An Elluminate Center of Excellence Online Program Support Group The University of Alberta is located in Edmonton, Albertas capital city. Home to one million people, Edmonton is dynamic and vibrant and best known as the Festival City. Edmontonians have learned to take advantage of both their long, warm summer and cold, crisp winter days. With 37,000 undergraduate students, 4,000 graduate students and 1500 full- time academic staff, the University of Alberta is one of Canadas prominent research-intensive universities. The university offers over 200 undergraduate programs and 170 graduate programs, including over 60 doctoral programs. The vision for the University of Alberta has been articulated by our president Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera in two volumes: Dare to Discover and Dare to Deliver. The former provides our vision for the future while the latter delineates how to make that vision a reality. Talented people Learning, discovery, and citizenship Connecting communities Transformative organization and support Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera Enriching the undergraduate and graduate student experience Integrating teaching, research, scholarship and creative activities Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration Northern, aboriginal, rural and international engagement Our implementations of Elluminate across the disciplines support these strategic initiatives by providing a mechanism through which we can enrich, integrate, and engage our students and faculty as we create collaborative learning environments at the University of Alberta. The On-Line Program Support Group submits this presentation as our application to become an Elluminate Center of Excellence. A grass roots Community of Practice (CoP) started at the university in Is interdisciplinary, consisting of Instructional Technology practitioners from Faculties and Schools across campus. Purpose is to provide a forum for interaction and collaboration and the sharing of information and expertise. Has been instrumental in advancing the use of learning technologies within individual faculties and across the university as a whole. 1.Our theoretical foundation for using Elluminate to make authentic on-line connections 2.An overview of how Elluminate is used at the U of A and the general benefits that are realized 3.Specific examples of innovative implementations of Elluminate across the U of A campus 4.Feedback from our students and faculty using Elluminate 5.Our future plans for using Elluminate at the University of Alberta Three key elements in building effective learning environments: Community building Social presence Teaching presence Central to successful on-line learning environments is the ability to develop a sense of community. Integral to developing community is the ability to provide the sense of social and teaching presence. By increasing social and teaching presence and building on-line communities we increase our ability to make authentic connections between and with our learners. Community Social Presence Teaching Presence Effective communication Open communication Cohesive communication This is an absolutely terrific medium for me as a distance student. The context of Elluminate helps to connect you psychologically as well as virtually to the professor and other students. Thanks so much. -Faculty of Nursing Student Design and organization Facilitating discourse Direct instruction Elluminate has enabled me to build relationships with my students and connect with them in ways that is simply not possible though asynchronous communication. -Faculty of Education Instructor Elluminate provides an array of tools that facilitate both social and teaching presence. This leads to a greater sense of community within the learning environment and ultimately provides us with a way to make authentic connections with our learners. Elluminate Live! Licensed campus-wide in March, 2006 Over 500 Elluminate Live! meetings held during the past year Used in 15 areas on campus Since its adoption by the University of Alberta, Elluminate has been embraced by Faculties across campus. Power users of Elluminate now include: Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry & Home Economics Faculty of Arts Faculty of Education Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Extension Faculty of Pharmacy Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Faculty of Nursing Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty of Science School of Public Health School of Business Campus Saint-Jean Augustana Faculty AICT E-Learning Services Health Sciences Council Innovative uses of Elluminate include: Support of online learning Online programs and courses Blended learning Virtual office hours Provision of Professional development Hosting of guest speakers in F2F classes Support of research, meetings & collaboration Building community through increased social and teaching presence Enriching the undergraduate and graduate student experience by engaging learners in active and participatory learning experiences Providing opportunities for flexibility of course delivery increasing access locally, nationally and internationally Integrating teaching and research and providing a venue for collaboration across distances Elluminate provides a convenient, intuitive and cost effective solution for: Description 12 week, professional development course for pharmacists to explore the use of laboratory values in their practice. Two-day workshop Three distance sessions - case study, group discussion (WebCT), Elluminate session Practice-based assignment Benefits of using Elluminate Fostered connection and interaction Reduced barriers to access and participation Convenient I really appreciated the ability of the technology to connect us visually - to slides, websites, etc...it's a huge improvement on teleconferencing in the forms I've used (live groups, at home on the phone, etc.). I liked all the different ways to communicate that were available - texting, verbal, visual and auditory. - Pharmacist As instructors and course developers, we have observed a change in the level of engagement by pharmacists and their interest in learning compared to continuing education programs we have offered in previous years. - Dr. Christine Hughes Masters degree programs can be completed on a part-time basis, by adult working professionals entirely on-line Enables students worldwide to become part of the learning community The University has been able to provide an interactive and engaging graduate level program in an area of high demand Education and other units on campus have used Elluminate to connect students with guest speakers who would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Elluminate is being adopted by a growing number of principle researchers as a venue in which they can collaborate with their national and international research partners. We currently have 13 research groups in the FON working in Elluminate. It provides them with a meeting place for sharing information and results, discussing their findings and connecting with their research partners at a distance. It is cost effective, intuitive and has provided many of our research groups opportunities to meet frequently and throughout the duration of their projects. INTD 410 Students from different health disciplines work through problem-based patient case scenarios Elluminate provides opportunities for them to learn about: other healthcare professions, To understand the importance of forming ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations OPSG A Community of Practice at the U of A that uses Elluminate as a meeting place to collaborate on projects of benefit to the general community MES Social networking Students in this program have used Elluminate to extend their learning outside of the classroom Office hours on-line office hours are an alternative way for instructors and students to engage in conversation Clerkship and Practicum The Integrated Community Clerkship in Medicine uses Elluminate to connect once a week with students who are placed in rural settings throughout Alberta Elluminates stimulating environment has enabled the ICC to provide equivalent information to the programs students as their peers receive in a traditional setting and to introduce students to the world of telehealth medicine It's a good idea to combine several different modalities of communication (voice, text, white board, application sharing) in one program. I'd say, for ICC, it's invaluable. -ICC Student, 2007/08 Elluminate has been invaluable in assisting our Clinical Integration Series where for three hours we meet from five or more remote locations. -Dr Fraser Brenneis Director, Integrated Community Clerkship Being able to hear the voices of the professor and students added an important dimension to my on-line learning experience. Students have positive perceptions of courses Technology did not get in the way o easy, fast, cost effective, classroom without walls Initial apprehension about technology has been overcome through ease of use Students are now initiating meetings on their own Improvement over other forms of teleconferencing and collaboration Increased engagement, understanding and confidence Effects of distance reduced greatly Elluminate has provided the University of Alberta with an invaluable technology for connecting, engaging, facilitating and promoting active and effective teaching and learning both on campus and across the distance. Elluminate enhanced my learning in this course and I would recommend the continued use of Elluminate in on-line courses in the Faculty of Nursing. Admission and recruitment Reach out to the best and the brightest Connect with parents and students seeking advice Enrich the Undergraduate experience Increased flexibility in delivery modes and media Provide access to more experts Enrich the Graduate experience Greater range of research opportunities Greater ability to collaborate Achieving our Academic Plan Engage local, regional and international communities F ACULTY OF PHARMACY & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES F ACULTY OF EDUCATION