How the Metaverse Will Change Teaching & Learning
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How the Metaverse Will Change Teaching & Learning

The implications of the Metaverse are ubiquitous and will alter many aspects of our lives. In this blogpost I focus on two ways the Metaverse will change teaching and learning in higher education. But first, a question: What is the Metaverse? a) a Digital Disneyland where we can escape from the banality of lifeb) self-referential…

Sorry to Disrupt You: Learning through turmoil to unlock our future potential
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Sorry to Disrupt You: Learning through turmoil to unlock our future potential

As 2021 was drawing to a close, I found myself reflecting on the challenges and successes of the past year and anticipating a more normal 2022. As we began the New Year, it was clear that it would not be normal, and I began to wonder what normal even is? The pandemic continues to challenge…

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

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…

Looking back and Looking ahead: Building on the lessons from the pandemic
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Looking back and Looking ahead: Building on the lessons from the pandemic

Recently, I gave a virtual keynote at the 2021 OLC Accelerate Conference. The title of my talk was 20/21: A Pedagogical Journey. In it I reflected on the journey of higher education over the past 18 months, including the many lessons learned and some of the lessons that have gone begging. In this post I share two…

Introducing the Foundations in Teaching Excellence program: KPU’s new framework for faculty development
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Introducing the Foundations in Teaching Excellence program: KPU’s new framework for faculty development

The Teaching and Learning Commons offers a broad range of supports to our faculty and instructional staff, including workshops and learning opportunities, a suite of learning technologies, funding opportunities, and pedagogical consultations. Over the past 18 months we have experienced record-levels of engagement with our university community, as hundreds of instructors took advantage of our…

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

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…

The silver linings in the COVID pandemic? Two educators’ musings
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The silver linings in the COVID pandemic? Two educators’ musings

Laurel Tien, PhD (c), Teaching & Learning Commons Educational Consultant Leeann Waddington, EdD (c), Manager of Learning Technology and Acting Senior Manager of Education Development As we collectively slow down and enter into the next phase of the COVID pandemic, our attention is drawn to discussions of the impact on our individual and collective psyches—and…

Who comes first in the ‘new normal’ of pandemic pedagogy? The teacher or the learner?
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Who comes first in the ‘new normal’ of pandemic pedagogy? The teacher or the learner?

As trending hashtags and commercial taglines keep reminding us, the answer is neither, for we are in this together. If ever there was a time to yank the sage off the stage and extend a hand as a guide on the side, it is now. As we all suffer collective whiplash from the sudden pivot…