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Archives for May 2020

AskAway term 3 (May-June) : dates and hours of service

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Service Dates: Monday, May 18, 2020 – Sunday, July 5, 2020

BCIT AskAway Chat: https://www.bcit.ca/library/library-contacts/ask-a-librarian/

Hours of Service 

Monday-Thursday: 9am – 9pm
Friday: 9am – 5pm
Saturday: 11am – 5pm
Sunday: 10am – 9pm

AskAway will be closed on the following Stat Holidays

Closed: Mon, May 18, 2020
Closed: Wed, July 1, 2020

April 2020 Stats: How are we doing serving BCIT Students online?

In April 2020, we worked a full month of reference service online using the AskAway chat:

  • 92 BCIT Students were helped in April
  • We spent 19.5 hours online serving BCIT Students 
  • Average session time per student was 12.5 minutes

Just a few BCIT Student Comments from April 2020:

4/2/2020 (14 minute session w a BCIT Student) Help with CSA Standards Database:
BCIT Student: Actually, I finally could search their database. I am able to find it now. Thanks a lot for the help!

4/6/2020 (26 seconds session w a BCIT Student) Help with Linkedin Learning:
BCIT Student: do we still have access to LinkedIn learning? I tried it does not let me in. is there a new way to access it?
Librarian: Yes we do. I will check that it’s working.
Librarian: Here is the link:
BCIT Student: it works omg. thank you so much!

4/9/2020 (35 seconds session w a BCIT Student) Circulation question:
BCIT Student: how do I renew a loan online? I borrowed HoloLens and can’t return now,
Librarian: I believe everything  is being automatically renewed until May (or until we reopen) – but you may want to send a note to libcirc@bcit.ca just to confirm, since this is an A/V item
BCIT Student: Thank you

4/14/2020 (9 minutes session w a BCIT Student) Reference question:
BCIT Student: hello, I am looking for information for a project
Librarian:  What is your project? Which program are you in?
Librarian: Are you looking for this information from an environmental standpoint, or a business standpoint or? ..
Librarian:  OK – let me have a look…
Librarian: So maybe something like this?  …
BCIT Student: that is fantastic
BCIT Student: That article and the references it has should get me most of the way through this project. Thank you so much!

4/28/2020: (22 seconds session w a BCIT Student) Textbook, Bookstore question:
BCIT Student: Thank you so much! Really appreciate it! 4/30/2020: (12 seconds session w a BCIT Student) Citation question:
Librarian: OK – I’m going to send to the link to citation style info.
BCIT Student: awesome thanks!!

BCIT AskAway Chat with A Librarian Service 

Our Students Can Get Help Online with:

  • research
  • citations
  • using the library
  • finding materials
  • journal databases
  • other library topics

 Link to BCIT AskAway Chat: https://www.bcit.ca/library/library-contacts/ask-a-librarian/

About AskAway 

AskAway is a chat reference service for BC’s post-secondary institutions.
AskAway sessions are in real-time, and are staffed by Librarians from post-secondary institutions in B.C.

BCIT Open Education Grant Program

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In the 2020/21 Mandate Letter from Melanie Mark, BC Minister of Advanced Education, Skills, and Training, BCIT is directed to make substantive progress on the following priority:

  • Advancing and supporting open learning resources.

BCIT has received funding from BCCampus to continue its open education grant program, to support the adoption, revision, and creation of openly licensed learning resources.

A few advantages of using and developing OER:

  • OER is shared in digital format so it is easy to add openly licensed materials to online learning management systems.
  • Open licenses give various permissions that usually allow the user to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the materials.
  • OER encompasses a wide range of materials including textbooks, presentation slides, handouts, videos, images, and much more.
  • Instructors have control over the learning materials they use in their classroom – OER can be customized or created to support class learning outcomes.
  • Students can engage in meaningful class work to help create or improve open learning materials.
  • Courses with low or no learning materials costs provide a significant advantage to students in lowering financial barriers to post-secondary education.

Grant Categories

Adoption – up to $250 – review and adopt an open textbook or other open learning resource, this can include minor revisions to customize it

Revision – up to $2K – take an existing OER and make substantial revisions to better suit class learning outcomes

Creation – up to $8K – create a learning resource – this can be in any category or format, eg.: textbook, video series, question or test banks

Key Dates for Summer Rolling Call

There will be a rolling call for grant applications for any of the grant categories over the summer.

Deadline 1: June 1, 2020

Deadline 2: June 29, 2020

Deadline 3:  July 27, 2020

Deadline 4:  August 24, 2020

Support

The LTC and the Library can provide some support for grant projects. Request for this support should be part of the grant application.

BCIT Library is running an open education publishing program pilot over the next several months. If you have digital learning materials that are suitable for conversion to PressBooks and that you want to license openly, the library will do that conversion for you.

Additional Information

Open BCIT is sponsored by the AVP, Education Support and Innovation, and is supported by the Open Education Working Group, the Library, and the Learning and Teaching Centre. BCIT Open Education Working Group supports and promotes the development and use of OER and OE teaching practices. The Group is under the umbrella of Education Council’s Educational Technology and Learning Design Committee (ETLDC).

Open education grant funds, for the most part, are distributed as part-time studies contracts so are subjected to tax and benefits deductions.

All learning materials developed in whole or part with the support of an open education grant must be licensed openly and deposited in the BCIT Open Institutional Repository.

Find our more about Open Education at BCIT

Review BCIT’s Open Education Best Practices and Guidelines

Open Education Grant application form

FREE webinar series … Learn. Balance. Thrive.

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The BCIT Student Association is partnering with Rhodes Wellness College to launch a new webinar series to help you build stronger connections with yourself and others. These free 1 hour webinars will explore popular topics that BCIT students have requested resources on including; building healthy relationships through communication & conflict resolution skills, tools to help you manage and express challenging emotions such as uncertainty about the future and how to deal with lack of motivation or low energy when they interfere with our goals and relationships.

For more information visit: https://www.bcitsa.ca/wellbeing/