Learning Opportunities 

📅 FLO MicroCourse: Write a Compelling Discussion Prompt

February 26 – March 3, 2024 | Asynchronous 

Spruce up your discussion forums and make them enticing for your students! Join our upcoming FLO MicroCourse to discover effective strategies for engaging discussions, collaborative formats, and unforgettable learning experiences.

Learn more: FLO MicroCourse: Write a Compelling Discussion Prompt

📅 Research Speaker Series – Digital Arts-Based Research in Education

February 27, 2024 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

In this session, facilitator Rachel Horst will share tools and technologies for researchers interested in how digital media have become part of creative expression and meaning making. This presentation will examine how digital arts and aesthetics can be used at all stages of research and representation. Participants will take up digital arts-based approaches through a post-humanist and new materialist framework to understand creativity, relationality, and our post-digital experience in troubled times. They will also be introduced to how digital arts-based tools and new media aesthetics can deepen and extend research inquiries.

Learn more: Research Speaker Series – Digital Arts-Based Research in Education

📅 Accessibility Bites: Word Documents

February 29, 2024 | 12 - 12:30 p.m. 

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 Accessibility Bites sessions are for you! In last session of the series, we will focus on Microsoft Word, but you can bring a Google Doc or web page too. 

Learn more: Accessibility Bites: Word Documents

📅 2024 VCC Teaching, Learning, and Research Symposium

February 29 and March 1, 2024 | 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

You're invited to join this virtual Vancouver Community College gathering to share best practices, research findings, innovative ideas, and diverse perspectives on teaching and learning in post-secondary education. The symposium is free of cost. 

Learn more: 2024 VCC Teaching, Learning, and Research Symposium

📅 FLO Friday: Learning Relationships with Community in the Online Context

March 1, 2024 | 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

Through this session, we will explore models for, and examples of, reciprocal and meaningful community-engaged learning. We will review how the seamless integration of community projects and relationships into online course curricula can be accomplished when learners apply their digital skills in meaningful, community-focused projects while respecting the needs and desires of community.

Learn more: FLO Friday: Learning Relationships with Community in the Online Context

📅 FLO MicroCourse: An Introduction to the B.C. Digital Literacy Framework

March 4-8, 2024 | Asynchronous 

The B.C. Digital Literacy Framework, part of the B.C. Digital Learning Strategy, was created to develop digital literacy in post-secondary settings. This one-week FLO MicroCourse is tailored for educators keen on integrating the framework into their teaching. The course covers eight thematic competencies and offers self-paced content along with two one-hour synchronous sessions.

Learn more: FLO MicroCourse: An Introduction to the B.C. Digital Literacy Framework

📅 Touching Base: A Conversation About Open Education in B.C. Post-Secondary 

March 13, 2024 | 2 - 3:30 p.m. 

We invite people who support open education at post-secondary institutions in B.C. and the Yukon to a virtual conversation about their practice and challenges. This discussion will encompass topics such as:

• Methods for supporting open education initiatives at your institution
• Common challenges encountered in this endeavour
• Strategies for mutual support among peers

Following this event, the goal is to foster an active community of practice to sustain ongoing dialogue about open education within B.C. and the Yukon.

Learn more: Touching Base: A Conversation About Open Education in B.C. Post-Secondary

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

Recommended Reading 

📘 Digital Pedagogy Toolbox: Cultivating Digital Well-Being – From Fatigue to Healthy Daily Practices

Feeling overwhelmed by endless online courses and digital tools? You're not alone! In the latest blog post in our Digital Pedagogy Toolbox series, we're diving into the importance of digital well-being in education with author Jenny Mao. Read on to discover practical strategies to combat fatigue and fears, fostering a healthier relationship with technology.

Learn more: Digital Pedagogy Toolbox: Cultivating Digital Well-Being – From Fatigue to Healthy Daily Practices

📘 BCcampus Award for Excellence in Open Education: Natasha Ramroop Singh

This month's recipient of the BCcampus Award for Excellence in Open Education is Natasha Ramroop Singh, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). Natasha is recognized for her significant contributions to open education, as author and avid adopter of open textbooks in the subject areas of chemistry, genetics, and biochemistry.

Learn more: BCcampus Award for Excellence in Open Education: Natasha Ramroop Singh

📘 Exploring Five Years of Enhancing Learning and Teaching: BCcampus Research Fellows Ezine Launch 

BCcampus is marking the fifth anniversary of our Research Fellows Program, which has supported 25 fellows in conducting small-scale research aimed at enhancing student learning in the B.C. post-secondary sector. To commemorate this milestone, we are pleased to unveil our online magazine.

Learn more: Exploring Five Years of Enhancing Learning and Teaching: BCcampus Research Fellows Ezine Launch

Check out the latest news from BCcampus on our blog. 

Open Education Updates

Several new books have been added to the B.C. Open Collection including over half a dozen updated OpenStax textbooks, and a variety of new textbooks have been added to the OER by Discipline Directory ranging from English Language Learning to Music.

Explore the new Contribute page on the B.C. Open Collection website that lists several ways that you can get involved in open education through BCcampus. 

Finally, BCcampus is pleased to support Open Education Week this year by sponsoring several events in B.C. and the Yukon. We are delighted to support a range of events, including workshops, award ceremonies, and guest lectures on open education.

Learn more: Open Education Updates for February 2024

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

Seeking Submissions

💻 Call for Expressions of Interest: Online Learning Designers and Facilitators

BCcampus is inviting expressions of interest from B.C. post-secondary educators interested in developing and delivering new FLO MicroCourses, FLO Labs, or FLO Friday sessions for the period of May 2024 to March 2025. We are specifically interested in topics related to practices and integration of the eight competencies of the Digital Literacy Framework of B.C.

This opportunity closed on March 29, 2024. 

Learn more: Call for Expressions of Interest: Online Learning Designers and Facilitators

💻 Call for Proposals: ETUG Spring 2024 Workshop – Digital Literacy Today: Celebrating 30 Years of Educational Transformation

ETUG is accepting proposals for event presenters for their upcoming spring workshop on May 9-10, 2024. 

Proposals should aim to address one or more of the following questions:

• What trends in student demographics and expectations are you observing? How do these trends inform, or relate to, changes in educational technology?
• What expectations are there in terms of technology use in the workplace? How are these expectations informing program content and delivery?
• How are institutions supporting the delivery of online, hybrid, and in-person classes?
• How do you accommodate different learning styles and abilities when integrating digital literacy into your lessons? 
• Are there specific strategies you use to ensure inclusivity in digital literacy education?
• How do you share successful practices and lessons learned with your colleagues?
• What challenges do you face in incorporating digital literacy into your teaching?
• How do you overcome these challenges, and are there any innovative solutions you have implemented?

The deadline to submit is March 29, 2024. 

Submit here: Call for Proposals: ETUG Spring 2024 Workshop – Digital Literacy Today: Celebrating 30 Years of Educational Transformation

💻 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

💻 Evaluate OER Under Consideration

BCcampus maintains a list of open educational resources (OER) we are considering for the B.C. Open Collection. We want to ensure the OER we add to the collection are high quality and relevant for people who teach post-secondary classes in Canada. We are looking for subject-matter experts from Canada to evaluate open textbooks we are considering for the B.C. Open Collection.

Learn more: Evaluate OER Under Consideration

BCcampus offices are situated on the unceded territories of the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich), and the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples. As both individuals and an organization, we continue to learn and build relationships as we actively respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.