» Year in Review 2013

This post contributed by kele fleming, SCETUG Chair and UBC CTLT
What a year for our ETUG community! Beginning with the 2013 SCETUG Planning Day on November 14th and wrapping up with the closing session at our 2014 Spring Workshop on June 12th, it was a year full of new ideas, new networks and new opportunities to share tips and effective practice.
Your Steering Committee (SCETUG) meets annually in the Fall to set ETUG’s direction for the year. This past year SCETUG stayed the course and re-emphasized these key goals :

increase community engagement;
reach out to new members;
build on the number and reach of professional development opportunities for members outside of the two annual workshops.

These goals manifested in a number of significant wants over the past year…
We continued with our monthly roster of T.E.L.L sessions focusing on a diversity of topics and facilitated by a number of ETUG members: DemoFest @ JIBC, edmedia practitioner mentorship, storytelling with social media, mobile friendly course design in Moodle, adding audio and video to your online course, exploring the BCcampus Sandbox. Some SCETUGgers also played the role of reporter and provided blog summaries to share out our learning from the lunch and learn sessions. The T.E.L.L. sessions are a great way to find out what edtech experiments are taking place at your sister institutions in the province.
The ETUG News captured stories of innovation from our members all year long! The news is delivered to members’ email inboxes monthly using an online newsletter tool. It features a monthly ETUG member profile, a listing of upcoming professional development opportunities and newsy items such as workshop updates, Call for Proposal announcements, and job postings. We currently have over 400 subscribers to The ETUG News.
Our Fall 2013 Workshop was hosted by Royal Roads University (Victoria) and focused on the theme of Royal Crossroads: Avenues for Quality. SCETUG encouraged all participants to explore what quality means by examining the relationships between quality and key values in education such as diversity, engagement, creativity and flexibility. Dr. George Veletsianos, Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology and Associate Professor at Royal Roads, kicked off the workshop with a thought-provoking keynote address that challenged us to look beyond effectiveness and efficiency to the core quality in education – learning.
At our Spring 2014 Workshop at Langara College we celebrated ETUG’s 20th Anniversary. The workshop theme, Reflecting on the Past, Looking to the Future, featured a futurecasting keynote by Dr. Jentery Sayers from the University of Victoria’s Maker Lab. Dr. Sayers asked us to look beyond big data into the a DIY or maker future. ETUG’s membership provided a rich and engaging program that honoured our edtech roots and welcomed innovative futures. And, of course, a highlight for many was the reprise of EdTech Jeopardy with engaging host Paul Stacey. You can see resources and a summary post of our Spring workshop here.
SCETUG also worked tirelessly on a number of initiatives at the Fall and Spring Workshops to continue to increase networking opportunities and give space for connections and collaborations:

We kicked off the workshops with a Welcome Breakfast and encouraged networking with an “ice-breaker” activities.
A few of our artistically inclined ETUGgers provided stunning visual recording of our keynote at the Fall workshop and Spring workshop.
We further experimented with a badging system that inspired collaboration and a spirit of volunteerism and appreciation amongst ETUGgers.
A combined Poster session/Showcase and pre-dinner social at the Spring workshop was a hub of conversation and activity.
ETUG106-ers were on site to stream and capture audio recordings of sessions, as well as spontaneously interview ETUGgers.
And, members were encouraged to share and connect prior, during and after the event on the workshop in our ETUG discussion space in SCoPE and on Twitter @etug and #etug

Of special note this year at both workshops, was the significant number of new members, including faculty which is a clear indication of the continuing vibrancy and healthy growth of the ETUG community. (Read ETUG member feedback on our latest workshop and activities.)
Please join us for ETUG’s Fall Workshop 2014 on Thursday November 13th at BCIT’s Downtown campus. More information and the Fall Call For Proposals will be available soon. We also welcome feedback and ideas for ETUG directions for the coming year in advance of our next SCETUG Planning Day (scheduled for Wednesday November 12th – the day prior to the Fall Workshop). Please get in touch with your local ETUG Rep or send ideas directly to leva.lee@ bccampus.ca
So, sustained applause to the ETUG community for yet another engaging and dynamic year. And, SCETUG, please take a virtual bow for all of your hard work to bring the ideas growing in our community to life!