A Year of Intended Collaboration

A Year of Intended Collaboration

ByLisa Gedak

Many a New Year’s Eve I have seen, and many a New Year’s Eve I have sworn, resolute that I would do this, or that, to better myself. I would pledge away my sweet tooth, declare limitations on my merlot, promise to temper my social media use, or various other pettifogging deprivations.   This ritual was always well-intended. As someone who believes in the never-ending pursuit of personal and professional growth and development, I would like to think that I take action to become a better human each year. Nevertheless, the formality of petty resolutions declared on an annually set date that I…

Pedagogy before Portfolios (Part One)
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Pedagogy before Portfolios (Part One)

ByGillian Sudlow and Teresa Swan

It is easy to be distracted by shiny new toys. Post-secondary instructors are no more immune to the latest and greatest in digital learning tools than their students are to the latest iPhone release or social media platform. But be warned – slick interfaces and pretty graphics are just fancy wrappings over an empty box if sound pedagogy is not contained within.   Well-presented professional development…

From practitioner to researcher: My journey from open education advocate to research fellow
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From practitioner to researcher: My journey from open education advocate to research fellow

ByMelissa Ashman

“Do I really have to buy the textbook?” That question echoed in my ears in my first semester of teaching at KPU. I lost count of how many times students would ask me if they really had to buy the textbook. Each time I answered “yes,” I felt uncomfortable. The textbook was expensive (around $100),…

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Farhad Dastur
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Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Farhad Dastur

ByAndrea Votto

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Farhad Dastur, a psychologyinstructor at KPU. We had a fruitful and energizing conversation where wediscussed his love for nature, his extensive traveling (I have a feeling I haven’theard half of the destinations he has explored), his passion for teaching, hisnew position in T&L Commons as an…

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Understanding Privacy Concerns for Teaching and Learning

ByLeeann Waddington

There was a time when I, like many of you, had not considered the personal information that was being collected when using technology tools. My role in the teaching and learning Commons at KPU forced me to reconsider my laissez-faire attitude about such practices. It had not crossed my mind that student data and faculty…

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you might find you get what you need: Reflections on the PebblePad Rollin’ Stones Tour
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You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you might find you get what you need: Reflections on the PebblePad Rollin’ Stones Tour

ByLisa Gedak

Start us up! if you start us up, we’ll never stop! start us up, start us up, we’ll never stop! start us up! yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhhhhhh! start us up! we are Rock Stars on PebblePad making things easy,  for KPU Faculty yeah, were making things easy, community! that’s what we be! ways of learning like you never, never, dreamed! start us up!  The crowd sings and dances along as the lyrics flash across the screen, synchronized…