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Author: Elan Paulson

Elan Paulson, PhD, has been an educator in Ontario's higher education system since 2004. Before joining Conestoga as a Teaching and Learning Consultant, Elan was on the executive team at eCampusOntario. She previously served as Program Director and as an instructor in professional education programs at Western University's Faculty of Education. With a Master's in Educational Technology, Elan specializes in technology-enabled and collaborative learning to support diverse learners. She has also conducted research on faculty participation in communities of practice for professional learning and self-care.
December 21, 2021

GIRAFES: Charting a Learning Pathway for Hybrid and Fully Online Courses

Reading Time: 7 minutesThis tip provides an overview to develop a lesson plan and learning pathway for units of learning with a hybrid, remote, and/or asynchronous course. Please share feedback on this model with Elan Paulson. Planning for Lessons and Courses   Lesson plans are documents help to prepare you for your classes by providing a purposeful structure and flow for teaching, learning, and assessment activities within a...
Categories Effective Teaching/Hybrid/Lesson & Course Planning
December 9, 2021

Building Truth and Reconciliation for Indigenous Peoples into Teaching

Reading Time: 6 minutesBy Elan Paulson and Sara Kafashan  Note: This post has been written from the perspective of two settlers in North America, incorporating research and voices from Indigenous Peoples. This post focuses on how faculty can reflect upon and respond to the Calls to Action as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. We acknowledge that this is an iterative process, and offer this post as a...
Categories Decolonizing & Indigenizing Education/Effective Teaching/Inclusive Teaching
November 24, 2021

Supporting Marked Group Writing Assignments

Reading Time: 6 minutesPrepared by the Teaching & Learning team, this tip provides advice to faculty supporting collaborative group writing assignments, including reports and papers, as well as other types of group work projects. This tip includes suggestions for courses delivered in-person, hybrid (some real time classes, some anytime learning), or asynchronous (all anytime learning).  Group Work In Outcomes-Based Education  Graded group work assignments build...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Effective Teaching/Quality Assessment/Student Engagement & Communication
August 26, 2021

Accommodating and Supporting Students with Disabilities: Conestoga Faculty Stories

Reading Time: 7 minutesStories curated by Elan Paulson and Sara Kafashan Increasing numbers of students with disabilities are attending colleges in Ontario (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, n.d.). In fact, from April 2017 to April 2018, we had 1,334 students with a disability at Conestoga College, and this number increased to 1,380 from April 2018 to April 2019. And, according to Conestoga’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan (see p. 13), ensuring inclusivity to promote student academic, personal, and...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching/Faculty Stories/Reflective Practice
August 13, 2021

 Open At Conestoga: Library Q&A 

Reading Time: 4 minutesHolly Ashbourne, eLearning Liaison, answers questions about the Library’s OER Toolkit and open at Conestoga College. Select the link to read an introduction to Open Educational Resources at Conestoga.  How does Conestoga support open?  The Library, along with other departments like Teaching and Learning, has championed Open Educational Resources (OER) for years. We have supported faculty in various ways, including finding relevant open resources for courses,...
Categories Effective Teaching/Faculty Services/Library Services/Teaching for Learning
July 26, 2021

Micro-Credentials as Building Blocks to Lifelong Learning  

Reading Time: 3 minutesBy Dorina Grossu, Professor (Contract), School of Workforce Development, Continuing Education, and Online Learning  My professional career focus, for the last 10 years, has directed me towards online education and technologies that are used to enhance our learning and life experiences. I was excited when I discovered that Conestoga was offering online micro-credential courses whose credits apply to a Post-Secondary Teaching certificate.   I decided to challenge myself and take the required course credits for this certificate program. So far, I have completed 24...
Categories Educational Development Opportunities/Effective Teaching/Faculty Stories/Reflective Practice
June 14, 2021

Headed Towards Hybrid

Reading Time: 2 minutesPost by Rachel Schultz, OLC, and Elan Paulson, Teaching & Learning Explore the benefits of hybrid learning, and reflect on how a hybrid model could apply to your courses.  While the pandemic has brought many challenges, it is also a time where instructors have been able to explore various pedagogical approaches using technology. It has allowed instructors to consider how course design can...
Categories Effective Teaching/Teaching for Learning
February 19, 2021

Week-Long Global Event on Open Education

Reading Time: 3 minutesFrom March 1 to 5, 2021 the world celebrates Open Education Week. Learn more and join free events. About Open Education Week Open education includes free access to open-licensed adaptable course materials, videos, assessment tools, research, and textbooks. Open licenses help to make teaching and learning resources more easily available, adaptable, equitable and economical–especially for students. To learn more about...
Categories Events
February 19, 2021

Breaks in the In-Person and Synchronous Online Classroom

Reading Time: 4 minutes“For each class, faculty will […] [e]nsure breaks occur during the lesson time to support student needs.” – Course Delivery Procedure (January 2021)  Breaks are time-bound periods in which students stop doing class work to rest and re-focus. Breaks should be given for students into all in-person and hybrid courses at least by the 1-hour mark of class, or more depending...
Categories Effective Teaching/Hybrid/In-Person/Inclusive Teaching/Online Synchronous
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