TCDC and Ed Tech have created resources to help you teach remotely and we continue to host several online support sessions and webinars to address instructor questions.
After reviewing the resources, if you have questions, attend a session or contact TCDC at tcdc@langara.ca and EdTech at edtech@langara.ca or EdTech Help Hours.
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As the instructor for the asynchronous Langara Student Success Course (LSSC), I have grappled a lot with how to best connect to and engage with the approximately 3000 first year students who are automatically enrolled into the course each semester. Pre-Covid, I began to host regular office hours to connect with my online students. I did it as much for myself as for them. I became a teacher because I love engaging with people in a learning environment, and I wanted to have that with the LSSC students. I had very little traffic, and I was lucky if one student showed up in my office every couple of weeks looking for help with the course or wanting to find out about available student services.
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Early in 2020, students all over the world experienced a sudden, dramatic, and unprecedented shift in their academic world. A whole semester and half later, we have found ourselves preparing for more semesters teaching and learning in the virtual environment. Some instructors at Langara took the opportunity to write about their perspectives on the impact of moving to remote teaching and learning.Our fifth contribution comes from Jessica Kalra, an instructor in the departments of Health Sciences and Biology. Jessica shares her experiment with “Maintaining Academic Integrity Online through fostering a culture of academic and educational integrity” as well as some tools such as the academic integrity toolkit and the Brightspace Instructor Template.We look forward to bringing you more Perspectives. If you would like to make a contribution, please contact Jessica Kalra at jkalra@langara.ca. |
With Langara’s membership with Go2Knowledge, you have incredible access to online professional development at your fingertips.
Pensive man concentrating on work in front of laptop
The Go2Knowledge website offers online professional development to staff and faculty in post-secondary institutions. They offer both live webinars and an on-demand digital library of over 300 webinars, categorized into six topics of relevance across the Langara community. (And it’s not only for instructors!)
JOIN US IN WELCOMING DR. TRAORE BACK TO LANGARA!
This session, Dr. Traore will discuss: Developing an Anti-Racist Organization: A Model
Developing an anti-racist organization requires a system’s change and organizational
development approach combined with anti-racism theory and practice. In this talk, Dr. Traoré discusses a theoretical model of change that targets the organization, more so than individuals, as the key client of an anti-racist intervention. The model presented uses a developmental approach.
Attendees will thus learn about the different stages on the continuum of a segregated
organization to an anti-racist multicultural organization.
This talk is best suited for persons who have awareness of systemic racism, and would like some insights on what an anti-racist multicultural organization looks like.
When: Monday, October 26 2020
Time: 12:30-2:30
Register: https://iweb.langara.ca/tcdc/sign-up/?sheet_id=501&instance_id=878
Early in 2020, students all over the world experienced a sudden, dramatic, and unprecedented shift in their academic world. A whole semester later, we have found ourselves preparing for at least two more semesters teaching and learning in the virtual environment. Some astute instructors at Langara took the opportunity to write about their perspectives on the impact of moving to remote teaching and learning.Our fourth contribution comes from Lucinda Atwood, Instructor in the Langara School of Management. Below, we share Lucinda’s article, “How Online Classes Made Me a Better Teacher,” an exploration of the impact of online learning on students and teachers, chock full of tips for designing and implementing your next online course.We look forward to bringing you more perspectives. If you would like to make a contribution, please contact Jessica Kalra at jkalra@langara.ca. |
Early in 2020, students all over the world experienced a sudden, dramatic, and unprecedented shift in their academic world. Four months on, we have found ourselves finishing one semester remotely, delivering another fully online, and preparing for at least two more semesters teaching and learning in the virtual environment. In this series, Langara faculty share their experiences.
Our third contribution comes from Alena Buis, Department Chair in Art History and Religious Studies. Below, we share Dr. Buis’s article, “I don’t know how to teach online…yet”, a clever examination of the process of learning how to teach online effectively.
TCDC is providing a platform for instructors and instructional staff to share their reflections, opinions, and findings. If you want to contribute a piece to the perspectives series, please contact Jessica Kalra at jkalra@langara.ca.
In the spring, the sudden shift to remote online learning forced most people to venture out into the unknown alone, but a rambunctious, fun, and supportive group of Langarans stayed connected every Wednesday, April – June, cozying up with tea/coffee/cocktail before their computer screens and sharing thoughts related to Small Teaching Online, by Flower Darby and James Lang (2019).
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Looking for a place to talk to peers about topics related to teaching and learning online? We are here to help! TCDC invites you to a discussion series starting July 28th.
Join us in this informal online space to share with colleagues across campus your stories about past successes or failures with the pivot to remote teaching, as well as future plans for teaching and learning online.
Early in 2020, students all over the world experienced a sudden, dramatic, and unprecedented shift in their academic world. Four months on, we have found ourselves finishing one semester remotely, delivering another fully online, and preparing for at least two more semesters teaching and learning in the virtual environment. At the end of the spring semester, two of our colleagues collected information to help them understand the impact of this move to remote learning.
Our second contribution comes from Cameron MacDonald in the department of Biology. Cameron has worked with his colleagues to collect and analyze data on learning before and after the shift to remote teaching. In this piece, the authors statistically evaluate performance on online assessments compared to face to face assessments.
TCDC is providing a platform for instructors and instructional staff to share their reflections, opinions, and findings. If you want to contribute a piece to the perspectives series, please contact Jessica Kalra at jkalra@langara.ca.
Early in 2020, students all over the world experienced a sudden, dramatic, and unprecedented shift in their academic world. Four months on, we have found ourselves finishing one semester remotely, delivering another fully online, and preparing for at least two more semesters teaching and learning in the virtual environment. At the end of the spring semester, two of our colleagues collected information to help them understand the impact of this move to remote learning.
Our first contribution comes from Catherine Glass in the departments of Health Sciences and Biology. Below, we share Dr. Glass’s article, “Student Perspectives on the Sudden Transition to Online Learning: A Second Year Snapshot (and some ideas on how to ameliorate the challenges)”.
TCDC is providing a platform for instructors and instructional staff to share their reflections, opinions, and findings. If you want to contribute a piece to the perspectives series, please contact Jessica Kalra at jkalra@langara.ca.
Join us for a two part panel discussion on the history of data collection!
Register for Part 1 – NEGATIVE NUMBERS: A History of Control, Surveillance and Exclusion Pt. 1 Eventbrite link
Register for Part 2 – MISSING NUMBERS: Silence, Erasure, and the Damage of Colour-blind data Pt. 2 Eventbrite link
Many instructional faculty and staff are looking for summer PD opportunities to learn about effective online teaching practices, and TCDC is here to help.
TCDC is offering a 3-day workshop Online Course Design and Delivery at Langara. In this 3-day course, you will learn how to design an online course and engage students through effective teaching strategies and practices. You will also experience from a student’s perspective what online learning entails. Dates for this course are June 23-25, July 7-9, and August 5-7.
In addition, workshops and webinars are continually added to the TCDC/EdTech calendar at https://iweb.langara.ca/tcdc/calendar/. Be sure to check this page regularly for new sessions.
Other PD opportunities you may want to consider include the following courses offered at Royal Roads University, Vancouver Community College, and BCcampus. Continue reading
In the past week, protests have erupted across the United States and in major Canadian cities in In the past week, protests have erupted across the United States and in major Canadian cities in response to the police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
Floyd’s murder follows the deaths of Breonna Taylor in March, murdered by Kentucky police, and Ahmaud Arbery in February, who was shot by white men while jogging.
In light of these recent events as well as in acknowledgement of the ongoing history of anti-Black racism, The Centre for Intercultural Engagement and TCDC invite you to join in a discussion about Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. DiAngelo’s text focuses on recognizing and unlearning the behaviors and attitudes that whiteness instills.
In the foreword, Michael Eric Dyson writes,”White Fragility is a vital, necessary, and beautiful book, a bracing call to white folk everywhere to see their whiteness for what it is and to seize opportunity to make things better now.”
Please, Zoom in on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 from 1:00pm to 2:00 pm and join members of the Centre for Intercultural Engagement and TCDC to discuss Di Angelo’s book.
First 10 registrants will receive an e-book.
Asynchronous teaching, as we wrote about in our companion post The Case for Going Asynchronous is a useful approach that mitigates many barriers faced by both students and faculty in a remote learning environment. That said, asynchronous teaching is not without its challenges and drawbacks.
During this tumultuous time, students and instructors may feel isolated in a solely asynchronous context as connecting with instructors and peers in real-time can offer some routine and solace. Providing enriching experiences via discussion, feedback, and social interaction asynchronously is more challenging, but it is possible.
