On Friday, March 11, Mount Saint Vincent University (the Mount) will welcome Dr. Norman Vaughan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Teaching and Learning at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Dr. Vaughan will be presenting a public lecture about Blended Learning, a teaching and learning approach that has been widely adopted in post-secondary institutions nation-wide.
Dr. Vaughan’s lecture will discuss combining traditional in-classroom teaching techniques with more advanced technological options, as well as student engagement and web 2.0 technologies. Today, many Canadian universities, including the Mount, offer distance education via online tools like Elluminate Live! and Moodle. These online tools enable teaching and learning to take place beyond the traditional classroom.
“It’s fascinating to look at the trends that are taking place in higher education right now,” says Dr. Vaughan. “[Blended Learning] really gives us an opportunity to look at our courses, look at how we’re engaging students inside and outside of the classroom, and most importantly, how we’re integrating that sense of engagement.”
At the Mount, Blended Learning is rapidly emerging and transforming the curriculum. Many faculty members use course management systems like Moodle to share and receive information from their students. Some professors also embrace this as an opportunity to go ‘paperless,’ by giving and receiving their student assignments via-email, reducing waste, and encouraging sustainable practices.
For Dr. Alla Kushniryk, a professor in the Mount’s Department of Communication Studies, the opportunity to incorporate Blended Learning into her curriculum has been a welcomed challenge.
“I’m excited about Blended Learning because it offers many new teaching and learning opportunities,” says Dr. Kushniryk. “By combining various technologies and methodologies, and delivering them both face-to-face and online, I can keep my students energized and enhance their learning experience.”
Dr. Vaughan’s visit to the Mount campus launches the President’s Visiting Lecture Series on Teaching and Learning, which brings experts to the campus to discuss various methods of instruction. The Mount will host another lecture in September with Dr. Ken Bain, historian, educator, and author of the international best-seller “What the Best College Teachers Do.”
The Blended Learning seminar will be split into two parts. The morning lecture is open to the public and will take place at 10 a.m. in the Rosaria Multipurpose Room at the Mount. In the afternoon, a lunch for registered guests will be followed by a session for faculty with Dr. Vaughan, as well as a session for students, lead by Mount graduate students who are currently participating in Blended Learning classes.
Please RSVP by March 3 to tlc@msvu.ca.
For more information contact:
Akiko Lovett
Public Affairs
Mount Saint Vincent University
902-441-0505