Welcome, Thompson Rivers University Education students, and to anyone else who might be joining us! Thanks very much to Dr. Pamela Gurney with TRU Faculty of Education and Social Work for the invitation to speak to her class vis-à-vis this asynchronous lecture! In this case, I was given broadly to speak to the course topic… with some focus on Information Technology (IT) and open learning curriculum! I hope that I’ve done this justice in this discussion!

https://youtu.be/rFIPR2891x4You can watch this “supercut”… or select from the shorter sections below! #ednontechThe audio helps provide the full podcast-like experience! #ednontech

https://youtu.be/Ru_Kdilt8HkPart I: Learning Management Systems (LMS)https://youtu.be/l-jsMEDq6wwPart II: Content Management Systems (CMS)https://youtu.be/dixqzpsBKe8Part III: Cloud-based productivity suitesYou can listen to or watch the supercut above! The supercut is made up of the three shorter videos here, along with a general introduction and a “mid-point reflection”. Or… you watch just the three or from among the three shorter videos! We do our best on this podcast to provide multiple means of accessing content, as we feel this promotes learner agency! Among other things!

Comments and ResourcesI hope you take from the videos and other elements of this presentation, that I think of a career… and curriculum, generally… very much as a journey!

I’ve had the pleasure of working in educational settings and contexts in three countries and three Canadian provinces over 18 years! I’ve worked with young kids all the way through to people who are much older than me, through language schools, colleges, universities, and now in the private sector! I’m grateful for the various individuals and groups I’ve encountered in each… and each has been drastically different from the one which preceded it…

That leads me to the notion expressed here… and elsewhere on the podcast and in these lectures… that contemporary educators can do themselves an immense favor, particularly early in their careers, by gaining proficiency with at least one application from each of the “baskets” I’ve spoken to in the videos!

In the interests of respecting your time, I’ll limit this commentary for now! But I will share some resources which could hopefully add value to your emerging practice as educators! I would be pleased to respond to any comments or questions… be aware that after you post a comment it is only published after moderation, after I am notified and approve it… so it could take a few hours!

H5P.orgI made reference to H5P in the recordings. H5P exists as a plug-in for most learning management systems, including Moodle… and it is also available as a plug-in for WordPress. It is highly portable; learning activities created using H5P can be exported as files and placed a wide variety of settings and contexts. There are new types of activities being added regularly… there are public repositories of H5P learning activities available for downloading and adapting to suite one’s own purpose; i.e., the eCampusOntario H5P studio. Below is a sample H5P interaction: an interactive slide presentation; in this case embedded within a WordPress context vis-à-vis the H5P plug-in.

BCcampus Indigenization GuidesI think it’s extremely important to be aware of resources to support Indigenization. The BCcampus resources are comprehensive, and appear to have been created with significant input from Indigenous and First Nations individuals and/or groups. These resources can be adapted across contexts as needed, as per the terms of the Creative Commons 4.0 licensing.

E-text repositories: BCcampus & eCampusOntarioE-texts exist in increasing numbers due to significant efforts by faculty and educators in BC, Ontario, and elsewhere who are contributing to e-text repositories… such as those provided by BCcampus & eCampusOntario . These texts are often under the same Creative Commons 4.0 licensing mentioned above which means that assuming proper attribution is paid to the original, the texts can be modified… and adapted… for any other setting or purpose. As such, these repositories are of value for teachers and students at any level.

Moodle/ WordPress/ MSO365I’d like to be clear… any of these applications… or bundles of applications, as the case may be, can be effective for teaching and learning. LMS’s like Moodle are private and have rich administrative feature-sets, as well as automated grading for some activities. WordPress… or other CMS’s… provide a high level of control to users to create rich learning environments on the open web… as well, they are conducive to providing students enhanced digital literacy skills… in an ostensibly public setting! Cloud-based bundles of productivity apps such as are available in Microsoft Office 365… and Google… can help you collaborate and share work with colleagues… and potentially with students.

There are challenges associated with each type of application, and every teaching context is different. As such, it would benefit anyone to know how to use these tools at a basic or better level… even if they aren’t being used right now! There are online tutorials available… trial accounts… which you can access easily… as you develop your preferences for certain kinds of apps, you will have a set of practices and skills and literacies which will help you later in your career!

Teaching in a Digital Age (Tony Bates)This is a highly practical book by one of Canada’s most accomplished and well-regarded educators within the digital learning space. There are many suggestions which could be helpful for anyone in an educational role… it is easy to read, and is now up to the third edition… and it is freely available from BCcampus!

Principles of Blended Learning (Vaughan et al.)This book came out last year, so it is extremely recent and practical! It provides an overview of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework for teaching and learning in electronically-mediated contexts. The CoI framework has been used by educators across levels and disciplines for more than twenty years; having knowledge of CoI… as well as other models and learning theories… can be helpful in and of itself. CoI is discussed here in terms of blended learning… which anyone working in an educational role today should find helpful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbNlMtqrYS0When I come home (When I come home), oh, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old, well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s growin’ old with you #ednontechWe are deeply grateful to Dr. Gurney and the students of EDUC 5030 for joining us! And anyone else, for that matter!