Excellence and Innovation

Yesterday was the College-Wide Meeting day and finished with presentations on Excellence and Innovation, with the effective use of technology at the centre. Andy Benoit, from the Teaching and Learning Centre, came to talk with me about all of the free and simple technologies, like gmail and google sites, that the Upgrading Online program uses. Our shared enthusiasm for how these products promote learning and teaching moments left me inspired about the college moving forward. Equally, the Upgrading Online team was asked to present about the program's innovative use of such free and open tech and about last year's virtual conference using Adobe Connect we hosted. I felt proud to hear the interest and was moved by the conversations that went on with college colleagues about these technologies.

As I write this blog, I have just returned from the Teaching and Learning Centre's Annual Luncheon for coordinators and I remain amazed by the various initiatives and projects being launched around the college. More importantly, I remain awestruck at the work the Teaching and Learning Centre does to support these program initiatives. The TLC group is smart and passionate about what they do and it has rubbed off on us all. Check them out at http://www.bowvalleycollege.ca/tlc.

All of this energetic discussion revitalizes me. Amid budgets and timelines, this discussion makes me proud of what we have attempted. It makes me excited to work with the TLC and other areas to push ahead with this simple and effective technology. Development often seems complicated and stressful, but these discussions point to the need to use simple and effective tools and to connect with groups like the TLC.

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