The summit will bring together education leaders (administrators, superintendents, principals, deans, faculty, teacher-leaders), private and not-for-profit sector leaders for a dialogue and discussion about involving people in the change necessary to achieve new learning cultures that are supported by the effective use of technology.

The one-day summit consists of two sessions in the morning ("Exploring the Leadership Required for New Learning Cultures – A Personal Experience" and "Learning and Leading: A Practical Approach to Engage Change"). Delegates will split into break-out groups in the afternoon to discuss Leading a New Learning Culture – Becoming a Narrative Champion. 

"This summit is a great leadership learning opportunity for 91��ɫ employees involved in the Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) projects that began earlier this academic year," noted Janet Murphy, ABEL program director. The AIF initiative provides support to faculty in order to advance innovation and change at 91��ɫ in the areas of teaching, learning and the student experience.

"This innovation and change on campus perfectly complements the topics that will be discussed at the summit," said Murphy.

Speakers and facilitators for the summit include: Dean Shareski, a digital learning consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan; Alec Couros, a professor of educational technology and media and the coordinator of information and communications technology at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina; and George Couros, the division principal of innovative teaching & learning for Parkland School Division in Alberta.

Right: Dean Shareski

In addition to the face-to-face event in February, delegates are also invited to participate in two virtual learning sessions happening in the spring – “Understanding the New Learning Culture and Learner Footprint” and “Celebrating and Planning the Way Forward”.

Left: George Couros

These virtual sessions will be easy to join, and details on how to participate will be provided the day of the summit. The virtual sessions will be hosted by the speakers and facilitators from Feb. 10. Descriptions of the virtual sessions are as follows:

Understanding the New Learning Culture and Learner Footprint 

This session will explore the specifics of citizenship in a digital context. Rather than focusing upon prevention, participants will develop ideas to create and contribute to purposeful, engaged citizenship while learning online. These ideas will be explored and shared within the context of digital literacy, job-embedded learning, and engagement with parents, family and community.

Right: Alec Couros��������

Celebrating and Planning the Way Forward  

This session will provide delegates with an opportunity for “show and tell”, sharing their successes and challenges in implementing new learning cultures. This session is about reflecting upon your own professional growth and learning from fellow participants’ strategies that engaged systems in change and learning more about the road ahead.

To learn more or to register you and/or your team, please visit the website.

As part of the Professional Learning Program, ABEL offers two face-to-face conferences every year – the Leadership Summit in the winter and the ABEL Summer Institute.

Look for information about the ABEL Summer Institute .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Over the course of the next year, YFile will be profiling the projects through videos and stories. Today, the camera's spotlight is on Monahan and the story of his inspiration for AIF. 

Patrick Monahan grins when he recalls his “Aha!” moment, which led to the creation of the Academic Innovation Fund. 

Several years ago, 91��ɫ’s vice-president academic & provost had just completed a series of consultations with 91��ɫ community members regarding the , a document that would outline the future academic priorities of the University. What he discovered during that process energized him. 

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“As we went through the White Paper a couple of years ago, what impressed me were the people who participated in that process,” he said. “We sat in focus groups and we talked about our ideas, dreams and aspirations for the University. What was so striking was that people had so many great ideas – there were literally hundreds!”

He discovered the main obstacle preventing these ideas from becoming a reality centred on the lack of resources. Monahan had heard of projects in the United States that provided seed funding for academic initiatives. He thought the idea had merit and turned to his colleagues in the Provost’s Office to see if they could find funding that could be used to create a made-in-91��ɫ solution to turn the ideas into working projects.

His inspiration led to the formation of the Academic Innovation Fund of $2.5 million that would provide an initial investment of resources to bring projects from the drawing board to reality. In the fall of 2010, applications were invited from the University community for funding (up to $200,000 each) to support new initiatives advancing 91��ɫ’s strategic priorities in relation to teaching and learning and the student experience.

The response, he discovered, was nothing short of amazing. “It was just fantastic because of the tremendous energy and participation," he said. “The committee was only able to fund 39 of those projects, but all the project submissions were very interesting and innovative, and showed a real commitment to the University and to our students."

The 39 projects funded include clusters of initiatives that support e-learning, experiential education and the student experience. From a project to enhance how first-year students move from high school to university, to a student-run sustainable business initiative, each of the AIF projects is as diverse as the University community. There is a project to create an online enrolment system for new students, a mentorship program for varsity athletes, a partnership between two faculties to develop a blended learning initiative, a community centred action plan for experiential education, and a project to bring public history into the classroom, to name just a few.

All of the projects, said Monahan, reflect 91��ɫ's DNA. "Each of the projects is about engaging people in these ideas," he said. "I hope that what this does is that it shows people what is possible and that we can build on this energy."

Monahan said that many people have told him how excited they are to see their ideas finally becoming a reality. "What I find so interesting is that there are ideas that would never have occurred to someone sitting in an office here in the 91��ɫ Research Tower or even in a dean's office," he said. "Ideas like a project that we have with refugees in Thailand connecting them with researchers and students here in Toronto or a project to teach area youth how to swim."

The AIF projects provide a concrete example of the potential for innovation and engagement that resides in the 91��ɫ community. "It is an example of the idea that the collective brain is always better then a single brain. If you get one hundred people in a room and get them thinking and talking – you are going to get more ideas than with 10 people, five or one. That is what makes this a really successful initiative so far." 

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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