University of Winnipeg Visit - November 2010

Phew, seems like I'm always on the road. I had just returned from the MRU Centennial SoTL Symposium in Banff and now it was time to fly to Winnipeg to facilitate a session on Student Engagement and Web 2.0 in Blended Learning for faculty at the University of Winnipeg. I flew in late Sunday afternoon and immediately took a cab downtown to the Holiday Inn. After checking in, I went looking for a restaurant but the downtown core was pretty well "shut down" on a Sunday evening. I finally found a Subway that was open. I had a sandwich made for me and took it up to my hotel room for dinner and some TV.

I had a relatively good sleep and Louis Svenningsen from the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology met me for breakfast at the Hotel where we are able to chat about the U of Winnipeg and the role of blended learning and technology at the institution. The institution is primarily an urban liberal arts undergraduate institution. Lloyd Axworthy, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada is now the President of U of Winnipeg and he appears to be focused on issues of urban renewal (lots of new university buildings in the downtown core) and the internationalization of the curriculum (foreign field experiences and placements for the students).

From my perspective, the session went reasonably well. I must remember to speak less and listen more during these sessions in order to encourage and stimulate dialogue amongst the participants. I'll see if I can do a better job tomorrow when I facilitate a similar session online via Adobe Connect Pro with faculty at North Western College in Minnesota.