The University of Alberta

1. The University of Alberta An Elluminate Center of Excellence Online Program Support Group

2. Edmonton, AB The University of Alberta is located in Edmonton, Alberta’s capital city. Home to over one million people, Edmonton is best known as the “Festival City”. Edmontonians have learned to take advantage of both their long, warm summer and cold, crisp winter days.

3. The University of Alberta The university offers over 200 undergraduate programs and 170 graduate programs, including over 60 doctoral programs. With 37,000 undergraduate students, 4,000 graduate students and 1500 full-time academic staff, the University of Alberta is one of Canada’s prominent research intensive universities.

4. Dare to Discover Dare to Deliver

5. Our Cornerstones Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera • Talented people • Learning, discovery, and citizenship • Connecting communities • Transformative organization and support

6. OurStrategies • Enriching the undergraduate and graduate student experience • Integrating teaching, research, scholarship and creative activities • Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration • Northern, aboriginal, rural and international engagement

7. Elluminate Implementation • The implementation of • Elluminate supports • these strategic initiatives • Provides a mechanism to enrich, integrate, • and engage our students and faculty • Creates collaborative learning • environments at the University of Alberta The Online Program Support Group submits this presentation as our application to become an Elluminate Center of Excellence

8. OPSG Online Program Support Group • A grass roots Community of Practice (CoP) started at the university in 2004. • 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.

9. Presentation Overview • Our theoretical foundation for using Elluminate to make “authentic” online connections • An overview of how Elluminate is used at the U of A and the general benefits that are realized • Specific examples of innovative implementations of Elluminate across the U of A campus • Feedback from our students and faculty using Elluminate • Our future plans for using Elluminate at the University of Alberta

10. Theory Behind Practice Three key elements in building effective learning environments: • Community building • Social presence • Teaching presence

11. Sense of Community Community Social Presence Teaching Presence

12. Social Presence “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 • Effective communication • Open communication • Cohesive communication

13. Teaching Presence “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 • Design and organization • Facilitating discourse • Direct instruction

15. Campus Overview of Elluminate • Elluminate Live! Licensed campus-wide in March, 2006 • Over 500 Elluminate Live! meetings held during the past year • Used in 15 areas on campus

16. Elluminate Users Across Campus • 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

17. Elluminate Uses Across Campus 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

18. Benefits 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:

19. Professional Development Faculty of Pharmacy 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

20. Testimonials Faculty of Pharmacy “I really appreciated the ability of the technology to connect us visually - to slides, websites, etc...it's a huge improvement on Teleconferencing. 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

21. Online Courses Center for Health Promotion Studies • 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

22. Guest Speakers IN F2F ClassFaculty of Education Education and other units on campus have used Elluminate to connect students with guest speakers who would otherwise be inaccessible to them.

23. Research Groups Faculty of Nursing • 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.

24. Community Groups 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 • 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

25. Learning Support 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 • Elluminate’s stimulating environment has enabled the ICC to provide equivalent information to the program’s students as their peers receive in a traditional setting and to introduce students to the world of telehealth medicine

26. Learning SupportTestimonials “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 “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

27. Elluminate’s Impact • Students have positive perceptions of • courses • Technology did not “get in the way” • 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

28. Elluminate’s Impact 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.

29. Future Plans 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

30. Faculty of EDUCATION FACULTY OF PHARMACY & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES