Since 1992, December 3rd was declared by the United Nations as the International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) to “promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities.”
The Centre for Excellence in Foundational Learning, in partnership with Handi Enterprises Ltd., would like to engage Bow Valley College faculty, staff, and community in an interesting discussion about barriers and priorities relating to accessing education as a person with disabilities. We will also be exploring this year’s IDPD theme relating to technology by supplying different types of assistive technologies for participants to experience, explore, and discuss.
Come to rooms S2009, S2010, and S2011 from 12:30-3:30pm on December 3, 2014 to share in a lively discussion, a bite to eat, and some interactive learning in honour of this internationally acknowledged day!
Please note interpreters will be available at the event and the joint classrooms are wheelchair accessible. If any additional accommodations are required please contact Candace Witkowskyj.
Friday 21 November 2014
Thursday 6 November 2014
Providing Learner-Centered Feedback Using D2L - A 2014 UO Conference Presentation
Post author: Cobern Whitehead
Providing feedback regarding a student’s learning is a crucial part of the learning process and is something that, as instructors, we need to do on a constant basis. In the traditional style classroom setting where I spend most of my time, I am able to do for my students via a combination of verbal feedback in the classroom and written feedback on their assignments. When introducing D2L to one of this semester’s evening classes, I quickly realized that the way I provide feedback needs to be modified. For this reason, I found Jainping Cui and Marilyn Letts’s UO conference presentation to be particularly useful.
Jianping and Marilyn’s presentation begins with a quick review of the essentials of providing feedback – namely that feedback must be timely, ongoing and positive and actionable – and then moves on to cover some of the feedback and assessment tools that are built in to D2L. I’ll admit that I sometimes tend to view online learning simply as an updated version of traditional long-distance learning, and I was pleased to be shown differently when the presenters focused largely on ways to provide instantaneous feedback in D2L – something that I’ve always thought to be missing from non-FTF learning environments. I look forward to putting their tips on D2L’s discussion , dropbox, quiz, self-assessment and grader tools to use and providing my students with improved feedback.
To learn more about providing feedback on D2L, please watch Jianping and Marilyn’s UO Conference session.
Providing feedback regarding a student’s learning is a crucial part of the learning process and is something that, as instructors, we need to do on a constant basis. In the traditional style classroom setting where I spend most of my time, I am able to do for my students via a combination of verbal feedback in the classroom and written feedback on their assignments. When introducing D2L to one of this semester’s evening classes, I quickly realized that the way I provide feedback needs to be modified. For this reason, I found Jainping Cui and Marilyn Letts’s UO conference presentation to be particularly useful.
To learn more about providing feedback on D2L, please watch Jianping and Marilyn’s UO Conference session.
Wednesday 5 November 2014
TEDx at BVC
I was honored to be invited to the TEDx Bow Valley College Event.
The theme for this year’s event was “Connections”, which is part of Bow Valley
College’s vision for 2020.
The BVC speakers that inspired and moved the crowd were:
Patrick Hanlon
Fawad Khan
Brett Bergie
Andrei Banu
Gavin Laverty
Kakoli Mitra
The Intercultural Centre successfully created an intimate, dimly lighted setting, perfect for shedding a few tears. Stay tuned for the
TEDx Bow Valley College screenings and Meet the Speaker events.
TEDx BVC also presented two Ted Talks on screen:
Ash Beckham: We’re all hiding something. Let’s find the courage
to open up.
and
Zak Ebrahin
I am the son of a terrorist. Here’s how I chose peace.
Monday 3 November 2014
The Math of Learning: John Mighton Presents at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)
[O]ur beliefs have incredibly strong effects. We're a society that only 50 years ago or even more recently thought that women couldn't do mathematics. We see people who can't do something and we automatically assume it's some kind of innate problem that's stopping them from doing it, that they don't have the right gift to do it. We just make those judgments constantly.
-- John Mighton
John Mighton, mathematician, playwright and founder of JUMP Math, presented at TEDxCERN this September. In this presentation (below) he shares insights into mathematics education.
In this interview with Scientific American, Mighton mentions how he “regained [his] sense of wonder and confidence through … reading Sylvia Plath's work” because Plath developed her “deep gift” through “sheer determination.” That renewed confidence led to Governor General’s awards and a PhD in mathematics.
John Mighton is a rare polymath in a world of narrow specializations. Perhaps his diverse expertise enables him to develop creative approaches to education that are both science-based and humanistic.
Regards,
Michael
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