Elizabeth Wallace

We are pleased at the interest generated by the series of readers' group gatherings hosted by the Learning and Instructional Development Centre (LIDC) at SFU.  Some of the most committed and thoughtful educators at the campus on the hill are coming together each month to talk about publications that address teaching practices and the underpinning theories.

On Thursday, March 29, the third conversation in the series will take place at the Halpern Centre, 10:30 - noon.  An invitation has been sent out to the SFU community and we look forward to another gathering.

The book we're reading in March is Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed,  published by Continuum, New York, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original printing. This edition has a shiny red cover, but the content is essentially the same as the original. A new introduction by Donaldo Marcedo adds an extra 14 pages at the beginning, but Freire's four thought-provoking chapters are intact.

This forum is set up for those who want to discuss what they are reading and learning.  What's your first reaction to the book?  Did you revel in Freire's opening chapter on the nature of oppression?  Was the Chapter 2 discussion of the "banking" concept of eduation more approachable?  We'll discuss these questions on the 29th but your comments are welcome here.

Many thanks to the Douglas College folks who made us so welcome at our Spring meeting on Friday, 16th.  The room was ideal, the coffee was hot and the lunch arrangements worked beautifully.  We appreciate all the effort, and we're glad that the memories of the Nov. 27th snowstorm can now be put to rest.

About 25 people gathered to share ideas and exchange information about what is happening at the variously named teaching/learning centres in our BC post-secondary institutions. More detailed notes will be shared shortly, but this forum is being set up to continue the conversations that we began at Douglas, and to invite those who couldn't join us to ask questions and contribute their thoughts.

Please note that two Polls are available on the UCIPD homepage, which can also be reached by clicking on: _{http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/course/view.php?id=22} We look forward to getting your vote on choice of name and whether these discussion should continue to be password protected. When you use the poll tool, you will be prompted for a password which, for most UCIPD members, was originally set up using your email address as an ID and the first part of your email address as the Password. You may have changed it since. For example, my ID was originally ewallace@sfu.ca and my password was ewallace.

Your response to this message, and to the other message regarding formalizing and affilitating UCIPD which has also been sent out to you, is most welcome.

Cheers,

Liz

During the UCIPD meeting, there was a conversation about the pros and cons of turning our loosely-knit network into a more formal organization, and affiliating with other provincial organizations.

For example, one pro is that incorporation would bring protection if we had board members. If we were to affiliate with BCcampus, we might have greater access to funding, and that's also a pro.

One of the cons for many people is that they like the strength of loose ties that we've created in UCIPD. Why fix it if it ain't broke?

What do you think of these ideas? What pros and cons can you think of?  Click on View in context to go the SCoPE and see the postings, or choose to reply directly.

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Note: If you click on View or Reply below you will be prompted for your SCoPE ID and Password. When it was originally set up for you, your ID was your email address, and your Password was the first part of your email address. So originally my ID was ewallace@sfu.ca and my password was ewallace. (I went into my profile and edited it later and so can you.) For info contact me at ewallace@sfu.ca. Note we now have two polls in the UCIPD SIG:

http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/course/view.php?id=22

This message is coming to you from SCoPE, the Community of Practice site hosted by SFU.  If you click on the "View this in Context" message at the bottom of this screen, it will take you directly to SCoPE. There are over 600 members discussing a wide variety of topics, and you are able to browse through all of them except a few private Password protected areas.

This particular Special Interest Group (SIG) has been set up in response to requests by some of the participants in our first Teaching and Learning Readers' Group gathering in January. Cheryl Amundsen was our guest and it was very enjoyable -- but of course too short. The online environment gives you a space to raise issues that we didn't have time for, and to continue the conversation we started.

This SIG can be read by anyone, but if you wish to post a new topic or reply to a posting, you will be prompted for your user name and password. A separate message should have reached you about this by now, but if not, please contact me at ewallace@sfu.ca 

Regards,

Liz

Thanks to those members who pointed out a few errors in the earlier announcement. The following is the corrected version from Lin Langley at Douglas, with a gentle suggestion that arriving by Skytrain is advised for all who can!

University, College, Institute Professional Developers (UCIPD) of British Columbia

Spring Convening : Friday, March 16, 2007
Douglas College, New Westminster campus
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Greetings to the professional developers of British Columbia!
We look forward to meeting with you at Douglas College. Our thanks to Lin Langley and her team who have volunteered to host our meeting on Friday, March 16th at Douglas College, New Westminster campus.

To register, please contact Wendy Waidson waidsonw@douglas.bc.ca
Douglas College map links and directions are provided at the end of this message.

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Shape of the Day: Friday, March 16th, 2007

Meeting site: Douglas College: Board Room 4920- 4th floor of the South Building

8am to 9:15 am. Breakfast social hosted by Douglas College

No business; just time to socialize.

9:30 to 11:45 am Professional Development session

* Round table sharing - Reports : 5 minutes per institutional representative with time for question/answer

Suggested format:

* Bring some materials for people to take home that provide a broad overview of the variety of things you are doing - so that others can review this info later, and get back to you if they have specific questions.

* Plan to spend their 5 minutes talking about either new/different initiatives or some idea/program/concept you would like some quick feedback on from the group .

* Extending the UCIPD circle: How might we encourage greater UCIPD participation from northern BC and Interior?
* Expanding the UCIPD meeting planning team
* SCOPE Community- Liz Wallace (SFU) : 'how to' info, what's there, what can we build into the site, demo

11:45 am to 1:00 pm No-host lunch at a nearby restaurant @ reasonable cost

1:00- 2:15 Emerging PD initiatives in British Columbia

* BC Campus Report: Educational technology, online learning and collaborative provincial program of professional development
- Paul Stacey, Director of Development, BCcampus
- Jan Johnson, UBC /BCcampus secondment

2:30 to 3:15 Enhancing our Institutional Impact - Questions to Consider

* Evaluation of faculty development programs

* What can we do to make our offerings appeal to a wide audience?
* How do we learn about the needs of potential participants?
* Might we be alienating particular communities by how we advertise our offerings?

How do we avoid this?
* What kinds of collaborative activities could we create with other institutions to decrease the time & funding requirements for all of us?

3:15 Next meeting: Hosted by SFU Surrey campus. Date? 1 day or 1.5 /2 days? Focus?

3:30 Farewell/ Until next time......

Directions to Douglas College, New Westminster, BC, V3L 5B2 at
http://www.douglas.bc.ca/about/our-campuses/new_west_campus.html
Registration: No fee. Please register with:
Wendy Waidson waidsonw@douglas.bc.ca 604-527 5411