Ontario Pockets of Innovation

On college and university campuses across Ontario, faculty and instructors are exploring how emerging technologies and online tools can improve the learning experience for students. In this growing series, Contact North | Contact Nord features projects with three specific characteristics:

They represent a new approach.
They support students.
The developers are prepared to share the challenges they encountered and what they learned with other public colleges and universities in Ontario.

Use the keyword feature to find Pockets of Innovation that address your specific interests.

Community of Learners
Since his initial experiences at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta in 2000, Professor Thomas Ryan has been using online and connected learning to teach and engage students in faculties of education. Now at Nipissing University in North Bay, Professor Ryan is...
Mathematics Online – The Supplementary Module Program for Calculus at Wilfrid Laurier University
David Vaughan, a professor in the Mathematics Department at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario was concerned that many of the students taking first-year calculus did not have adequate mastery of some of the key concepts and techniques in high-school...
Offering alternatives - Enhancing student learning through flexible course delivery at Sault College
The School of Continuing Education at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie registers 4,000 to 5,000 students a year in courses and programs for career enhancements, job entry, and personal growth and development. To best serve this geographically dispersed population,...
Skills for the Workplace – Professional development for co-op students on work placement at the University of Waterloo
In 2006, the University of Waterloo Professional Development Program (WatPD) began offering skills development courses online for students on co-operative education work terms. The courses focused on what are called soft skills, such as communications and teamwork,...
e-Portfolios for Lifelong Learning – Integrating e-portfolios for students in the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University
Kimberly Barber, a professor in the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario uses the learning management system (LMS) to provide course information for music students studying as Voice majors, including first-year to post-graduate...
Accessibility, Engagement, and Learning
In 2009-2010, a priority-setting exercise for York University in Toronto led to the development of a White Paper by the Vice-President Academic and Provost. In providing direction for York for the next decade, the paper called for a planned and coordinated expansion...
Reflective Practitioners
Since the 1990s, Centennial College in Toronto has been offering a certificate program, Teacher Trainer of Adults, for full- and part-time faculty, whether at Centennial or in other institutions, focused on teaching practices and adult learning processes. This...
Intercultural Learning Online
Through the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University in Toronto, Dr. Robin Roth, a Geography professor, was asked to deliver a course as part of a Liberal Arts Diploma offered to refugees on the Thai/Burma border by the Australian Catholic University. The...
SPARK, the Virtual Learning Commons
To create an online resource to support students as they complete written research assignments, three units at York University in Toronto – the Libraries, Learning Skills Services, and the Writing Department – came together to create the Virtual Learning Commons....
Encouraging Student Independence
As registrations in the Fall and Winter term Organic Chemistry classes at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo increased over a few years from 75 to 300 students, Professor Stephen MacNeil found it increasingly difficult to engage the students in the lectures....

Ontario Pockets of Innovation

Community of Learners

Mathematics Online – The Supplementary Module Program for Calculus at Wilfrid Laurier University

Offering alternatives - Enhancing student learning through flexible course delivery at Sault College

Skills for the Workplace – Professional development for co-op students on work placement at the University of Waterloo

e-Portfolios for Lifelong Learning – Integrating e-portfolios for students in the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University

Accessibility, Engagement, and Learning

Reflective Practitioners

Intercultural Learning Online

SPARK, the Virtual Learning Commons

Encouraging Student Independence

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