This post contributed by Jason Toal (SFU, SCETUG Chair), Janine Hirtz (UBC Okanagan, SCETUG Vice-Chair), and Clint Lalonde (BCcampus, ETUG Community Steward). 

And what a year it’s been!

This past year has been a big one for ETUG, as highlighted by our Fall workshop 2016 and Spring workshop 2017. Keep reading for a snapshot of these events.
Other big news: At the end of the summer, Leva Lee took on a new role at BCcampus with some new and exciting initiatives as Manager, Learning & Teaching, which left Clint Lalonde to step in to fill her very big shoes in coordinating ETUG’s activities with the stewardship committee. We wish Leva every success and are happy that she will continue to be available to us in moments of panic. Thank you, Leva, for your time, devotion, and commitment to the ETUG organization.
 
 

Stewards’ Planning Day for 2016-17

As is usual the day before the Fall Workshop, the Stewardship Committee met for the day to reflect and plan for the year ahead.
The Committee completed a Spidergram activity [From:  Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities – Etienne Wenger, Nancy White & John D. Smith, 2009] to examine what we are currently doing and decide which community orientations are important to us.  How well are we addressing them?  Do we need to add new activities?  Here were the top priorities that emerged:

• Access to expertise
• Relationships
• Community cultivation
• Access to expertise

 
 

New SLACK channel

We soon launched our new SLACK app to promote communication across ETUG. Many of our ETUG membership have joined in the discussions found there. We are hopeful that this technology will help in our efforts to cultivate community, build relationships, and provide access to expertise.

FALL workshop 2016

As predicted, the Little (Work) Shop of Horrors held October 28, 2016 proved to be a spooktacular event as we shared tales of failures, flops, and edtech experiments gone bad. Our keynote speaker, Audrey Watters, education writer, independent scholar, and self-proclaimed rabble rouser lived up to expectations and challenged us to consider the implications of technology on how we teach and learn using technology in our institutions.
The sessions included Lightning Rounds, which were a big hit. Our thanks to Mike Minions for hosting! The Tales of EdTech Trials were followed with a poster session, which combined interactive edtech opportunities with excellent networking for our participants.
The Centre for Digital Media partnered with us to share their amazing space for our workshop.  We wish to recognize our site hosts for their support of ETUG, thanking them for letting us use the hangar. We appreciate their participation in our workshop which included a tour, student presentations, and a collaborative closing activity. What a wonderful and welcoming space for us to explore, learn, and reflect.
 

SPRING Jam workshop 2017

 

 
Our Spring workshop held June 1 and 2, found us at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, BC. Peter Newbury, Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning and Sr. Advisor of Learning Initiatives, provided an inspiring and engaging keynote to our membership: “How you can help people learn.”
 
Our usual kick-off for the workshop is our Pub Night, and this particular pub night had the highest attendance in recent (and long-term) memory. Thanks to everyone for coming out and networking at Freddy’s Brewpub. The Okanagan setting was the perfect venue for our members to attend workshop sessions and the program also included a campus tour and, of course, our social event, “Jamming at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.”  

Other ETUG News

The ETUG News continues to capture stories of innovation from our members all year long! We currently have over 500 subscribers to the newsletter, which hits your inbox each month and features upcoming events of interest to our membership, job postings, member and institutional highlights, as well as news regarding initiatives and innovation in our province around educational technology, OER, open textbooks, etc.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Hope Miller (Online Learning Designer/Trainer at Douglas College) for her commitment as the Editor of the ETUG News and as a valued Stewardship Committee member.

Membership

We are proud to say that our membership has grown to over 500 members with participation from each of BC’s public postsecondary institutions. We would like to introduce you to this year’s Stewardship Committee and Institutional ETUG Reps!
2017-18 is looking to be another busy year for ETUG. You’ll want to bookmark etug-archive.bccampus.ca/  to keep in the know!