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Trent University to partner in a $1.2 million Project to Create National Resources Simplifying the Adoption of Internet in University Teaching

Trent University has been selected to participate in an initiative that will provide new teaching resources for all faculty and students by supplying e-tools to share innovative teaching techniques via the Web.

CANARIE Inc announced the funding of the University Collaborative Communities for E-learning Adoption (UCCELA) project which includes the creation of the initial phase of the facultydevelopment.ca professional development website for university professors. Trent University’s liaison, Eunice Lund-Lucas (Special Needs Office), partners with 14 universities, the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), its 3M Teaching Fellow program and the publisher McGraw Hill Ryerson Publishing. The UCCELA project also includes the development of a learning object repository, e-Kit, focusing on e-learning adoption.

"Trent’s work in innovative teaching by professors like Jim Parker, John Earnshaw, and Jonathon Swallow gave us the recognition that allowed us to be a partner in this exciting project," said Ms. Lund-Lucas. "Trent University was also chosen because it is a recognized leader in supporting learning for Special Needs and learning objects."

UCCELA addresses issues of professional development of University Professors and their access to materials and tools simplifying e-learning adoption. It is an open partnership between organizations from university to business working collectively to nurture e-learning adoption in higher education.

The UCCELA project consists of two related components that have been designed to enhance faculty professional development. The first is e-Kit, a Learning Object Repository (LOR) that combines learning objects for professional development, support material for students, as well as multi-media and technical assets. The second is facultydevelopment.ca, a professional development web site providing faculty members with teaching-development learning activities related to using e-learning ("blended learning") particularly in a large class context. This project builds on existing faculty culture and collaboration to enhance the adoption of broadband e-learning.

Initiated in 2001 by Dr. Christian Blanchette (University of Ottawa), e-Kit targets both professional development needs of educators around issues of the integration of e-learning in teaching and provides access to tools which will accelerate the development of those innovative pedagogical initiatives undertaken by Canadian educators.

Initiated in 2002 by Dr. Tim Pychyl (Carleton University), facultydevelopment.ca opens a new door to professional development for new university professors. It showcases 3M teaching fellows as exemplar educators and integrates among the best team in educational development from Canadian Universities. With significant renewal in the Canadian University professoriate, facultydevelopment.ca will provide new professors with rich media on demand training. It will also make available testimonies and practices of the best Canada has to offer in University Teaching.

The combined force of these two initiatives will be a unique experience bringing together, under the leadership of the University of Ottawa, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Publishing Co., Carleton University (Centre for Initiative in Education), Queen’s University, Trent University, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), its 3M Teaching Fellows, University of Guelph, Laurentian University, Concordia University, University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto, Collège Saint-Boniface (Manitoba), University of Moncton, Université Ste-Anne, la Faculté Saint-Jean (University of Alberta), University of Prince-Edward Island, Consortium National de Formation en Santé.

Posted July 14, 2003

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