TRU-OL is now on Pinterest, and to those who have already followed us, thanks for joining! We’re always looking for followers and new people to follow, so if you pin, check us out at pinterest.com/TRUOpenLearning. While pinning, I’ve noticed a common error on many typography-related images that I think is worth raising here. It seems many people still make the mistake of using “your” when they should be using “you’re.” If this never happens to you, please go on with your day. Otherwise, read the following: “Your” is a possessive adjective, and modifies the noun or noun phrase in the … Continue reading →
LIVE PRESENTATION As TRU-OL’s contribution to Open Education Week, please join us online for a live presentation of “Designing and Assessing Engaging Learning Activities” on Tuesday, March 6 from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Stay for the discussion period afterward with presenters Michelle Harrison and Melissa Jakubec, from the TRU-OL Instructional Design team. Access the presentation at http://livestream.com/liveTRU. ABOUT OPEN EDUCATION WEEK Irwin Devries, Director of Instructional Design here at TRU-OL, writes regularly about open and distance education at IrwinDevries.com. He kindly agreed to be a guest blogger here and contributed the following post about Open Education … Continue reading →
Higher education is typically a serious business. So you may wonder why Open Learning’s new recruitment video features animated characters. Describing all the advantages of Open Learning in a single video is a challenge. Through distance education, TRU-OL can offer many additional options to the programs available on the TRU campus, such as credit for prior work experience, as well as flexible start and completion dates. As a result, the student demographic at Open Learning varies widely: from full-time students recently graduated from high school, to part-time students returning to school, to full-time employees upgrading their career one course at … Continue reading →
Did you know that dinosaurs aren’t really extinct and birds should be reptiles?Steven Earle explains Once upon a time, an enterprising fish ventured out of the ocean. From fish evolved amphibians, and from amphibians reptiles, and for millions of years the land was dominated by Apatosaurs, Ankylosaurs, Allosaurs and their kin. Today, some 65 million years after the giant dinosaurs disappeared from the geological record, their feathered descendants rustle through the foliage outside of Steven Earle’s window. Earle, who is both a long-time Open Learning Faculty Member and Geology professor at Vancouver Island University, is teaching Open Learning’s first course … Continue reading →
Most people would tell you to turn off your social networking sites when you’re trying to study. I’m not going to. With the holidays approaching, this may seem like bad advice. There are already plenty of distractions to be had: office parties; family dinners; shopping, another rerun of Love Actually. But if you’re a social person, this time of year is probably particularly tough for your motivation: who wouldn’t prefer to sit in front of a fire with some friends, eggnog in hand, over the company of a textbook? I was sitting at my own computer the other day, procrastinating … Continue reading →
Last week I was at the Welcome Back BBQ and Student Orientation session on the TRU campus where I happened to meet a very dedicated student. She was enrolled in a full-time TRU program and was taking two additional courses through Open Learning. The amount of work she had cheerfully signed up for was chilling, and while she’s a old pro at this and knows what she’s getting into, it got me thinking about what can happen in the beginning of the school year that gets people into trouble later. In September, the course material all seems new and interesting … Continue reading →
You probably don’t have it marked on your calendar, but this month, the book Gone with the Wind turned 75. Calendar or no, it’s been hard to avoid; I’ve come across several blogs and magazines that have taken the opportunity to talk about about how awful the book is, in both its style and content. At one point people’s unhappiness with Scarlett and Rhett would have surprised me, because I first read Gone with the Wind when I was 12. I had never read a story where the heroine was not only unkind and selfish but altogether quite unlikeable, and … Continue reading →
I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t want Adam Savage’s job. He works for the TV show Mythbusters and spends his days blowing things up, driving fast cars and re-enacting Hollywood stunts (can 007 really jump out of that plane and live? Really?) His job is Awesome. When Mythbusters comes up – and if you ever experience an awkward lag in conversation among strangers, it’s a good topic to try – you can actually watch the flush of wistful longing cross people’s faces. But I am skeptical of such dream jobs, because one summer, I actually had one. I was hired … Continue reading →
TWEET OR COMMENT TO WIN! If you aren’t one of the lucky ones who works at the BC Centre for Open Learning, you may not know that the BC Lions are holding their 2011 Training Camp at TRU – where, conveniently, we can watch their progress from our windows, which proves that sometimes the best employment perks don’t make it on the job description. TRU-OL is a Presenting Partner of Fanfest at the 2011 BC Lions Training Camp, and to celebrate, we’re giving away a BC Lions customized replica jersey. To enter, we want your best procrastination-beating tip. Just tell us … Continue reading →
I love my e-reader, mainly because it allows me to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in public without being publicly shamed. (And you really shouldn’t judge: it’s a funny book, in an absurd sort of way.) I also love that I can buy a book at 2 a.m., read a PDF in the sunshine and download my library books. But while higher ed seems eager to experiment with other technologies in the classroom – tablets; BlackBerries; even twitter and texting – the e-reader doesn’t seem to come up very often. So I thought I would ask Brenda Smith, TRU’s distance and document delivery librarian and all-around book guru, about why we don’t hear more about e-books in higher ed, and what you should consider if you’re shopping for an e-reader. Here’s what she said. Continue reading →
