BCcampus – A look ahead for 2018

2017 was another banner year for us at BCcampus and we’re excited about where we’ve been and where we’re heading in 2018.

Post by Mary Burgess, Executive Director, BCcampus

Inclusivity and Accessibility

In 2017, work continued on the vitally-important Indigenization Project we have been collaborating on with many system partners. We have been so grateful to the Project Steering Committee for their thoughtful leadership and sharing of expertise. This project has enabled us to support the creation of useful resources that support the TRC Calls to Action and has helped us become more aware of our own biases as individuals and as an organization. We have taken the opportunity to educate ourselves and develop more respectful and welcoming practices internally and in the ways we work with our partners. We have also made an effort towards ensuring that our events and practices are more inclusive and welcoming, and plan to continue learning about how we can make our work, including events, accessible to as many people as possible.

Open Education

Students in B.C. are having some pretty amazing learning experiences and the financial savings continue to grow as a result of the incredible work being done in Open Education. In addition to adding many new resources to the B.C. Open Textbook Collection, BCcampus also supported some powerful and timely research on the learning benefits to students of using OER instead of traditionally published materials and also students’ perspectives around OER use and impact. At the Open Textbook Summit 2017, students from UBC (and their awesome faculty) shared their work on the openly licensed virtual and augmented reality field trips which showed us how Open Education helps us build highly impactful learning experiences.

…but wait, there’s more

There are many tangible reminders of progress that helps us stay positive at BCcampus, a few more are:

Connecting and Collaborating

In the background and behind-the-scenes, just as with our institutional partners, we have incredibly talented people supporting the work that is more visible. Being part of a team that collaborates so willingly and seamlessly is one of the best parts of my job. Thank you all for continuing to shine a positive light on post-secondary education in British Columbia.

Festival of Learning 2018

At BCcampus, we are fortunate to work with many individuals and organizations who are enthusiastic about collaborating with us. In May 2018, we will bring all our work together with our incredible system to put on the Festival of Learning. Join us to generate ideas for your work and to honour teaching and learning in B.C.

In 2018, we will continue to share with you the progress of these events, projects, and updates with the hope of gaining a broader reach within the system and encouraging additional voices at the table for new and diverse perspectives.