Category: Open-Free
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New place for open textbooks
As a past user of and contributor to open textbooks in BC, I was pleased to see that BCcampus has created a new home for their growing collection of open textbooks and course material packages (see B.C. Open Collection). You can still explore the linear arrangement until February 2024 but I found the new site…
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Social learning online
I spent some time, during the summer, learning how to contribute to an iNaturalist project based in a small corner of our local UNESCO Biosphere Region. In case you haven’t tried iNaturalist before, it’s an amazing “what’s this” service that allows you to identify flora and fauna you encounter on your nature walks, just by…
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Intriguing structures
Sparking interest and capturing the attention of busy learners can be a challenge at times especially if you aren’t present (either virtually or in-person). But online environments and free or inexpensive digital tools (apps) can make it easier for you to curate or present a collection of intriguing information, encourage critical thinking and develop self-directed…
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Honouring Indigenous Writers
What have you been reading lately? Are you part of a book club? Have any of the books you’ve been reading been written by indigenous writers? I’m guessing (perhaps unfairly) that you might have to say “No”? Well, here’s your chance to change that. Get to know an indigenous writer – make the effort to…
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Perspectives on Pro-D
I’ve been thinking a lot about what we mean when we talk about professional development, especially when we talk about it in the context of higher education (or post-secondary education). As a long-time edu-consultant, I’ve been in a kind of ongoing flow of PD throughout my career; sometimes that PD was formal and credentialled but…
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Learning about inclusive design with Josie Gray
February was Inclusive Design month for BCcampus! Josie Gray, Coordinator of Collection Quality for Open Education, facilitated all four sessions and left us with a rich collection of ideas, tips, examples and guidelines of how we can all improve our practice when preparing / delivering / sharing information and ideas in our teaching or instructional…
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Helping us see differently – Jess Mitchell
BCcampus, launched an important webinar series on Inclusive Design in February…and I missed all of them (sigh). But because the folks at BCcampus are digitally-aware and focused on openness and accessibility, they provided recordings of each session so I’m digging in to discover what I missed. If you are curious, here’s a brief overview of…
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Mapping connections 4 learning
Mind maps (the term is attributed to Tony Buzan although the idea is much older) are a useful tool to organize knowledge visually and deepen understanding. When drawn on a piece of paper or whiteboard, the maps are easy to create and change, yet provide a clear and shareable record of thinking about a subject.…
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Inspired by FLO micro-course!
I’m currently on a professional learning journey – exploring longer, ongoing learning (through BCCampus Online Book Club) and distinctly separate (but linked) digestible chunks of learning offered by Sylvia Currie and her FLO’rs (through FLO – MicroCourses)* I’ve taken one micro-course (Creating and using rubrics) on and I’m immersed in the 2nd: Experience and design…
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Connecting With Open Learning ’17
As I browse the cloud, some things just seem to jump out at me – I saw an invitation to a cMOOC with the name Gardner Campbell attached to it. Well, I participated in an interesting cMOOC a couple of years ago called Connected Courses and had the opportunity to hear Gardner Campbell and others…