MicroSCoPE: April, 2008 Issue

MicroSCoPE: April, 2008 Issue

by Sylvia Currie -
Number of replies: 0
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MicroSCoPE: A Close Look at What's Happening in the SCoPE Community
April, 2008
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In This Issue
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1. Starts tomorrow! Rethinking Teaching in the Sciences
2. Mark Your Calendars
3. Activity Recap
4. PeriSCoPE
5. About SCoPE
6. About MicroSCoPE

1. Starts tomorrow! Rethinking Teaching in the Sciences
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Facilitator: Gina Bennett
April 7 - 27, 2008
This seminar is the first in a "rethinking teaching" series. New techniques and new technologies enable us to teach science in exciting new ways. Or do they? Can science be taught at a distance? What exactly is science education, anyway? Join us for our second seminar discussion organized in collaboration with the British Columbia Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG).
...more http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=757

2. Mark Your Calendars
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* Symposium on E-learning Research in Canada - Past, Present, and Future May 12-30, 2008
This symposium is a collaborative effort to encourage open discussions about a Pan Canadian Research Agenda. The idea for a May symposium came suddenly and the planning is coming together quickly! Background resources, an invited speakers list, and details about format will be available soon. Your participation in this event is very important so make sure you mark these dates on your calendar.

* SCoPE Seminar: Viral Professional Development June 2-22, 2008
Facilitators: Heather Ross and Jennifer Jones
Description: Some of us have experienced it, but only a few have put a label to this new "strategy" for keeping up-to-date in our education field. What is this new form of professional development? Is it for everybody? How will it change the way we support faculty?
...http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=879

* SCoPE Seminar: R2D2 - Empowering Online Learning: July 21 - August 3, 2008
Facilitators: Curt Bonk and Ke Zhang
Description: The next book for our Professional Reading Group series is "Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing" by Curt Bonk and Ke Zhang. Curt describes the R2D2 model as a "problem solving wheel with many entry points". This SCoPE seminar marks the launch of this book. Preorders are available from Amazon!
...http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=875
...http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2008/03/good-to-have-friends-and-amazon.html

* e/merge 2008
The 3rd annual e/merge virtual conference "professionalising practices" focuses on educational technology in Africa. The call for papers closes on April 16th.
...more http://emerge2008.net/

* If you would like an event to be listed, please contact Sylvia Currie scurrie@sfu.ca. Check the SCoPE calendar for a full list of online events that will be of interest to members.
...more http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/calendar/view.php?view=upcoming

3. Activity Recap
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* SCoPE Seminar: First Nations Pedagogy for Online Learning
Facilitator: June Kaminski
March 3 - 31, 2008
Online delivery of courses specifically targeting Aboriginal learners is relatively new and is on the increase. The question of what this means in terms of course design, instructional strategies, and building supportive learning communities, remains a challenge to many instructors. This seminar discussion marked the launch of the First Nations Pedagogy for Online Learning Project funded by BCcampus.ca and led by Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in partnership with Kwantlen University College. Our next phase involves gathering the rich ideas and resources generated through our discussions and creating a prototype website for the project. More details will be posted in the seminar archive and wiki.
...archive http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=373
...wiki http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/wiki/view.php?id=870

* Seminar: Key Competencies for Second Life Moderators
Facilitator: Gilly Salmon
February 7 - 16, 2008
During this discussion Gilly Salmon re-introduced her 5 stage model for e-moderating in a new context: for Second Life moderators. This work will inform the upcoming SL training for moderators, as part of the MOOSE project (MOdelling Of SecondLife Environments).
...archive http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=868

* Live Session: Social Media: Benefits for Researchers
Facilitator: Ignatia de Waard
Live Session Moderator: Mark Cruthers
Ignatia and Mark combined a quick introduction to WiZiQ.com with a presentation on the benefits of social media for researchers. Planning is underway to schedule a follow-on seminar discussion on social media for researchers. This live session will give us a taste of more to come!
...archive http://tinyurl.com/2h3579

* Seminar and Live Session: Teaching and Learning Centres Revisited
Facilitators: Vivian Neal and Alice Cassidy
Live Session Moderator: Amy Severson
February 18 - 24, 2008
This one-week seminar in February was part 2 in a series to explore the range of programs and services offered at teaching and learning centres (TLCs) in post secondary institutions. This seminar coincided with a live session planned in conjunction with the 2008 Educational Developers Caucus organized by Kwantlen University College and Simon Fraser University. Our next step is to create a Educational Developers special interest group to invite further dialogue on effective and changing practices for Teaching and Learning Centres and other related topics. More details will be available soon!
...archive http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=773

SCoPE seminars are always available for reading and afterthoughts. Access all past seminar discussions
... http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/course/view.php?id=8#section-3

4. PeriSCoPE
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* The Public Knowledge Project has just release version 2.1 of their Open Conference System and invites you to test and improve this free tool for creating a Web presence for scholarly conferences.
...http://pkp.sfu.ca/ocs/testing

* Take 10 minutes to complete the WebAIM cognitive disability and web accessibility survey
...http://webaim.org/projects/survey/

* The 3rd issuse of Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal is now available. The theme is "Welcome to Change and Transition: Change in our Lives and Life in our Change". This issue features a literature review on Social Change and Diversity Education by Cathy Bray.
...http://kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/TD/

* Deirdre Bonnycastle has posted the latest Active Learning Blog Carnival. This months Big Question is "How do you and your students assess how well they are achieving the course goals/objectives/learning plan?". Take a minute to add your comments!
...http://activelearningcarnival.blogspot.com/

* Episode 4 of McToonish, a podcast about education, instructional design, and social capital is available. The topic for March: Professional Learning, Collaboration and Why I Blog
... http://mctoonish.podbean.com/

* In response to an unusually large number of requests from SCoPE members who are seeking employment, we created a SCoPE group at Linkedin. This may help to connect individuals who are interested in employment in education or in connecting professionally on projects. Our member list is growing!
...http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/53160/59AA9D18E4D3

* Follow SCoPE on Twitter
... http://twitter.com/scope_community

* The SCoPE Facebook group and member networking is proving to be an effective way to get the word out about SCoPE events and keep up with members' activities. Stop by to write on the wall or start a discussion topic.
...http://sfu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2380299880

* Check what SCoPE members are blogging about and subscribe to our SCoPE Bloggers feed.
...more http://www.technorati.com/faves/Community

* Have you added your name and location to our Frappr Map?
...http://www.frappr.com/?a=constellation_map&mapid=137440135642

* Leave a message on the SCoPE Voicethread
...http://voicethread.com/share/14512

5. About SCoPE
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SCoPE brings together individuals who share an interest in education research and practice, and offers opportunities for dialogue across disciplines, geographical borders, professions, levels of expertise, and education sectors. Membership is free and open to everyone.

SCoPE forms collaborating partnerships with many organizations to implement and promote community activities and products. This is a mutual exchange of support and services.

Self-register at http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca

6. About MicroSCoPE
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SCoPE members receive MicroSCoPE issues automatically. If you prefer to read MicroSCoPE on the website or via RSS, manage your subscription here:
http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?f=5

MicroSCoPE is prepared by Sylvia Currie, Community Coordinator (scurrie@sfu.ca).

Please spread the word about SCoPE activities. Distribute this newsletter!