Simon Fraser University
Creating Online Communities for Higher Education
Stephanie Dayes, Amy Seversen, Elizabeth Wallace and Sylvia Currie are participating in this online workshop during the month of June, 2005. This is a place to gather up our notes and work.
Assignment
Personas
Taffy Williams is a young educator who recently graduated from the University of Swansea in South Wales, and emigrated to Canada. She is not familiar with many of the institutions and cultural norms her new country of residence. In order to find out more about the education systems in North America, she wants to join a supportive online community. Her computer skills are well developed and she has studied instructional design. She has heard that a leading university on the west coast is about the advertise for a new program director and wants to use the online networks to find out more about the position. Her fondest hope is that she will find a collegial environment in which to pursue her career, and she's relying on the community members to help.
Barrie Hart is a Faculty member in the Psychology Department. He spend 20 years concentrating on his research at this post-secondary insititution, but has recently decided to focus on his teaching as he approaches retirement age. He is very open to change, and seeks to gain insight and share his experience with his colleagues. If he hadn't gone into Psychology, he would have been an actor, and so he is particularly interested in talking about body language and voice projecting in teaching large classes. His computer skills are average, and he is a slow typist, which hinders his particpation in the online community. He wishes to pass the torch, as it were, and learn from his younger colleagues. He hopes to make a difference, not only in his students lives, but in his colleagues professional development.
Sam Roberts is a graduate student and teaching assistant to Professor Simon Cowell for a blended learning course in the English department. His role is to conduct weekly tutorials for small groups of students, and to facilitate the online discussions. Professor Cowell has called Sam’s teaching skills “utterly dreadful” but doesn’t seem to have the time to help him improve. Sam’s computer skills are very good, but his knowledge of learning theory is minimal. Sam has joined the online community in the hopes of finding some quick ideas to improve his teaching this semester, but most of all he is interested in learning from more experienced instructors.
A future newsletter
that is written as though the community has been in place for a year
Education Matters
Your SCOPE Community Newsletter
June Issue, 2005
In This Issue
.............
1. Community Reflections Series: It *is* who you know!
2. New Member Profile
3. Upcoming Events
4. Gems from the Tip Meister
5. All About EM
1. Community Reflections Series: It *is* who you know!
Never in her wildest dreams did Taffy Williams think her job search would end the day it started, nor did she think her work would allow her to spend so much time with her family in her home town of Swansea. Taffy reflects on her introduction to SCOPE. "I stumbled upon SCOPE through Stephen Downe's blog, and proceeded to browse some of the past discussions and events. I knew immediately that I was in the right crowd. It just felt right...friendly, open, enthusiastic, people discussing big issues and ideas in education." Taffy created her account and profile, and posted an introductory message in the Gazebo, highlighing her immediate purpose for joining: To find work! "The rest is history" Taffy reflects. "It turned out my desire to find work was shared by hundreds of members. The surge of responses to my post resulted in a new discussion area just to talk about job searching, and how our ideas about jobs and careers are beginning to shift. We found that most people really didn't want jobs, they wanted work."
But how do you go about finding work when most leads are to 9 to 5 jobs in a concrete building? Taffy's interest in this question shaped a business plan for Net Working, a company that offers tools, services, and communty support to individuals seeking work that doesn't require relocating and commuting. "The model emphasizes peer-to-peer support and sharing through social networking tools such as webblogs, RSS, de.li.cious, furl, and so on. It's an astounding success! Just like SCOPE, it builds on the idea of members helping members. This is proof -- when it comes to advancing in your profession, it *is* who you know." Taffy conducts weekly tours of Net Working here in SCOPE. Check out the community calendar for details.
2. New Member Profile
Sam Roberts is a graduate student and teaching assistant at Super Duper University. He recently joined the online community in the hopes of finding some quick ideas to improve his teaching this semester, but most of all he is interested in learning from more experienced instructors. Sam jokes, "A million dollars goes to the first person who can summarize all this social constructivist learning theory business in one page! People keep telling me that the answers to my teaching dilemmas will come from a better understanding of learning theory, but I'm having a hard time getting up to speed quickly." Fortunately for Sam, he has already connected with a SCOPE mentor from Fun and Fabulous University. We can be sure there won't be a million dollars exchanged! We all look forward to an update from Sam as he prepares for the next semester.
3. Upcoming Events
insert calendar feed
4. Gems from the Tip Meister
Bernie Hart has volunteered to take on the role of keeping our Monthly Technical Tip column alive. So many members have expressed their appreciation for these tips that give them instant ideas for implementation into their teaching and community life. Bernie muses that of all people, he has become the Tip Meister: "A year ago I was a 2-finger typist, and not a very good one at that! Now people are knocking on my door asking for ideas to engage their students, to manage project work, to prepare for engaging synchronous sessions, you name it." Bernie has developed a passionate interest for advancing elearning practice and research. "I'm just fortunate to have the time to pursue this passion, and help others who share it."
bla bla bla tips tips tips
5. All About EM
Education Matters is a monthly community newlsetter. To read past issues or subscribe bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla Please distribute freely bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
Stephanie Dayes, Amy Seversen, Elizabeth Wallace and Sylvia Currie are participating in this online workshop during the month of June, 2005. This is a place to gather up our notes and work.
Assignment
Personas
Taffy Williams is a young educator who recently graduated from the University of Swansea in South Wales, and emigrated to Canada. She is not familiar with many of the institutions and cultural norms her new country of residence. In order to find out more about the education systems in North America, she wants to join a supportive online community. Her computer skills are well developed and she has studied instructional design. She has heard that a leading university on the west coast is about the advertise for a new program director and wants to use the online networks to find out more about the position. Her fondest hope is that she will find a collegial environment in which to pursue her career, and she's relying on the community members to help.
Barrie Hart is a Faculty member in the Psychology Department. He spend 20 years concentrating on his research at this post-secondary insititution, but has recently decided to focus on his teaching as he approaches retirement age. He is very open to change, and seeks to gain insight and share his experience with his colleagues. If he hadn't gone into Psychology, he would have been an actor, and so he is particularly interested in talking about body language and voice projecting in teaching large classes. His computer skills are average, and he is a slow typist, which hinders his particpation in the online community. He wishes to pass the torch, as it were, and learn from his younger colleagues. He hopes to make a difference, not only in his students lives, but in his colleagues professional development.
Sam Roberts is a graduate student and teaching assistant to Professor Simon Cowell for a blended learning course in the English department. His role is to conduct weekly tutorials for small groups of students, and to facilitate the online discussions. Professor Cowell has called Sam’s teaching skills “utterly dreadful” but doesn’t seem to have the time to help him improve. Sam’s computer skills are very good, but his knowledge of learning theory is minimal. Sam has joined the online community in the hopes of finding some quick ideas to improve his teaching this semester, but most of all he is interested in learning from more experienced instructors.
A future newsletter
that is written as though the community has been in place for a year
Education Matters
Your SCOPE Community Newsletter
June Issue, 2005
In This Issue
.............
1. Community Reflections Series: It *is* who you know!
2. New Member Profile
3. Upcoming Events
4. Gems from the Tip Meister
5. All About EM
1. Community Reflections Series: It *is* who you know!
Never in her wildest dreams did Taffy Williams think her job search would end the day it started, nor did she think her work would allow her to spend so much time with her family in her home town of Swansea. Taffy reflects on her introduction to SCOPE. "I stumbled upon SCOPE through Stephen Downe's blog, and proceeded to browse some of the past discussions and events. I knew immediately that I was in the right crowd. It just felt right...friendly, open, enthusiastic, people discussing big issues and ideas in education." Taffy created her account and profile, and posted an introductory message in the Gazebo, highlighing her immediate purpose for joining: To find work! "The rest is history" Taffy reflects. "It turned out my desire to find work was shared by hundreds of members. The surge of responses to my post resulted in a new discussion area just to talk about job searching, and how our ideas about jobs and careers are beginning to shift. We found that most people really didn't want jobs, they wanted work."
But how do you go about finding work when most leads are to 9 to 5 jobs in a concrete building? Taffy's interest in this question shaped a business plan for Net Working, a company that offers tools, services, and communty support to individuals seeking work that doesn't require relocating and commuting. "The model emphasizes peer-to-peer support and sharing through social networking tools such as webblogs, RSS, de.li.cious, furl, and so on. It's an astounding success! Just like SCOPE, it builds on the idea of members helping members. This is proof -- when it comes to advancing in your profession, it *is* who you know." Taffy conducts weekly tours of Net Working here in SCOPE. Check out the community calendar for details.
2. New Member Profile
Sam Roberts is a graduate student and teaching assistant at Super Duper University. He recently joined the online community in the hopes of finding some quick ideas to improve his teaching this semester, but most of all he is interested in learning from more experienced instructors. Sam jokes, "A million dollars goes to the first person who can summarize all this social constructivist learning theory business in one page! People keep telling me that the answers to my teaching dilemmas will come from a better understanding of learning theory, but I'm having a hard time getting up to speed quickly." Fortunately for Sam, he has already connected with a SCOPE mentor from Fun and Fabulous University. We can be sure there won't be a million dollars exchanged! We all look forward to an update from Sam as he prepares for the next semester.
3. Upcoming Events
insert calendar feed
4. Gems from the Tip Meister
Bernie Hart has volunteered to take on the role of keeping our Monthly Technical Tip column alive. So many members have expressed their appreciation for these tips that give them instant ideas for implementation into their teaching and community life. Bernie muses that of all people, he has become the Tip Meister: "A year ago I was a 2-finger typist, and not a very good one at that! Now people are knocking on my door asking for ideas to engage their students, to manage project work, to prepare for engaging synchronous sessions, you name it." Bernie has developed a passionate interest for advancing elearning practice and research. "I'm just fortunate to have the time to pursue this passion, and help others who share it."
bla bla bla tips tips tips
5. All About EM
Education Matters is a monthly community newlsetter. To read past issues or subscribe bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla Please distribute freely bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
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