Past Events

Ally and Web Accessibility

Wednesday, November 30 | 12pm – 1pm

The Faculty of Education took part in a pilot of the accessibility tool Ally.

This workshop introduced the Ally tool, as well as web accessibility principles which can be used to improve the accessibility of your course content on Canvas.

This session covered:

Overview of Ally and how to use it
Overview of web accessibility principles and how to apply them

Facilitators: Marika Cheng, Gabrielle Coombs, and Aryan Varma

The theme of TEC Expo 2022 was Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). It was an invitation to learn about and a call to move forward with concrete ways that make education more accessible, equitable and inclusive to everyone regardless of their background, experience, or level of access to resources.

The eighth TEC Expo consisted of a combination of in-person and virtual engaging conversations.

November 16, Wednesday: in-person presentations Scarfe building foyer at 2125 Main Mall.
November 15, 17, and 18: virtual presentations.

Zoom Facilitation MasterClass Pt. 2

Thursday, October 27 | 12pm – 1pm

As we spend more time in online and hybrid meetings, an advanced skillset in Zoom is fast becoming an essential skill. Join UBC Educational Technology Support (ETS) staff to learn professional tips for setting up and managing the technical aspects of Zoom. This is the second of two sessions offered.

Session two of this staff professional development event will cover the following:

Frequently asked questions and troubleshooting
Hands on: build your own meeting
Feedback and questions

Facilitators: Gabrielle Coombs, Eduardo Rebagliati and Marika Cheng

Inclusive Learning Design: Strategies for Inclusive and Accessible Courses

Thursday, October 20 | 12pm – 1pm

While we strive to make education a more inclusive and equitable space, there are still significant barriers and systems that hinder students’ ability to fully engage with a course, and which often leave our most vulnerable students out of learning.

This workshop was an interactive exploration into designing inclusive learning experiences. We started by discussing the need for inclusive design, looked into past initiatives, and provided practical solutions for implementing inclusive design in your courses.

Facilitators: Gabrielle Coombs and Parm Gill

Tech in Transit – Learn, Teach & Inspire Fellow Students with Your Preferred Educational Technology

Tuesday, October 18 | 12pm – 1pm

For this month, we presented an application called Flipgrid that helps make introductions in class easier and more accessible.

Facilitators: Ariane Fs and Aryan Varma

TLEF Consultations

Thursday, October 13 | 12pm – 1pm

ETS helped faculty with their applications for Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) projects, including cross-faculty collaborations. We provided consultation regarding:

Pedagogical/course design solutions;
Technical support and recommendation for tools and technologies;
Evaluation strategies;
Project management;
Budget planning;
Liaising with other units such as the Center for Teaching Learning and Technology (CTLT).

Facilitator: Dr. Mark Edwards + ETS Learning Designers

Zoom Facilitation MasterClass

Wednesday, October 12 | 12pm – 1pm

As we spend more time in online and hybrid meetings, an advanced skillset in Zoom is fast becoming an essential skill. Attendees joined UBC Educational Technology Support (ETS) staff to learn professional tips for setting up and managing the technical aspects of Zoom. This was the first of two sessions offered.

Session 1 of this staff professional development event covered the following:

Before the meeting: account settings and pre-meeting preparation
During the meeting: facilitate like a pro
After the meeting: best practices
Feedback and questions

Facilitators: Gabrielle Coombs and Eduardo Rebagliati

Technology and Accessible Learning: Adaptation, Augmentation, and Invention

Thursday, September 29 | 1pm – 2pm

An event in the Viewpoints discussion series with a special focus on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI).

Within our technological teaching and learning environments, how important is it for us to make our courses accessible for diverse learners? In what ways can technology impede learning, and conversely, how can technologies be adapted to expand and enhance learning experiences? What is needed, what can we do? In this viewpoints session, we explored designing for accessibility.

Panelists:
Dr. Joanna Cannon, Professor, Educational & Counselling Psychology, & Special Education
Eric Chau, Occupational Therapist, Neil Squire Society

Facilitator:
Gabrielle Coombs, Learning Designer, ETS

Tech in Transit – Accessible Learning: Operating Systems & How to Make Them Work for Me?

Tuesday, September 27 | 12pm – 1pm

Learnt how to make your operating system functional and accessible for learning. Discovered a wide range of shortcuts, including speech recognition for menu navigation, narration, enlarging actual text, allowing higher contrast levels for sharper images, and many others.