• Opportunities for Post-Secondary Education: Responding to British Columbia’s New K-12 Curriculum

    Opportunities for Post-Secondary Education: Responding to British Columbia’s New K-12 Curriculum

    British Columbia has a new Kindergarten (K) – Grade 12 curriculum. K to Grade 9 was rolled out in Fall of 2016. Grade 10 curriculum will be mandatory in Fall of 2018 and Grades 11 and 12 will follow in Fall of 2019. The new curriculum model was built on research, global best practices and…

  • 5 Key Changes in BC’s New K-12 Curriculum: What are the Implications for Post-Secondary?

    5 Key Changes in BC’s New K-12 Curriculum: What are the Implications for Post-Secondary?

    By Liesel Knaack, Director, Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning, Vancouver Island University PDF of Blog Post (1.5 MB) British Columbia’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system is being updated and enhanced. New mandated curriculum for Kindergarten (K) to Grade 9 began in Fall of 2016. New Grade 10-12 curricula will roll out in…

  • Final Daylight Details: Updating VIU’s Digital Learning Environment to a New Responsive Design Interface

    Final Daylight Details: Updating VIU’s Digital Learning Environment to a New Responsive Design Interface

      It’s been six months since Vancouver Island University (VIU) flipped the switch to Daylight (D2L’s new responsive design interface for their learning environment, Brightspace) on April 30, 2017 – and our story stays the same – all is well! Seriously, making the switch has resulted in many benefits for both students and faculty members.…

  • A Day in the Life of an Educational Developer: Part 2

    A Day in the Life of an Educational Developer: Part 2

    Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Part 2: What do I do? (Part 1) 7:20am: Arrive at Vancouver Island University. Walk in and smile at the rogue bunnies.  Turn a blind eye to the faculty member who is feeding the rogue bunnies. 7:30am: Host an early morning Show N Share.  The Show N Share series is an opportunity for…

  • A Day in the Life of An Educational Developer: Part 1

    A Day in the Life of An Educational Developer: Part 1

    Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Part 1: What do you do? In awkward social settings, when the conversation runs dry, someone, hoping to buoy the dialogue, might inquire after what I do. For a living. It’s at that moment that I wish I could respond with something well-known and understandable. Accountant. Fisherman. Flame Thrower. Knowing full well that…

  • D2L FUSION Conference: Key Take-Aways for Higher Ed

    D2L FUSION Conference: Key Take-Aways for Higher Ed

    D2L’s annual FUSION conference (Reach Every Learner) for its customers was held July 19-20 in Las Vegas. This is a summary of the key take-aways for higher education faculty and support staff with a focus on Brightspace (D2L’s learning environment). Much of this info is also found on this Summer 17 release page: https://www.d2l.com/products-releases/summer-2017/ Daylight – Responsive…

  • VIULearn Looks Different! Updated to a Modern Responsive Design!

    VIULearn Looks Different! Updated to a Modern Responsive Design!

    When Vancouver Island University students and faculty members log in to VIULearn for the first time this Fall 2017, they will experience a change in the look and feel of the learning environment. On April 30, 2017 VIULearn was upgraded to “Daylight”, a new interface design that allows for the same experience regardless of your…

  • ‘Daylight’ Has Come and Gone: VIU’s Experience Moving to D2L’s New Responsive Design Interface

    ‘Daylight’ Has Come and Gone: VIU’s Experience Moving to D2L’s New Responsive Design Interface

    On April 30, Vancouver Island University switched its learning environment, called VIULearn, to the “Daylight Experience” from D2L. Daylight is a change in the look and feel (colours, buttons, icons, text), but it really updates the learning environment to one that is designed to be responsive/resizable to varied screen sizes and mobile devices. Daylight is…

  • If I had a hammer: Reflections on enhancing the provincial harmonized carpentry curriculum

    If I had a hammer: Reflections on enhancing the provincial harmonized carpentry curriculum

    Background: Trades education across Canada is undergoing a harmonization initiative spearheaded by the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA), and supported by various provincial stakeholders.  This initiative seeks to align apprenticeship programs nationally, making training requirements and certification more consistent across programs.  The intention is to enable apprentices and recent graduates to travel and…

  • VIUTube has moved to UBC!

    VIUTube has moved to UBC!

    What is happening? VIU’s video streaming service (VIUTube) is moving to a shared service hosted at UBC. This means UBC is hosting the streaming media software “Kaltura” for the whole province on its servers. Many other colleges and universities are already using this service and enjoyed improved access, supports and services. This allows us to offer…

  • Enhancements to VIULearn: My Home, Course Home and Nav Bar (April 30)

    On April 30, VIULearn will undergo a  change in terms of look and feel as we upgrade to a new version called Daylight. We are also going to slide in a few enhancements to the My Home, Course Home and the Navigation Bar to take advantage of this update. Here is what is happening. My Home…

  • VIUTube moves to a New Location at UBC

    VIUTube moves to a New Location at UBC

    VIUTube, VIU’s streaming video platform for uploading and watching videos in a secure and private location is being upgraded (and moved to a new location). VIU is now part of a centralized shared service for post-secondary institutions in BC for streaming video. By being part of this new service means we save on our annual…