The Learning Hub & Other Education Technology Support

As part of your planning process, ETS staff are available to assist you with the implementation of educational technologies into your course design and delivery. From casual chats about what options are available to you, to full program presentations, training and follow-up, we are here to support you in whatever manner you need.

ETS offers a variety of training opportunities for improving the use of educational technologies for instructors, including one-on-one or small/large faculty groups on demand throughout the year. See sample training sessions.

The Virtual Classroom tool is an integrated web conferencing solution that enables online learning in a seamless face-to-face way with multiple parties. It can be used to deliver lectures, study blocks with instructor assistance, and recorded sessions.

The instructors schedule the meeting sessions that include time and date, and then students can log in on that day and time to hear and participate in that lecture.  Instructors can present their PowerPoint, PDF Files and even Screenshare.  Students can hear and ask questions.

Turning Technologies creates learning solutions to enhance classroom environments using handheld clickers. Instructors ask questions and receive real-time feedback with clickers or mobile devices. Results instantly display on screen and collect in detailed reports to ensure all participants are counted.

Respondus StudyMate is used to create self-tests in the form of reflective games. These are published as stand-alone web pages or add them to a module.

Respondus can convert your quizzes and exams from Word documents or text files and publish them into your online course.

Some textbook publishers provide electronic textbooks and/or resource sites to support teaching and learning. These are initiated and supported by the department and/or publisher. Contact your sales rep.

We all tell stories in our teaching and learning. Among other uses, stories help us share first-hand experiences, bridge theory to reality and help learners to apply their learning. Digital Storytelling is a strategy used to capture a story with audio and visual elements so that it can be added to an online course and be reused as part of a course on an ongoing basis. Think of a digital story as a first-person 2 minute video.

Sitting above the course level in the Learning Hub is a digital library of course content called the Learning Repository (LOR). The LOR is a great way to share content across courses that enable the author to control updates. Any instructor can publish to the LOR and, in doing so, control who can access their content and how it can be used. The LOR can also be a searchable repository of content and digital resources for program areas.

BC has the most stringent protection of privacy laws in the world and this has implications for the use of third party (not under BCIT’s control) and cloud-based software applications. The risk lies in the known or hidden disclosure of identifying and/or confidential information about individuals. Prior to making a decision to use any new software, and especially web-based software that is not running off a BCIT server, a Privacy Impact Assessment must be completed to assess the risk, then a risk mitigation strategy will be implemented should you decide to move forward.

Accessibility standards are in place to ensure persons with disabilities can access web-based content, but it means more than just ensuring, for example, that blind people can be successful when taking your online course. Designing a course for accessibility is a best-use practice that will enhance the usability for all learners. The LTC can assist you in understanding and implementing accessibility standards in your course.

ETS staff are available to support your innovative ideas and explorations with new technologies.