Learning Commons:Student Orientation/Website Purpose

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)

Consider how this vision is still relevant. Do you have anything to change or add?

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).

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?

Post to the threaded discussion (see tab at the top of this page).

Strategy

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.

Web Content

Each section of the website has a particular purpose. The pages within each section often have an additional strategic purpose or are re-published in other sites across campus. It is important to note this before making changes to the site, which are always discussed with the Web Team full-time staff.

To familiarize yourself with the website, review the general architecture of the site, and take a look at the following Wiki pages which describe the purpose of a few of our most-accessed pages.