Annual Report 20122013

InnovativeLearningCentre

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Innovative Learning CentreAnnual Report

A Message from the Dean 4Introduction 7A Message from the Director 8Research Excellence 10Mandate and Scope 11Design 12Innovate 14Engage 16Collaborate 18CO

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Eagle River Secondary School, Professional Planning Day 2013

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A Message from the Dean

The Innovative Learning Centre supports the faculty’s priority to transform education by supporting and encouraging the use of experiential learning and research environments that meet the ever-changing needs and demands of the field of education.

The centre is more than a design space, it is a culture that engages contemporary issues, responding to the emerging needs of educators.

The philosophy of design-thinking encourages practices and perspectives that enhance teaching and learning.

The centre promotes exploring and tinkering as a deliberate process to innovative pedagogical approaches that will inform theory and practice.

The centre explores our definitions of and ways in which an orientation to learning may enhace teaching and learning.

Dr. Lynn BosettiDean of the Faculty of Education

Imagine the Future of Education

Imagine a three-legged stool with each leg equally providing support. The Innovation Learning Centre, housed in the Faculty of Education, believes that the future is this very balance; the slignment of academics, educators and industry. For this reason, the Innovative Learning Centre (ILC) is home to educators, undergraduate and graduate students, visiting academics, entrepreneurs, and industry partners. The innovation behind the ILC design is the intentional fostering of partnerships to imagine and create transformative pedagogical practices, using and developing appropriate technologies (hardware, software, tools, and approaches) to imagine the future of education—formal and informal.

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UBC Okanagan - Centre of Innovative Pedagogy Room Colour Pallette

IntroductionConceptualized December 2011 to align with the Faculty of Education’s Strategic Academic Plan 2012 – 2015

Approved September 2012 under the UBC Okanagan Senate Policy 0-5 Research Centres & Institutes. The goal of the ILC is to provide appropriate tools and spaces for educators, entrepreneurs, dreamers and tinkers to imagine, design and explore innovations in teaching and learning by:

To image space with the Innovative Learning Centre as signaling possibilities through actions / interactions / reactions with academics, educators and entrepreneurs …

To design and develop places / spaces to explore, create, and experience innovations in pedagogical excellence …

To explore, observe and participate within places / spaces to further scholarship, research and community engagement …

Thereby, mindfully building the future together…

• Collaborating to support economic growth in the region • Innovating to advance the proven accomplishments of K-20 educators who work and live outside the lower mainland

•Engaging the UBC community — both town and gown — in all aspects of innovative pedagogies and tools

Our Vision

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A Message from the Director

While educators have always worked in challenging times and varied contexts, it is acknowledged that currently we are in an unprecedented time of substantial change due to the variety of circumstances including globalization and ubiquitous access to information.

As other sectors seem to adopt innovative practices and embrace change, it is said that educators typically teach ways in which they themselves were taught. A contributing factor appears to be a lack of opportunities for educators to experiment with new tools and/or engage in new practices. In other words, where do educators go to tinker and play?

Over the last year, the ILC has welcomed academics, educators and industry members to play together. With various place / spaces to incubate, design and develop, our membership has found new ways to build knowledge through tinkering and exploring together. We celebrate their processes, products and participation on the pages that follow as we review our first year in the ILC and as we mindfully build the future (of education) together.

Dr. Susan CrichtonDirector of the Innovative Learning Centre

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Research ExcellenceA role of the ILC is to bring academics, educators, and industry together to imagine and create transformative pedagogical practices, using appropriate technologies in a design based, research informed, studio based learning environment. To remain ‘research informed’ about ILC places / spaces, Dr. Crichton, director of ILC, is investi-gating the look, feel and design of an innovative learning environment within a for-mal educational setting. The ILC will investigate both physical and virtual elements used to disrupt traditional teaching and support interactive, playful, deep learning in a more studio based way, building on Johnson’s notion of the genius of the tinkerer (2010). Specifically, the ILC, through collaboration, research and practice, will seek existing examples of exemplary institutional design; imagine with educational leaders what might be required; partner with industry and academics with an understanding of design to assemble, use and research spaces that by their very design (furnishing, technology, pedagogy, look and feel) invite changed and enhanced practice. - ILC Design Environment Research Proposal, June 2013The findings of this research will ensure the ILC continues to meet the needs of its membership and the Faculty of Education while determining future directions. With this research comes a commitment to the ILC’s Mandate and Scope.

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The ILC exists as

• Interactive learning lab spaces where explorations and innovations in pedagogical excellence can be experienced, examined, and researched

• Developmental space at the intersection of research and practice that provides both participatory and observatory experiences in both real and virtual environments to those teaching and learning in this space

• A locus from which to explore and address research questions emerging in education at this time of socio-cultural change, globalization, and ubiquitous access to knowledge exchanges

The ILC recognizes that

• Its unique position embraces both the potential and promise for contributing to a place of mind on the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia

• Canada’s place in the global knowledge economy rests substantially on the ability of education, industry and research institutions to inquire into and grapple with new ways of engaging learners in discovery, innovation, scholarship and community engagement

• Working closely with the University-Industry Liaison Office will provide opportunities to share findings, discoveries, best practices, and innovations with academics, professional educators, and industry through design studies, research, and product design / testing

Mandate

Scope

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The ILC consists of three integrated components supporting design-thinking and studio-based learning environments: • Pedagogical Incubator • Design studios • Learning lab

Over the past year, the focus has been the ILC learning lab (EME 1123) as a home for educators, undergraduate and graduate students, visiting academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and industry partners. Each partnership has benefitted from collaborative projects and synergies afforded by accessing the ILC learning lab during a time of substantial change, globalization, and ubiquitous access to information.

Virtually, the ILC blog (http://blogs.ubc.ca/centre/) informs partners and the public of past, present and future events and innovations. It forms a rich archive of research informing the ILC’s direction.

DesignDesignPedagogical Incubator, Design Studios, Learning Lab

“We’ve used the learning lab as an inspiring meeting space for our team and as a place to imagine the integration of our tools within future classrooms.Meeting at an educational innovation centre helps support the priority of including the “educational research” component of our development.-MathToons Media Inc.

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InnovateInnovateWe recognize the word innovate is problematic in our design, as what is state of the art, edgy and exciting can quickly become traditional and ordinary. We also recognize that without innovations in pedagogical practices, exciting technologies can be used for mundane purposes.

Therefore, we are thoughtfully creating an iterative model of development that stages investments of hardware and software in a phased way in order to leverage budget and donations in a thoughtful and creative manner and match and enhance pedagogical endeavors.

The Gesture Table InnovationWorking with Total Office designers and IT Services, we designed our Gesture Table using:

•52” LED TV •Mac mini •Leap Motion Controller

The Gesture Table disrupts the way we ineract with interactive white board. It serves as the next step in the evolution of human-computer interaction—DOS, mouse, touch screen, to gesture— creating an opportunity to engage in a new ways.

Explorations:Leap Motion Living Wall Project

IncubateDesign Learn

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Contemporary education must address the issue of school retention and quality by fostering student engagement and making classwork more relevant and interactive.… ~ Dr. Susan Crichton Leapfrogging Pedagogy ICEL Conference Paper, Cape Town, Africa

866 hours of use500 learners7 industry partnerships

EngageEngageTo ensure the future directions of the ILC is foster-ing collaboration, innovation and engagement, the director of the ILC chairs an Advisory Board that includes representation from academics, educa-tors and industry. Current membership includes:

•Susan Crichton (director) •Lynn Bosetti (dean of Faculty of Education) •Robert Arn (entrepreneur) •Shane Austin (entrepreneur) •Constance Crompton(Faculty of Critical and Cre-ative Studies) •Derek Gratz (University-Industry Liaison Office) •Barb Marcolin (Faculty of Management)•Patricia Lasserre (Faculty of Computer Sciences) •Bill Latta (Centre for Teaching and Learning) •Carolyn Labun (Faculty of Engineering) •Marjorie Mitchell (Library representative)•Serveh Naghashbandi (Master student rep) •Karen Pegler (PhD student rep) •Jon Rever (School District 23 representative) •Don Thompson (ITServices) •Deb Carter (Research Project Coordinator)

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From my perspective in the public K – 12 education sector, the UBCO Innovative Learning Centre brings together thought leaders from academia, education and industry for the purpose of developing Knowledge Age Learning Environments that enhance instructional practice, increases intellectual engagement and improves student learning.

-Jon Rever Director of Instruction K-12 School Distrcit 23

Total Office believes that the innovative structure and integration of technology and research based ergonomic products being used in the ILC will assist businesses and community leaders in putting more thought into their decisions when it comes to creating interior environments that are healthy, promote productivity and offer a range of different “zones” in which to expand people different innovative ideas. Innovation drives our economy so creating spaces in which to harvest such innovation takes careful planning and consideration. Everyone thinks and executives differently and therefore the environments in which they thrive needs to offer variety. -Carmen Sprag Owner Total Interiors

FreshGrade’s relationship with the UBC-O Department of Education’s Innovative Learning Centre is a critical piece in our company’s development. Because of the strategic positioning of the ILC within the nexus of academia, education, and industry, FreshGrade was able to complete two research projects integrating all three that informed and validated the development of the FreshGrade software platform. Additionally, strategic alliances were forged and the research was disseminated through participation in an academic conference. The resulting ongoing liaison FreshGrade and partners provide the ILC with proof of providing rich and meaningful opportunities.

-Karine Veldhoen Education Lead FreshGrade

The ILC is an essential link between the growing Educational Technology industry and current academic research. Being able to connect with an educational centre for innovation helps us define the pedagogical priorities we want to address when developing Ed Tech. We believe that research has to be part of the development of ed tech and having a centre like the ILC strengthens both our message and our mission.

- MathToons Media Inc.

CollaborateCollaborate

Our PartnersTotal Office FreshGrade MathtoonsThinkable Musical Voice Meiklejohn Architects Accelerate Okanagan

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Research Associate Deb CarterDeb began her position as research project coordinator in June 2013. Since that time, under the direction of Dr. Susan Crichton, she has been involved in all aspects of the ILC including working with industry members, educators, faculty, students and teachers throughout the Okanagan Valley. This opportunity has also afforded her the time to complete her requirements leading to candidacy in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (IGS) PhD program. Based in design and development research methodology, her overarching question: What impact might design thinking have on interprofessional groups addressing wicked problems in multiple contexts?

Lorraine BaronFunded by Thinkable and the Meighan Family, Dr. Lorraine Baron explored the use of the web to support pre-Calculus. She worked with Ted Cape and a team of regional math educators to inform the Thinkable Design.

School Development

Professional Development Days Woven throughout the 866 hours of EME 1123 / 1110 use, 500 learners’ visits, 7 industry partnerships, research, and event planning, opportunities for the Faculty of Education and their campus neighbours to come together to share / develop their practices, envision their futures, and discuss pedagogical underpinnings of programs have been organized.

•Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR), as developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn •Sharing Our Practices, monthly in formal gathering to discuss blended learning classroom practices •Library Retreat for librarians and staff •Pedagogical Tour of EME 1123 •Social Media workshop for Education faculty and staff

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During 2012-2013, school administrators and teachers have come to EME 1123 to experience new technologies and our studio-based learning environment. From one hour to a day, these meetings and workshops have provided opportunities to meet, greet and discuss pertinent issues in K-12 schools today, both formally and informally including •First Lutheran Christian Church •École Glenmore Elementary •Aberdeen Hall Preparatory School •Dorothea Walker Elementary School

Many of these conversations have continued into 2013-2014 term with these and other schools while teachers and administrators discuss their futures including signature pedagogies, job-embedded professional development, and new technologies within their schools.

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What next?

Living Wall

The first of its kind in the Okanagan, Maker Day is part of the contemporary “Maker Movement” that encourages invention and prototyping—shifting learning focus to innovation and exploration. This grassroots movement features experimentation and innovation across engineering, science, art, performance, craft, and education.

The ILC has the potential to bring this model to bear in contexts well beyond the Interior and British Columbia. I believe that there is an international forum accessible by the ILC and UBC-O to propel collaborations well beyond our region. ...a grand vision! -Fresh Grade

The future direction Total office would like to see for the ILC will be to offer an opportunity to monitor and observe the methods of instruction and user output to determine the effectiveness of such an environment and assist all of us from a community stand point to collaboratively and continually innovate and improve on the start of our “Cultural Shift” -Total Office

I would really like to see the ILC take a lead role in supporting teacher education programs that focus on instructional design and methodologies that help to establish of Knowledge Age Learning Environments in K-12 education. -Jon Rever , Director of Instruction K-12, School Distrcit 23

We would love to be able to continue to access the space for inter-academic col laboration and planning. As well, we plan to access the ILC for focused user testing of our technology. It would be great if the ILC could evolve and include cutting edge resources that help visitors imagine the future of education. It is also our hope that the ILC can host seminars and conferences that highlight current work in Educational Technology, bringing together Canadian industry and academic partners. -MathToons Media Inc.

Living wall is a project about designing and implementing a vertical garden for the ILC by students and faculty members. It brings together elements of design, air quality, learning environments, belongingness, and curricular ties

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Research, Presentations Refereed Journal ArticlesCrichton, S. (Submitted). Leapfrogging Pedagogy: A Design Approach to Transforming Learning in Challenging Contexts. Electronic Journal of eLearning (www.ejel.org ).

Book ChapterBourne, C., Crichton, S., & Carter, D. (Accepted). Reflections on service-learning situated in challenging contexts: Lessons learned. Advances in service-learning research series, Service-learning pedagogy: How does it measure up? American Education Research Association.

Conference proceedingsCrichton, S. (2013, June). Leapfrogging pedagogy: A design approach to transforming learning in challenging contexts. Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on eLearning (ICEL 2012), The Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, South Africa.

Crichton, S. (2012, June). Emerging appropriate technologies and the need to consider new approaches to professional development. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on eLearning (ICEL 2012), The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Presentations – Conferences and WorkshopsRefereed academic conference presentation (*denotes international)Bryden, A.; Carter, D.; Crichton, S.; & Garn, K. (Submitted). Targeting STEM achievement with higher-order thinking: An interprofessional approach. International Society of Technology Education 2014 (ISTE). San Antonio, Texas.

Childs, E. & Crichton, S. (Oct. 2013). The changing face of distance education: The Alberta experience. Interactive Poster

Crichton, S. (2013, June). Leapfrogging pedagogy: A design approach to transforming learning in challenging contexts. Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on eLearning (ICEL 2012), The Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, South Africa.

LaGrange, A., Crichton, S., & Bosetti, L. (2013, June). Commonplaces Books as a Pedagogical Space for Understanding Teaching as Practical Judgment Paper presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

Crichton, S. (2013, June). Imagining an Innovative Learning Environment. Poster presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

Carter, D., Crichton, S., & Veldhoen, K. (2013, June). Innovations in visualizing student assessment information. Paper presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

Crichton, S. (2012, August). The happiness that comes from solving challenging problems: Exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and appropriate technologies in challenging educational contexts. Educating for Sustainable Happiness: A symposium on exploring values, crossing cultures, using technology, and forging global partnerships in support of a 21st century education. The Bhutan Canada Foundation: Ashburnham, Massachusetts.

Crichton, S. & Onguko, B. (June 26, 2013). Embracing the maker movement: How might design thinking inspire youth. Four hour, hands on workshop for township students attending campus sessions. University of Cape Town, Centre for Film and Media Studies.

Crichton, S. (2012, June). Encouraging engagement …. while sipping from a fire hose of possibilities. Plenary speaker for The Engaging Classroom – Academic Studies PD Day. School of Computing and Academic Studies – BCIT, Burnaby, BC

Crichton, S. (2012, February). What did you do in school today around the world? Chaired and organized Webinar for Calgary Board of Education

Conference OrganizationDOT (Digital Opportunity Trust) Youth & Learning Unconference. (May 2013). Co-facilitator and co-chair of the program committee. Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.

Research and Project FundingThink Tank: Future of Small Secondary Schools. (May 2013). Organizer and facilitator. Innovative Learning Centre, University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Content Developer, Maker May 2013 , Workshop and Training Materials Industry Training Authority (ITA), $17,500

Collaborator Leapfrogging Pedagogical Challenges: Using Appropriate Technology to Foster Innovations in Literacy for the Knowledge Age, Canada-Africa Research Exchanges Association of Universities and Colleges Canada (AUCC) with funds from IDRC, $40,000 $20,00 in kind

Researcher, BCIC-Mitacs Commercialization Voucher Program (Deb Carter, PhD student) MITACS / FreshGrade, $7,500

Researcher, Teacher Assessment Using New Technologies (Deb Carter, PhD student) MITACS /

FreshGrade, $15,000

Crichton, S. & Childs, E. (February 16, 2013). Changing face of distance education - Using graphic facilitation. 2013 Digital Learning Spring Conference: Transforming Learning Through Technology. Vancouver, BC

Crichton, S. & Pegler, K. (2012, October). Creative iPad apps for curious students. BC Teachers of English Language Arts – Provincial Conference. Burnaby, BC

Crichton, S. & Pegler, K. (2012, October). Creative iPad apps for innovative teachers. BC Teachers of English Language Arts – Provincial Conference. Burnaby, BC

Porter, D., Crichton, S., LaBonte, R., & Carbol, B. (2012, August). Myths, hype, and possibilities: Trends shaping the future of distance education. Destination Innovation 2012 Conference, Alberta Education, Banff, Alberta.

Invited Keynote or Significant AddressesCrichton, S. & Onguko, B. (June 26, 2013). Embracing the maker movement: How might constructivism and inquiry empower academics, educators, and students in South Africa? Invited lecture. University of Cape Town, Centre for Film and Media Studies.

Crichton, S. (February 16, 2013). Panel Speaker - Future of Digital Learning. 2013 Digital Learning Spring Conference: Transforming Learning Through Technology. Vancouver, BC

Crichton, S. (February 7, 2013). Working together to imagine the future of education. Phi Delta Kappa - Okanagan Chapter. Kelowna, BC

Crichton, S. (2012, July). Teachers as online educators: Requirements and suggestions for teacher preparation. National Workshop on Effective Teaching Skills and Instructional Strategies for College Teachers. Via SKYPE to Christ University, Bangalore, India.

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The Innovative Learning CentreFaculty of Education |Okanagan Campus3129 EME Building3333 University WayKelowna, BC, Canada, V1V 1V7