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5 Ways You Can Help Students Navigate Your Course in VIULearn
In 2020, Stephanie Boychuk and the Academic and Career Preparation department conducted a survey of their students to learn more about how course navigation and structure can be used to support student success in online and blended courses. In this blog post, Stephanie summarizes five “quick wins” anyone can use to help students navigate course…
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VIU Learning Technology Orientations for Students – View anytime!
We are running live webinars to introduce students to the learning technologies available at VIU while protecting the health and safety of everyone involved. Not to worry – we recorded the orientation for you! You can watch it whenever is convenient & as many times as you’d like. Do you still have questions? What does…
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The Share Drive (Episode 17): nutsamaat uy’skwuluwun. Collette Jones (Instructor, Studies of Women and Gender)
In this powerful podcast, Collette Jones (Instructor, Studies of Women and Gender) describes her Indigenous approach to teaching and learning during the pandemic. Collette draws on her experiences– personal, professional, and academic, including research on Coast Salish teaching methods–to highlight the importance of respect, relationship, listening, story-telling, and humour to her teaching and learning. An…
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The Share Drive (Episode 16): “We in Horticulture are often very adaptable” (Christine Quist, Instructor)
According to Christine Quist (instructor, Horticulture department), horticulturalists are naturally adaptable, moving and shifting constantly with seasons and conditions. In this podcast, Christine describes her and her students’ adaptability, outlining the way in which her greenhouse skills class took to growing poinsettias at home as well as in the greenhouse. Partnering with industry to provide…
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The Share Drive (Episode 15): “That extraordinary event that rippled out of those beginning places” Heather Wilson (ECEC student); Cheryl Cameron (ECEC practicum coordinator ); Antje Bitterberg (ECEC Instructor)
In this first episode of our “What Went Well” series, we sit down with Antje Bitterberg, Cheryl Cameron, and their student, Heather Wilson, to discuss how the Early Childhood Education (ECEC) program moved through this last remarkable year. Specifically, our three guests outline how they adapted to the changes in teaching and learning, and ultimately…
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What went well: A Story-telling Call for VIU Teaching and Learning Moments from 2020-2021
A couple of years ago I started a teaching and learning podcast called The Share Drive. My intention was to share more broadly stories of teaching and learning, and general awesomeness, across our campus. I was also looking for a way to continue to recognize teaching and learning, creativity, innovation and the thoughtfulness of many…
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The Share Drive Episode 14: Mackenzie Sillem and her commitment to Intercultural Studies at VIU
Many listeners will know Mackenzie from her long-term and broad-reaching efforts to support Intercultural learning across VIU, most recently with the development and teaching of Intercultural Studies 100: Exploring and Developing Intercultural Competence. In this podcast, we sit down with Mackenzie to discuss intercultural learning from a variety of perspectives, as well as the value…
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LearnSupport Phone Line is Back in Service!
The Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning is happy to announce that the LearnSupport phone line is back in service! Faculty and students can now either reach out for support by sending us an email to learnsupport@viu.ca or by phoning our support line at 250.740.6179. Our phone line and email is monitored Monday-Friday 9:00am-4:00pm…
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UnMarking Institute 2021 at VIU
Liberate Learning: How to Untangle the Web of Feedback and Grading May 12 and 13, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM This two-day workshop includes a series of Zoom interactions, independent faculty work on their chosen course, and consultations with facilitators. Participants will also be invited to participate in follow-up conversations before and during course implementation…
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Creating Purpose by Letting Students Frame the Questions
For our final blog post on Purposeful Assignments, we spoke with Sandra Johnstone from VIU’s Earth Science Department. Sandra Johnstone’s fourth year Earth Science class was about climate change, and the first thing she did was to have the whole class brainstorm an inquiry question to focus learning for the duration of the semester. After…
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The Share Drive Episode 13: Shannon Bence: The Ultimate Online Learning Survival Guide
After witnessing the fear many of her students were experiencing in the transition to online learning, Shannon asked herself the question, “How can I help?” And the answer that came to her was, “I know! I’ll get up before my toddlers and make some videos about how to be a successful online learner!” In this…
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Enduring and Public: Blogs as Purposeful Assignments
In today’s post, we’re going to look at two instructors who have used VIUBlogs to facilitate purposeful assignments that both give students meaningful choices and have lasting, public relevance beyond the length of the course.