Expanding the teaching toolbox with technology
Presentation on e-learning
In a presentation to Senate on March 15, Saul Carliner provided a brief overview of the various ways technology can be used in teaching, from blended models that enhance traditional classroom-based offerings, to online courses.
The e-learning fellow and associate professor in the Department of Education also outlined some of the benefits and effectiveness of e-learning, and where Concordia is headed in terms of technology-integrated teaching.
He encouraged senators to think of using technology in teaching as a way to add to their existing teaching practices. “There’s only so much that you can do in the classroom,” he said. “When we add technology, we expand our toolbox.” He then went on to explain how a professor at Concordia can develop his or her own online course, with the help of instructional designers.
In terms of next steps, Carliner said Concordia is looking at ways to expand the use of technology-integrated teaching. This includes the major conference titled, e.SCAPE: Knowledge, Teaching, Technology, being hosted by the university from April 3 to 5. Read more.
President’s remarks
President Alan Shepard provided an update on the recent Summit on Higher Education and announcements by the Government of Quebec regarding funding, including the decision to maintain funding cuts of $125 million to the university sector for 2013-14 and the indexing of tuition fees at three per cent, or approximately $70, beginning in the fall of 2013. The university is expecting to receive the government’s directives for funding in April, which will allow senior administrators to make concrete budget decisions for the next school year. Read more.
At the summit, the government also announced that it would create five working groups to look at specific areas of university governance. The government has also scheduled a second summit, with a focus on research, next month. Read more.
Academic Plan update
Interim Provost Lisa Ostiguy provided an update on recent developments related to the Academic Plan. This includes the approval of funding by the university’s Academic Cabinet for the Faculty of Arts and Science’s new Sustainability Action Fund.
“The fund is a real partnership, proposed jointly and governed jointly by students through the Sustainability Action Fund, and by faculty through the Academic Plan,” said Brian Lewis, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science. The new fund creates two faculty sustainability fellows, one for the sciences and one from the social sciences or humanities, and provides for the hiring of students in sustainability leadership roles at the university.
Meanwhile, Ollivier Dyens, vice-provost, teaching and learning, outlined plans for a new curriculum innovation fund, which is part of a larger proposal that will be presented to the university’s Academic Cabinet in the next few weeks.
Concordia’s Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, Graham Carr, told Senate that the university’s Academic Cabinet recently approved the application of $200,000 to improve Concordia’s research facilitation, particularly in the service of large industrial grants.
The new funding will allow for the hiring of a second research facilitator in the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, and a research facilitator focused on health-based research. “This individual would be based at the PERFORM Centre, but working to serve on health-based applications across the university,” Carr said.
Concordia’s Interim Dean of Graduate Studies, Paula Wood-Adams, says an initiative is underway to examine the university’s processes for recruiting graduate students. First, her office is holding a series of workshops with graduate program directors and associate deans, which are “intended to bring out issues with respect to these processes; figure out best practices, what works in certain disciplines, what doesn’t work, and what kind of help people need,” she said.
Ostiguy said a committee led by Dyens has also begun reviewing a modular online training resource for teaching assistants. More information on current Academic Plan initiatives is available via the dashboard on the web page. Read more.
Related links:
• e.SCAPE
• Academic Plan – Dashboard
• “Update on operating grant cuts” – NOW, March 1, 2013
• “President shares observations on education summit” – NOW, February 27, 2013
• “Meet top brains @ e.SCAPE conference” – NOW, February 27, 2013
• “E-learning: New pathways in education” – NOW, February 20, 2013
• Concordia Senate