Discussion topic ideas...

Discussion topic ideas...

by Stephanie Chu -
Number of replies: 10
Off the top of my head here:

1. Tie in with Academic Relation's "New Faculty" orientation. I have a query to Sue Roppel about this from her side and the "New Faculty community" we've been developing.

2. A topic or sharing of resources about what's available at SFU. I did a presentation last year on:

A Richer Multifaceted Learning Experience:
Using available SFU resources

Learners benefit from different types of learning activities and an integrated approach to course components.  Various technological resources exist at SFU that can be used to support richer and more active learning and a sense of community among learners.  This presentation focuses on available resources and uses an existing SFU course and its instructional objectives as an example.  Time will be available for discussion and sharing of ideas and experiences.

It was well received in that no one who attended was aware of all the possible technological resources available to instructors (i.e. through the LIDC, ACS, and library) to aid them in developing richer learning experiences for their students at SFU. I have a .ppt and supplemental information with links which I could update for SCOPE if it's of interest. I'm also working with Cindy on something like this for the new faculty in Health.

3. Tie in with the LIDC website. I know there's not going to be much available on the site yet in terms of resources, but we could point to what's there and also set up an area to share resources within this community. Perhaps we can then take the resources from SCOPE and put them in the LIDC website in the future as well?

That's all for now...
S.   :-)
In reply to Stephanie Chu

SCoPE - LIDC

by Sylvia Currie -
Thanks for the excellent ideas, and teh offer to update the resources from your presentation for SCoPE, Stephanie! This brings us to the best way to organize and hook into SFU resources, and other communities. I'll start thinking out loud about this, using the SCoPE - LIDC connection as an example.

Looking at the technical side of things, here are some advantages of the current SCoPE community environment:
- Resources are available to the public. You don't need to log in to access forums, documents, etc. You do need to log in to contribute to the community, manage interaction, and access tools requiring user input.
- All resources in Moodle have a fairly tidy URL (unlike some software that has mile-long URLS, or sometimes limited ability to link directly to resources)

Given these conditions, it will be easy to link directly from the LIDC website to resources generated through participation in the community. This is better than copying them from one location to another. Also, they can be accessed in context.

Working the other direction -- linking to LIDC resources -- maybe the best way to do this is according to resource type. For example, there may be resources specific to SFU that wouldn't be of general interest to SCoPE members. On the other hand, the LIDC website may have a collection of "how to" resources that would be of general interest for anyone interested in instructional design, appropriate use of multimedia, etc.

Maybe we need a special area (course, in Moodle language) that focuses on SFU work, events, resources, etc. Or I wonder if there is a way to integrate SFU interests directly with other defined areas.

Stephanie's suggestions raise bigger questions (isn't that always the way!)

How do we serve the needs of the SFU community first (as outlined in our project goals), yet at the same time present SCoPE as an inclusive community -- extending community activities and invitations for participation to an international audience.

How do we achieve both?
What are the implications for site design?

As you can see, we need your help in figuring this out! :-)
In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: SCoPE - LIDC

by Cindy Xin -
Sylvia, you asked:

"How do we serve the needs of the SFU community first (as outlined in our project goals), yet at the same time present SCoPE as an inclusive community -- extending community activities and invitations for participation to an international audience.

How do we achieve both?
What are the implications for site design?"

How do we achieve both? I'd say just do it, using Liz's favourite quote. In principle we want to serve the SFU community first, but in practice, there is nothing to stop us doing both at the same time - serving SFU community and engaging a wider community. As we say in Chinese - walking with both legs. The two goals lend well to each other. I believe the more open we are, the more people we will get, and the better we'll be able to serve both.

I said too much on this already. I'll stop repeating myself.
In reply to Cindy Xin

Re: SCoPE - LIDC

by Sylvia Currie -
Just do it! I like (and will take) that advice, Cindy!

Your comment "the more open we are, the more people we will get" is what we have to keep in mind with the site design. I was thinking in the details, such as listing campus events that wouldn't be of interest to people outside of SFU. I remember joining an "eLearning Institute" at a new england university that was intended for an international audience, but it always felt like I was walking the hallways of the university where it was hosted. That's the kind of feeling I'd like to avoid. But like Cindy and Liz say, we can just do it! :-)




In reply to Stephanie Chu

Re: Discussion topic ideas...

by Sylvia Currie -
Stephanie, could you expand on the Academic Relation's "New Faculty" orientation. What are some possible ways to connect SCoPE and the New Faculty Communities?

I imagine the new faculty community space to be fairly transient, although much of the content there is valuable for existing faculty as well. I see one obvious linkage -- that new faculty be informed about SCoPE as a way to find and share resources and engage in discussions related to teaching and learning research and practice.

This brings us back to that question again about how to provide an area in SCoPE that is relevant to SFU faculty only. For example, if we wanted to schedule a virtual tour for SFU faculty to orient them to the resources and services available at SFU (like the presentation you did that was so well received), would that be an activity appropriate for SCoPE? or a New Faculty Community?
In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: Discussion topic ideas...

by Vivian Neal -
Stephanie and Sylvia,

It's so wonderful to have this great forum!

Two areas that I'd like to see discussed are:

1. The processes that we use when we do instructional design.

2. Project managment tips and techniques that are specific to the learning and instructional design process.

Vivian
In reply to Vivian Neal

Re: Discussion topic ideas...

by Sylvia Currie -
Great topics, Vivian! I think #1, "processes we use when we do instructional design" would be a good seminar to launch the community. It would also be a great online workshop. Is there a model that instructional designers in eLINC follow that could serve as a framework?
In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: Discussion topic ideas...

by Vivian Neal -
Sylvia,

We don't follow one model, but I would like to see that change. I'd like to hear about what models others at SFU use and drawing from the best parts of the these, develop a model for ourselves. Moreover, we have a wealth of expertise here and we are always happy to share it.

Note that the eLINC name recently changed to Educational Support and Innovation Unit, or ESI.

Vivian
In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: Discussion topic ideas...

by Cindy Xin -
Related to Stephanie's proposal on sharing resources, I'm hoping to set up a similar space for the new faculty members at Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS). FHS is a brand new Faculty at SFU. All the faculty members coming in this fall will be new. There are ten of them. In my conversation with their Associate Dean, Charmaine Dean, she expressed the importance of getting the new faculties to help each other through sharing ideas, tips, and resources since they have no old people to turn to within their Faculty. This trigered my idea of gathering them here. I'm thinking it'd be an ideal community place for them to share if we can get them started.

Stephanie and I are preparing a workshop on accessing teaching resources at SFU for these new faculty member on Sept 14. I'm hoping that we can introduce this place to them and get them started at the workshop.

How do you like the idea? What is the best way to get things prepared here before we give the workshop?
In reply to Cindy Xin

Re: Spaces for Special Interest Groups

by Sylvia Currie -
Cindy's proposal to set up a "space" for special interests is a concept we would like to promote in SCoPE. We'll need to work through some of the logistics of doing this. Some questions that come to mind are:

  • What community tools would SIG moderators need access to. For example, would they need more a forum?
  • Is there any reason you can think of to keep a SIG private? For example, we have a private SIG here (TeleSCoPE) for technical behind-the-scenes discussions where security info might be revealed. Other than obvious cases like, what is the value, and what are the disadvantages of private SIGS?
In reply to Stephanie Chu

Re: Discussion topic ideas...

by Elizabeth Wallace -

Stephanie, I'm particularly concerned about #1 -- the tie with Academic Relations. Lets keep talking about this.