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MicroSCoPE: A Close Look at What's Happening in the SCoPE Community
April, 2006
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In This Issue
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1. Mark Your Calendars
2. Activity Recap
3. Collaborative Book Chapter Contributers Needed!
4. Tips to Improve Your SCoPE Experience
5. PeriSCoPE
6. About SCoPE
7. About MicroSCoPE
1. Mark Your Calendars
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* Seminar: "Enhancing and Extending the Classroom through Learning Communities"
Facilitator: Stephanie Chu
April 24 - May 10, 2006
In our current online seminar discussion we will be exploring ways that
learning communities enhance and extend (and replace?) the classroom
experience for our students. Fostering student learning communities
sounds like something we should be doing, want to be doing, and in some
cases, have been doing. But what does a learning community really look
like in practice? How can the shape of a learning community fit into
our current system of semesters, courses, and password-protected areas?
This seminar discussion builds on a 2-part Innovative Educators webinar
series offered to Simon Fraser University faculty and staff. We have
been granted permission to share these archives with the SCoPE
community.
...more <http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=268>
* Seminar: "Informal Learning" (working title)
Facilitator: Sarah Haavind
May 15 - June 4, 2006
Be sure to set time aside for our upcoming seminar discussion on
informal learning. Here at SCoPE we've experienced the value of the
with people. But we all know that the benefits go far beyond the
convenience factor. Begin thinking about the strategies you use beyond
formal courses to stay or become current in your field or areas of
interest, and how we can we design our community experiences to better
support informal learning. Then hold those thoughts for this seminar!
* CPSquare Foundations of Communities of Practice
This 7-week workshop taught by Etienne Wenger, John Smith, and Bronwyn Stuckey begins May 15
more...<http://www.cpsquare.org/edu/foundations/index.htm>
* Check the SCoPE calendar for a full list of events that will be of interest to members.
...more <http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/calendar/view.php?view=upcoming>
2. Activity Recap
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* Seminar "Talking the Walk: Narratives of Online Learner Collaboration"
Facilitator: Paul Beaufait
This 12-day seminar gave us enough time to share personal stories,
reflections, and insights, and also to realize that we will definitely
need a "part 2" to explore this topic more fully! We thoroughly
appreciated Paul's creative facilitation style and ability to weave and
advance our thoughts on online learner collaboration. In the spirit of
collaborative dialogue we saw ideas from the SCoPE discussion being
shared in the KnowTIPS conference discussions and visa versa. And of
course our dialogue will extend further -- we're looking forward to
reading Paul's section on online learner collaboration in the
Collaborative Book Project.
Resources were gathered into the Online Learner Collaboration Annotated
Bibliography. You're encouraged to continue to update it:
...more <http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/wiki/view.php?id=251>
...seminar archive <http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=246>
* KnowTIPS 2006 Online Conference
We're left with some fond memories of the KnowTIPS conference which was
a flurry of activity for 5 days in March/April, combining synchronous
sessions with an opportunity for exchange and follow-up with the
presenters. It certainly lived up to its promise as being a practical
conference; we were all in there with our sleeves rolled up as far as
they would go! SCoPE was an organizing partner for the KnowTIPS
conference this year, which is a pretty easy role when working with
such incredible people! We owe a huge thanks to the presenters who so
generously devoted their time and expertise, to the high school
students from Fraser Valley Distance Education School in British
Columbia who, mentored by their very special teacher, Michael Haworth,
welcomed participants and introduced presenters for the synchronous
sessions, and to SCoPE member Virginia Rego, Education Officer from
Open School BC, for her energy, enthusiasm, and truly collaborative
approach to working with the KnowTIPS conference planning group.
...Watch for more follow-up about KnowTIPS at Knowplace <http://knowplace.ca>
3. Collaborative Book Contributers Needed!
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The collaborative book outline has undergone revisions, and we are now
seeking a "Mayor" to oversee the development of a chapter tentatively
called "Techno Expression". The focus of this chapter is on different
modes of expressing oneself online, such as podcasts, vodcasts, blogs,
and wikis. If you're interested in becoming involved, contact Sandy
Hirtz of BCcampus Communities, <shirtz@t2online.ca>.
In addition, Don McIntosh, Mayor for the chapter on Learning Management
Systems is interested in hearing about your experiences with learning
management systems. Don has initiated a discussion in the BC eLearning
Marketplace and Expo
<http://community.bccampus.ca/expo?go=1194867>, or contact him
directly <don.mcintosh@trimeritus.com>.
4. Tips to Improve Your SCoPE Experience
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There are many ways to manage your participation in SCoPE seminars and
ongoing discussions. One method is to turn on a feature which will
highlight your unread messages. That way you can easily zone in on the
messages that have been posted since the last time you logged in and
read contributions to a discussion. Here's how:
-Go to your profile by clicking on your name or image anywhere in SCoPE
-Click the "edit profile" tab
-Scroll to "Forum Tracking"
-Select "Yes: highlight new posts for me" from the pull-down menu
-Scroll down to click the "Update profile" button
5. PeriSCoPE
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SCoPE members are busy elsewhere:
* Elizabeth Wallace and Sylvia Currie will be presenting at the
University of British Columbia Okanagan conference: Learning Free of
Boundaries May 4th. Their topic is "Removing the Boundaries to
Knowledges Exchange in an Online Community"
...more <http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/ctl/conference.html>
* Frank Fucile will be co-facilitating "Listening Through the Hype" an
interactive discussion on the use of podcasts in an educational
setting. This session will take place in the BCcampus eLearning
Marketplace and Expo community May 1st at 1:30 pm (PDT).
...access the session <https://www.elluminate.com/mtg.jnlp?password=1472898465>
* Shawn Berney will facilitate a session on "Building Blocks for the
Digital World" in the BCcampus eLearning Marketplace and Expo community
May 10th at 10:00 am (PDT).
...access the session <https://www.elluminate.com/mtg.jnlp?password=169077090>
6. About SCoPE
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SCoPE, supported by the Learning and Instructional Development Centre
at Simon Fraser University, 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. We organize seminars,
events, and ways for practitioners to connect. Membership is free and
open to everyone.
Self-register at <http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca>
7. 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. Distribute this newsletter!