About the MicroCourse:
Positionality refers to the dynamic relationship between an individual and their various personal and social identities, including gender, race, class, ethnicity, ability, and place. As facilitators, developing a positionality statement becomes a critical self-reflective practice that shows how your biases, histories, and intersectionality influence your teaching. Embracing this process not only models reflexivity but also becomes a powerful strategy for fostering student success (Harrington, 2020). In this Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) MicroCourse, we will explore positionality statements and their role in the context of teaching and learning. We will also examine personal, place-based, and social identities and reflect how these layers influence your teaching practices.
Through interactive activities, we will learn how to develop and effectively integrate positionality statements into teaching approaches, fostering a more inclusive and self-reflective learning environment. While most of the learning will happen asynchronously, we have one synchronous session planned on Wednesday, December 6, at 10:00–11:30 a.m. PT.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Explore the definition of positionality and discuss the role of a positionality statement in teaching and learning.
- Gain a deeper understanding of your personal, place-based, and social identities and how these layers impact your teaching and learning practices.
- Develop positionality statements when teaching and learning in a digital age.
- Discuss strategies to integrate the practice of positionality into teaching and learning to enhance your facilitating skills and promote a welcoming and inclusive teaching practice.
Register now!
About the Facilitators:
Gwen Nguyen (she/her) is a learning and teaching advisor at BCcampus. Prior to BCcampus, Gwen worked as a learning experience designer at the University of Victoria, supporting educators with developing and delivering courses in all the modes: face to face, hybrid, and online. She has also worked as a university lecturer and researcher at the University of Victoria and the Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Japan. Gwen holds a PhD in education studies and an MA in applied linguistics. Her research interests include poetry inquiry as a reflection practice in education, digital pedagogies in higher education, and participatory action research. Gwen has experience with positionality as an instructor and researcher.
Britt Dzioba (she/her) is an advisor on the Learning and Teaching team at BCcampus and holds a Master of Education, specializing in adult learning. Her graduate research focused on digital literacy education in community-based programs. As a researcher working with community partners, Britt has invested a lot of time into thinking about her positionality and incorporating it into her academic and professional work. You can read more about Britt’s approach to positionality in her blog post “Bringing the Practice of Positionality into Teaching and Learning.”
Session Description:
In this seminar Dr. Jane Seale will describe and evaluate a range of creative methods to capture the experiences of people with disabilities in research in ways that are inclusive and meaningful. The methods include memory boxes, sculpture, body-mapping, and i-poems, which Dr. Seale has used with adults with sensory and intellectual impairments and university students with disabilities in formal and informal educational contexts. In reflecting on the success of these methods, Dr. Seale will consider the extent to which participants with disabilities were able to shape and adapt the methods to meet their own goals and evaluate what researchers can learn when using these methods that they might not learn from other approaches.
Facilitator:
Dr. Jane Seale (she/her) is a professor of education in the Faculty of Wellness, Education and Language Studies at the Open University in England. Dr. Seale’s teaching and research interests lie at the intersections between disability, technology, and inclusion. A particular focus of her work is the development and evaluation of methods that promote voice and empowerment for marginalized groups, including university students and adults with intellectual disabilities
More About This Series:
The BCcampus Fall 2023 Research Speaker Series offers participants and presenters an opportunity to learn and share knowledge and advocacy on research methods, approaches, and pedagogies when it comes to accessibility, access, Indigenous engagement, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in teaching and learning. These livestream webinars, which take place one Tuesday every month from September to December, will allow you to learn and ask questions about new research directly from the researchers involved.
Learning Outcomes:
- Broaden your knowledge and research skills in the B.C. post-secondary context.
- Learn about Indigenization, EDI, decolonization, and accessibility in research.
- Be inspired to participate in research communities of practice or explore the themes in your work.
- Connect with academics and community members who share your interests.
Register now!
Please Note: This session will be recorded, captioned, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca after the event. You do not need to register to view the recording after the event.
Other Events in This Series:
- Session 1: September 19, 2023, 10:00–11:00 a.m., Decolonizing Data: Unsettling Conversations about Social Research Methods with Dr. Jacqueline Quinless (UVic)
- Session 2: October 31, 2023, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., A Participatory Design–Based Approach to Creating Design Principles for K–12 Online Learning in Canada with Dr. Elizabeth Childs (Royal Roads University)
- Session 3: November 21, 2023, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Centring Intersectional EDI in Research Practices and Approaches with Dr. Moussa Magassa
Session Description:
This FLO Friday session will build on several earlier BCcampus conversations about positionality. The University of British Columbia defines positionality as the dynamic relationship between an individual and their various personal and social 
identities, including gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, ability, and place, among others. In this session you will discuss and evaluate the pedagogical role of your positionality statement. You will then develop and share a student-focused reflective activity that connects your positionality statement to the aim of helping students recognize and reflect on their own and their peers’ backgrounds and perspectives.
By the end of this session, you will be able to
- Reflect on the pedagogical possibilities for your positionality statement.
- Adapt a simple reflective exercise to promote student recognition of positionalities.
Register now!
This notice is to inform you that this session will be recorded, archived, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca. By participating in this session, you acknowledge that your participation in this session will be recorded and the recording will be made available openly.
About the Facilitator:
Bhuvinder Singh Vaid (he/him/his) is a philosopher of education and an educational developer at the Centre for Teaching Excellence at Capilano University. Bhuvinder’s nearly two decades of work in higher education and consultancy with subject-matter experts are informed by his recognition that teaching and learning exist as uniquely relational practices that are not easily standardized. This understanding has informed his work studying the positionality of seemingly straightforward educational concepts such as safe spaces, efficiency, free speech, and Coast Salish canoe stories. You can reach him at bhuvindervaid@capilanou.ca.
About the Series
Discover the BCcampus FLO EdTech Sandbox Series, an initiative that empowers educators in B.C.’s post-secondary institutions to explore innovative teaching tools through a safe online environment. In these two-hour livestream webinars, expert leaders will introduce and demonstrate cutting-edge, open, and free or low-cost educational technology tools, allowing you to experiment and gather exciting ideas for teaching activities. Our mission is to foster digital teaching innovation, encouraging faculty and staff to embrace emerging technologies with curiosity and openness, ultimately enhancing the learning experience for all.
By actively participating in these sandbox sessions, you will delve into hands-on experimentation with tools, collaborate with fellow educators to review their features, gain valuable insights into teaching activities, and discover ways to integrate these tools into your courses. If you’re unable to attend, recorded webinars of the presentations and written reviews of the tools will be available on our site after the event.
About the Session
Sticky notes are a go-to tool for many teachers, whether they’re paper, digital, or in a hybrid application. They’re easy to use and help ensure all learners have a voice — especially those less comfortable speaking in a group. The focus of this FLO EdTech Sandbox session is the use of Sticky Notes in a digital whiteboard environment like Miro. You will try several key pedagogical functions: generating and sharing ideas, sorting and re-sorting ideas and information, and eliciting feedback from and interaction with one another.
About the Facilitator
Dr. John Churchley’s (he/him) career has spanned all levels of education in music, leadership/management, and teacher education. He worked in various K–12 roles in School District 73, Kamloops/Thompson, including as music teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent. He had a second career as principal lecturer at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in the School of Education and at the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching as an educational developer. Along the way he developed and taught online courses for TRU Open Learning. His focus on learning and teaching has continued in his retirement as he supervises teacher candidates for TRU and the University of Victoria, inspects B.C. Offshore Schools for the Ministry of Education and Child Care, and records educational songs for fun.
Register now!
Other sessions in this series:
- Session 1: September 13, 2023, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.—Mattermost, Ian Linkletter (BCIT)
- Session 2: October 11, 2023, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.— WordPress/Podcasting, Brenna Clarke Gray (TRU)
- Session 3: November 15, 2023, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.— Padlet, Lisa Gedak (KPU)
- Session 5: February 14, 2024, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.— H5P, John Cheng (UBC)
About the Session
Join us on January 17, 2024, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., to dig into the Collaboration section of the BCcampus Micro-credential Toolkit for B.C.
Facilitated by story contributor Adrian Lipsett of Vancouver Community College, this session will look at what collaboration means “on the ground” – whether you collaborate with industry associations, non-profit organizations, or other institutions. Adrian will also discuss the collaboration framework pilot project, which looks at how a micro-credential can be created at one institution and shared with another with the same need.
About the Facilitator
Adrian Lipsett is the dean of Continuing Studies at Vancouver Community College and has been working in the post-secondary sector for roughly 15 years. With a background in instruction, program design, and leadership, he is currently working with his team at Vancouver Community College on micro-credentials, digital badging, rapid program development, and a variety of collaboration opportunities across B.C.
Register now!
This notice is to inform you that this session will be recorded, archived, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca. By participating in this session, you acknowledge that your participation in this session will be recorded and the recording will be made available openly.
Other events in this series:
About the Series
The BCcampus Winter 2024 Research Speaker Series offers participants and presenters an opportunity to learn and share knowledge and advocacy on research methods, approaches, and pedagogies when it comes to accessibility, access, Indigenous engagement, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in teaching and learning. These livestream webinars, which take place one Tuesday every month from January to March, will allow you to learn and ask questions about new research directly from the researchers involved.
Learning Outcomes
- Broaden your knowledge and research skills in the B.C. post-secondary context.
- Learn about Indigenization, EDI, decolonization, and accessibility in research.
- Be inspired to participate in research communities of practice or explore the themes in your work.
- Connect with academics and community members who share your interests.
Please note: These sessions will be recorded, captioned, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca after the event. You do not need to register to view the recordings after the events.
Register now!
About the Session
Anti-oppressive teaching is not simply more representation of marginalized groups or more inclusive understandings of identity. Anti-oppressive research cannot be only the study of oppression and its impacts or new ways to combat it. Just as being “not racist” is not the opposite of racism, anti-oppressive teaching and research, like anti-racist work, is about more than oppression: it unearths and resists systems, policies, pedagogy, and the colonial roots of academia. Teaching and research are rooted in colonialism, and this fact should be uncomfortable. But what can we do with this discomfort?
What can anti-oppression in teaching and research look, sound, and feel like?
In this session we will explore anti-oppression in teaching and research beyond inclusion. We will interrogate some barriers to letting go of what is commonly viewed as the only acceptable and rigorous approach to research and writing. We will let go of either/or, quantitative or qualitative, reason or emotion, and scaffolded explanation or storytelling approaches and embrace a “yes and” approach to doing and expressing research.
If you have not interrogated your research methodologies for oppression, join us to engage in this vulnerable act. If you have done this work but wonder about other possibilities, come with courage and a willingness to let go.
About the Facilitator
Dr. Lyndze Harvey (she/her) is a Queer settler on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən WSÁNEĆ Peoples. She is an assistant teacher professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria — or, as her kids tell others, she is a teacher teaching teachers about teaching. She teaches social studies and philosophical and historical foundations in the teacher education program and educational discourse, narratives of leadership, and research methodologies in the graduate program in education studies. Lyndze believes all educators need to be politically educated; they are hired by the state to raise the citizens of tomorrow to shape a better world. She is also a researcher and writer who resists the status quo, as there is no political neutrality in research. Using storytelling, academic narrative writing, autoethnography, and more, Lyndze engages in rigorous resistance in her efforts to answer her questions. Storytelling, identity, and radical love are central to both her teaching and research.
Other Events in This Series:
Session Description:
We live in an increasingly digital world. Social media, websites, and mobile apps can positively impact students’ and educators’ physical, mental, and emotional health — or they can be harmful. Using emerging technologies, social networks, and websites can result in consequences to your digital well-being if you aren’t prepared to set boundaries and be critical and careful. In this three-hour FLO Lab, you’ll learn how digitally literacy supports digital well-being. You’ll leave with a manifesto to support your and your students’ digital well-being.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this FLO Lab, you will:
- Recognize opportunities for and obstacles to digital well-being.
- Consider instructional approaches and designs that support learners’ digital well-being.
- Distinguish strategies and actions to support digital well-being in personal and professional contexts.
- Develop a manifesto to support digital well-being
This three-hour lab will be fully interactive, with individual and group activities. No reading or course activities are required ahead of the session. You will be asked to reflect on your learnings after the session.
Registration coming soon!
This notice is to inform you that this session will be recorded, archived, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca. By participating in this session, you acknowledge that your participation in this session will be recorded and the recording will be made available openly.
About the Facilitator
Lisa Gedak (she/her) is a teaching and learning strategist, educator, and online learning designer who is passionate about supporting meaningful and personalized learning experiences in post-secondary and learning design contexts. As an appreciative inquiry facilitator who values building on strengths and channelling positive energy, she underpins her work with this philosophy to inform her design approaches. Lisa is passionate about nature, and in her free time, she can often be found in the forest or by the ocean soaking in the splendour.
You often hear others talk about accessibility, but you’re not quite sure how to put it into practice (or maybe you just haven’t had a chance). These Accessibility Bites sessions are for you!
Join your host Helena Prins and facilitator Josie Gray in Zoom for one or all of the five 30-minute sessions taking place on the last Thursday of every month except December.
Session 4: Social Media
This is a short drop-in session where we will talk about accessibility considerations across social media platforms. If you use Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or TikTok, these considerations will apply.
What to bring: A device you can use to access your social media accounts (mobile or computer is fine). These can be your personal or professional accounts.
Schedule:
- 10 minutes: Presentation to highlight some key things to keep in mind when you create and share social media posts. This includes:
- Hashtags
- Emojis and special characters
- Images and GIFs
- Videos
- 10 minutes: Everyone works individually to explore accessibility on the social media platforms they use most. Your host and facilitator will be available for questions.
- 10 minutes: Everyone will come together to reflect on how it went and ask additional questions.
Register now!
This notice is to inform you that this session will be recorded, archived, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca. By participating in this session, you acknowledge that your participation in this session will be recorded and the recording will be made available openly.
Other events in this series:
Session Description:
This workshop explores the digital well-being competency in the B.C. Post-Secondary Digital Literacy Framework, which discusses the need to be aware of your digital identity and intentional about creating and managing your online identity. But doing so requires a constant tension between authenticity and anonymity. You want to present your true self but also be cautious about interacting with others. This workshop is designed to explore these challenges and uncover shared insights into striking a balance in a way that aligns with your values and goals.
In this FLO Friday session, you will:
- Explore different aspects of online identity and how they impact self-image.
- Navigate the push and pull between authenticity and anonymity in your online identity.
- Develop strategies for managing your online identity in a way that supports your values and goals.
Register now!
This notice is to inform you that this session will be recorded, archived, and made available publicly on BCcampus.ca. By participating in this session, you acknowledge that your participation in this session will be recorded and the recording will be made available openly.
About the Facilitator:
Taruna Goel (she/her) is a learning and development professional with over 23 years of experience in adult education, workplace training, and performance improvement. She has designed custom learning experiences (classroom, e-learning, and blended) for Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, and industry associations in Canada and abroad. She currently works with North Pacific in Vancouver, where she designs competency-based occupational standards, certification, and assessment frameworks and ways to recognize prior learning programs for technical and non-technical occupations. Taruna is an instructor at the University of Victoria, a FLO facilitator with BCcampus, and a board director at the Immigrant Services Society of B.C.
X: @write2tg
LinkedIn: tarunagoel
Email: tarunagoel@live.ca
About the FLO MicroCourse:
Despite the recent growth in online and hybrid modes of teaching, many learning management systems lack simple and elegant ways for students to share, collaborate on, and discuss their multimedia assignments. Join this free one-week Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) MicroCourse to learn about different methods for managing media collections in hybrid learning environments.
In this course you will explore platforms such as WordPress, GitHub, SPLOTs, and Notion and focus on enhancing participant engagement and fostering a sense of community by:
- Examining simple tools for sharing media
- Contributing simple multimedia works such as text, images, and documents to different platforms
- Developing a space to facilitate student collaboration
- Creating a gallery or portfolio to showcase student work
While most of the learning will happen asynchronously, we have one synchronous session planned on January 30, 2024, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and on February 2, 2024, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Register now!
About the Facilitator:
Jason Toal (he/him) is a creative educator and visual practitioner. From the sketch book to the webpage, from the classroom to the boardroom, he facilitates learning experiences on visual practice, educational technology, media, and more. A self-proclaimed “OG” from the SCoPE community, he is the person to ask if you are curious what the acronym stands for or why it has upper- and lowercase letters.