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GMCTE to Launch First Open Online Course From USask
[social_share/] [social-bio] On January 21, 2014, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness (GMCTE) will launch the first open online course (OOC) from the University of Saskatchewan, Introduction to Learning Technologies. This course, aimed at novices, will invite participants to explore pedagogically informed use of blogs, podcasts, social bookmarking and a host of other tools, in addition to considering the implications of copyright and Creative Commons, digital citizenship and digital literacy for their teaching practice. The course was initially designed to be a blended course with a small group of participants coming in for face-to-face class meetings five times throughout the term, but with the bulk of the materials being open to…
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Variations on Think Pair Share
[social_share/] [social-bio] In preparing to teach about active learning methods this week, I came across an interesting variation of think pair share developed by Johnson, Johnson, & Smith (1991) called Formulate Share Listen Create. If you aren’t familiar with it, the think pair share is a versatile activity that can be done in many creative ways during a class. It combines discussion with an application of course content, while providing think time for problem-solving and/or reflection. Think: ask an engaging question or pose an interesting problem; students are given a minute to think about or write down their responses Pair: Students share responses with each other and re-evaluate Share: Instructor…
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Taskforce Identifies Gwenna Moss Centre Programs as “Candidate for Phase Out”
[social_share/] [social-bio] The University of Saskatchewan is currently engaged in a program prioritization process, known as TransformUS. Two task forces were struck in April 2013 – one looking at academic programs and one looking at support services. The programs of the Gwenna Moss Centre were analysed along with nearly 400 other support services representing every aspect of the university – from groundskeeping to human resources, from financial management to library services. The support services task force consisted of 6 tenured faculty members, 10 professional staff members and 2 students. The task force grouped programs into “quintiles” with descriptors: Candidate for enhanced resourcing Maintain with current resourcing Retain with reduced resourcing…
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On Returning to Saskatchewan
[social_share/] [social-bio] Last Wednesday I arrived in Saskatoon, permanently relocating from London, England to take up the post of Program Director at the Gwenna Moss Centre. This is a return to Saskatchewan for me (BSPE 1994) and a new adventure for my British family. I have been asked several times over the past week how the experience of being back in Saskatchewan has been. Sometimes the question is genuine and sometimes said with a slight tongue in cheek given the minus 30 weather my family and I have been met with alongside the outcomes of the TransformUs report that was made public Monday. My response, even Monday, was that I…
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Got the Group Project Blues?
[social_share/] [social-bio] Last week I gave my students back their group project assignments. They actually did quite a superb job, across the board. I asked them to provide me with comments on their own contribution, using a rubric I developed that was my adaptation and a shorter version of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) “teamwork” rubric that can be found at http://www.aacu.org/VALUE/rubrics/. And, then I also left it open if they wanted to share any comments with me about the teamwork demonstrated in their group. I knew because of some individual requests for guidance that most of the groups had encountered some conflict or difficulty and a…
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Beauty II: Defining the Big, Bold and Beautiful
[social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Getting lost in the beauty of our discipline and sharing it with our students raises the challenge of what to cover within the limited time of our course or program. With all that is beautiful about our discipline, what do we focus on? One approach is to focus on the fundamental perspectives and approaches that define a discipline – the building blocks of a field! These building blocks can be identified and prioritized through several lenses: Celebrating what’s Unique: What makes your discipline unique? What are the key premises, approaches, conceptions, or methodologies not found in other disciplines? What is the unique contribution that…
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An Update on Open Courseware at the U of S
[social_share/] [social-bio] Last year we ran a blog post about the Open Courseware (OCW) initiative which is a joint venture of ICT, SESD and the ULC at the U of S. This portal offers a gateway to every course offered at the UofS and provides a space where instructors may choose to open up course information or learning resources to the world. There has been a lot of talk around the university lately about syllabi being open through OCW, which is now in accordance with the Academic Courses Policy. I thought that these conversations make it an appropriate time to write another post on this initiative. Instructors have the option to…