Brad’s Blog

My name is Brad, and I’m here as part of the Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning program. I teach in an applied technology program at a college on Vancouver Island. This is a second career for me, I spent 30 years in the automotive industry as a Controls and Automation specialist before starting to teach.

I recently completed my MEd through SFU, and being a bit of a masochist I had to dive right into something else. Technology has always fascinated me, and I thought it was time I learned more about this Online teaching thing. This is my fourth course in this program, and in the previous courses I created a basic template for a blended version of one of the courses in the program I teach now. Hopefully by the time we finish this course I can make some significant improvements to it.

I’m also taking EDDL 5131, and for that introduction I stretched my abilities to their limit and created a short video that I though I might as well include here.

My name is Brad, and I am an instructor at North Island College. I’m here as part of the Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning.

This is my third course of the certificate, and I’m really looking to improve my multi-media skills. While I’m interested in the freeware and online programs, my school has a license for the Adobe Creative Suite, so I’m hoping to do a lot of work with that.  I have created a short video which is so far the limit of my abilities. Hopefully by the time we finish this course I’ll be much better.

I currently teach an applied technology course at a small community college on Vancouver Island. This is my second career, my first was working in the automotive industry in Ontario on high tech control systems for manufacturing equipment. I enjoyed what I was doing but felt the need for a change. I moved to BC in 2009 and lived in North Vancouver for three years while teaching at BCIT before moving to the island. Since joining the post-secondary ranks I’ve completed the PIDP program and an Adult Education diploma through VCC and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction through SFU.

I currently teach in the 2^nd year of a 2 year program. The courses I teach all involve technology and its application. They are complex, intensive subjects that typically cause a lot of student stress. Our Learning Management System here is Blackboard, and our distributed Learning department consists of 1 part time faculty member and a technician. Our hardware is top notch, but we do a lot of peer to peer support.

Over the past 5 years I’ve been trying to incorporate online resources into the program. For the most part I’ve created passive systems. I’ve digitized course content and incorporated some online submissions but communication is strictly one way at a time.

I am looking to take my current 100% face to face program and transition it to a blended delivery model. Our focus is on practical skills but my hope is that theory can be delivered online using a variation of Bloom’s Learning for Mastery. While I am technical proficient in computer hardware and software systems my online presence and social media skills are practically non-existent, I don’t even have a Facebook account.

My goal here is to explore and become familiar with some of the online and distributed learning technologies that I know exist out there in the ether somewhere. Along the way I hope to learn some best practices and pick up some ideas from others in the course with me.

Hello all!  I am new to WordPress and blogging, so I’ll ask for forgiveness in advance for any “newbie” mistakes.

I’m currently teaching an applied technology course in a community college on Vancouver Island. Our Learning Management system here is Blackboard, and while I use it to provide resources and ways to submit assignments it’s mostly a passive use. So far I’ve only digitized current course content and communication is only one direction at a time.

Personally I’ve taken a completely online course that I found a real struggle to do, and a blended course that was f2f with an online discussion forum that was a better experience, but still left me thinking there has got to be a better way. My purpose here is to start that search for a better way.

Teaching in a technology course I am very comfortable with technology on it’s own (computers and various software packages).  My comfort level in an online environment is a total different ball game. I don’t “instachat” or “snapgram” or any other of those newfangled social media apps, I don’t even have Facebook. My goal here is to become more familiar and comfortable in that online/social media environment, and to begin exploring the real possibilities I think are available to provide my students with a better learning experience. Hopefully along the way I’ll pick up some knowledge of learning tools to help me create better, more interactive, content.