College Learning and Teaching Resource Centre for All Staff

The Launch

John Abbott College officially launched our new College Learning and Teaching Resource Centre (CLTRC) for all staff on Thursday October 24 with well over 100 staff dropping by to visit, as well as several invited guests from our IT partners Profweb, CDC, VTÉ and DECclic Moodle.

In the words of Erich Schmedt, our Academic Dean:

The primary goal of the College Learning and Teaching Resource Centre (CLTRC) is to provide relevant resources to support innovative teaching and learning. The ultimate responsibility of the CLTRC is to model and practice the joint responsibility that all employees of the college share in ensuring and developing an enriching learning experience for our students.

The Centre brings together, into a common location, individuals with expertise in pedagogical, professional and informational technologies development from various sectors of the college. The collective role of this interdisciplinary team is to provide training, guidance and support in these areas to all college employees.

The Team

As the ICT Specialist, I work to improve upon and support the use of ICT in the College. I am available to help with the integration of technology into the teaching and learning process and to provide training. Here are just a few of the topics that I can help with:

• Learning Management Systems – LEA The Omnivox Classroom Moodle.
• Messaging in Omnivox (MIO) System.
• Interactive Whiteboards (Epson Brightlink and SMARTBoard).
• Customized class orientation sessions on College pedagogical ICT systems and services.
• Conduct software and hardware reviews to help determine what best meets your pedagogical ICT needs.
• ELearning.

Susan Ajersch, Professional Development Specialist and Diane Wilson, Professional Development Technician, are responsible for providing guidance in the development, implementation, coordination and administration of professional development activities for John Abbott College employees. They can help with:

• In-House Professional and Educational Training and Events.
• University of Sherbrooke PERFORMA programs (Master Teacher Program).
• Professional Development Funding through the John Abbott’s continuing education resources.
• Professional Development Committees.
• Employee Development Courses.
• Teaching and Learning training aids.

Nancy Thompson, Pedagogical Support Specialist, provides resources devoted to faculty and Deans in connection with the institutional objectives of student success. Some of the things that Nancy can help staff with are:

• Pedagogical training resources; Pedagogical strategies and innovations that support student success.
• Projects such as team teaching, eLearning, peer tutoring, learning communities etc.
• Faculty research initiatives being the point of contact for individuals applying to do research in the College.
• Up to date information on the Teaching and Learning Resource Community on the Portal, John Abbott’s intranet.

Brenda Lamb celebrates with Thomas McKendy, Dean of Arts & General Education and Alice McLeod Co-Chair Math Dept. Click to enlarge all images.

Susan Ajersch with Murray Bronet, Chemistry faculty of Abbott and Isabelle Laplante of the CDC with Christophe Reverd of VTÉ in yellow sweater.

The CLTRC team: from left, Susan Ajersch, Nancy Thompson, Brenda Lamb, Diane Wilson (seated)

The Organization Scheme of the CLTRC.

No sooner did the whiteboard paint go on the wall that we are now going to try out whiteboard wallpaper.

The ultimate responsibility of the CLTRC is to model and practice the joint responsibility that all employees of the college share in ensuring and developing an enriching learning experience for our students.
Erich Schmedt, Academic Dean

The Space

Located in the new Anne Marie Edward Building, the Centre has a training and resource room which can accommodate approximately 16 individuals. Moveable tables and chairs accommodate different workshop setups and learning sessions. The resource room is equipped with two interactive whiteboards (SMART Board and EPSON), 20 laptop computers, four iPads, a document camera and video conferencing equipment.

The CLTRC Resource Room.

The resource room and equipment is available for use by all members of the college community. Groups or individuals may practice new skills, experiment with new software and hardware, meet and share best practices with colleagues on topics of interest, learn new skills and participate in professional development workshops.

The Goal

We are all looking forward to working in what we hope will become a hub of activity for sharing new ideas and trying out new technologies. The Centre will be a place for new technology to be road tested and practiced with – making it easier for everyone to use this technology as it makes its way into the classroom, the work environment and beyond. We also expect that the resource room will be a simulation room for collaboration on many new ventures.

As we continue to build on the synergy felt at the opening celebration, a series of 15 minute mini workshops will take place in the Centre during the week of November 4, with many more activities to follow as a room with the necessary resources and equipment for professional development, training and collaboration is now available to all staff at the College.

Could your college benefit from a similar grouping of services and personnel? How is your college keeping staff moving forward in academic theory and practices?