PD Opportunities:
Community of Practice
What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?
There are many ways scholars have defined a Community of Practice. In most cases, a CoP represents a group of individuals who share common goals, similar backgrounds, and experiences. These groups work together to refine their practice by learning from one another and engage in a free exchange of ideas or strategies. The college community has many CoPs but some vary in structure so the SCTL will be working on creating more opportunities for faculty/staff to engage in critical discussions on specific domains of teaching/learning.
This section will outline our CoP strategy but also contains some useful tips for external professional learning opportunities. Some of these opportunities are governed by provincial and national CoPs. We invite you to explore these opportunities as we continue working on our internal CoP framework.
SCTL Communities of Practice
Register for a CoP in 2023-24!
CoP: Teaching with Artifical Intelligence (AI)
This CoP is designed to explore the evolving landscape of AI tools that have the potential to disrupt various dimensions of teaching and learning. Theses discussions will explore various opportunities and challenges in an effort to identify specific teaching strategies that might inspire experimentation with AI tools. We also welcome staff to participate in this CoP as the introduction of AI tools will continue to impact all facets of higher education.
Facilitator(s): Patrick Hymus, Digital Learning Specialist & John Wright, Digital Learning Technology Administrator
Intended Audience: Faculty & Staff
CoP: Digital Teaching Strategies
This CoP will focus on digital teaching strategies where faculty members can connect with one another and share best practices/resources.
Facilitator(s): Rochelle Hughes, Digital Learning Specialist & Patrick Hymus, Digital Learning Specialist
Intended Audience: Faculty
CoPs that are currently in development...
CoP: Intercultural Teaching
This CoP will provide an opportunity for the college community to engage in meaningful discussions on intercultural teaching strategies.
Facilitator(s): TBD
Intended Audience: Faculty
Previous CoPs explored by faculty, staff, and members of SCTL
CoP: Indigenous Pedagogy
This CoP will provide an opportunity for the college community to engage with each other to discuss IWKB. Our mission will be to share in a journey of learning & discovery.
To create a safe & healthy space to engage in dialogue relative to Indigenous ways of knowing and being, dispel myths, and create understanding to strengthen our personal & professional relationships.
Facilitator(s): Shannon Hall, Educational Developer & Curriculum Consultant: IWKB
Intended Audience: Faculty
REMINDER: This CoP has a registration deadline as the intention is to form a cohort of practitioners for the Fall 2022 term.
CoP: Applied Mindfulness & Compassion in the Classroom
This CoP is an opportunity for faculty to explore mindfulness-based practices and their application to the post-secondary classroom. Experiment with compassionate and trauma-informed approaches to self-regulation, classroom communication, group work, assessment and more. Share ideas to help cultivate inclusion, belonging, and wellness for faculty and students at SLC
Facilitator(s): Prof. Erin Boyce
Intended Audience: Faculty
CoP: H5P Champions
This CoP will focus on the open source H5P studio tool from eCampusOntario. The community will be used to support one another while we explore this new technology.
Facilitator(s): John Wright, Digital Learning Technology Administrator & Angela Covey, eLearning Developer & Support Technologist
Intended Audience: Faculty & Staff
External Professional Learning Networks
The following list includes larger Professional Learning Networks that host various CoPs that faculty/staff may wish to engage with in order to enhance their practice. These organizations tend to offer frequent webinars on teaching/learning topics in an effort to cultivate a cross-institutional CoP (on a variety of topics) amongst educators and service providers in higher education.
While some of these groups may have a corresponding college representative, these are used for overseeing membership fees and administrative functions. All SLC employees are welcome to join any of these networks but we encourage to contact the representative if you would like to learn more about the organization.
Society for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education (STLHE)
"Vision - STLHE strives to be the pre-eminent national voice, and a world leader, for enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. The Society supports research, its dissemination, increased awareness, and application of research through scholarly teaching and learning."
Open Webinars: Yes (www.keepteaching.ca)
Conference: Yes
SCTL Representative(s): André Léger
REMINDER: St. Lawnrence College has an institutional membership to STLHE.
Educational Technology Committee (ETC)
The Educational Technology Committee (ETC) is a subcommittee of the Coordinating Committee of Vice-Presidents, Academic (CCVPA), and represents the colleges’ practitioner knowledge-base on matters pertaining to technology enhanced teaching and learning.
While the ETC is formally represented by a member at each college, its strength is found in the broad membership of college educators. It is a network of representatives from each of the Ontario Colleges, focused on 21st century teaching and learning practices, who are directly involved in the practice, support and applied research of technology-enabled learning.
Open Webinars: Yes
Conference: Yes
SCTL Representative(s): André Léger
Curriculum Developers Affinity Group (CDAG)
"The mission of CDAG is to facilitate collaboration and the exchange of best practices in all matters relating to curriculum which, in turn, enhances and garners expertise and provides leadership in curriculum development and sound pedagogical practices on a province-wide scale. "
Open Webinars: Yes
Conference: Yes
SCTL Representative(s): Jamie Edwards
The Teaching Professor
The Teaching Professor began as a simple newsletter in 1987 but has grown into a larger network of passionate educators sharing best practices. The website contains weekly announcements, articles, and short video summaries of teaching/learning topics. There is also an annual internal conference which is being held virtually this year.
Open Webinars: Yes
Conference: Yes
SCTL Representative(s): N/A
TeachOnline (ContactNorth)
A professional learning network has been created through ContactNorth as many educators are seeking guidance on online teaching practices. The ContactNorth organization hosts a series of free webinars for the higher education committee so make sure to review the website for more details.
There is also a great search engine to find international conferences on teaching/learning.
Open Webinars: Yes
Conference: Yes
SCTL Representative(s): N/A
Educause
"EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association that helps higher education elevate the impact of IT.
We are a community of IT leaders and professionals working together to tackle challenges and leverage opportunities that are constantly evolving within higher education. We welcome diversity, in viewpoints and experience, and believe in the transformative power of uncommon thinking for the common good."
Open Webinars: Yes
Conference: Yes
SCTL Representative(s): N/A
Instructional Design Interest Group (IDIG)
"The vision of IDIG is to provide an open and collegial environment for instructional designers working in colleges and universities across the province to connect with each other and share best practices, ideas and meaningful information about instructional design."
Open Webinars: Yes
Conference: No
SCTL Representative(s): N/A