creative expression. Through a variety of activities, learners are encouraged to make connections among sounds letters, words, colors, pictures, and meaning . . . ."

And it's on Youtube too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOAX1eiJdDw

Actually Going to Class . . . .

This article talks about how new learning technologies are making us rethink traditional delivery methods. Students are questioning the need to go to class when increasing materials are available online. It also talks about how much learning happens outside of the traditional classroom . . . and the purpose of recording and posting lectures . . .

Actually Going to Class for a Specific Course: How 20th Century!

Hawaii!

Thanks to everyone who participated in and helped organize our Hawaii day protest against the cold weather last week. Great lunch! It will warm up someday!

On a side note, here's a picture of the snow at Castle this week. This is our deck. In the summer we have to step down to reach the ground. It's amazing there too.

Comfort Zone Newsletter

Here's your next issue of Comfort Zone, the all Canadian Health, Wellness & Safety Newsletter. This is the newsletter that we receive monthly . . . has some interesting articles on a variety of subjects. I receive this from our Health and Safety Office to pass on to all of you.

Get March 2011 Comfort Zone - English version

Library and Learning Innovation Project - Comments from first meeting

We had our first meeting with the LLIP (Library and Learning Innovation Project) this week. Reps from across EET met with one of the architects from the Resource Planning Group on Wednesday morning. If "all the stars align", the library renovation / addition of a second floor will be complete in 2014. The goal is to move all the student and instructor support units to this facility, which means that EET will be relocated somewhere in this space. This is why we are involved with the planning. It's a very consultative process.

We went through the "Key Parameters" document at this meeting, most specifically the sections relevant to EET. This document summarizes key planning parameters that were identified in workshops in January and February 2010 (so a year ago). This information will be used as a basis for detailed functional planning and schematic design.

Highlights:
- Discussion around a "shared use, multi-purpose instructional room as part of the Learning Commons, to support Library instruction, EET activities (e.g. PD, curriculum development, skills development, etc.) and external group workshops". This room would be designed to support cutting edge, innovative educational technology. Think about what we could do with a space like this!

- We looked at the number of staff in our area, along with the type of space that would best meet our needs (e.g. open collaborative spaces, lounging areas, office space, kitchenette, reception space, etc.). We talked about what our needs will be in 4 years, and what it could be. Steve's comment was that our area could be the cutting edge, progressive space - and we could be a model for and teach others on campus. And yes, we talked about the work spaces at Google. We don't have the budget to do what Google does (themed offices, for example), but we could do things to simulate that environment. Very exciting!

The architects will be summarizing / analyzing the information they gleaned from this meeting and then sending it back to us for clarification prior to our next meeting on April 6. We'll be sharing more info as it becomes available.

The following people are on this committee: Lorne, Elio, Jackie, Sue, Donna, 2 faculty (Ian and Carolyn Speakman), Chris G., and Karen

Challenge - Name Tags!

As part of the Make it Count customer service campaign that started yesterday, I am challenging all of you to wear your name tags every day this month. This will be a challenge for me too, as I had to dig for it in my drawer yesterday. Let's try to make it a habit!