TIES 2.0: Engaging the Community is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, March 27-28 in the J.G. Althouse Building (Faculty of Education). Registration and parking are free for all members of Western and affiliates. For more information on the event, visit the event’s website at ties-at-western.com.
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Are you interested in learning about and exploring research related to educational technology? Would you like to meet others in the Western community with shared interests and goals related to technology in education?
In attending Western’s second annual Technology in Education Symposium (TIES), taking place on Thursday and Friday, March 27-28, you will be given the opportunity to do that, and much more.
TIES 2.0: Engaging the Community is an exciting university-wide symposium showcasing and exploring research and teaching with educational technology across all disciplines at Western and its affiliates. Based on an enormous amount of positive feedback from the first TIES event, which took place in March 2013, this expanded two-day event will feature research papers, posters, roundtables, lightning rounds, hands-on workshops, and a student panel.
Michael Geist, from the University of Ottawa, will deliver a keynote lecture Friday morning, New Directions for Teaching and Technology in the Age of ‘Access Education.’
A leading Canadian voice in academic and public discussions about information, copyright, technology, and the law, Geist will explore the recent arc of law, technology and education.
Fifteen years ago, we faced restrictive copyright, limited bandwidth, classrooms with limited technological capabilities and virtually no awareness of open access. Viewed through that prism, the past decade and a half has been remarkable, with a near-complete overhaul of copyright, far better distribution of technology, new online teaching models and the emergence of open access. Yet despite the transformation, many are still left with a sense of unease.
Geist will take those concerns head-on, exploring the downsides of these developments and the risks we face as we search for the ‘new directions’ in law, technology and education.
According to Elan Paulson, director of professional programs for the Faculty of Education, and a TIES 2.0 coordinator, the event will help build the foundations for a sustainable learning community on important issues related to education and technology.
“Last year, a survey respondent stated an appreciation for ‘the feeling that Western is really taking steps to build community capacity with technology in education,’” Paulson said. “The symposium allows the Western community to showcase its strengths and to build its capacity for research, teaching, and learning with technology.
“With a strengthened community, we will be in a better position to participate in long-term decision-making and other initiatives that will benefit everyone,” she added.
While the primary goal of TIES 2.0 is to continue the momentum began last year, Paulson explained they would also like to extend the reach of the eLearning community and develop the university community’s capacity for understanding and engaging in the use of, and research on, technology in education.
“TIES was a relatively ‘grassroots’ movement at the outset — it was developed by staff, faculty and students from all walks of Western life who had no official mandate to create the symposium,” Paulson said. “They just wanted to get together to talk about ideas and challenges that interest them, particularly with folks they’ve not connected with before.
“We would like to continue to build a diversity of the community through an inclusive event we believe will offer something for everyone.”
Paulson encourages everyone — especially aspiring researchers and instructors — to attend the event this year.
“Last year, folks found that TIES was a truly inspiring activity for those who are passionate about innovating, creating, exploring, critiquing and improving the use of technology in higher education,” she said. “To attend TIES 2.0 is to become better informed, and to become better informed is to make it possible to enrich how, and what, we research and teach.”
Jesica Hurst is a fourth-year student at Western, currently pursuing a major in Media, Information and Technoculture, a certificate in Writing and a certificate in Professional Communication. She works as a social media assistant for the Faculty of Education, and is the online editor for the Western Gazette.