teaching and learning – Page 2 – Teaching & Learning Commons

Mental Health and UDL

BySeanna Takacs June 4, 2021June 3, 2021

According to this report, students are confiding in Faculty about mental health struggles, particularly in the last year around COVID, and questions continue to arise around how to help students who have. In my discussions with Faculty around both UDL and accommodation planning, mental health disabilities come up frequently. Absences, episodic symptoms that see students…

Maximizing the LMS with Moodle Templates

ByLisa Gedak and Nishan Perera May 21, 2021May 20, 2021

In this blog post, we would like to showcase a resource framework developed to assist KPU faculty in building their Moodle course sites using evidence-based instructional design principles. This comprehensive resource is housed in a WordPress site that includes three primary, tabbed sections. Why Use Templates in Moodle for Course Design Moodle is KPU’s adopted Learning Management System (LMS) and is used to deliver online, blended, and tech-enhanced face-to-face courses. As KPU pivoted to teaching online during the pandemic, Moodle was vital in supporting faculty to design lessons, activities, and assessments in synchronous and asynchronous formats. Although Moodle provided a lifeline for current users,…

Cultural Humility

ByChristina Page May 7, 2021May 5, 2021

Introducing Cultural Humility When we set out on the journey of developing intercultural teaching practices, the diversity of frameworks and perspectives available can be overwhelming. Choosing a framework to guide our own complex process of intercultural development can feel confusing. Spitzberg and Changnon (2009) note that among the dozens of frameworks available, there is no…

Interactive Media | Teaching and Learning | Teaching Online

Video Conferencing Tools

ByLisa Gedak and Chris Ryan March 26, 2021March 25, 2021

This past year, maintaining communication with students, and sustaining student engagement, proved challenging. Conferencing tools, previously reserved for the odd administrative meeting or symposium presentation, suddenly became a vital tool for many of KPU’s faculty and instructional staff. When the shift to remote teaching first occurred, KPU educators had two conferencing tools at their disposal, BigBlueButton, which was designated as the teaching and learning conferencing tool to be used with students, and the IT department supported Microsoft Teams software for department meetings. With…

Diversity | Intercultural Teaching | International Students | Learning Design | Teaching and Learning

Responding to Multilingual Student Writing: A Model for Identifying Concerns and Framing Feedback

ByChristina Page March 12, 2021March 10, 2021

In my interactions with faculty colleagues, an often-repeated theme is the need to support students in developing writing skills. Faculty value supporting student writing, recognizing that local employers desire graduates with strong literacy, writing, and communication skills (Conference Board of Canada, 2015). A challenging area for many faculty is determining the best ways to support…

Diversity | Education Leadership | Inclusive Pedagogy | Intercultural Teaching | Teaching and Learning

Why Develop an Intercultural Teaching Practice?

ByChristina Page February 5, 2021February 4, 2021

Blog post adapted from: Page, C. (2021). Foundations of Intercultural Teaching. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Responding to the rapid changes in teaching and learning during COVID-19 times has consumed much of our energy as educators. We have adapted to new methods of creating and delivering content and have searched out new ways to ensure active and…

Privacy | Teaching and Learning | Teaching Online | Technology

Understanding Privacy Concerns for Teaching and Learning

ByLeeann Waddington January 22, 2021January 21, 2021

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…

High-Impact Practice | Learning Design

Engagement is Not a Drive-Through

Bylmccannell and Seanna Takacs May 22, 2020May 21, 2020

This week, Lesley and Seanna have teamed up to share some new thoughts on engagement. In the right hands, amazing things can be done with online activities, discussions, and assessments. The BIG DEAL though: yours are not the only hands. Engagement is grown by everyone in the class by taking our time in knowing and…