Since my first job I have been questioning - "why do we do it that way?" This has lead me to offer suggestions on process improvements and has allowed me to work on a number of projects to promote a healthy and vibrant work community. The following is an example of the type of projects I have been involved in.

Adult Education Key to Success

I started working at the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in July of 2007, I quickly realized it was necessary for more than one technical trainer for an organization of 800 employees.
I proposed a Technology Training Services Group, in the Information and Communication Technology Department. It was accepted and I was the supervisor in that group for approximately a year before moving to the Manager of the larger branch.

As I hired employees I required them to obtain a Certificate in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University. This program promotes Kolb's experiential learning model. This model has been embraced and adopted by the TTS group. They are now able to provide key performance indicators for the learning gains for the training they offer.This is an example of how I am have been able to lead the group to promote quality workplace learning at the municipality.

Let’s Get Orientated

Where? Keyano College

What? Staff Orientation Our Keyano Staff Workshop (2006-7)

My Role: Co-Designer/Facilitator

Working with Crystal Mitchell, Administrative Assistant and with the support of the College Affairs Committee we designed and implemented the Our Keyano Staff Workshop. This daylong session is an opportunity for all CUPE and Administrative staff of Keyano College to have an introduction to the college system. The workshop is a part of the larger New Staff Orientation Program which Crystal and I were key in the design and implementation.  Through the development of this orientation the New Staff Checklist had been updated, a checklist for department-specific orientation was developed, as well as a new document on What to Expect Your First Day.

We were responsible for:

• Preparing the proposal that was presented to the College Affairs Committee
• Collaborating with the communications department on the development of a communication plan (Click here to view a sample poster)
• Scheduling the speakers, rooms and food
• Arraigning for prizes
• Designing and developing an intranet site to manage the registration and handouts
• Creating the binder handouts which each participant receives (includes days schedule, note pad and handouts which were not available electronically.)
• Check out the feature story in the February 2007 issue of Campus Connection.

Although I was not the formal leader of this group I was able to lead this initiative and demonstrate my believe that everyone should have access to some very basic information when they start a new job.

Promoting Course Accessibility

One of my roles at Keyano was instructional design support. The following 2 courses are examples of the innovative thinking that I have incorporated to offer accessible courses to the Aboriginal Programming at Keyano College.

Aboriginal Child and Family Services (ACFS) and Aboriginal Addiction Services (AAS) (March 2005 – June 2006)

The Aboriginal Child and Family Services (ACFS) and Aboriginal Addiction Services (AAS) are online diplomas offered via WebCT through eCampusAlberta. This was a project that was already in progress when I started at Keyano College.

Due to the limited WebCT knowledge of the Subject Matter Experts involved, the courses were written as though they were correspondence courses. I recommended the courses be enhanced to take full advantage of the technology and provide an enriched experience for the students. After working with the materials provided to create html files and organize them in to modules, I also included the interactive components of WebCT, such as chat, discussion, quizzes and assignments.

I made recommendations to focus on the appropriate use of technology in the evaluation process; thus I converted quizzes that were designed to be printed off, or assignments were to be faxed to an office, in to online evaluations. These courses were the catalyst of my Development Flowcharts and WebCT Template. I wanted to make sure that even if I was not here, a department would have a jump off point with their course development that would facilitate the course being delivered via WebCT.

In addition to the above mentioned course development I was more involved with ACFS 107, Introduction to Aboriginal Language course in the following way:

Consulting with subject matter experts about WebCT course content development and delivery.
Working closely with subject matter experts to achieve deadlines.
Outlining the specific needs to make a syllabic language course work in an online environment.
Designing online grammar glossary from chapter references

Aboriginal Entrepreneurship – ABEN 115 Small Business Accounting and Bookkeeping

The ABEN courses have been delivered via videoconference successfully for a number of years. The first cohort of this course however was delivered in a traditional classroom setting, as there were no remotely enrolled students. The second cohort however had 3 remote sites. The ABEN 115 course was the first attempt to blend WebCT into videoconferencing while teaching a computer program. This presented many difficulties. The main challenge was the last module teaches the software Simply Accounting and the videoconference room setup does not include student computers.

The instructor was excited to use WebCT but he was unfortunately not experienced in WebCT or Videoconferencing. The instructor met the challenge though by using WebCT to make available his lecture notes as well as exercises. For the Simply Accounting module he delivered the lecture portion through videoconferencing, break to a computer lab for the Simply Accounting exercises and follow up with another videoconference session for Q&A.

The students were initially resistant as they were unfamiliar with WebCT and computers. However in the end the course went well considering the circumstances. Each remote site has a coordinator who is able to help the students with basic questions.

I have recommended that the Simply Accounting Module be delivered via computer lab videoconference or via classroom instruction. This will improve the learning experience for the ABEN students