The Teaching and Learning Innovation Digest - May 2023

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to a truly special edition of the
Teaching and Learning Innovation Digest!
Our seventh annual academic publication
has assumed an incredibly meaningful shape
and form for a number of reasons. Not only
did we receive an enthusiastic response
with over 30 submissions via our institutional
broadcast, but we also have consciously
and intentionally embraced the principles of
Universal Design for Learning by attempting
to represent and celebrate the varied forms
of expressions therein. From reflective
essays, poetry, visual and performing arts,
podcasts, video conversations to scholarly
work, academic and applied research, news
and updates, and interviews, this is truly a
power-packed publication!
Another important reason this issue is
extremely special is the inclusion of student
voices, since inception to production.
Student submissions include
personal and poignant written,
spoken, visual, and applied research
works. As well, this final product has
been painstakingly curated by a student
visual designer and an alumnus copy
editor; a conscious direction we took and
proudly sustained since our previous
publication. This year, we also convened a
willing and experienced editorial group of
writers, poets, researchers, published authors,
and student talent, to support the Digest and
provide thoughtful feedback to contributions
received. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to the
team who each brought in their own flair and
helped us ground this work in mutual respect
and our passion for all things education.
Our theme stems from the Faculty Summit last
spring and reflects our re/TURN to campus,
understood as a collective intervention
and disruption of the idea of a return to
normal. We open with some vignettes of what
this has meant to senior academic leadership,
how the shift has unfolded in the educational
landscape, and what it means for us as an
institution, across our campuses in terms of
online modality and student uptake. The Digest
is organized into six different strands that were
originally breakout sessions from the Faculty
Summit. An opening snapshot of thoughts
and feedback compiled from the event reflect
the very ideas of our teaching practices and
the learning experiences of students on the
notions of re/CENTRE, re/ENGAGE, re/
IMAGINE, re/ALIGN, re/WORK, and re/
CONNECT. Each section thereafter, captures
and features related experiences, experiments,
and energy of our student, faculty, and staff.
It is clear from all of these expressions within
and across strands, that we continue
to actively explore coming together
and learning from each
other. We recognize that
there are no one-size-fitsall
solutions for all situations, no
“best practices” without consideration
of the many contextual differences between
programs and learning environments across
Centennial College. Instead, we reconsider
teaching and learning through the lens of
grounded principles that continue to guide
our practices as we relearn how to be in
relation to each other and in relation to place.
We are pleased to share with you an incredible
year of teaching and learning, and celebrating
our individual and collaborative re/TURNs!
Zabedia and Sowmya
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