Category Archives: Uncategorized

At Open Learning, I’m surrounded by people who make it their business to know all about time management strategies. As the lucky recipient of this expertise, I figured it was time to try an online course, so for the past few weeks, I’ve been experiencing first-hand what it’s like to juggle coursework with a job.     Before I started, I had every expectation of success. I’ve always been a dedicated student and spend most of my life in front of a computer, so working online is not new to me. I also already knew many of the key foundations … 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 →

One of this year’s Distinguished Alumni winners is Shima Iuchi, BFA ’03, an internationally-exhibited artist, TRU Lab Faculty Member, and former TRU-OL student who took course through Open Learning during the summer in order to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts. I thought Iuchi’s story was interesting for a few reasons. One, her route to art, and to Kamloops, has been circuitous: a BFA is her second post-secondary credential. After high school, she received a Diploma in Art Management from the Seian University of Art and Design in her native Japan. And two, working on the creative side of the … Continue reading →

I attended the Digital Futures Conference at TRU last Tuesday, which was all about online education and how technology is influencing education. It was all very interesting, and I’ll post a link to the presentations when they’re available. But there was one point I don’t think was fully addressed, and as it happens to be a point that bugs me, I thought it was worth raising here. My bugaboo is that when people are speculating about the potential impact of the iPad and other tablets, they seem to expect students to take to them like young teens took to Justin … Continue reading →