OLFM Workshop

2014
Welcome to the information site for the 2014 OLFM Workshop, Learning in Our Digital World!

You will notice that this year's workshop will have a different structure from past years. Our focus in 2014 will be on harnessing our collective insights and wisdom in a few key areas and producing resources that will support your work as an OLFM. As such, it will be less of a conference, and much more of a workshop, where we will be researching ideas, generating strategies and knowledge related to our context, and presenting an overview of our findings.

Please take some time to reflect on the four tracks that are outlined below and consider where you would like to contribute. When you register, you will register for one track which will run all day Saturday.

Workshop Tracks
The four areas of focus for the workshop are:


 * The Theory and Practice of Feedback in Distance Learning


 * Facilitated by John O'Brien (OLFM), Kelly Warnock, and Ken Monroe (Instructional Designers), participants in this track will investigate and recommend strategies to ensure that OL students are adequately supported in their learning through the effective use of feedback in a distance learning environment.


 * Open Education Resources


 * Facilitated by Rajiv Jhangiani (OLFM), Ron McGivern (Associate Dean, Arts), and Terry Anderson (Keynote Speaker, AthabascaU), participants in this track will investigate and recommend strategies for finding, repurposing and using Open Education Resources in distance learning.


 * Effective Media - How to Recognize, Build and Use Media in Online Courses


 * The TRU-OL Curriculum Media Development Group (formerly the Media Team) will offer an all-day workshop for OL Faculty Members interested in best-use practices of media in OL courses. We’re keen to hear what attendees most want to learn about and will tailor our facilitation to fit the OLFM needs, but here are some suggested topics:


 * CAPTURING VIDEO AND SOUND - Simple tips can greatly enhance the production value of any media piece you produce, or ask students to produce as coursework. We’ll look at things like how to frame video in a compelling manner; sound capturing tips to ensure the audio is coherent and captivating; and the importance of solid production values in an educational setting.
 * EVALUATING MEDIA – There’s no shortage of videos, animations, graphics and assorted multi-media available and accessible in every academic discipline. Being able to astutely judge the usability when choosing which third party media to include in your course material is something we can help you evaluate.
 * SHARING MEDIA PIECES WITH STUDENTS – More and more students are being asked to submit audio or video pieces for course evaluation. We’d like to hear your stories about what formats seem to be working best and offer some feedback on how to make this sharing of media as easy as possible.
 * If you're unfamiliar with what types of media our group builds for TRU, Open Learning courses, please have a look at our web site: http://barabus.tru.ca/cmdg/


 * Encouraging Deeper Approaches to Learning


 * Facilitated by Mary Wilson (OLFM), Fränzi Ng,(Instructional Designer) and Colin Madland (e-Learning Facilitator), participants in this track will investigate the idea of students' approaches to learning and will provide contextualized resources for the design and facilitation of structured learning activities that promote deeper approaches to learning.

Participants in each track will record their recommendations in the Distance Technologies section of the Teaching and Learning Portal of the wiki, which will remain open to the public as a resource, and will make a brief 10 minute presentation at the final plenary session of the workshop on Saturday afternoon.

Keynote Speakers
We are very grateful to be able to host two keynote speakers for this year's workshop, both of whom are accomplished and well-regarded researchers and writers in the area of teaching and learning via distance technologies.

Dr. Terry Anderson
Terry Anderson, PhD, is currently a professor and researcher in the Centre for Distance Education and the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Centre at Athabasca University - Canada’s Open University. Terry has been active in distance education development, delivery, education and research since 1985. He has published widely in the area of distance education and educational technology and has co-authored or edited nine books and numerous papers. His most recent works are published under Creative Commons licensing and these texts as well as works by other distance education authors are available in the Issues in Distance Education series from Athabasca University Press - in print and as free PDF downloads.

Terry has been the editor of the International Review of Research on Distance and Open Learning (IRRODL) for the past 11 years. IRRODL has emerged as the most widely read and cited scholarly journal in distance education and is proudly licensed under Creative Commons. IRRODL articles are all blind peer reviewed and after acceptance are published in HTML, PDF, MP3 (audio) and EPUB (mobile) formats.

Link to Terry's faculty bio at Athabasca University Link to Terry's Blog, Virtual Canuck

Dr. George Veletsianos
Link to George's faculty bio at Royal Roads University