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Ed Tech Tools & Tips 2: Introduction to MediaWorks

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By Amy Miedzwiecki

MediaWorks is a digital workshop and makerspace based in the library at Burnaby campus where students and staff can create, innovate, and collaborate to bring their ideas to life.

We offer a creative space, industry standard equipment, and professional guidance from our team to help you succeed.

What is a Makerspace?

A makerspace is more than a space itself. Sure, it has tech, machines, and staff to help you invent, tinker, and create but a makerspace is about “turning knowledge into action” (Flemming, 2015, p. 7), and allows for a true opportunity to support personalized learning (Martinez & Stager, 2013).

We offer custom workshops for classes, one to one consultations and the space and time to experiment and play, encouraging creative collaboration.

We want to empower you to use new and emerging technologies, to explore your own learning and helping you to become self-sufficient with our tools. The range of possible projects is vast and could include audio production for a podcast, creating a custom piece of lasercut artwork, and even creating a 3D printed prototype for testing.

What Technology Do We Have?

3D Printing – FDM plastic filament 3D printing and a new SLA printer that uses resin for more detailed prints

3D Scanning – Scan real life objects into a digital 3D model

Lasercutting and engraving – Cut, score and engrave onto wood, acrylic and other materials

Die cutting – Cut paper, card, vinyl and fabric

Thermoforming – Vacuum form detailed plastic moulds

VR and AR Technologies –Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality headsets and ‘play’ area

High specification computer lab – Produce, edit and draw with industry software on our powerful computers with ultra-wide monitors

COMING SOON!

Learning Glass – Learning Glass Lightboard technology is simple: LED lighting on specialized glass creates a transparent white board that illuminates writing with neon markers ideal for creating video lectures online.

 

New and Improved audio recording space for creating podcasts and voiceovers

 

Other Services

Large Format Printing – Print large posters and displays

Digitizing – Convert VHS, cassettes, DVD’s, photographs and slides to digital formats

Dry Press Mount – Mount posters onto foam core without glue

MediaWorks Services During COVID-19

Our services are online right now ­­­­with our lab currently closed to the public, but we are still able to support staff and student projects remotely.

After consulting on ideas and design preparation we will use our machines to produce your 3D and 2D work which can then be picked up from the library front desk (8am-3pm Monday to Friday). To book a consultation email: mediaworks@bcit.ca

There is also an individual bookable MediaWorks table and tool kit for those that do not have the space or tools to finish their work at home.

If you need to measure/glue/cut/chisel/file you can book this online.

For material pick-up info visit: https://libguides.bcit.ca/covid.

All in-person library services follow Covid-19 safety regulations, more information can be found here https://libguides.bcit.ca/Covid

References

Fleming, L. (2015). Worlds of making: Best practices for establishing a makerspace for your school. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom. Torrance, CA: Constructing modern knowledge press

Today’s Special …

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by Jarrett Seto

In the last few years, there’s been an abundance of books written by Indigenous authors and their voices have much to tell. Check out these page turners that give insight into the Indigenous experience. You’ll find tragedy, adversity, comedy, but most importantly, hope in these books written by Canadian authors.

 

Indians On Vacation: A Novel by Thomas King (2020)

Indians On Vacation reads in the same vein of King’s other books in that they are filled with his trademark ability to blend both irony and comedy. Wit and banter aside, be prepared to enjoy the adventures of Mimi and Bird as they travel through Europe. It is well known that you’ll find truth in comedy (albeit adjusted for the audience), and Indians On Vacation is no exception from this. Marriage, systemic racism, tourism, and injustice are presented to the reader between servings of laughter that add a sobering reminder to what life can be like depending on the cards you’re dealt.

 

 

The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp (2016)

Richard Van Camp possesses a unique talent to thrust his readers into the North. The proper North, where the summers are slim and the opportunities are naught. Where you live on the thin edge of a country, a vast expanse hindered by many kinds of distance. It’s uncomfortably relatable if you grew up in a have-not province, whether it be a mill town on the Acadian coast, a declining Albertan junction surrounded by prairie that loses more buildings to the wind than decay, or a village in North Ontario, where you should have access to clean running water, but you don’t. Van Camp’s debut novel is about growing up, disillusionment, and coming to terms with who you are. Deeply funny and filled with poignancy, you’ll wish there were more pages to read when you’re finished.

From the Ashes: My Story Of Being Métis, Homeless, And Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle (2019)

Jesse Thistle’s memoir will leave you with sadness and understanding. It’s a tough read for some, due to the gritty pages tackling homelessness and addiction. From the Ashes doesn’t shy away from any of it. The clinical gaze of city reports or dry articles on these social issues is replaced with a raw and graphic, in your face somber reminder of reality, that real people struggle with this day to day. Abandonment, cycles of violence, drug abuse, and crime saturate Thistle’s early life. The story of his attempts to overcome it and turn his life around is inspiring.

 

Today’s Special …

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by Jarrett Seto

Science fiction can explore concepts of everyday life, technology, and political institutions in ways that other genres have trouble doing. It opens new and exciting pathways into where reality could be, or what a possible future could look like. It can present reality often in ways that you may not have imagined before. Maybe we aren’t in the Darkest Timeline after all. What would the world be like if there was an alien colonization; what if our smartphones became sentient beings, what if the polar ice caps melted in 1925? If you’re looking for a change of pace from your overwhelming day of assignments, zoom meetings, housecleaning, and fixing the car, try borrowing from our selection of sci-fi tales.

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (2019)

The terror of perpetual sleep, a void which no one can escape, provides a claustrophobic backdrop to The Dreamers. A unique writing style will draw you in, pulled into a vortex and unable to stop turning from page to page. Like you’re in a dream.

 

Radicalized: Four Tales of Our Present Moment by Cory Doctorow (2020)

If you’re searching for an outlet from the world of 2021 look no further. Immerse yourself in these stories. But don’t worry if the content is a little frightening. After all, they’re only science fiction. For now, at least.

 

Sputnik’s Children by Terri Favro (2017)

Thanks to the unreliability of the narrator, you’re unsure if it’s all made up, a first hand account, or a mixture of both. Sputnik’s Children graces us with alternate timelines, time travel, and a dash of coming of age.

 

New Food Hamper Service for BCIT Students Experiencing Financial Hardship & Food Insecurity

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During the COVID-19 crisis, many students are experiencing financial hardship and challenges purchasing groceries due to reduced income. Reducing barriers to accessing healthy nutrition and supporting students at risk are at the core of the BCIT Student Association Wellness Department mission.

To support our students during this critical time, BCIT Student Association Wellness Department has partnered with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and local community organizations to provide a new emergency food relief service for current BCIT students experiencing financial hardship during the pandemic. Emergency food relief programs not only relieve hunger but also financial pressures. When the stress of providing food is alleviated, students are better able to focus on their academics and have more financial resources to pay rent & other essential bills.

ABOUT THE BCITSA EMERGENCY FOOD RELIEF SERVICES:
Through the Emergency Food Relief Service, students in need, can access the following resources:

  • Services available to ALL BCIT students experiencing financial hardship:
    • Referral for a 3 year membership to Quest Food Exchange. Quest Food Exchange is a food recovery and redistribution not-for-profit organization that provides dignified access for individuals with low-income to a variety of affordable and healthy foods and groceries at multiple sites across BC.
    • Additional financial relief and financial education services; including low-cost annual memberships for a Bike Share program, free virtual 1 on 1 financial coaching and referrals to local food banks and other financial assistance programs.
  • Food Hamper service available to BCIT students currently living in Campus Housing and/or attending in-person classes at the Burnaby Campus.
    • Starting Thursday May 25th, students can pick up a free food hamper with a week supply of groceries up to 3 times per term. Please note that currently, the food hamper program is only available to BCIT students that are attending in-person classes at the Burnaby Campus between March 25th 2021 to May 27th 2021. This policy is in place to discourage unnecessary travel to the campus during the pandemic. For students studying off-campus, the BCITSA Wellness team will discuss local accessible options in their community.

STEPS TO ACCESS EMERGENCY FOOD RELIEF SERVICES:
1. Students can complete the Financial Support Services Online Request Form to book a virtual intake appointment with a BCITSA staff member.

2. During the 15 minute intake appointment, staff will discuss options available to you based on your needs and location and refer you to appropriate programs.

3. If eligible for the Food Hamper Program, students will be provided with additional information and a link to book an individual timeslot to pick up your food hamper. Food hampers will be available for pick up every Thursday from the Student Association Centre in SE2 using an individual appointment booking system to maintain social distancing.

CONTACT DETAILS FOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS:
For questions or more information about the BCITSA Emergency Food Relief Services for students, please email wellness@bcitsa.ca to connect with BCITSA Wellness Manager Andrea Wilder and BCITSA Wellness Coordinator Kelsey Nikl.

Watch the short BCITSA Food Hamper Service Intro Video with more information.

Today’s Special …

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by Erica Huntley

“In spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood

Just in time for your spring gardening, here’s a list of new books for gardeners of all skill levels. Be sure to email in your requests for the BCIT Seed Library also!

Beginning Seed Saving for the Home Gardener by Jim Ulager (2019)

Available in e-book format from the BCIT Library, Beginning Seed Saving For the Home Gardener shows you how to harvest and prepare seed from your own garden for next year’s crop. Seed saving is an important part of preserving local food culture, a great way to connect with the life of your garden and it just may make you a few new gardening friends (seed-swap, anyone?). This book gives you all the facts you’ll need to make seed saving efficient and fun regardless of the size of your garden or skill level.

 

The New Seed-Starters Handbook by Nancy Bubel with Jean Nick (2018)

The New Seed-Starters Handbook is the revised and updated edition of a classic work on home gardening. Whether you’re new to growing your plants from seed or just looking to troubleshoot a specific sprouting problem, this is the guide for you. This thorough book is divided up into handy sections allowing you to quickly locate information.

 

The Northwest Garden Manifesto by John J. Albers (2018)

The Northwest Garden Manifesto is a gorgeously illustrated and thorough and practical introduction to the concept of biodiversity in gardening on the Pacific Northwest. Absolute beginners may be intimidated at first by the in-depth knowledge shared in this volume, especially if read cover-to-cover. Nevertheless, the book is sure to become a handy reference guide, and an inspiring call to action for gardeners of all levels.

 

 

The Seed Library returns! Available while supplies last.

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BCIT’s highly anticipated Seed Library has made it’s return. The format is a little different this year, but we hope it will still be accessible.

Below is the list of seeds for spring 2021.  Please pick up to 6 varieties from the list and email your selections to libcirc@bcit.ca. The library staff will put together your order and you can come pick up from the library when you are ready.

Please note that the library is operating under reduced hours: 8:00 to 3:00 Monday to Friday.

Seed donations will also gratefully be accepted at the library’s front desk. Thank you for your support!

Questions or comments? Email the seed librarian, Alison Griffin (agriffin11@bcit.ca) or visit the BCIT Library Seed Guide.

Happy planting!

Vegetables:
beans
beets
carrots
corn
cucumber
kale
lettuce
pumpkin
sugar snap pea
tomato
watermelon

Herbs:
basil
cat grass
catnip
dill
lavender
parsley

 

Flowers:
cone flower
cosmos
daisy
hollyhock
lobelia
lupin
nasturtium
sunflower
wild flower

Ed Tech Tools & Tips 1: Case Studies

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by Jeff Verbeem & Linda Matsuba

With the buzz around the introduction of the Learning Glass at BCIT Library’s MediaWorks, I have to confess to a reaction mainly of excitement but also of some trepidation at learning yet another piece of Ed Tech. Most days in an educator’s life are full enough with prepping, planning and marking. By processing the everyday through reflection and professional development, we develop principles and go-to strategies that make our instruction effective and our own. So, cultivating a healthy curiosity of other ways of doing things can seem somewhat aspirational at times. On the other hand, I cling to the hope that setting aside some time to explore alternative approaches may save me from feeling burned out and jaded. And so with this new feature in the Library blog I hope to foster that curiosity in myself, to share it with others, and also to highlight some of the amazing resources we have in MediaWorks and the Library. My emphasis here will be on the ‘Ed’ in Ed Tech, and the topics—as with this week’s—might not be particularly ‘cutting-edge’ or have much to do with technology at all. And I welcome topic suggestions!

Intro

Case Studies: we all know what they are and have probably been involved in them at some level, whether or not the term ‘case study’ was actually used. When we think a typical case study, we think of students informed and guided by learned concepts, grappling with a real-world problem. Essentially, cases are narratives. Often, we ask students to create the conclusion or moral to a story. While most often associated with business, law and medicine, there are few subject areas where case studies would not have a place. And I was surprised realize how many different permutations of the general activity category are possible.

When you consider Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, case studies lend themselves to learning objectives that involve application, analysis and evaluation, and more elaborate approaches would involve elements of creation as well. They also usually have a collaborative component. When I was an EAL teacher, I used case studies for that communicative element, focusing on students’ listening, explanation and persuasion skills.

It is easy to see why case studies would be well-suited in particular for BCIT: they can bridge the gap between academic concepts and real workplace problems like few other activities. They also support our students’ development as critical thinkers, creative problem solvers and effective communicators as laid out in BCIT’s Learning and Teaching Framework. BCIT actually has a number of courses built around the approach, including BUSA 3475 – Case Studies in E-commerce, currently taught by John Foster.

Why do you use case studies? When would you not use them?

Getting Started

For those considering using case studies, there are a number of websites to get you started. Carnegie Melon’s Eberly Centre offers a concise explanation of the skills that can be developed through case studies, and offers a handy six-step process for introducing a case-based discussion.

https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/casestudies.html

My colleague Linda Matsuba found a resource that suggests ways to construct and analyze case studies in the field of business and finance:

Cengage   https://college.cengage.com/business/resources/casestudies/students/overview.htm

What advice would you give a teaching colleague for organizing a case study in your subject area for the first time?

Sources of Case Studies

The Library offers a range of material on case studies. There are over 70 ejournals on the subject of case studies (in health sciences = case reports). Many of these publications contain cases you could use in your instruction. Be in touch with your Librarian if you have questions about use or have a particular topic in mind.

A keyword search of the term “case studies” brings back an extensive list of ebook titles in the Library catalogue in almost every subject you can think of. Add in your topic area as a keyword to help focus results.

If you are looking specifically for Business case studies, the Library is now trialing the Harvard Business Publishing Student Success database. It includes a selection of Harvard business school case studies AND some core curriculum readings covering entrepreneurship, finance, accounting, marketing, operations management, organizational behaviour and strategy. (TRIAL until December31, 2021)

While there is no shortage of free sources for case studies on the web, it is also true that often you will have to pay for the teaching material created around the cases. An example is the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo, which has a database of case studies ranging across various topics and levels: from anatomy to economics and middle school to faculty development.

https://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/

Ivey Cases from the University of Western Ontario is another good bet for business and management although there are prices around these as well. https://www.iveycases.com/

What is your favourite source of case studies?

Further Reading

For those interested in taking a deeper dive into how case studies can be used in your area, there is plenty of literature out there. Here’s a sample:

Furse, C. M., & Ziegenfuss, D. H. (2020). A busy professor’s guide to sanely flipping your classroom: Bringing active learning to your teaching practice. IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine, 62(2), 31-42. https://doi.org/10.1109/MAP.2020.2969241

Kaye, R., Hawkridge, D. G., & MyiLibrary. (2003). Learning and teaching for business: Case studies of successful innovation. Kogen Page. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bcit/detail.action?docID=198431

Ojala, M. (2016). Studying case studies. Online Searcher, 40(4), 57-59. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/trade-journals/studying-case-studies/docview/1821758291/se-2?accountid=26389

Sharma, J. B. (2020;2019;). Applications of small unmanned aircraft systems: Best practices and case studies (1st ed.). CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429244117

Vacek, J., & Liesveld, J. (2020). Teaching concepts to nursing students using model case studies, the venn diagram, and questioning strategies. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(6), 373-375. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000514

The Marine Campus Library is Partially Re-Opening

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The BMC Campus Library will re-open Monday, March 8th, however due to COVID-19 your visit will be a little different. Here’s what to expect:

  • Hours of operation Mon-Fri | 8am-1pm (closed between 11:15am-11:30am)
  • Reduced occupancy available
  • No computers available
  • 7 individual study tables can be booked at: https://bcit.libcal.com/r/new
    • minimum booking is 30 minutes, maximum booking is 3 hours
    • bookable up to 7 days in advance
  • Please review the Institute’s COVID-19 information for students before your visit. Masks are required.

You can:

  • Visit us to pick up your holds and borrow items
  • Use a study table (by appointment)
  • Bring your own or borrow a laptop
  • Pick up your ID card
  • Join us for virtual events

We have:

  • 7 bookable study tables available
  • Closed our collection for browsing (which means that only staff members can retrieve library items for you)
  • Implemented physical distancing and strict cleaning protocols

For more info on virtual and in-person services available visit: https://libguides.bcit.ca/Covid

BCIT’s Second International Women’s Day Event

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International Women’s Day is celebrated to recognize the achievements of women and bring attention to gender parity and women’s rights. This year, BCIT’s 2021 IWD celebration will feature two Zoom events.

The first of these events will convene a panel of women from around the world to discuss issues affecting women and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s lives. This panel will take place on Zoom on March 8, 2021, 8:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. PST (16:30–18:00 GMT).

8:30–10:00 a.m. PST

Musical performance: Jillian Lebeck

Panel Discussion

Eva Das Dores Pascoal, Brazil

Güssün Güneş, Turkey

Latifa Bouanzi, Tunisia

Ana Barroso Abecasis, Portugal

Joana Filipa Machado de Morais Afonso, Angola

Fatima de Sousa, Brazil

Book draw!

To register visit: https://bcit.libcal.com/event/3596273

The second IWD event will take place will showcase women authors at BCIT.

11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Musical performance.: Jillian Lebeck

Comments from BCIT President Kathy Kinloch

Women Authors from BCIT

Kate Braid, Victoria

Tessa Jordan, Vancouver

Geraldine Eliot, Vancouver

Readings

Book draw!

To register visit: https://bcit.libcal.com/event/3596274

All students, faculty and staff welcome! See you there!