EPLT Online

This week’s episode is an online learning extravaganza! This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Master of Educational Technology (MET) program, so we have to mark the special occasion. Jenny’s back, Dave gives some 10-year statistics for the MET program (did you know that basically everybody on the planet has at least asked about taking the program at some point? Is that too much hyperbole?), and Jenny gives some great information about the Faculty of Education Walkabout fitness challenge that starts at the end of the month.

In addition to all of that, we have two great interviews for you.

First, Dave speaks with Yael Tagerud (Linnaeus University in Sweden) and Leah Macfadyen (UBC Faculty of Arts),  who are designing an elective course called “Culture and Communication in Virtual Learning Environments” for the MET program.

Leah and Yael each express their own experiences in multicultural settings through their personal and educational backgrounds.

Leah provides a glimpse into her research and practice around ways in which culturally diverse students interact with online learning environments, and Yael shares how she has become a pioneer in delivering online learning.

Next on the show, Dave reconnects with Tony Bates, a founder of the Master in Educational Technology (MET) program, and a respected advocate for online learning in Canada. Their discussion provides a retrospective look at the MET program’s origins and evolution through its ten years of existence. Tony offers insight into the process of developing online and international academic programs, and considers the growth of online learning over the next several years.

All of this and not a zombie reference to be heard. But the year is still young.

We’d love your feedback on anything. Period. Who knows? Maybe it will even get read on the air. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Find us on iTunes. (or just search for EPLT or Down the Hall in the podcast section of iTunes)

Or find us on Libsyn too, of course.

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

More details, including the link to the episode itself and the time stamps, after the jump.

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EPLT is proud to announce a unique new graduate program in Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Pedagogies, being offered on campus here at UBC. This program is hosted by the Language & Literacy Education department as well as the office of Indigenous Education here in the Faculty of Education and is offered in partnership with the Vancouver School Board.

This M.Ed. will focus on school and classroom processes and practices that support Aboriginal learners using educational frameworks, theory and approaches that focus on Indigenous knowledge.  The program is designed to help educators build their knowledge and understanding of indigenous worldviews and education.

While the program is hosted by the LLED department, instruction will involve other departments in the Faculty as well, giving students a wide variety of viewpoints and learning communities to communicate with.

Dr. Joanne Archibald and Dr. Jan Hare will co-lead this cohort.

You can find more information on the program web site.

Here are the pertinent details:

Location: Vancouver

Start Date: July, 2012

Application Deadline:  March 1, 2012

There are currently two Information Sessions planned for this cohort.

Information Session #1

Wednesday, January 18

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Vancouver School Board office

Information Session #2

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Vancouver School Board Office

Please see the program web site for all other information about this program, including how to apply.

The deadline’s coming up, so apply today!

Welcome to 2012! It’s the first episode of the new year, and Dave’s flying solo because Jenny’s unavoidably absent. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a great show for you, though.

Dr. Blye Frank, Dean of the Faculty of Education, has some great and inspiring thoughts on what role the Faculty will play in the UBC Strategic Plan, Place & Promise. In an extended interview recorded back in October (so the upcoming travel he mentions has actually now occurred), Dr. Frank shares with us his views on where the Faculty is going and what priorities the Faculty is pursuing in implementing the plan. We cover everything from diversity in the Faculty to indigenous education, global outreach, youth at risk, and much more. We really enjoyed sitting down and chatting with him; his passion for Education really came through.

Before you listen, we did want to apologize for some of the audio issues during the interview. One of the headsets that have worked so well for us suddenly stopped working right at the beginning of the interview. We weren’t recording in our office, so we couldn’t just grab another one. We alternated headsets so that Dr. Frank could have his own. The sound you here is when we were making the switch. We tried doing it as quietly as possible, but it unfortunately did make noise.

We also apologize for the lateness!

We’d love your feedback on anything brought up on the episode, or just the podcast in general. Who knows? Maybe it will even get read on the air. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Find us on iTunes. (or just search for EPLT or Down the Hall in the podcast section of iTunes itself)

Or find us on Libsyn too, of course.

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

More details, including the link to the episode itself and the time stamps, after the jump.

Continue Reading »

It’s the holidays, and this is the final episode of Down the Hall for 2011. We hope you join us for more great stuff in 2012, but first, listen to this episode! We have lots of great stuff.

First, Dave talks to Denise Lauritano, Co-Chair of the UBC Community United Way campaign. Denise tells us all about how the United Way gets the entire UBC community involved in helping fund and promote programs that benefit the entire Lower Mainland, including many educational programs. Even better, she tells us how you can get involved.

After that, your intrepid hosts discuss the future of course materials in post-secondary education, and ask that necessary question: are e-textbooks the answer?

All of this, and plenty of fun tangents too. There is much laughter in this episode, which is pretty good for a holiday episode.

We’d love your feedback on anything brought up on the episode, or just the podcast in general. Who knows? Maybe it will even get read on the air. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Find us on iTunes. (or just search for EPLT or Down the Hall in the podcast section of iTunes itself)

Or find us on Libsyn too, of course.

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

More details, including the link to the episode itself and the time stamps, after the jump.

Continue Reading »

Down the Hall is one year old today! And what a year it’s been. It’s been a year of turnover (though thankfully that turnover happened right at the beginning), but we think we’ve really hit our stride and will continue to share with you interesting guests and engaging topics in Education.

So how are we celebrating? First, we have a gift for both you, the listener, as well as ourselves. Dave interviews Dr. Carl Leggo, a professor in the Language & Literacy Education department here at UBC. He’s also a noted poet, writer, researcher, and all-around fascinating guy. We think that all comes out in the interview as we talk about the importance of creativity and play in the Education field. This is a topic we’ve covered before on Down the Hall, but perhaps not quite to the extent that Carl does. This was a real treat for Dave, and we think it will be for you too.

After the interview, we discuss the podcast itself, taking you behind the scenes a bit. We also bring back former co-host Sharon Hu to talk about what she’s been up to since stepping down from her hosting duties. We talk about EPLT’s Instructional Design & Support Team (IDST) and the services that they offer to those in the Faculty of Education.

First, though, a bit of housekeeping. We’ve changed hosting services for Down the Hall, from Podbean to Libsyn. If you subscribe on iTunes, you’re free and clear. If you weren’t iTunes subscribers but instead were using other readers/podcast players, make sure you update the subscription to our new feed.

We’d love your feedback on anything brought up on the episode, or just the podcast in general. Who knows? Maybe it will even get read on the air. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Find us on iTunes. (or just search for EPLT or Down the Hall in the podcast section of iTunes itself)

Or find us on Libsyn too, of course.

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

More details, including the link to the episode itself and the time stamps, after the jump.

Continue Reading »

Investigating Our Practices is an annual conference offered by UBC’s Faculty of Education and the BC Teachers’ Federation. This year’s edition will be the 15th annual edition of this conference.

The conference web page is now up.

Teaching is demanding and complex work, made more difficult if we try to do it in isolation or without sharing and exploring our understandings together. In order to better understand and improve our practice, many of us engage in classroom, program or institution-based investigations focusing on the what, the how and the why of our practice.

The registration deadline is April 27 if you just wish to attend.

However, you are welcome to submit a proposal for a poster or presentation to share with your fellow teachers. The call for proposals for Investigating Our Practices is open, with a deadline of February 20, 2012. We encourage you to do that as well.

Finally, a number of the presentations (around 20%) will also be streamed online, so you’re welcome to “attend” virtually if you can’t make it there in person.

Whichever manner you choose, we hope you join us for this chance to discuss and share your teaching practices.

Changing podcast hosts can be a frightening thing, but we have finally decided to do it. While Podbean was fine as a host, we found that its statistics reporting wasn’t as helpful as it could be in regards to meeting our needs.

Thus, Down the Hall is now on Libsyn! You can subscribe to us by copying this feed URL into your blog reader/podcast player: http://downthehall.libsyn.com/rss (just right-click on it and select “Copy link address”) and voila! You’re subscribed!

So far, the transition has been fairly painless and all episodes have been ported to the new feed (though for some reason, when you subscribe to the feed in a reader like Google Reader, clicking on the post link still takes you to the Podbean page). Also, the porting process did not bring over the entire text from the Podbean page. Thus, the time stamps are gone if you are accessing it through iTunes or any other reader.

For those new subscribers who are finding their way here, you should check out the EPLT blog post for the previous episodes to get the time stamps and all of the information about the episode itself. Future posts will, of course, have all of that information handy and waiting for you.

We hope you enjoy listening to the podcast as much as we enjoy doing it. Stay with us as we keep moving upward!

EPLT is proud to announce the fifth iteration of the successful Master in Counseling Psychology with a focus in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling. MVR5 is an online cohort, though some courses involving clinical training may be delivered face-to-face, either at UBC or in clinical settings.

This program is being offered by the Educational Psychology and Special Education (ECPS) department here at UBC.

From the program web site:

“The UBC M.Ed. in Counselling Psychology (Vocational Rehabilitation Counselling) offers an evidence-informed, state of the art, interactive, and engaging graduate program. The program may include orientation and/or seminars at UBC or affiliated clinical sites, with a distance option for those who are not able to attend in person.”

For further information on the generous support the program has received, as well as information on how to apply, please see the program web site.

Also, for further information on the program, please see the ECPS site.

Here are the details:

Location: Online

Start Date: September 2012

Program Length: 3 years

Application Deadline: February 10, 2011

If you have questions about applying, you can also check out our 14-minute podcast on application procedures and things that you need to know, just recently posted on this blog.

You’ve probably seen them around on flyers, posters, even TV shows! Those interesting-looking square designs with squiggly lines and all of that. You may have wondered what they are? Those are QR codes, codes that are becoming more popular by the day as a new way to interact digitally with print media.

In this episode, we examine the use of QR codes in Education, as there are tons of ways that they can be incorporated into the daily curriculum, from providing a link to course web sites to forum discussions and links to course outlines, the possibilities are endless.

Dave also interviews John Egan, course designer and lead instructor for ETEC 565 (soon to be getting a new course number), “Learning Technologies: Selection, Design & Application.” This course has been extremely popular among MET students, and John gets into how the course came about and just what is covered in it.

All of this, and we nerd out on George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” book series and, of course, the Walking Dead. Can we get through an episode without mentioning that? Keep listening each episode to find out.

Also don’t forget, if you’re in Vancouver and listening to this on Friday night or Saturday, we have the civic election on Saturday, November 19. Get out and vote!

We’d love your feedback on anything brought up on the episode, or just the podcast in general. Who knows? Maybe it will even get read on the air. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Find us on iTunes. (or just search for EPLT or Down the Hall in the podcast section of iTunes itself)

Or find us on Libsyn

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

More details, including the link to the episode itself and the time stamps, after the jump.

Continue Reading »

Learning to read is important at a young age, and it’s also very important to have teachers with a variety of methods to help young children learn and grow as readers.

EPLT, the department of Language & Literacy Education at UBC, and the Vancouver School Board are joining together to offer a section of LLED 446: Teaching With Illustrated Materials, K-3: From Picture Books to Information Texts. This course will be located in Vancouver and will start in January.

From the course web site:

This course explores the use of illustrated children’s materials in early childhood education with particular attention given to the role of the visual modality in conveying narrative and concept information to young children. This course focuses on and explores the ways that illustrated materials support the instructional goals of early years education. This course aims to promote awareness and acceptance of diversity, our own and that of our peers, students and that of the creators of illustrated literary texts.

LLED 446 will be held at the Alliance for Arts & Culture building in downtown Vancouver, on six Saturdays beginning on January 7, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Even better, this course can be used as part of the Early Years Education diploma program.

Register soon, as space is limited.