Documentation:Faculty Resource Guide/Organizations

Here are some of the organizations on campus that can help you get started with the e-learning tools and resources:

Instructional Support Units (ISUs)

Within UBC’s decentralized support structure, many Faculty and Departmental units encompass their own user centric driven service to support and assist instructors with their pedagogical goals using technology. Instructors can always find a professional, courteous and friendly ISU staff member (please see page 2 for a list) to assist, train and provide expertise on the latest boutique of technologies, including multi-media production, social software, web design or setting up a course in the WebCT Vista online environment.

There is no one model for how the ISUs operate across the university and the services and resources each group offers varies. Each faculty has its own needs and means of providing support to instructors. However, many ISUs have equipment resources available for use, such as scanners, cameras, computer labs, etc. They also offer training, support and community-building events where you can learn how you can use technology to benefit you and your students’ total learning and teaching experience.

• Note: Faculties that do not have their own ISU unit can seek assistance for online course creation by contacting UBC IT at: vista-admin@it.ubc.ca

Integrating technology into your learning and teaching environment does not have to be a difficult or scary transition. UBC’s Learning Technology Institute (LTI) is a great resource for providing training and hands-on workshops throughout the year.

For more information, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/ubcLTI

UBC Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth (TAG)

TAG is a campus-wide resource centre located at UBC Vancouver that offers a wealth of teaching and learning programs and resources for all members of the UBC teaching community. Examples of TAG offerings include multi-day workshops, institutes and seminars, communities of practice, peer coaching and listservs related to a broad range of topics in higher education, including teaching with technology.

For more information, please visit: http://www.tag.ubc.ca

UBC Okanagan Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL)

UBC Okanagan’s Centre for Teaching and Learning promotes and supports excellence in teaching and learning. The Centre provides campus-wide support for all models of teaching and learning, including online learning. UBC Okanagan faculty are provided with a variety of academic growth opportunities including peer mentoring programs, seminar series, training workshops, learning technology support and resources on teaching practices. In addition, the Centre provides graduate students and teaching assistants with professional development opportunities.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/ctl

UBC’s e-Strategy

e-Strategy is a guiding framework for students, faculty and staff to align UBC’s technology initiatives with the university’s strategic goals, in which e-learning plays a prominent role. UBC’s e-Strategy sponsors two annual events: the e-Learning Open House and the e-Strategy Town Hall, which focus on UBC’s e-learning and technology landscapes. We invite you to subscribe to the monthly newsletter – e-Strategy Update – which highlights stories, events and initiatives related to technology use across the campus, and tell us about technology-related projects that are happening in your department.

For more information, please visit: http://www.estrategy.ubc.ca

Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

UBC’s Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning provides infrastructural support and vision for research and reflection on our practice as educators. The Institute has two principal functions: it supports vital research into effective teaching and learning strategies and practices in higher education, and it shares the findings of this research in ways that improve practice at UBC and beyond. The Institute promotes research on teaching practice and is closely related to TAG, which promotes the enhancement of teaching practice.

For more information, please visit: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/about-isotl/

Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

The Learning Centre is a leading-edge information and education facility providing teaching, learning and research support across campus and British Columbia. The building includes a lecture theatre with videoconferencing capabilities and a number of classrooms with built-in A/V, as well as smaller seminar rooms and meeting spaces, all booked through Classroom Services.

The Learning Centre is home to UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) and a number of academic programs. The Learning Centre is also home to the Chapman Learning Commons, a technology-rich hub for student learning support as well as programs for students, faculty, staff and community. Library collections and services, Ike’s Café and the Chung Collection are also part of this unique facility.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca

UBC Library

UBC Library is the third largest research library in Canada with over 18 branches and divisions, and a print collection of over 5 million volumes. In addition to many locations at the Point Grey campus, there are three branches at teaching hospitals (Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC, St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre), one at UBC’s Robson Square campus in downtown Vancouver and one at the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna.

The Library provides access to a vast array of electronic resources, including ejournals, ebooks, indexes and databases. Online services include UBC OneSearch for cross-database searching, the MetaLib article search tool, the AskAway Virtual Reference Service and the web-based citation management tool RefWorks. Recently the Library launched cIRcle, an online repository for published and unpublished materials created by the University of British Columbia. Subject specialist librarians can provide classes with discipline-specific information sessions. The Library can also help you link from your course website or WebCT Vista to the full-text of recommended readings or to databases relevant to course assignments.

To learn more about UBC’s new institutional repository, please visit: http://circle.ubc.ca

For more information, please visit: http://www.library.ubc.ca

Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT)

The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology works collaboratively with academic and administrative units throughout UBC to support technology-enabled environments. CTLT facilitates workshops, lectures, panel discussions, communities of practice and conferences aimed at professionals who are interested in learning and teaching with technology. The CTLT also collaborates with the UBC Faculties to develop and deliver distance learning courses, in both print and online formats. All courses offered through CTLT carry full credit toward degree or certificate programs.

For more information, please visit: http://ctlt.ubc.ca

BCcampus

BCcampus is an online service provider connecting students and educators to programs and resources across all public post-secondary institutions in BC. Through BCcampus, educators can network with colleagues and share best practices through communities of practice, access development funds for creating online learning resources, contribute and discover reusable online learning resources through a Shareable Online Learning Resources (SOL*R) repository and find and participate in education technology professional development activities.

For more information, please visit: http://www.bccampus.ca

CanBUG

CanBUG is a group promoting collaboration among Blackboard users, instructors, instructional administrators, educational administrators and developers throughout Canada. CanBUG was founded in July 2007 by a cross-Canadian collection of kindred spirits responding to the leadership demonstrated by Bonita Bray (University of Alberta) at the BbWorld’07 Conference.

For more information, please visit: http://www.canbug.ca

Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG)

The Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG) is a community of BC post-secondary educational practitioners focused on the ways in which learning and teaching can be enhanced through technology. The ETUG community is diverse, composed of primarily post-secondary professional staff, instructors, learners and academic and technology administrators. ETUG’s core value is commitment to nurturing a vibrant, innovative, evolving and supportive community that thrives with the collegial sharing of ideas, resources and ongoing professional development through conferences, workshops and informal e-communications. ETUG holds annual face-to-face workshops each fall and spring.

For more information, please visit: http://etug.ca