The Teaching and Learning Innovation Digest - May 2023

they also hosted endless virtual training and
consultations. They guided users on using and
integrating conferencing tools (a strong 150+
attendance for one of their first post lockdown
workshops), and offered tireless support to
faculty over the years, so students would not
be left stranded and classes could go on as
before. They continue to offer an impressive
suite of workshops, webinars, and one-on-one
consultations even today, and much to their
record, they never once cancelled a session
unless there was very poor registration!
Making things work remotely, and especially
since our return, hasn’t always been
smooth. At first, some of the online web
conferencing tools didn’t always work
seamlessly. Even now, communication seems
disjointed at times, the resources are all there
yet queries keep trickling in endlessly. On an
average day this team continues to juggle
a huge volume of requests that come in
different forms: “eCentennialhelp” emails,
calls, in-person and online consults and drop
ins, just in time troubleshooting assistance,
development of resources and supports,
updates and information communication,
enrolments including full time and contract
faculty orientations, UDL, and Academic
Integrity learning modules, etc. Not to
mention, special projects such as pilot tests for
software, EdTech integrations with eCentennial
and related testing, the LMS review, and
program quality improvement processes.
They’re just a group of mighty five humans
servicing thousands of users across five
campuses. And they make it look so easy!
We continue to reimagine, to innovate,
and find ways that will alleviate
roadblocks. Our scope of work isn’t always
well understood. But we love to help and
resolve issues, because we’re passionate
about what we do!
How do they manage this often complex, and
sometimes, ambiguous workload?
Many requests that come in lie outside of
their realm, yet callers know who on this
team can get the work done because the
LTS team can deftly navigate behind the
scene hiccups. They would much rather
assist these urgent or stranded callers
than keep them waiting endlessly for other
departments to respond. The team knows quite
closely the ins and outs of in-house versus
external course design and development
processes. They know the time taken for such
creation and related logistics of training faculty
to customize their course shells with required
EdTech tools, accessibility, and UDL features,
etc., for when the semester starts. The reality
is, it takes much longer than a few weeks to get
all of this ironed out.
The impacts of this job are huge as it
directly speaks to the quality and nature
of content and its delivery for end users,
our students. The change and transition in
institutional management has also significantly
Shana Rajeev Shaila Vijaya Jana
impacted the LTS team’s workflow, processes, related supports, navigation, and delivery of crucial
services recently. Lack of planning and communication automatically creates more work at the back
end. Here are some instances where the LMS team ends up going above and beyond:
Complex Queries
• Duplication/merging of course shells
• Assigning faculty banner access
doesn’t mean instant LMS access
• Inheriting Master Shells with older
components without required accounts
(Padlet)
“There is considerable Information
fatigue and information overload
today. Plus, there is an expectation we
will do it all, even if it lies outside of
our realm”.
What the LTS team wants you to know!
They strongly advocate a staged approach: from orientation, to access to LMS, to providing
resources, supports, and training:
• Collaborate and communicate!
- Invite the LTS team to your welcome/kick off meetings, get to know who they are, what they do.
- Top-down decisions can add to “just in time” workload; overnight action is not always
feasible. Include the LTS team in your academic programming.
• Plan ahead!
- The amount of resources and supports required for faculty to flip and deliver a course is HUGE:
do not underestimate this.
- Processes, communications, and training (prior to new term) must be a formal, conscious
scheduling exercise in every school.
• Help bridge the disconnect!
- Needs are now individualized; everyone is at a different level. Map and share department needs,
specific gaps, and supports needed.
- Be proactive where it comes to your course shell or EdTech. needs, not reactive.
In an ideal world, they would love to have more time for their own research, professional
development, and to raise and sustain numbers for workshops and training. They would also love to
bridge the gaps they seem to discover as we balance our re/TURN to the new age classrooms.
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