Reflections from the SCETUG Chair 2012 – 2013

This post contributed by kele fleming, SCETUG Chair 2012-2013 and UBC CTLT.
What a year for our ETUG community!  Beginning with the 2012 SCETUG Planning Day on November 1st and wrapping up with the closing session at our 2013 Spring Workshop on June 7th, it was a year full of new connections, diverse learning and networking opportunities and exciting growth of our community base.
Your ETUG Steering Committee (SCETUG) met in November to set ETUG’s direction for the year.  SCETUG’s main goals for the coming year were to increase community engagement, reach out to new members and increase 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 scheduled a consistent roster of monthly T.E.L.L sessions focusing on a diversity of topics (course redesign, open education, online instructor PD, professional presentation posters, digital badges, audio in education) and facilitated by a number of ETUG members.  Some SCETUGgers also played the role of  reporter and provided blog summaries to share out our learning from the lunch and learn sessions.
Extra! Extra! The ETUG News is re-launched!  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 anouncements, and  job postings.  We currently have over 350 subscribers to The ETUG News.
Our Fall 2012 Workshop was held at BCIT (Downtown Vancouver) and focused on the theme of learning spaces.  SCETUG encouraged all participants to treat the workshop as one big learning space and to investigate the nuances of learning spaces from face-to-face group activities, presentations, collaborative note-taking on Etherpad, social media, and live streaming audio on ETUG106 Radio.
Our Spring 2013 Workshop at SFU Burnaby centered around the theme “Tell It on the Mountain” and featured a fantastically engaging keynote by Nancy White.  Nancy kicked off her keynote by marching into the presentation hall with a backpack on her back singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”  She invited us all to unpack our “survival rucksacks” for engaged online learning and to remember to enact our repertoire of “ways of being together” to create learning opportunities that are authentic and have value.  Nancy participated in the workshop throughout the full two days and led a session on Liberating Structures on the second day.  Delightful and definitely a highlight for me and many ETUG participants!
SCETUG also worked tirelessly on a number of new initiatives at the Spring Workshop to increase networking opportunites and give space for connections and collaborations:

• We kicked off the workshop with a Welcome Breakfast and encouraged networking with an ETUG People Bingo game.
• A few of our artisitically inclined ETUGgers provided stunning visual notetaking of Nancy White’s keynote.
• We experimented with a badging system that inspired collaboration and a spirit of volunteerism and appreciation amongst ETUGgers.
• A geocaching activity designed by SCETUG organizers motivated team work and provided and opportunity for people to take a break from the workshop sessions and explore the SFU Burnaby campus.
• A combined Poster session/Showcase and pre-dinner social 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  Crowdvine site.

Of special note this year at both workshops, was the significant number of new members  we welcomed to our community which is a clear indication of the continuing vibrancy and healthy growth of the ETUG community.
We’re thrilled to announce that ETUG will be headed to the island for the 2013 Fall Workshop at Royal Roads University on Friday November 15th.  More information and the Fall Call For Proposals will be open soon.  We also welcome feedback and ideas for ETUG directions for the coming year in advance of our next SCETUG Planning Day (scheduled for November 14 – the day prior to the Fall Workshop).  Please get in touch with your local ETUG rep or send ideas directly to levalee@ BCCampus.ca
So, hat’s off 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!
Have an excellent summer and looking forward to seeing you all at Royal Roads in Victoria on November 15th!