Join faculty members from the University of Victoria, British Columbia Institute for Technology, Mott College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and the University of Saskatchewan as they discuss institutional strategies and support mechanisms for sustaining open education at their institutions.
Dr. Janni Aragon is an Academic Administrator with 19 years of teaching experience. In her role as Director of Technology Integrated Learning (TIL), she works closely with staff, faculty, librarians, students, and with support units across the University to support face-to-face, online, and flexible learning on campus. She currently serves as Co-Chair on the Open Education Resources Working Group and Chair of the Senate Committee on Learning and Teaching. She has extensive experience integrating technology with pedagogy and using open resources with her teaching.
Lin Brander works at BCIT Library where she is the Open Education Librarian, Collections Coordinator, and liaises with programs in the School of Energy. She is Co-Chair of the BCIT Open Education Working Group and a member of the BC Open Education Librarians (BCOEL) group.
Ken Jeffery is an instructor in the Digital Arts Department at BCIT and is a BCcampus Faculty Fellow for 2017. He is co-chair of the Open Education Working Group at BCIT, holds a Master’s Degree in Learning and Technology from Royal Roads University, and is a co-author of the open textbook Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals. With over 18 years of prior experience in visual communications, typography and design, Ken has a keen interest in how technology and openness converge to provide unrestricted access to all learners.
Farhad Dastur is a faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University where he teaches evolutionary psychology, perception, and cognitive ergonomics. His research interests include sensory perception in pregnant women, the determinants of intersection collisions between motorcycles and cars, the role of anxiety in pattern perception, and open education. His involvement with openness spans teaching, research, scholarship, development, and advocacy and includes the following:
• Taught psychology using OpenStax and NOBA;
• Researched the efficacy of open vs. commercial textbooks;
• Selected as one of the Open Education Group’s 2016-18 OER Research Fellows
• Written a book chapter “How to Open an Academic Department;”
• Co-created an Intro Psychology course for the OERu; and
• Advocated for more openness at my institution and beyond
In 2017, he will be co-leading a field school into the Amazon rainforest to learn about its indigenous cultures and remarkable biodiversity.
Aaron Gulyas is a teacher, historian, and writer (generally in that order), Gulyas received his BA in History from Hanover College in 1998 as well as an MA in United States History from Indiana University-Indianapolis in 2003. He then moved into teaching, and has been at Mott Community College since 2006. His online courses include World History to 1500, World History to Present, American Military History, History of the Holocaust, and East Asia 1600 to Present. He also works with several of the college's curriculum and accreditation projects and is coordinator the college's OER efforts. Gulyas is the author of a number of articles and books on media history and criticism, science fiction, and fringe political cultures.
Heather M. Ross is an educational developer in the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Saskatchewan. She has been leading the open textbook and open pedagogy initiative at the U of S since 2014. She is also an OER Research Fellow with the Open Education Group.
Nancy Turner is Director of the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning and Media Production at the University of Saskatchewan. Her role as Director involves strategic leadership across her portfolio along with leading and contributing to institutional initiatives to enhance learning and teaching. Nancy returned to Saskatchewan to take up this position in 2013 after a decade working in London England. Her previous roles include Acting Dean and Associate Dean of Learning, Teaching and Enhancement at the University of the Arts London and Director of Educational Development at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her work for the past 14 years has focused on strategic leadership of learning and teaching enhancement including initial and continuing professional development of faculty and graduate students, technology enhanced learning, reward and recognition for teaching, sustainability, student engagement in educational change, and open education. Her main areas of research are development of self belief, professional learning and change in higher education.
