Brad’s Blog

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.