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[ETUG 25] Flashback Friday – 2003 + 2004

As ETUG celebrates 25 years, we are taking the opportunity every Friday to dig into our archives and celebrate our 25-year history. Today’s Flashback Friday continues back in time to the early 2000s.

It’s 2003….


As 2003 begins, Irwin DeVries continues on in his role of ETUG Chair.
2003 was a critical year in the history of ETUG as the committee began to lay the groundwork with the Ministry of Advanced Education about the future of the ETUG community. This work resulted in a letter being sent to the Ministry asking for ways in which ETUG could be supported by the Ministry. One of the recommendations that came back from the Ministry was that ETUG could be hosted and supported by BCcampus. In the fall of 2003, the plan was made official and ETUG became one of the first Communities of Practice hosted by BCcampus, where it remains to this day.
New members on the steering committee included Marjo Wheat from Northern Lights College and UBC’s Michelle Lamberson.
The spring conference was held at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in Merritt with 47 attendees. Blogs and Wiki’s were a big topic, with a workshop led by Brian Lamb (then UBC) and Scott Leslie (then BCcampus). Fall conference returned to Kwantlen, and featured first appearance in ETUG of future ETUG chair Tracy Roberts (then at SFU).
Three Innovation in Education Technology Awards were handed out in 2003:

  • The Hero of Support & Service: Peter Arthur (Okanagan University-College)
  • Tried & True: Ed Ritchies (College of the Rockies)
  • Bright Shiny Object: Dr. Karim Quyumi, UBC, Cyberpatient

It’s 2004….

The Chair of SCETUG in 2004 was Bob Clark and the Spring Workshop on Educational Technologies was hosted at University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford campus. The Fall Workshop was hosted at SFU Harbour Centre and the BCIT Downtown campus. The topics discussed at the workshops included: Open Source, Collaborative Techniques in Teaching, Copyright in the Digital Age, Games and Simulations for Learning, Geeks with Gadgets, Writing with Wikis, Learning Objects, e-Portfolios, and the Deep Space Astronomy Lab.
Three Innovation in Education Technology Awards were handed out this year:

  • Adjudicators’ Award: Michael Catchpole, North Island College
  • Leadership Award: Richard Arseneau, UBC
  • Innovation Award: Teresa Dobson and Jeff Miller, UBC

Pop Culture 2003/2004

  • Hot movies: Finding Nemo, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Top-rated TV shows: CSI, Friends, American Idol and Desperate Housewives
  • Top songs: “Someday” by Nickleback, “I Drove All Night” by Celine Dion, “Jenny from the Block” by Jennifer Lopez

Hot Technology Trends 2003/2004

Mobile technology was beginning to become more important in 2003, despite the fact that there was still a divide between PDA devices and mobile phone devices. Most mobile phones of 2003 were still primarily flip phones and the “chocolate bar” form factor, but for the first time cameras were becoming integrated with phones.

  • Apple opened the iTunes store.
  • Android was found.
  • The Human Genome project finished.
  • Social Media sites LinkedIn and MySpace launched.
  • WordPress was released.
  • Microsoft released FrontPage 2003. It would be the final version of the HTML editor and website builder they would release.
  • In 2003, EDUCAUSE author Joel Foreman mused about the possibility that video games could be positioned to replace large lectures.
  • Seen on the bookshelves of many educational technologists in 2003 was a copy of the newly released book Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success by Tony Bates & Gary Poole.

In 2004 there were several pivotal developments in the world of technology, adding to the relentless feeling of change, and the need to keep innovating in our ed tech work.
According to Paste Magazine at the top of technology news in 2004 were the following:

  • FaceBook
  • FireFox
  • Blogging as the “word of the year”
  • iPod domination
  • Growth of “smarter” cell phones
  • Bluetooth technology
  • Skype
  • Satellite radio
  • High definition TV and digital video recording

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