WEBVTT
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00:00:03.637Loved them. They loved the activities. They felt that they were appropriate,
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00:00:07.537that they were really what they were doing in practice.
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00:00:10.437A lot of our DL students are working in the field already.
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00:00:15.617And so they go, we've taken all of this with us. This was the most meaningful
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00:00:17.977course to them in their program so far.
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00:00:21.397So I was definitely very, very excited about that.
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00:00:31.120Music.
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00:00:34.897This is Learning Innovation, the Teaching and Learning podcast,
00:00:35.317 -->
00:00:37.037also known as LITL-Pod.
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00:00:41.457We are created by Lethbridge Polytechnic's Centre for Teaching,
00:00:41.697 -->
00:00:45.557Learning and Innovation, located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada,
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00:00:49.057on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
00:00:49.057 -->
00:00:54.797In the spirit of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Niitsitapi’ksimpstaan
00:00:55.037 -->
00:01:00.457(Real Thinking), we play host to a spectrum of guests from the teaching and learning community.
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00:01:06.917As we highlight and explore innovation in education, we hope to kindle warm
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00:01:14.337conversations, expand perspectives, and foster lasting partnerships today, tomorrow, and beyond.
00:01:14.717 -->
00:01:17.477The future of learning starts now.
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00:01:23.717"There were tons of things I was able to take from the course and use in my day-to-day
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00:01:25.817work in recreation therapy."
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00:01:30.757"Meeting up with your lab group once a month, I really liked that.
00:01:30.757 -->
00:01:34.637It felt like we were actually a part of a class instead, because you can kind
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00:01:39.497of feel isolated when you're online and you're just looking at a screen all the time.
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00:01:44.657But being able to connect with our classmates and I feel I got a lot closer to our teacher.
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00:01:48.997Overall, I really, really liked the program, and I wish every program was like
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00:01:52.937that." "Yeah, it was just one of my favourite courses so far.
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00:01:57.017And I wish all of our courses could be like this, more hands-on,
00:01:57.157 -->
00:02:00.997because anybody who works in recreation knows that's what it is.
00:02:01.157 -->
00:02:02.697It's such a hands-on job.
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00:02:08.917It's not something that you can fully learn just from a textbook." Oki, and welcome.
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00:02:14.937I am your host, Donna McLaughlin, and I am a Learning Experience Designer at
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00:02:16.297Lethbridge Polytechnic.
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00:02:23.217Those clips you just heard are a taste of the positive student feedback circulating
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00:02:30.297about the newly revitalized Therapeutic Recreation Gerontology, or TRG,
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00:02:33.157course at Lethbridge Polytechnic.
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00:02:40.508Craig McCarthy, an Instructional Designer, and Kathie Ervin, a 20-year instructor
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00:02:45.508of the TRG Diploma Program, are the folks who made the magic happen.
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00:02:52.868Last semester, they revised the distance learning portion of Kathie's TRG course
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00:02:57.368to create a more hands-on learning experience for students.
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00:02:59.888And they have a lot to share!
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00:03:04.448Thanks for having us. Thank you. So, Kathie, before we jump in,
00:03:04.608 -->
00:03:09.348can you tell us what Therapeutic Recreation Gerontology is?
00:03:09.708 -->
00:03:12.108Sure, I'd love to answer that question.
00:03:12.608 -->
00:03:18.388Therapeutic Recreation is the purposeful use of recreation and leisure activities
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00:03:24.728to promote, maintain, and improve overall health and wellness.
00:03:24.728 -->
00:03:29.388And the gerontology aspect of that, of our program here, is it's not just rec
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00:03:33.548therapy, but specifically for older adults that we are working with.
00:03:33.828 -->
00:03:38.468That sounds like something very important at this time as we have such a large
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00:03:40.228part of the population that is aging.
00:03:40.648 -->
00:03:42.888So how did this project get started?
00:03:43.348 -->
00:03:50.108Kathie came in to our CTL and was looking for like tech tools that we could use
00:03:50.108 -->
00:03:52.548to try and help this online program be more hands-on.
00:03:53.408 -->
00:03:58.108And I came in and really had no idea what would fix this problem!
00:03:58.448 -->
00:04:01.588I couldn't think of any tech tools that would just kind of magically make it
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00:04:03.608go away. And it seemed really intimidating.
00:04:04.008 -->
00:04:08.708But then we kind of got started on the project. And it eventually all came together.
00:04:08.708 -->
00:04:11.108But it took quite a bit of thinking at the beginning.
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00:04:15.368But I don't know. What was it like for you when we just first started, Kathie? I actually...
00:04:16.810 -->
00:04:21.290Really thought it couldn't be done because this course needed work.
00:04:21.290 -->
00:04:24.930It was a theory course when it needed to be more of a skills-based course.
00:04:25.110 -->
00:04:29.190And at the time when it was originally developed, we just didn't know how to
00:04:29.190 -->
00:04:33.370replicate what we were doing on campus to the online version.
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00:04:35.890So I was quite skeptical to begin!
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00:04:40.490And it is a very large course as well. So it is kind of intimidating.
00:04:40.810 -->
00:04:45.910So I was hoping that by contacting CTLI that maybe there was something new.
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00:04:51.930Someone could help us take what we had and create proper DL version.
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00:04:59.410Yeah, and this is a program that is available both face-to-face as well as online. Is that correct?
00:04:59.750 -->
00:05:03.550Yes, the whole program is available online. Okay, so you have students from
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00:05:06.630all over? All over. Okay. Yes.
00:05:06.930 -->
00:05:12.190Yeah, so it's important that they get the same experience as the students that are on campus.
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00:05:17.570Yes, and this course in particular is a capstone course in our program.
00:05:18.290 -->
00:05:24.710So trying to achieve that same level of rigor and skills was really important.
00:05:24.710 -->
00:05:29.210And we found that the online version, it was just really, really lacking in that.
00:05:29.370 -->
00:05:34.670So we were really focused and driven to try and create the same experience for the students.
00:05:34.850 -->
00:05:40.870Especially when this course is one that is like really kind of has a special
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00:05:41.610a place for a lot of students,
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00:05:45.490I think, because this also is a course that Kathie has crafted over this 20 years
00:05:45.490 -->
00:05:49.630that has become just such a hands-on learning experience where they're getting
00:05:49.630 -->
00:05:51.150to apply so much of what they've done.
00:05:51.490 -->
00:05:55.410And so to miss out on that and kind of the online program was like a really
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00:05:58.330big loss. This is kind of what they're doing right before they go into their practicum.
00:05:58.630 -->
00:06:02.370So to get a lot of this hands-on experience in Kathie's class was we wanted to
00:06:02.370 -->
00:06:04.330try and bring that to the online group as well.
00:06:05.050 -->
00:06:08.190So that sounds like a bit of a challenge, But so how do you go about,
00:06:08.410 -->
00:06:12.630like, can you just replicate this online, what you're doing in person,
00:06:12.670 -->
00:06:13.850or what does that look like?
00:06:14.929 -->
00:06:18.789Well, at first we weren't sure what to do, honestly.
00:06:19.209 -->
00:06:23.349We started just by looking at the assessments because we knew that the assessments
00:06:23.349 -->
00:06:26.389weren't having the same kind of rigor that they were having in class.
00:06:26.529 -->
00:06:29.649They would have so much more. They were leading activities.
00:06:30.009 -->
00:06:32.789Like every day someone would be leading an activity for the group.
00:06:32.989 -->
00:06:34.949And so they weren't getting to participate in that.
00:06:35.029 -->
00:06:38.769They were just kind of just getting to do their own one over video.
00:06:38.949 -->
00:06:44.109And so that was where we kind of started tackling first. And that was a really
00:06:44.109 -->
00:06:47.849important part, was to replicate that hands-on skills part.
00:06:48.749 -->
00:06:53.729And we took a bit of time trying to figure out how the students would demonstrate that.
00:06:53.929 -->
00:06:58.969They'd have to find family and friends to interact with them so that they could lead it.
00:06:59.229 -->
00:07:02.509And then still go through all of the steps that the campus students had.
00:07:02.569 -->
00:07:05.149So it was a matter of how are they going to be able to do this?
00:07:05.289 -->
00:07:06.169Who are they going to access?
00:07:06.389 -->
00:07:09.889How are we going to record this, upload us? Who's going to look at it?
00:07:09.949 -->
00:07:10.849Who's going to give the feedback?
00:07:11.509 -->
00:07:17.629So once we kind of got that figured out, I think the rest of it really fell in place quite quickly.
00:07:18.209 -->
00:07:22.469Yeah, once we kind of had the assessments figured out, we started looking at
00:07:22.469 -->
00:07:23.969the kind of page by page of the course.
00:07:24.969 -->
00:07:28.449And initially, we were going to try and take the online content and,
00:07:28.449 -->
00:07:30.589you know, kind of fix it up or whatever.
00:07:30.729 -->
00:07:36.049But eventually what we decided was we ended up making it so that we took Kathie's in-person course.
00:07:36.049 -->
00:07:38.809And then kind of each lesson we got figured out
00:07:38.809 -->
00:07:41.589like how can we make this lesson translate to online and how
00:07:41.589 -->
00:07:44.489can we make then you know the next lesson translate to online because each
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00:07:48.329one felt like its own kind of puzzle as to there was something that was working
00:07:48.329 -->
00:07:50.969in person and there were there's a lot of field trips in this class like going
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00:07:57.389out to you know the going to the pool for aquafit-type programs or going out
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00:08:03.129to local museums and things like that so there was so much of this hands-on content that.
00:08:03.869 -->
00:08:06.049Yeah, we're just trying to figure out, like, this is working here,
00:08:06.109 -->
00:08:08.729so how can we do this lesson and get it to work online?
00:08:08.989 -->
00:08:12.569Well, that's so important because that's, I mean, for that type of a program,
00:08:12.569 -->
00:08:16.689it's important that the students would have that hands-on experience as well
00:08:16.689 -->
00:08:21.009as, yeah, I think that's a lot of why students come to a polytechnic or choose
00:08:21.009 -->
00:08:22.569that is because they really want that...
00:08:23.121 -->
00:08:26.661connection and that hands-on experience. So that's amazing. Is there a specific
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00:08:31.341example that you can think of, of, you know, one of the assessments or the lessons
00:08:31.341 -->
00:08:32.981that you worked on where you took it that way?
00:08:33.281 -->
00:08:37.781I think one, a very favourite one of mine that started early in the course was,
00:08:38.001 -->
00:08:41.641besides just doing the program plans themselves and the students doing that,
00:08:41.841 -->
00:08:45.661throughout the course, we very carefully selected learning activities.
00:08:46.181 -->
00:08:51.461And they were ones that built on the content and the concepts and the ideas.
00:08:51.821 -->
00:08:57.581But what was interesting is they weren't for marks. It was like an added learning opportunity.
00:08:57.781 -->
00:09:01.961And one of the ones that worked so well, and it was one of the first ones,
00:09:02.061 -->
00:09:04.741so maybe that's why it sticks with me the very most out of the course,
00:09:05.261 -->
00:09:08.721was it was under the Gardening and Horticulture module.
00:09:09.401 -->
00:09:13.721And the learning activity was to go out into your surroundings,
00:09:14.041 -->
00:09:19.521outside your house or whatever, and pick little plants or flowers or whatever,
00:09:19.661 -->
00:09:21.501and create a hand bouquet.
00:09:21.981 -->
00:09:25.981And it was kind of to describe like your area or how you were feeling.
00:09:26.621 -->
00:09:31.221And then the students would take a picture of it, and then upload it into a
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00:09:32.881discussion that they all could see.
00:09:33.081 -->
00:09:39.521And some of the comments that were made were amazing that students had shared.
00:09:39.741 -->
00:09:43.261And all of the hand bouquets were so, so different. Like it was just amazing.
00:09:43.541 -->
00:09:47.661I think I emailed Craig immediately as people were posting that going,
00:09:47.861 -->
00:09:50.061"yYou've got to see this. It's so amazing!"
00:09:50.641 -->
00:09:53.901Yeah. And that would be something very similar that we would do on campus.
00:09:54.081 -->
00:09:58.861We would go outside. We do actually, it's a colour matching exercise where we
00:09:58.861 -->
00:10:02.841take paint swatches and then they go together and they find things in nature
00:10:02.841 -->
00:10:04.801that are of the same colour.
00:10:05.201 -->
00:10:08.401So it was like, this was really nice because they were doing an activity that
00:10:08.401 -->
00:10:11.181would be very, very similar to what we would do with campus-based students.
00:10:11.321 -->
00:10:13.841Yeah, and that was something that,
00:10:14.443 -->
00:10:17.043We were really nervous. And one of the reasons why Kathie was so excited to email
00:10:17.043 -->
00:10:18.883me was because we were very nervous
00:10:18.883 -->
00:10:21.103that people weren't actually going to participate in this sort of thing.
00:10:21.303 -->
00:10:25.023Often, you know, in lots of online courses, there'll be a learning activity at the end of the page.
00:10:25.143 -->
00:10:29.123And then I think the majority of students just move on to the next,
00:10:29.243 -->
00:10:31.103you know, like a reflection question or something like that.
00:10:31.183 -->
00:10:33.983And so we were really trying to figure out, like, how can we make this something
00:10:33.983 -->
00:10:35.883that is meaningful that the students will do?
00:10:36.503 -->
00:10:40.083And there's like a gut instinct of wanting to take it for marks to kind of like
00:10:40.083 -->
00:10:41.263make sure that students do it.
00:10:41.263 -->
00:10:43.983But that wasn't what was going on in class like they weren't
00:10:43.983 -->
00:10:46.883going out and doing this for marks they were doing it because it was like a meaningful learning
00:10:46.883 -->
00:10:49.703activity and so that was what we
00:10:49.703 -->
00:10:52.383were really nervous about that the students wouldn't participate in this kind
00:10:52.383 -->
00:10:55.643of stuff so we put a lot of effort into trying to make those activities something
00:10:55.643 -->
00:10:59.963that students would find meaningful and enjoyable and try to communicate the
00:10:59.963 -->
00:11:03.743benefits of or why this was relevant to their career and I think that because
00:11:03.743 -->
00:11:07.343Kathie had so many of these activities from the in-person course they were they
00:11:07.343 -->
00:11:08.523were relevant to their careers.
00:11:08.763 -->
00:11:12.963And some of these activities also, and we'll talk more about the in-person labs
00:11:12.963 -->
00:11:17.083or the synchronous labs later, but because there was a sense of community in
00:11:17.083 -->
00:11:20.583this online course, people, I think, were much more willing to participate in this kind of stuff.
00:11:20.763 -->
00:11:24.543And we were so excited when the students were like, when we saw them buying in.
00:11:24.823 -->
00:11:30.543Do you have some theories on why they were engaged with those activities,
00:11:30.803 -->
00:11:31.923even though they weren't getting marks?
00:11:32.383 -->
00:11:36.263I know one student, when I was kind of asking, you know, how they found the
00:11:36.263 -->
00:11:39.303learning activities, because some students did them and some of them didn't.
00:11:39.583 -->
00:11:42.303And the one student just said to me, "Why wouldn't I?"
00:11:42.823 -->
00:11:47.103It's like, it's part of my learning. I want to get everything I can out of this course.
00:11:47.303 -->
00:11:51.243And also that they felt the activities were relevant to the content.
00:11:51.943 -->
00:11:55.723And they weren't, you know, really time consuming and taxing.
00:11:56.343 -->
00:11:59.723And we also made sure the things that we chose, they wouldn't have to go out
00:11:59.723 -->
00:12:02.623and, you know, go find equipment and supplies and all sorts of things.
00:12:02.703 -->
00:12:07.183So we made it easy for them to participate in, relevant to the content.
00:12:07.703 -->
00:12:13.103And students just really enjoyed having that opportunity to practice more and learn more.
00:12:14.003 -->
00:12:16.663Yeah, I feel like it's something that's kind of more than the sum of its parts.
00:12:16.663 -->
00:12:19.683I think we did a whole bunch of different intentional decisions in the course
00:12:19.683 -->
00:12:24.823to try and make things relevant and then also build this kind of like safe community as well.
00:12:25.263 -->
00:12:27.863And so I think that...
00:12:28.667 -->
00:12:32.447yeah, all those things together kind of ended up making it so that students
00:12:32.447 -->
00:12:34.507were more willing to do this sort of thing.
00:12:35.647 -->
00:12:39.167And yeah, I think the relevance too, I think because it's more of a hands-on
00:12:39.167 -->
00:12:42.307course, it's a lot easier for them and they're right about to go into their
00:12:42.307 -->
00:12:46.007practicum too. And so we were kind of asking this when we were making these
00:12:46.007 -->
00:12:49.147learning activities, like why would this be valuable to them?
00:12:49.367 -->
00:12:52.487And I think, and we would also write in there that like, you know,
00:12:52.547 -->
00:12:54.307be prepared to share this during our lab session.
00:12:54.427 -->
00:13:00.407So there was, you know, you can't just be that kind of anonymous internet person
00:13:00.407 -->
00:13:01.707that's like taking an online course.
00:13:01.867 -->
00:13:04.867Like there was a sense that like, we're, we're going to talk about this and
00:13:04.867 -->
00:13:07.147this is going to be meaningful or relevant for you.
00:13:07.247 -->
00:13:09.807And I think that we were able to get that through that they were like,
00:13:09.887 -->
00:13:12.827yeah, okay, this makes sense for the most part. I mean, it's not like everyone
00:13:12.827 -->
00:13:17.627did everything, but yeah, enough people did it that it was like a success for us.
00:13:19.047 -->
00:13:23.667So another assessment that Kathie had in her in-person course that we really
00:13:23.667 -->
00:13:26.467wanted to replicate online was this Life Story assignment.
00:13:26.647 -->
00:13:29.707And this course was so much fun for me to work on because, you know,
00:13:29.747 -->
00:13:34.487all the learning activities and course content that Kathie has is all just so
00:13:34.487 -->
00:13:37.007much fun. And then also just so meaningful.
00:13:37.207 -->
00:13:40.267So this Life Story assignment, I was so excited when Kathie showed it to me where
00:13:40.267 -->
00:13:42.987the students would interview
00:13:42.987 -->
00:13:48.547an older adult and get a whole bunch of information about their life story.
00:13:49.387 -->
00:13:54.167And then they would create an artifact that kind of represented the different stages of their life.
00:13:55.027 -->
00:13:58.947And so Kathie has explained to me how you know it's not just that they're you
00:13:58.947 -->
00:14:02.487know doing this as like an activity it's that then this is a something that
00:14:02.487 -->
00:14:06.347can be in that older adult's room especially if they have like dementia or things
00:14:06.347 -->
00:14:07.707like that it can be hard for them to remember,
00:14:08.247 -->
00:14:12.407it's someone took the time to learn all these different things about this this
00:14:12.407 -->
00:14:15.207person and then someone coming into the room can interact with that artifact
00:14:15.207 -->
00:14:17.167and say like oh like what's it can you tell me about this?
00:14:17.327 -->
00:14:22.247And, and so it, you know, it was a really incredible project and...
00:14:22.690 -->
00:14:26.890and having like this physical artifact was important about, you know,
00:14:26.930 -->
00:14:28.870not just having like a PowerPoint or something like that.
00:14:28.970 -->
00:14:31.910And so, again, we went with a very low tech solution where we just said like,
00:14:32.030 -->
00:14:36.530Ok, you do need to create a physical artifact and then just video what it is
00:14:36.530 -->
00:14:39.630and show and like and narrate what, you know, tell us about what this thing is.
00:14:40.170 -->
00:14:43.850And and yeah, so that was something that I was like so excited about.
00:14:43.850 -->
00:14:48.690And the students had the option to, even though they knew they had to make like
00:14:48.690 -->
00:14:53.590a physical project of some sort, they also could come up with creative ideas.
00:14:54.130 -->
00:14:58.710So some students did like a scrapbook, and they had the different time periods
00:14:58.710 -->
00:15:03.650and pictures and memorabilia and things. Other students had put together the
00:15:03.650 -->
00:15:06.850same story, but with very important artifacts.
00:15:07.410 -->
00:15:12.210And it would be like, oh, this was the camera grandpa used to use,
00:15:12.270 -->
00:15:15.450you know, when he first started taking pictures, these types of things.
00:15:15.710 -->
00:15:19.770I had a student that did a great big poster board, and it was like a driving
00:15:19.770 -->
00:15:25.170lane of going through different parts of the person's life with all the information and pictures.
00:15:25.910 -->
00:15:29.930And one of the other ones, which was a lot of work the student had put in,
00:15:30.030 -->
00:15:31.270and we used this as an example.
00:15:31.990 -->
00:15:36.910They were a series of boxes that fit inside each other. So the first box just
00:15:36.910 -->
00:15:38.630looks almost like a hat box.
00:15:38.870 -->
00:15:41.290You take the lid off and the sides all fall down.
00:15:41.690 -->
00:15:45.750And it's got all information and pictures about, you know, this is where they were born.
00:15:45.870 -->
00:15:49.110This is where they went to school, school years, things that were important to them.
00:15:49.210 -->
00:15:52.710So it wasn't just like that sort of, this is where I was born,
00:15:52.930 -->
00:15:54.650this is where I went to school. It was like, what was your favourite subject?
00:15:54.770 -->
00:15:56.910Or what was a great memory about you being in school?
00:15:57.210 -->
00:16:01.790And then adding things to it. So each of these boxes would open up until the
00:16:01.790 -->
00:16:04.890very last one was like, you know, where are they at in their life now,
00:16:05.030 -->
00:16:06.470you know, upon retirement and whatever.
00:16:07.390 -->
00:16:10.670And it would be talking about what was important to them in their life,
00:16:10.850 -->
00:16:13.930lessons that were learned. And then some of them would put little examples in there.
00:16:14.070 -->
00:16:18.870In this one that we used as an example, the student's grandma would crochet.
00:16:19.330 -->
00:16:23.090So there was like little examples of these projects that she crocheted and volunteered.
00:16:23.290 -->
00:16:27.830So the creativity that came out from these projects too was amazing.
00:16:28.550 -->
00:16:33.110And that it's a useful project. It's not like, okay, that's going in the closet or whatever.
00:16:33.350 -->
00:16:36.590Most students do it on a family member, you know, a grandparent, an aunt, or an uncle.
00:16:36.970 -->
00:16:41.110And it's like they can gift those Life Stories to them. So it's a very meaningful project.
00:16:42.009 -->
00:16:46.929That's really amazing. I mean, yeah, it sounds incredibly meaningful and students
00:16:46.929 -->
00:16:53.449could use their creativity as well as appealing or with UDL,
00:16:53.589 -->
00:16:54.989Universal Design for Learning,
00:16:55.249 -->
00:17:00.949students are able to choose sort of that creative project that works for them
00:17:00.949 -->
00:17:03.249in engaging their own learning.
00:17:03.249 -->
00:17:07.789So I'm curious to hear more about some of the other changes in the course.
00:17:08.269 -->
00:17:11.649Yeah, can you talk about some of the other changes it made and how did that
00:17:11.649 -->
00:17:14.029improve the experience for the learners?
00:17:14.629 -->
00:17:17.889Well, I think we should maybe talk about the online or the synchronous labs
00:17:17.889 -->
00:17:23.069was like a really major component where before there was no synchronous component
00:17:23.069 -->
00:17:25.949to the course. There wasn't any online, live meetings.
00:17:26.129 -->
00:17:29.289You know, there was kind of office hours type things, but they weren't mandatory.
00:17:29.789 -->
00:17:33.989And that was something that we really wanted to include because the the in-person
00:17:33.989 -->
00:17:37.769course had such a focus on on community and and doing these like experiencing
00:17:37.769 -->
00:17:39.189a lot of different activities together.
00:17:39.969 -->
00:17:43.049And so we'd made a decision to do a synchronous component
00:17:43.049 -->
00:17:46.049but rather than do it in like one
00:17:46.049 -->
00:17:49.009large group that a large online meeting
00:17:49.009 -->
00:17:51.649really quickly just turns into a lecture and it's really hard to
00:17:51.649 -->
00:17:54.689get people to participate and like comment and have discussion
00:17:54.689 -->
00:17:57.609and so we made the decision to do small
00:17:57.609 -->
00:18:00.649lab groups where Kathie would just do a group of like
00:18:00.649 -->
00:18:03.429four or five? Three and four. Three and
00:18:03.429 -->
00:18:06.309four, yeah. And so then that created
00:18:06.309 -->
00:18:09.349a much more like personal setting where they were able to actually discuss
00:18:09.349 -->
00:18:14.149with each other and and we had a specifically like all these learning activities
00:18:14.149 -->
00:18:16.549we did we said okay be prepared to share this when you come to this in-person
00:18:16.549 -->
00:18:19.449lab you know this isn't for marks but like we're going to talk about this kind
00:18:19.449 -->
00:18:24.069of stuff and so I think that also created a bit of like social buy-in of why
00:18:24.069 -->
00:18:28.749to do this sort of stuff and that went quite well I think, Kathie. Oh, it went really well.
00:18:29.269 -->
00:18:33.789And the thing that was so different and was so nice from my perspective,
00:18:33.829 -->
00:18:37.869too, is, you know, on an online course, if you have like a Zoom meeting,
00:18:38.069 -->
00:18:40.349it's not mandatory. So some people come, some don't.
00:18:40.489 -->
00:18:43.149Some people have their cameras on, some people don't.
00:18:43.309 -->
00:18:46.849With this small lab component, everybody was there.
00:18:47.269 -->
00:18:51.269Everybody had their cameras was on, everybody was participating.
00:18:51.829 -->
00:18:56.369And it was set up in kind of a more laid back structure.
00:18:56.709 -->
00:19:00.729So there was lots of discussion going on, not only about the content and it
00:19:00.729 -->
00:19:02.349would be like, oh, so what did you do for this?
00:19:02.469 -->
00:19:05.229And we'd talk about things and someone would go, yeah, well,
00:19:05.349 -->
00:19:09.349I took that to my workplace and I tried that at my workplace, it was amazing.
00:19:09.609 -->
00:19:15.069So there was a lot of sharing of information and of experience that was relevant
00:19:15.069 -->
00:19:17.929to the content. So it wasn't like we were off topic.
00:19:18.639 -->
00:19:21.079You know, on a runaway conversation talking about something else,
00:19:21.219 -->
00:19:25.639we were discussing content that was relevant to what they had done in the course
00:19:25.639 -->
00:19:27.719and what they had seen. And it was just amazing.
00:19:28.079 -->
00:19:31.379And people's personal experiences. So it wasn't just, you know,
00:19:31.459 -->
00:19:35.919how they did on the examples of the learning activities in the course.
00:19:36.099 -->
00:19:39.759It was like, yeah, I took that into my workplace and this is what happened there and this worked great.
00:19:40.159 -->
00:19:44.719So it was amazing. It was amazing. And I think when we talk about that building
00:19:44.719 -->
00:19:48.059of community, they all got to know each other. I felt the same way.
00:19:48.239 -->
00:19:53.499I felt very much like I was teaching a campus course where I really get to know
00:19:53.499 -->
00:19:57.859the students face-to-face. You recognize them. You start to know things about them, right?
00:19:58.039 -->
00:20:02.559And when we'd meet, you could say, oh, how did that job interview go that,
00:20:02.639 -->
00:20:06.159you know, you were saying you were doing last week? Or how did that program go?
00:20:06.339 -->
00:20:11.219It was an amazing experience. But I, you can only have that kind of experience
00:20:11.219 -->
00:20:16.339when you've got a group that's that small and feels comfortable in that kind of space.
00:20:16.619 -->
00:20:19.539Yeah, that's wonderful to be able to do that because I know myself,
00:20:19.699 -->
00:20:23.659yeah, I've taken online courses and they don't feel so personal sometimes.
00:20:23.919 -->
00:20:27.959And so having that sharing, that's amazing. That's really fantastic that both
00:20:27.959 -->
00:20:31.559you and the students were able to have that experience and for them to make
00:20:31.559 -->
00:20:32.839those connections to...
00:20:33.691 -->
00:20:39.651their lives and their work. The TRG program has a Facebook page and we regularly
00:20:39.651 -->
00:20:44.631post pictures of this on-campus students and the activities that they're participating
00:20:44.631 -->
00:20:47.711in, in the programs that they're running when we're on field trips.
00:20:47.931 -->
00:20:52.971And so at the beginning of the online course, when the hand bouquets came up,
00:20:53.111 -->
00:20:58.411which I was so excited about, I asked students for permission if we could post
00:20:58.411 -->
00:20:59.871those on our Facebook page.
00:21:00.311 -->
00:21:05.351And they were really excited about it because it's only the campus students that are highlighted.
00:21:05.551 -->
00:21:08.731And they're like, yeah, we want to be on the Facebook page too!
00:21:08.871 -->
00:21:12.791Let's show, you know, what the DL students are doing. So it was really exciting
00:21:12.791 -->
00:21:14.111and to see them be that engaged.
00:21:14.251 -->
00:21:16.951And they were like, yeah, we really want to show them what we're doing!
00:21:17.171 -->
00:21:18.371And I was like, oh, that's great.
00:21:18.611 -->
00:21:23.571So it was a good opportunity for them as well. And more community as well,
00:21:23.951 -->
00:21:26.211bringing the DL program and the campus program together.
00:21:26.611 -->
00:21:32.151So these program plans would be every day in the lab, a student would put on
00:21:32.151 -->
00:21:33.391like an activity for the rest of the group.
00:21:33.491 -->
00:21:37.071So they would kind of lead the group in an activity as you would in a rec therapy position.
00:21:37.771 -->
00:21:41.091And then they would all give feedback, like, you know, Kathie would give feedback,
00:21:41.211 -->
00:21:43.551but the whole group would give feedback of like, oh, this was working,
00:21:43.631 -->
00:21:44.271but this wasn't working.
00:21:44.411 -->
00:21:48.471And so that was the kind of group experience and peer feedback was something
00:21:48.471 -->
00:21:51.291that was really missing from that online course, which is why we started the
00:21:51.291 -->
00:21:54.271those like lab sessions in the first place. is we said, you know,
00:21:54.771 -->
00:21:56.971give each other ahead of time, give peer feedback.
00:21:57.291 -->
00:22:01.151They would upload a video of them doing this thing, their activity,
00:22:01.171 -->
00:22:04.351and then they would give peer feedback to the people in their lab group.
00:22:04.951 -->
00:22:08.291And then they would come to this online meeting with that same lab group.
00:22:08.391 -->
00:22:11.951And so that meant that they had already seen each other's videos,
00:22:12.071 -->
00:22:14.331had given some feedback, had some of these thoughts, and then they got to have
00:22:14.331 -->
00:22:17.571that kind of more community-based discussion around it.
00:22:17.611 -->
00:22:21.071And it gave Kathie time to give them also personalized feedback That's more than
00:22:21.071 -->
00:22:23.971just what you type out on a rubric or something like that, too.
00:22:24.811 -->
00:22:29.271Okay, yeah. So it's not just feedback from yourself, Kathie, but... From the students.
00:22:29.531 -->
00:22:35.331and if I can kind of give a little bit of context to that. So even for yourselves,
00:22:35.391 -->
00:22:37.411if you're not familiar with rec therapy.
00:22:37.911 -->
00:22:41.091So here might be an example. So when I was working many, many years ago as a
00:22:41.091 -->
00:22:45.051rec therapist in one of the continuing care centres that I worked in,
00:22:45.171 -->
00:22:49.811in the evening, once a week, we had this homemade ice cream program that we made.
00:22:49.811 -->
00:22:53.191There was a small group of about six older adults, and we'd get together,
00:22:53.211 -->
00:22:59.211and we had an antique hand crank ice cream machine, and we'd ask everybody,
00:22:59.331 -->
00:23:00.631you know, what's your favourite kind of ice cream?
00:23:00.711 -->
00:23:03.411And we had this big flip chart, and we'd write all these ones down.
00:23:03.531 -->
00:23:08.471So once a week, we would make these ice creams of everybody's favourite,
00:23:08.491 -->
00:23:10.171and of course, everybody had to use a hand crank.
00:23:10.931 -->
00:23:15.111So this is where rec therapy is different. So when you look at that program,
00:23:15.431 -->
00:23:20.031you see someone leading a group with some older adults sitting around and you're
00:23:20.031 -->
00:23:21.451making ice cream, right?
00:23:22.111 -->
00:23:28.811When I look at that program, what I see is, oh, that program has a social interaction
00:23:28.811 -->
00:23:33.591pattern that's called intergroup, which means they have to be able to positively
00:23:34.043 -->
00:23:38.023speak with each other and interact with each other. When I look at that program,
00:23:38.283 -->
00:23:42.383it's like, oh, these are the physical skills that person has to have in order to participate.
00:23:42.723 -->
00:23:46.183The cognitive skills, the memory, the recall, right?
00:23:46.583 -->
00:23:50.263Because we look at physical, cognitive, social, and emotional skills that you
00:23:50.263 -->
00:23:52.603need to participate in these programs.
00:23:53.263 -->
00:23:56.523So what you see and what I see are very, very different.
00:23:56.923 -->
00:24:02.163And why this is so powerful is we can use these recreation and leisure activities,
00:24:02.383 -->
00:24:05.803they're the vehicle that we use to get the outcomes that we want.
00:24:05.963 -->
00:24:08.543So at the end of the day, really, to me in the ice cream program,
00:24:08.743 -->
00:24:11.843if the ice cream worked, you know, we could eat it was kind of neither here
00:24:11.843 -->
00:24:14.443nor there – it was added bonus, actually, if we could, if it was good! –
00:24:14.883 -->
00:24:18.983but it was about, one, them communicating with each other, them interacting
00:24:18.983 -->
00:24:22.383with each other and using those skills that were required, right?
00:24:22.663 -->
00:24:26.623We're focusing on overlearned skills. We're not trying to teach them something
00:24:26.623 -->
00:24:29.823new so that they could go, oh, I can remember doing this,
00:24:29.883 -->
00:24:31.963you know, when I was a kid or in my adult life, right?
00:24:32.383 -->
00:24:35.163So it's really important that we're able to see that.
00:24:35.343 -->
00:24:41.083So kind of coming back to these labs, when the students are looking at each
00:24:41.083 -->
00:24:46.983other's presentations, it's not just, oh, hey, that was a great literary activity,
00:24:46.983 -->
00:24:49.163or that was a great reminiscing group.
00:24:49.783 -->
00:24:54.563They're also looking at it and analyzing, like, that was so good how you used those skills.
00:24:54.583 -->
00:24:57.363Or if you were going to run it again, had you thought about this?
00:24:57.363 -->
00:24:59.963You could really focus on the social domain.
00:25:00.627 -->
00:25:05.767So it's so important that they're able to see that and to be able to recognize
00:25:05.767 -->
00:25:07.927it. And then as a whole group, we talk about it.
00:25:08.107 -->
00:25:11.787The feedback I give to the student that's presenting before we come to the labs,
00:25:11.967 -->
00:25:17.787I write out all of my notes and then I send it to them 24 to 48 hours before we meet in the labs.
00:25:18.327 -->
00:25:22.747So they also have feedback from me. I don't give that feedback in front of the group.
00:25:22.907 -->
00:25:27.027But then we all sit there and we talk about what worked really well. What did you see?
00:25:27.287 -->
00:25:31.487What did you notice that you didn't know before? And it's just such a powerful learning tool.
00:25:32.407 -->
00:25:36.507And that was, I think, a major goal of the course was for them just to experience
00:25:36.507 -->
00:25:40.287a whole bunch of different activities like this and to push themselves outside their comfort zone.
00:25:40.547 -->
00:25:45.487And so, again, like in the in-person course, they're seeing their peers do so
00:25:45.487 -->
00:25:48.247many different activities and they're going out and participating in so many activities.
00:25:48.847 -->
00:25:52.447And so that having these lab groups meant that they weren't just getting the
00:25:52.447 -->
00:25:54.947experience of the one that they chose, but they're getting the experience of
00:25:54.947 -->
00:25:58.547the ones that their lab group chose as well. And they would do that three times
00:25:58.547 -->
00:25:59.867over the course of the semester, not just once.
00:25:59.947 -->
00:26:03.187So they got to, you know, learn and get feedback and then do it again and learn
00:26:03.187 -->
00:26:04.167and get feedback and do it again.
00:26:04.607 -->
00:26:06.787And yeah, that went really, really well.
00:26:07.687 -->
00:26:11.127They also had the opportunity as well, even though they were in their specific
00:26:11.127 -->
00:26:17.687labs that they had to give feedback on, they also had access to the rest of the class's videos.
00:26:18.207 -->
00:26:21.387So they could go and watch the videos of their other students too.
00:26:21.467 -->
00:26:24.807They didn't have to, you know, give the feedback or whatever they could if they wanted to.
00:26:24.807 -->
00:26:32.067So, we were able to provide them with many examples of different types of programming
00:26:32.067 -->
00:26:36.667that they, you know, more than likely would come in contact with or would need
00:26:36.667 -->
00:26:38.647to know about to go out and practice.
00:26:39.427 -->
00:26:42.327Yeah, I'm glad you explained that too as,
00:26:42.827 -->
00:26:45.467you know, when they're watching these activities and the videos that they're
00:26:45.467 -->
00:26:50.047really looking with a particular framework in mind or looking through a certain
00:26:50.047 -->
00:26:55.607lens that, as you say, the rest of us wouldn't be observing with. So that's amazing.
00:26:55.967 -->
00:27:02.247So did that really help the online students meet the outcomes for the course? I think so, for sure.
00:27:03.039 -->
00:27:07.899Because in the previous course, it was more theoretical, whether,
00:27:08.159 -->
00:27:11.999you know, maybe talk about an example, but they weren't actually seeing it or doing it.
00:27:12.599 -->
00:27:16.979And then this way, it was like lifetime, live feedback, looking at that.
00:27:17.139 -->
00:27:20.439And in the way the videos that they had done too, not only with the program
00:27:20.439 -->
00:27:23.379plans, but going out to the community and doing different things,
00:27:23.539 -->
00:27:25.399it's like they really could see the skills.
00:27:26.039 -->
00:27:30.439Yeah, and I think, you know, coming back to when we first started the... looking at this
00:27:30.439 -->
00:27:33.459course and what we were going to do at first, the conversation was like,
00:27:33.519 -->
00:27:34.939well, what kind of tech tools could help us?
00:27:35.039 -->
00:27:38.119And I think by the end of the course, we did not use anything fancy.
00:27:38.319 -->
00:27:41.159It was very basic tools that we've had for a long time.
00:27:41.359 -->
00:27:45.219It was them recording themselves, doing a couple of things or taking photos
00:27:45.219 -->
00:27:47.139of some different things and sharing them.
00:27:47.399 -->
00:27:50.359It was having these online, you know, Zoom sessions.
00:27:50.959 -->
00:27:54.519And then there was a couple of things where we had shared documents where they
00:27:54.519 -->
00:27:56.059could all kind of contribute a part to this.
00:27:56.159 -->
00:27:58.659Because that was some feedback we'd had from previous students in Kathie's course
00:27:58.659 -->
00:28:04.379was that one of the things that they really valued was that they all would share
00:28:04.379 -->
00:28:05.619their program plans that they made.
00:28:05.759 -->
00:28:08.579And then when they went off to their career, they had this collection of like
00:28:08.579 -->
00:28:12.57950 program plans or whatever it was. And they said, I use that all the time.
00:28:12.739 -->
00:28:15.199And so we tried to create some of those opportunities in the course too,
00:28:15.319 -->
00:28:19.679where they could gather some, like here's a, you know, come up with a, there was a one on drama.
00:28:19.879 -->
00:28:22.959And so it was like, come up, find a script online or find some sort of like
00:28:22.959 -->
00:28:27.019drama activity, put it in this shared document and say like kind of what your
00:28:27.019 -->
00:28:27.759thoughts are about this.
00:28:27.979 -->
00:28:31.019And so there was a number of those in this, in the course that they,
00:28:31.159 -->
00:28:33.559the students got to, to kind of co-create in this.
00:28:33.659 -->
00:28:36.439And again, not for marks, it was just because it was valuable to them.
00:28:36.959 -->
00:28:40.559And yeah, so in the end, we really didn't use anything fancy.
00:28:40.739 -->
00:28:43.719It was just kind of the basic tools, but we were just trying to see how could
00:28:43.719 -->
00:28:46.799we recreate, yeah, what was working in the in-course experience.
00:28:47.179 -->
00:28:48.779We recently had students on
00:28:48.779 -->
00:28:54.399the podcast talking about their WIL experiences and how powerful it was.
00:28:54.579 -->
00:28:57.259You know, you learn one thing in a course, the theory maybe,
00:28:57.279 -->
00:29:02.579but then when you're actually out in the real world and you have to do that
00:29:02.579 -->
00:29:04.199situation, it's much different.
00:29:04.199 -->
00:29:08.579And it sounds like for these students, that was very, very meaningful to be
00:29:08.579 -->
00:29:13.339able to actually be out there engaging in the work environments.
00:29:14.359 -->
00:29:19.359There was several of the students, too, that had expressed that it was more
00:29:19.359 -->
00:29:21.419their preferred way of learning as well.
00:29:21.639 -->
00:29:25.919It's like to read something and, you know, a discussion or a test or whatever.
00:29:26.519 -->
00:29:29.299They, you know, some students would say, you know, that's, I don't do well in
00:29:29.299 -->
00:29:30.279that kind of an environment,
00:29:30.279 -->
00:29:35.099but they felt really strongly that they were learning these skills and what
00:29:35.099 -->
00:29:39.419they were supposed to be learning by doing it and getting that feedback and
00:29:39.419 -->
00:29:42.159doing it again and watching their, their peers...
00:29:42.785 -->
00:29:47.665do this as well. And the students in this program, I mean, the job of rec therapist
00:29:47.665 -->
00:29:51.545has such an emphasis on like on empathy and social interaction.
00:29:51.545 -->
00:29:55.505And so to have that missing in the course, I think is like a big disservice to them.
00:29:55.565 -->
00:29:59.005And also people are taking this course because they're interested in this, that kind of career.
00:29:59.145 -->
00:30:02.405And so it is something that generally the students are wanting that,
00:30:02.545 -->
00:30:04.965that kind of experience as well in their, in their education,
00:30:05.105 -->
00:30:08.165not just, you know, multiple choice exams and discussion boards, whatever.
00:30:08.885 -->
00:30:14.285Yeah, yeah, that leading by example. So what has been the feedback from students?
00:30:14.905 -->
00:30:18.025I think I would get an email from Kathie kind of like every week,
00:30:18.105 -->
00:30:21.865I feel like, about how things were going positively in the course.
00:30:22.045 -->
00:30:25.405But then Kathie ended up asking some students for some testimonials because they
00:30:25.405 -->
00:30:29.405were so positive in these kind of meetings. And yeah, do you want to speak to that?
00:30:29.685 -->
00:30:33.305Yeah, they were amazing, the feedback from the students.
00:30:33.865 -->
00:30:37.805And it was such a great learning experience for them. And I asked them questions
00:30:37.805 -->
00:30:40.045at our very last lab as well.
00:30:40.245 -->
00:30:42.265It was kind of like, what did you like about the course? Like,
00:30:42.325 -->
00:30:44.085what would you change? What do you think about this?
00:30:44.745 -->
00:30:50.365And for the most part, all gave super positive feedback on their experience.
00:30:50.785 -->
00:30:53.545You know, there was a few little things like, oh, if we could have,
00:30:53.605 -->
00:30:55.905you know, another week, it was like timing things or whatever.
00:30:56.445 -->
00:31:00.125Loved them. They loved the activities. They felt that they were appropriate,
00:31:00.125 -->
00:31:05.205that they were really what they were doing in practice. A lot of our DL students
00:31:05.205 -->
00:31:06.945are working in the field already.
00:31:07.445 -->
00:31:12.105And so they go, we've taken all of this with us. This was the most meaningful
00:31:12.105 -->
00:31:14.465course to them in their program so far.
00:31:14.625 -->
00:31:21.445So I was definitely very, very excited about that with my weekly emails to Craig.
00:31:23.365 -->
00:31:26.925That's amazing. That's wonderful feedback to get. That's fantastic.
00:31:27.625 -->
00:31:35.085So given the feedback and kind of reflection, are there things that you have plans to change?
00:31:35.905 -->
00:31:41.325Not a ton from what I've heard from Kathie, which is, I think, in my role...
00:31:42.778 -->
00:31:46.238somewhat unique and especially like when you're making a
00:31:46.238 -->
00:31:48.938new online course or like this was a revision but it
00:31:48.938 -->
00:31:52.758was a significantly different revision. You kind of expect when you teach a course
00:31:52.758 -->
00:31:55.518for the first time that it's going to change a lot the second time you teach
00:31:55.518 -->
00:31:58.938it and the third time you teach it and then it'll eventually settle out but
00:31:58.938 -->
00:32:02.198I think because I was able to work with Kathie who's taught this this in-person
00:32:02.198 -->
00:32:05.778course for so long and has so much things that are working her in-person course
00:32:05.778 -->
00:32:08.678was working so that was kind of what we used as our standard.
00:32:09.398 -->
00:32:16.698And so, you know, this not needing to change things is, yeah, a little bit unique.
00:32:16.698 -->
00:32:20.738And I think it speaks to the importance of like working with instruct– or, when
00:32:20.738 -->
00:32:23.278you're building a course, but like having instructors who are really experienced
00:32:23.278 -->
00:32:27.478in the classroom and like see all that student interaction and feedback. Yeah.
00:32:27.998 -->
00:32:32.518I think that that really helped develop this course the way it is as well.
00:32:32.698 -->
00:32:37.578We had so many resources available to us. Another nice feature in this course,
00:32:37.738 -->
00:32:41.678because I've taught it for so long, I've taken a lot of photos and videos of
00:32:41.678 -->
00:32:45.718students, you know, doing these programs or were out on outings.
00:32:45.898 -->
00:32:51.078So we were able to add this 'students in action' component to each one of the
00:32:51.078 -->
00:32:55.478weekly modules of students that they could see, you know, their campus-based
00:32:55.478 -->
00:32:59.118classmates or whatever doing these activities and what they were doing,
00:32:59.278 -->
00:33:01.498whether it was a video or photographs or whatever.
00:33:01.698 -->
00:33:06.458And I think that also helped in encouraging them, the DL students,
00:33:06.738 -->
00:33:10.178to want to do these learning activities that we carefully created.
00:33:10.638 -->
00:33:17.118It was just a great experience. And one, I never thought we were going to be
00:33:17.118 -->
00:33:21.178able to replicate the campus course. And I really think we did.
00:33:21.318 -->
00:33:28.098In fact, I told Craig after I've taken some of the DL aspects and moved it into the campus course.
00:33:28.769 -->
00:33:32.729Other than a few little things around maybe some timing and when I'm releasing
00:33:32.729 -->
00:33:37.029content, there's absolutely nothing that we're changing in the course.
00:33:37.029 -->
00:33:40.489And we'll run the same one come September this year.
00:33:40.629 -->
00:33:42.849So we're excited about that to see how this group does.
00:33:43.009 -->
00:33:46.609You know, we have other online courses. So is this something that,
00:33:46.769 -->
00:33:50.149you know, other instructors or other areas, are there things from this that
00:33:50.149 -->
00:33:51.589they could take away as well?
00:33:51.749 -->
00:33:54.869What advice would you give them? One, work with CTLI.
00:33:55.169 -->
00:33:56.829It was an amazing experience.
00:33:57.429 -->
00:34:01.629The other thing that was really great that enabled us to do this is I was given
00:34:01.629 -->
00:34:05.389like the time, the release time or whatever, to be able to work on it.
00:34:05.609 -->
00:34:08.429When you're working full time and to try and do something off the side of your
00:34:08.429 -->
00:34:11.929desk, which we've done over years before, just isn't effective.
00:34:12.469 -->
00:34:16.349So it was like everything came together perfectly. We were paired up with CTLI
00:34:16.349 -->
00:34:18.029and Craig and I met regularly.
00:34:18.509 -->
00:34:21.549And we would meet for chunks of time, like for three or four hours.
00:34:22.209 -->
00:34:27.489And we'd go away with homework of things that we need to do before we met again. and it just worked well.
00:34:27.649 -->
00:34:32.189The template that he recommended that we use worked well.
00:34:32.409 -->
00:34:35.109All of the pieces just came together so nicely.
00:34:35.509 -->
00:34:39.949Yeah, I think that's something that we've noticed in like the instructional
00:34:39.949 -->
00:34:43.489design piece is that when we have instructors who actually have the time to
00:34:43.489 -->
00:34:47.649dedicate to the project, everything just goes so much smoother because we understand
00:34:47.649 -->
00:34:48.549that instructors are busy.
00:34:48.729 -->
00:34:52.369And so it's very difficult for them to, you know, take a large chunk of time
00:34:52.369 -->
00:34:56.829and, you know, and it ends up being kind of like a small piece here and there so.
00:34:57.783 -->
00:35:01.023Kathie getting the time to actually sit down and work on this where we could
00:35:01.023 -->
00:35:03.463get together for like a full morning a week or something like that.
00:35:03.723 -->
00:35:07.663That made a huge difference in being able to do this because some of these things,
00:35:07.803 -->
00:35:11.883yeah, it would have either taken us a long, long time to do or it just wouldn't
00:35:11.883 -->
00:35:12.943have come together as well.
00:35:13.003 -->
00:35:16.023I don't think if we would have just been meeting for an hour a week or something.
00:35:16.263 -->
00:35:21.683But another piece was being able to work with Kathie who's taught the in-person course for so long.
00:35:22.023 -->
00:35:24.943That made a huge difference on my end because I could
00:35:24.943 -->
00:35:28.383ask Kathie so many questions about like what is
00:35:28.383 -->
00:35:31.083working about this lesson in class or and she would have
00:35:31.083 -->
00:35:33.943so many comments about like well when we do this this wouldn't work or
00:35:33.943 -->
00:35:38.723you know this is what would happen and so the difference between that and either
00:35:38.723 -->
00:35:41.883creating a course like a brand brand new online course when there isn't an in-person
00:35:41.883 -->
00:35:45.183component to it that's a challenge because you don't know how students are going
00:35:45.183 -->
00:35:48.063to respond to different things or what's what's difficult for them to learn
00:35:48.063 -->
00:35:52.603and and so on but then also having Kathie who's taught the course so many times.
00:35:52.743 -->
00:35:55.683It was just like, it was an incredible resource for me to be able to ask all
00:35:55.683 -->
00:35:57.483these questions about the course.
00:35:57.623 -->
00:36:02.203And she also had so many resources available that when we were trying to design
00:36:02.203 -->
00:36:04.663a page, too many resources.
00:36:04.803 -->
00:36:08.883Kathie's laughing because she came in with, I think, four or so binders full
00:36:08.883 -->
00:36:10.243of resources when we first started.
00:36:10.603 -->
00:36:13.923And so when we were coming up with ideas for a lesson, you know.
00:36:14.443 -->
00:36:17.263Kathie had probably like 10 different things that we could use and we were able to go from that.
00:36:17.363 -->
00:36:21.223And so if we were starting from scratch, it would have been a much more difficult process for sure.
00:36:21.463 -->
00:36:26.083It sounds like a kind of a perfect combination to bring this together.
00:36:26.423 -->
00:36:30.683It was. And the format, because of the courses I'd worked on previous.
00:36:31.483 -->
00:36:33.663Were just like page after page after page.
00:36:33.943 -->
00:36:37.163And so the template that we used and the format that we used...
00:36:37.843 -->
00:36:41.383Was so much better. It was user-friendly.
00:36:41.463 -->
00:36:46.523It was very consistent in resources for the student, the lesson,
00:36:47.103 -->
00:36:51.863any sort of required reads or anything that they had to do that was required
00:36:51.863 -->
00:36:54.503for sure for the lesson, and then a learning activity.
00:36:54.723 -->
00:37:00.583So the format wasn't as intimidating because when you originally opened up the
00:37:00.583 -->
00:37:04.163DL course, it went on for miles and miles and miles of pages.
00:37:04.503 -->
00:37:08.483And I think that that really helped students as well not feel overwhelmed.
00:37:08.483 -->
00:37:12.803Because I think if you opened up a course that had as many pages and was as
00:37:12.803 -->
00:37:15.503long as it was, what would be intimidating for sure.
00:37:15.723 -->
00:37:18.703Yeah. And I think that's actually one thing we didn't comment on earlier is
00:37:18.703 -->
00:37:24.263a change that we made was going from primarily text information to having Kathie
00:37:24.263 -->
00:37:27.923record like her in-person lectures, which was something new for Kathie and can
00:37:27.923 -->
00:37:28.823be intimidating at first.
00:37:28.983 -->
00:37:32.543But again, because Kathie's taught this course for so long, those
00:37:32.543 -->
00:37:35.463things actually came together quite quickly where it says well just use your
00:37:35.463 -->
00:37:39.823PowerPoint from in class and just record yourself talking through it because
00:37:39.823 -->
00:37:43.463most instructors who've done that you know taught a course for a long time they
00:37:43.463 -->
00:37:47.243can just open it up and do it and have it done almost in you know less than
00:37:47.243 -->
00:37:51.603an hour or something like that. And so it meant too that the students were getting,
00:37:52.163 -->
00:37:55.623like that more connection with their instructor and they're able to hear more
00:37:55.623 -->
00:38:00.403of Kathie's stories from in the field than just kind of reading more of like
00:38:00.403 -->
00:38:02.023a textbook-style course.
00:38:02.708 -->
00:38:06.988I can really see how that would be meaningful because you do need those stories
00:38:06.988 -->
00:38:10.228sometimes to make that connection with the theory.
00:38:10.388 -->
00:38:12.948And as well, even just hearing someone's voice, you can hear the inflection
00:38:12.948 -->
00:38:16.268and, you know, which things are important that you want to emphasize.
00:38:16.368 -->
00:38:21.228And so that's really fantastic for the online students to be able to have that.
00:38:21.908 -->
00:38:26.908So with this whole project, it's just amazing and it's so exciting to hear about it.
00:38:26.908 -->
00:38:32.248And so you went from kind of initially trying to bring an online course together
00:38:32.248 -->
00:38:36.848with a face-to-face course and thinking maybe technology would be the solution.
00:38:36.848 -->
00:38:42.708And through all of the work that you did, you arrived at the experiences that you've shared.
00:38:42.828 -->
00:38:48.068And so what do you think kind of made this so successful? Two really big things
00:38:48.068 -->
00:38:51.448were having, as we mentioned, I think that the time to develop it,
00:38:51.628 -->
00:38:56.208like having the time and resources to develop it and the expertise of an instructor
00:38:56.208 -->
00:38:57.028who's taught the course.
00:38:57.728 -->
00:39:00.708And then, I mean, a lot of the things that we ended up doing,
00:39:00.848 -->
00:39:04.368like I said, were simple things, I think, that could be replicated without a lot of effort.
00:39:04.608 -->
00:39:07.688Like, it doesn't take a lot of effort to record yourself doing your PowerPoints
00:39:07.688 -->
00:39:08.968that you've done a whole lot of times.
00:39:09.148 -->
00:39:12.748I think that's pretty reasonable for any instructor to do. Or lots of the learning
00:39:12.748 -->
00:39:16.408activities where they took a little bit of time to think about what they would
00:39:16.408 -->
00:39:18.868be, but then, you know, they don't require any upkeep.
00:39:19.108 -->
00:39:24.828The thing that is more difficult is the small group labs that Kathie was able to do.
00:39:24.948 -->
00:39:28.488That was only possible because she has a small class size. I believe the class
00:39:28.488 -->
00:39:31.568size was around 16 students, something somewhere around there.
00:39:31.868 -->
00:39:34.708And also she had like a teaching load that allowed that.
00:39:34.828 -->
00:39:39.088So she was able to, you know, three times in the semester do four or five different
00:39:39.088 -->
00:39:44.788short Zoom calls, which if you had classes of 50 plus online students and you
00:39:44.788 -->
00:39:47.368had to teach seven or eight online courses or something like that,
00:39:47.428 -->
00:39:48.688it wouldn't be possible.
00:39:48.948 -->
00:39:52.008And so, yeah, I think having...
00:39:53.003 -->
00:39:57.263programs, helping their instructors by giving them the time to develop a quality
00:39:57.263 -->
00:40:01.883course, and then also having them with workloads that allow for quality online teaching.
00:40:02.103 -->
00:40:05.303Because as soon as your class sizes are a certain size, you're very limited
00:40:05.303 -->
00:40:08.623into what kinds of experiences that you can do online, I suppose.
00:40:09.643 -->
00:40:14.403And Kathie, would you like to add to that? Especially with that small lab group,
00:40:14.443 -->
00:40:15.523because that really was key.
00:40:16.383 -->
00:40:21.263And we were able to book, we'd book four nights in a row. and each lab I'd have
00:40:21.263 -->
00:40:25.323students sign up and it's like, okay, you're group one and two and three and four.
00:40:25.623 -->
00:40:28.503And then we would meet for two hours, all of us together.
00:40:28.963 -->
00:40:34.563So being that the way my workload was, I was able to have a full week that I
00:40:34.563 -->
00:40:38.263had two hour labs, you know, four days out of that week in the evening too,
00:40:38.443 -->
00:40:40.263because that worked best with the DL students.
00:40:41.203 -->
00:40:44.363If I wouldn't have had that support, like the time to work on the course,
00:40:44.543 -->
00:40:48.943to have the expertise of Craig and how he knows how to design things,
00:40:49.103 -->
00:40:52.863and the small group sizes, it would have been a very, very different story.
00:40:53.163 -->
00:40:55.483It was like everything came together perfectly.
00:40:56.003 -->
00:41:00.583And yeah, the outcome was amazing. Just amazing. Yeah, it really sounds like
00:41:00.583 -->
00:41:02.163it did come together perfectly.
00:41:02.323 -->
00:41:04.503That's wonderful. That's great to hear. Fantastic.
00:41:04.863 -->
00:41:11.303Well, thank you so much for joining me today and for sharing the amazing work that you've done.
00:41:11.463 -->
00:41:14.243It's just so exciting and it's so wonderful for the students.
00:41:14.403 -->
00:41:19.543Such a great experience for the students in the Therapeutic Recreation Gerontology Program.
00:41:20.063 -->
00:41:24.983Thank you very much for having us. Yeah, we clearly enjoy sharing about this.
00:41:25.103 -->
00:41:27.083Yes, we do. Thank you for giving us that opportunity.
00:41:27.643 -->
00:41:34.143This episode featured Donna McLaughlin as host and Craig McCarthy and Kathie Ervin as guests.
00:41:34.863 -->
00:41:39.503Jordana Gagnon was our producer. Ryan Robinson was our sound technician and editor.
00:41:40.203 -->
00:41:44.123Our podcast is funded by Lethbridge Polytechnic's Center for Teaching,
00:41:44.363 -->
00:41:49.463Learning, and Innovation, and recorded on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
00:41:49.883 -->
00:41:54.343For more episodes, head to our website, learninginnovation.ca.
00:41:54.983 -->
00:41:56.663Thanks for listening and take care.