This week, we are excited about the official launch of Studio23: Reignite Your Teaching and Facilitation Practice. Check it out! On our blog, we explore summer learning at your own pace and mastering citation and attribution in the OER space. We also return with our monthly update on open education in B.C. and beyond. Finally, we also have a number of opportunities closing soon, including a call for resource evaluators in the digital literacy project and a job posting at BCcampus. 

Spotlight

📅 Studio23: Reignite Your Teaching and Facilitation Practice

November 1-2, 2023 | SFU Harbour Centre 

Don't miss out on Studio23 this November!

Join us for two days of creative learning, intriguing keynotes, curated workshops, and meaningful conversations with colleagues.

Tickets are on sale now. Let's elevate our teaching and facilitation skills together! 

Learn more: Studio23: Reignite Your Teaching and Facilitation Practice

Learning Opportunities 

📅 FLO Friday: Open Pedagogy as Critical Pedagogy

August 18, 2023 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

In this session we will explore open pedagogy and its multiple meanings and concepts. Participants will be invited to engage throughout the session, sharing their own experiences, beliefs, and assumptions about open pedagogy. 

Learn more: FLO Friday: Open Pedagogy as Critical Pedagogy

📅 FLO Friday: It’s All About Relationships: Embracing Teaching in Digital Age

September 8, 2023 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, educators face both exciting opportunities and new challenges at the start of a new semester — more so now in the era of ChatGPT and other tools. Through this session we will explore practical and fun ways of cultivating meaningful relationships while promoting student engagement, motivation, and active participation. 

Learn more: FLO Friday: It’s All About Relationships: Embracing Teaching in Digital Age

📅 Introducing B.C.’s Micro-credential Toolkit

September 19, 2023 | 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Learn more about what’s inside this exciting new resource, based on eCampusOntario’s Micro-credential Toolkit and written for the B.C. context. You’ll leave this event with useful tools to design, develop, and implement micro-credentials at your institution.

Learn more: Introducing B.C.’s Micro-credential Toolkit

📅 FLO MicroCourse: Musing Around with Artificial Intelligence and Pedagogy

September 19-25, 2023 | Asynchronous 

In this FLO MicroCourse, you will explore how using AI can enhance your teaching and your students’ learning. It’s a practical, action-focused invitation into the maze of AI options, with a guided exploration of AI tools. 

While most of the learning will happen asynchronously, we have two synchronous sessions planned for this course.

Learn more: FLO MicroCourse: Musing Around with Artificial Intelligence and Pedagogy

📅 FLO Lab: Drawn Into AI Angst: Can I really prove I am not a robot?

September 28, 2023 | 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

Are you feeling anxious about the rise of artificial intelligence tools in the classroom? Do you worry you might become obsolete in the face of this technological advancement? How often have you had to “prove you are not a robot”?

Through creating and sharing simple comics, we’ll delve into our honest wonderings and worries about AI. This workshop will be a playful way to address concerns and questions about the impact of AI tools on our work and the future of our careers. 

Learn more: FLO Lab: Drawn Into AI Angst: Can I Really Prove I am Not a Robot?

📅 Accessibility Bites: Assistive Technologies

September 28, 2023 | 12 - 12:30 p.m. 

This fall we are introducing a new series called Accessibility Bites. You often hear others talk about accessibility, but you’re not quite sure how to put it into practice (or maybe you just haven’t had a chance). These sessions are for you!

Our first drop-in session is designed to explore the assistive technologies and customization options available in the digital tools educators and staff often use. The goal is to explore these tools and identify what might make your work easier.

Learn more: Accessibility Bites: Assistive Technologies

A complete list of our upcoming events, archives, and resources are available on our website. 

Recommended Reading 

📘 Self-Paced Summer Learning 

Summer doesn't have to mean completely unplugging. Check out our latest blog post for three challenge series to keep your brain active while enjoying the sun! No sign-up or meetings required. Dive in and explore valuable open educational resources. 

Learn more: Self-Paced Summer Learning

📘 Citation and Attribution: How to Credit the Work of Others

Improve your OER game by mastering citation and attribution! Check out our excerpt from Getting Started: OER Publishing at BCcampus for some valuable insights.

Learn more: Citation and Attribution: How to Credit the Work of Others

Check out the latest news from BCcampus on our blog. 

Open Education Updates

Two long-term, BCcampus funded projects were completed last month with University of Fraser Valley's Foundation Grant project and Thompson Rivers University's ZTC STEM Grant project. Congratulations to both for jobs well done!

It has been a good month for healthcare OER too with the addition of Selkirk's A Guide to Numeracy in Nursing to the B.C. Open Collection and Exploring the U.S. Healthcare System to the OER by Discipline Directory. 

Finally, for those watching how generative AI is impacting education, see links to one discussion (Generative AI and the Near Future of Work: An EdTech Example) and news (European Parliament gives green light to AI Act) on this topic.

Learn more about Open Education Updates for July 2023

See OpenEd updates for a complete list of what's happening at BCcampus.

Seeking Submissions

💻 BCcampus Rural and Remote Travel Grant

The BCcampus Rural and Remote Travel Grant is intended to support access to professional learning events for B.C. post-secondary educators and instructional support staff who do not have sufficient funds for travel and professional development.

Specifically, this grant is for people who wish to attend Studio23 at Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre in Vancouver, B.C., on November 1–2, 2023.

This grant will cover travel expenses up to $1,500 CAD. Free registration for the two-day event is included.

Learn more: BCcampus Rural and Remote Travel Grant

💻 Call for Open Content: Digital Literacy Project Phase 2

In partnership with the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills and the Digital Learning Advisory Committee, BCcampus is pleased to be leading the development of a collection of open materials to support digital literacy in B.C. post-secondary institutions. This collection will be made available to learners through an online repository.

We seek content submissions for inclusion in the collection that fulfill the requirements of the eight areas of digital literacy competencies identified in B.C.’s Post-Secondary Digital Learning Strategy. 

Learn more: Call for Open Content: Digital Literacy Project Phase 2

💻 Call for Proposals: BCcampus Research Fellows for 2024–2025

We invite research proposals from B.C. public post-secondary educators who are committed to exploring and improving student learning and eager to conduct and share research with others.

Our current area of research focus includes:

• Learning and teaching design, strategies, and practices
• Open educational practices
• Student access, accessibility, and engagement
• Indigenous research and practices

BCcampus Research Fellowships have an 18-month term, and grants are up to $6,000 each. 

Learn more: Call for Proposals: BCcampus Research Fellows for 2024–2025

💻 Call for Proposals: Professional Learning in the Early Childhood Sector in B.C.

BCcampus is seeking experts in early childhood education and curriculum development to submit proposals and help develop professional learning for ECEs across the province.

Successful applicants will be offered contracts valued at up to $100,000 for their work. Payment will be tied to deliverables based on the service contract.

Learn more: Call for Proposals: Professional Learning in the Early Childhood Sector in B.C.

💻 Digital Literacy Project: Call for Resource Evaluators – Cohort 2

BCcampus is seeking expressions of interest from members of the B.C. post-secondary community to join Cohort 2 of the Digital Literacy Resource Evaluation Working Group. The purpose of the group is to help review and select high-quality, openly licensed materials for inclusion in an online repository that supports digital literacy in B.C. post-secondary institutions.

Learn more: Digital Literacy Project: Call for Resource Evaluators – Cohort 2

💻 Equity Sequence: Building Equality Better 

In partnership with the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, BCcampus is offering free access to Equity Sequence training to anyone in the public B.C. post-secondary sector. Space is limited and provided on a first-come, first-served basis. 

The Equity Sequence training takes place in an online, gamified learning platform and community. The learner encounters informative video content, engages in self-reflection and sharing with the community, and puts their new skill to use on case studies before applying the Equity Sequence to their own work.

Learn more: Equity Sequence: Building Equality Better

💻 Job Opportunity: Coordinator, Project Support and Open Publication

The Coordinator, Project Support and Open Publication, provides coordination, support, and open publication for projects and strategic initiatives that advance effective and innovative collaborative leadership practices across the B.C. post-secondary system. The position reports to the Senior Project Manager and works with other BCcampus staff, higher education administrators, faculty and staff from partner institutions and community organizations, students, contractors, suppliers, as well as with representatives of the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills and other Ministries as appropriate.

Posting closes August 11, 2023.

Learn more: Coordinator, Project Support and Open Publication

BCcampus acknowledges the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) Peoples and the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples on whose traditional territories we are privileged to live, work, and learn. Through our work we are learning to incorporate Indigenous epistemologies into our actions and understandings, supporting decolonization, reconciliation, and Indigenization to advocate systemic changes in the post-secondary environment of B.C.