Learning Commons:Student Orientation/Principles
Vision
The vision is a general statement of our aspirations for the website.
The Learning Commons is an evolving collection of UBC selected learning resources that guide students through a process of discovery. Through an emphasis on student-driven initiatives and shared decision-making, we enrich the academic support environment and student experience at UBC. (Learning Commons Strategic Plan, 2012-2013)
Questions
- Is this vision still relevant in 2020? Is there anything we would want to change, add, re-work?
- What would get students to our site (promotion at events, through faculty, classroom visits, etc)?
- What would keep them coming back (resources, interesting blog posts, etc.)?
Principles
Principles should be a guide to decision making about what to spend our energy on and what approaches to take in developing content and resources for the site. They are broad statements rather than detailed guidelines.
Here are a few to consider:
1. Student lens over Administrative lens. That doesn't mean we don't consider UBC policies and practices, but our added value is that of the "informed" student perspective. Informed student opinion and experience counts and it should both inform and be informed by research about learning - wherever feasible. We can be complimentary to students.ubc.ca but we don't need to be the same.
2. Content Curation over Creation. This is a sustainable practice. Why not re-use rather than re-create - unless there is no way for us to bring the resource into the UBC student context? Re-usable materials should be licensed via Creative Commons using a basic attribution license. See resources below.
3. Authenticity over Correctness. This is hard to express but the idea is about honoring authentic student experience and not washing over it with political correctness. Sometimes issues involving race, gender, class, etc. have an impact on the class climate and learning. How do we surface these issues? At the same time, maintaining a focus on respectful communication. It is about taking risks but maintaining a focus on why the Learning Commons website exists - as a resource for learning - and learning is messy.
4. Provoke Inquiry. Sometimes the most provocative questions, or blog posts promote good discussion/further questions/self guided study. Ensure related links are included and working.
5. Show before Tell. Try to use visuals, video, graphs to make a point - unless you have a really compelling story that doesn't need anything! In which case, tell it.
6. Invite engagement. Invite people to participate. End blog posts with questions. Are there ways that students can contribute to the website? Create a video-blog on specific theme? Tell their story of learning in 5 images, etc.? This is an area for improvement on the website. for sure.
7. Think mobile. How might students access the site on the go? Design with mobile in mind and test.
8. Be relatable. Content should be developed/written in a way that students can relate to it. That means you have to relate to it first. Do stuff you care about.
9. Be mindful. Test things you create, proofread for spelling. If you break something, fix it, etc. Remember that many people use the Learning Commons website from all over the world and we want to put our best work out there.
Purpose
The purpose is a more practical statement of what the website is for.
The purpose of the Learning Commons website is to support students' learning by developing and curating resources to support their academic success and well-being. It is a coordinated point of access, often acting as a portal to related services and resources on campus.
The site is aimed at first and second year students and intends to reflect the student experience via:
- student authored blog posts about experiences and resources that have potential to support students academic development.
- student-developed learning support resources such as Toolkits and Resource Guides.
- referrals to various in-person learning support services including the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication, Peer Academic Coaching, advising, and more.
- referrals to the Chapman Learning Commons' in-person services that students can access, including equipment lending and technology help.
- consideration of the student life cycle in the development of posts and social media (tweets and Instagram posts).
Related: 5 Tips for Great Content Curation or JISC's Digital Curation Lifecycle
Update 2020
Is this still relevant? The purpose of the Learning Commons website is to support students' learning by developing and curating resources to support their academic success and well-being.
What about this part? "It is a coordinated point of access, often acting as a portal to related services and resources on campus."
Consider:
- how can we serve as a coordinated point of access for academic support resources?
- has our unique value shifted to bringing an authentic student voice to themes, questions and resources aimed at improving the learning environment at UBC?
- other thoughts?
Stragtegy
Our strategic plan helps guide our workflow and identifies specific goals in 4 key areas (portfolios):
- Website
- Communications
- Assessment
- Physical Space
The strategic plan is reviewed and updated each term. You will work on this with the staff Web Team to determine goals and priorities at the beginning of your term.
Questions when Creating Content
- What is the student lens on this topic (perspective)?
- Why does this (subject) matter to students?
- What else does it relate to (resource, conversation, policy)?
- Is there a tie in to content on our site?
- What could extend/ engage reader's interest?