Bright yellow benches casting shadows in Guadalajara
The emerging theme this week was shapes. Drawing circles, lines and arrows, and putting things in boxes. There was even a little spiral in there.
Last week I started a concept map on what access means in many different contexts and have been pulling that apart and breaking it down into sections and adding detail. Access is so nuanced. It’s not pretty yet but it is taking shape – or shapes…
I worked out some vacation times for the next year and I don’t believe that I’ll be able to take any of the actual planned vacations. I am pretty sure that this contributed to the aforementioned spiral that happened on Tuesday. There are so many things that are out of our control- so many unknowns. I have to remember that for all I am aware that other people are in a #traumainformed situation, I am part of that ecosystem and it’s going to affect me too sometimes. I took a little walk and thought about the things that are actually in my control and decided to focus on those. I am in a very good place and don’t feel particularly delicate most of the time but there are days where just a little thing can seem… I don’t know… like a big deal? It was a short-lived and mostly contained spiral and a good reminder to take a beat and get some perspective; it will be okay.
Wednesday I attended a BCcampus session that showcased how 5 different institutions are using OER. Open Access in Action: Tales from Five Institutions. KPU has an Academic Integrity tutorial that they’ve put into pressbooks. they’ve found a way to use badges in Moodle so students can demonstrate that they’ve completed the content. Mike and I looked at badges in Blackboard a few eyars ago for the very same reason. BCIT shared some biology (biotechnology) resources that look great. I learned about the Open art Histories project and a new cross-institutional Open text for Physical Geography. The beauty of these resources is that they are open for remix and re-use. I think it would be nice to have a little curated library of these resources that are relative to programs and course at NIC. I just may take that on as a project and see if I can get some instructors on board. There are a lot of educators using H5P and I look forward to exploring it a little more soon. I played with it a few years ago but don’t remember much. I learned about the H5P hub (coming soon) in this session.
Some of the strands of my to do list have started coming together. I’ve been gathering resources related to access, open pedagogy, and UDL as well as working out what that kind of specialization looks like as a Teaching and Learning specialist. What would I have to offer with that kind of specialization without putting myself into the box of accessibility alone? See what I did there? The Open Education Challenge Series has been really great so far and helps with thinking about more ways I could support faculty.
I did something a little different (for me) this week – I signed up to co-host a radio show one morning during the Studio20 event that BCcampus is hosting in November. It felt a little impulsive but also, right. I think it will be fun and another way to connect with my community. Studio20 is about engaging learners online so fits right in with PD too. Co-hosting includes a pass to the event.
I think I’ve been missing community and collaboration. Even being back in the office, I’m working alone, in fact, probably more so than when I was working from home. November is shaping up to be PD intensive so that should help. The etug conference is on November 6th and registration is looking good. It will be great to spend the day with that group.