Two Virtual Conferences in the next month

I've found two very good virtual conferences we could attend in the next month. If we were to register in these conferences, would you attend at least some of the sessions? And do you think others on campus would?

Learning Analytics - Educause Learning Initiative - April 11 and 12
http://www.educause.edu/ELI124

Sloan-C Blended Learning Conference - April 23 and 24
http://sloanconsortium.org/conference/2012/blended/streamed_sessions

Please let me know . . .

Educause membership

Did you know that Lethbridge College has an institutional membership to Educause. If you are researching and / or trying to stay current with trends in higher ed, consider setting up your own account, using our institutional membership. Here's the link:

http://www.educause.edu/

The Sketchbook Project

Seven people submitted their Sketchbook Project sketchbooks to the Brooklyn Art Library on January 31: Amber, Donna, Lorne, Tyler, Tobiah, Darcie, and Jim. Congrats to all of you for taking some risks and completing your sketchbooks. Very very inspiring!

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject2012

A few more of us have this project on hold. My plan is do complete mine over the summer when life is a little slower. Hopefully others will continue work on theirs as well.

the lightbulb is back in action . . .

The light bulb has resurfaced. Mark has passed it on to Tobiah for all the work he did on the ENP project (which is discussed in a different post).

Tobiah, you were instrumental in various aspects of this project, but especially as the team pulled everything together to complete it on time. Very well done!

English for Nursing Project - Kudos

The English for Nursing project is almost complete. We're working on the final documentation (reports and financials) this week. We supported the English Language Centre in this development, in collaboration with NorQuest College.

This has been both an interesting and successful project. We developed four courses (Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking) and then re reworked two courses that NorQuest College developed as part of this project. Intended audience includes English Language Learners who want to enter health professions in Canada.

This is an excellent example of what can happen when a team works together to make something good. Teams worked on these courses throughout the 2+ year project, but the team push at the end was impressive.
Kudos to everyone who was involved with this project. I think it's almost everyone in the department. The end product is excellent and you should be proud of your contribution.

Watch for news on a celebration coming up for this one!

Changes to Reporting Structure in EET

Last week we made another adjustment to the reporting structure in EET:

• The formatters are now reporting to the Instructional Technology Coordinator position. Amber will continue to be the lead formatter, and will report to Jackie. Couple reasons for this change: Jackie, as the ID Coordinator, is much closer than I am to the work the formatters do, including workload, challenges, and time lines.

• We previously changed the reporting structure for the AV department. Rather than Elio, AV Coordinator, reporting to the Manager of Instructional Technology, he will report to me.

Whenever we have people changing positions in EET (leaving or internal changes), I look at it as an opportunity to switch things up - if necessary. Both these changes make good sense, for a variety of reasons.

Feedback on the Student Technology Survey Infographic

Yesterday Karen and I gave an update to the Senior Admin Team (SAT) on the DL Strategy implementation. As part of this, prior to the meeting we sent all of them a pdf of the Student Technology poster to review. Last night Peter sent an email that commented on how effective this type of visual is in sharing information and what good quality it is. The visual above is one part of the poster (which is currently on the table or hanging in TE3213).

Tyler did most of the work on this poster, and Rebecca helped in the design phase. If you look closely at the poster, you'll notice that Christie is the teacher and Lyle is the student :) Kudos to all of you who helped with this initiative in some way.

We'll be doing a similar presentation at the next EET meeting (scheduled for March 19th at 9). Everyone in EET has been involved in the DL Strategy implementation in some way. And almost every other department on campus has also been involved (as you will see in the presentation). We're currently half way through the three year implementation. Completion date is targeted for June 2013.

Calla Camryn

Marina and Josh have welcomed their new baby into the world. She arrived last Thursday, and her name is Calla Camryn. We'll be having a baby shower for her as soon as she's able to visit.

Anybody have pictures yet?

Staffing Update for March 14

Two staffing updates:

Welcome to EET, Jana. Jana has been with us for a couple weeks now and is quickly getting up to speed on her tasks in the department. I'm sure glad to have you here, Jana.

Manager of Instructional Tech position: More applications have come in since we reposted the position, so we'll be shortlisting again within the week and interviewing again. It's possible we won't be able to fill this position until the summer because of the teaching related positions that people are currently committed to. We'll see how it goes . . .

Mt Royal is coming to visit on Friday

Well, actually two people from Mount Royal University are coming to visit us this Friday. They are on a tour of institutions finding out how the various departments are organized. Jackie and I will be meeting with them and taking them for a tour on Friday morning between about 10 and 12.

On that note, please make sure your work areas are tidy in prep for this tour. Don't we always clean house before visitors come :)

Karen

Changes to Parking for next year

Heads-up everyone who pays for parking! Effective July 1, we are going to a scramble system where you can park anywhere in designated lots. Apparently the cost is going to increase slightly, but the costs will also be reduced for carpooling or driving smartcars / hybrids.

Here are a few more details (and there will be more to come) from senior leadership:

o This change will reduce enforcement costs, manage risk and give staff the opportunity to park in a location of their choice.
o There are one to two incidents per month of irate individuals confronting staff (staff abuse - staff safety / security, possibility for injury).
o Scramble parking will improve “use” efficiency of current parking stalls and lots by managing the supply and effectively increasing it by 20 per cent.
o There were 800+ parking complaints recorded in 23 weeks.
o There were 4000+ parking tickets issued last year.
o Consultations will take place to address the needs of individual departments/areas.
o More specific information will be available after consultations have taken place.
o Send questions to parking@lethbridgecollege.ca - answers will appear in Connections.