Temple at Chichen Itza and wall with skull carvings in the foregroundCatching up for a couple of weeks where I only worked a couple of days. I took a week off from the 10th to the 17th so there wasn’t much to reflect on on either side. Photo from our trip to Chichen Itza. Amazing place and we learned a lot of the history from our guide.

Brightspace has been the main focus for what I’m working on. Before I went away I finished my second course in the certificate training “Building Assessment and Grading Learners”. It was much more involved than building courses was in that there are a lot more variables and details when setting up assessments.

Next week we are supposed to be starting the third certificate course on Engagement and Communication but so far the website and the email I got are showing a repeat of the assessment course. I’ve written for clarification.

Since I’ve been back we’ve done some training sessions in teaching with Brightspace and are now working on resources. We’ve had one person for each session so far and it’s been good to run through our content with someone else. We’ve discovered some things we can adjust and improve.  I’m in the process of harvesting and curating existing Brightspace training so that we’re not reinventing the wheel. We can then see if there are any gaps and any NIC specific things we need to create.

Started reading How are we doing with Open Educational Practice  and will explore the Institutional Self-Assessment Tool for OEP Initiatives. I have also signed up for the Program for Open Scholarship and Education (POSE) at UBC. It was this statement that really made it seem like a good idea: “By completing this program you will gain the tools and strategies to become proficient in supporting and advocating for open practices.”  The program starts in mid-January and doesn’t sound like a heavy time commitment. I’m hoping this will be a way to stay connected with what’s going on in Open and give me a bit of insight on the ‘support’ and ‘advocacy’ pieces.

Next week I will continue building a resource bank for Brightspace and hopefully get started on the correct course for my certificate. Jen and I will be facilitating three more sessions for faculty.