Ruba Alomari, a faculty member in Durham College’s (DC) School of Business, IT & Management, began her IT career as a system engineer responsible for maintaining a small network and worked in a number of positions over a 15-year period, including a network manager. She received her Master’s degree in Information Security, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science and was the recipient of the Doctoral Excellence Award. Dr. Alomari teaches information security in the Cybersecurity graduate certificate, and operating systems in the Computer Systems diploma.

Dr. Alomari finds joy and satisfaction in teaching her students, encouraging them to take an active role in their learning, and to be accountable for their work, as this helps them prepare for the industry.

She says, “Professors and students share equal challenges and responsibilities in the education process. We both value and enjoy knowledge together, and the success of one is the success of the other and the same applies to failure.”

To ensure that her students have an avenue to provide continuous feedback, Dr. Alomari provides an anonymous feedback form to the class to allow the students to give feedback at any time during the semester. When planning her lesson, she uses the ‘Jumpstart Model’: Connect, Learn, Practice, and Synthesis. This aligns with what college education is all about for her: applied learning at its finest beginning with an interactive communication experience, presenting new content, offering hands-on learning and summarizing the learning.

Dr. Alomari seeks to provide the students with prompt and constructive feedback to help them gain most from the course. The students receive detailed feedback that they can apply in future assignments. It also helps the students feel that the instructor is marking fairly.

She says, “If it’s a collective effort, learning is enhanced.”

Dr. Alomari supports students in their learning by modelling it. By setting up group assignments, projects, or discussion boards, she strives to get her students to understand, communicate and socialize through collaborations and coordination. She also makes sure that there are many opportunities to engage in active learning.

Her Hacking and Exploits and Network Administration courses are very rich with hands-on activities and labs. This type of learning helps keep students interested and engaged. She also uses case studies in her teaching in which she encourages a lot of student discussions.

In teaching remotely, Dr. Alomari started using video editing software (such as Screencast-o-matic) to create video and audio lecture notes for her students. For each of her sections, Microsoft Teams comes handy to create a team. This use of Microsoft Teams helps facilitate interactions between students, as well as between herself and her students.

“In these times, when face-to-face and on-campus classes are not possible, learning online has proven to be a great building block in the education system.” She thinks that learning face-to-face will be vastly enhanced if used strategically with online learning.

Edward Logan is a full-time professor teaching in the Mechanical Techniques- Plumbing Program and Plumbing Apprenticeship Program. He integrates theoretical information and hands-on experience in his residential and commercial plumbing fundamental courses, and embeds creative and innovative practices in his teaching. He has also pulled together plumbing faculty from across the country to share practices. He has worked a large part of his plumbing career in the ICI (industrial, commercial, and institutional) sector.

Mr. Logan says, “To be able to watch my students evolve is the aspect that motivates me to teach. I am even more motivated when they come back to visit after graduation and tell me about their success and thank me for helping them.”

One of his long-term goals is to establish a Plumbing Instructors / Professors community. Recently, he held a session for plumbing professionals and had 18 professors online from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and the United States. The discussion focused around what lessons were learned going remote and which new tools / resources have been discovered to help faculty teach remotely.

“Everyone enjoyed the discussion and is eager to continue it. We hope to increase the number of participants for our next session. My hope is that our group will join with the electrical group and other skilled trade professors in creating an annual community of practice sessions for skilled trade professors.” says Mr. Logan.

Getting himself and his students up to speed up for virtual sessions on Microsoft Teams had its own challenges. He puts his students’ success first and is empathetic in his teaching style which includes a universal design for learning approach that enables them to be successful.

Mr. Logan says, “It is a style that is capable of adapting to the needs of students.”

He believes in encouraging and supporting his students to enhance the learning outcomes in many areas. One approach is by asking questions and making sure they grasp what they are learning during class, as well as providing opportunities for students to talk one-on-one outside of class hours, and receiving feedback about their growth.

Mr. Logan’s announcements on DC Connect are intended to engage his students. He uses multiple modes to communicate with his students; in addition to announcements, he uses video messages that emphasize personal care in addition to course work. Another way he communicates with students is through email and simply checking in.

When asked to give fellow faculty members a piece of advice, Mr. Logan says, “Never stop learning. You evolve as a person and a teacher with any learning experience. This will only help your students achieve their goals.”

Since technology is an important resource to facilitate remote learning, Mr. Logan uses Kahoot for both in-class and remote classes. H5P Studio is another development resource that will continue to be included in the face-to-face classes in the future. He has created True/False Questions, Flashcards, Drag Text, Fill in the Blanks, Find the Hotspot, Image Hotspots and Find Multiple Hotspot activities using the tool. He also works on Virtual Tour 360 and Interactive Video activities used for connection, practice and summary activities that are embedded in DC Connect’s online content.

He says, “I use DC Connect heavily and the only feature I haven’t utilized is video assignments, but I’m planning to do it in the future.”
Mr. Logan thinks that remote courses have changed the game.

He says, “Online courses offer more students a chance to learn, but in way that might work best for them. I certainly believe and hope that you’ll see more programs being at least a combination of online and face-to-face courses.”

The School of Health and Community Services (HCS) faculty showed their commitment in helping students and staff tackle remote learning by creating a Community of Care consisting of their staff and students. The HCS faculty worked collaboratively to provide support for their students and staff in need through open communication, emotional support, as well as IT support throughout the past three months. With the need to move to remote learning, revisions have been made to courses including virtual delivery plans and revised learning activities and problem-solving opportunities.

We asked three faculty members in HCS, Deborah Schuh, Debra Morrison and Kimberlee Neault, to share insights on the challenges, developments and simulations faced during the transition period.

Deborah Schuh:

Deborah Schuh is the program co-ordinator for the Personal Support Worker (PSW) program. She teaches Anatomy and Physiology, Professional Growth Issues and leads PSW labs. She has supported the PSW Faculty, teaching during the May semester and integrated simulation and other learning activities. As a certified GPA (Gentle Persuasive Approaches) coach, she delivers the GPA Training-Dementia Care certificate training to PSW students and collaborates with AGE (Advanced Gerontological Education) to deliver the online version to students.

In collaboration with PSW students and other faculty members, they partnered with long-term care (LTC) facilities by providing virtual calls, making homemade cards, and writing positive thoughts for residents isolated in LTCs. It was a student-driven initiative. Ms. Schuh sent virtual copies to both LTC regional sites and to PSW students who were working in LTCs.

The realities of the pandemic were integrated into the PSW program, providing students with scenarios based on real world experiences. For example, students completed part of a formal critique online by uploading videos of donning and removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand hygiene. This made learning relevant and authentic.

Ms. Schuh has developed a comprehensive PSW PLAR process and activities to support the 28 stranded PSW students to complete their placement and finish the PSW program over the Spring/Summer. Some of these students are currently working for LTCs. Further, Ms. Schuh worked with the Oshawa Senior Community Centres to develop a unique remote community placement for 8 of the above-mentioned stranded students.

Ms. Schuh recognizes and appreciates the importance of collaboration, and named just a few of the team members that were part of the effort including Wendy Aspin Curran, Kimberlee Neault, Katherine Rautenberg, Marie McEwan, Nancy McGuire, Joycelyn Kelly, Shari Kinney, Sara Horruzey and the HCS leadership team.

Debra Morrison

Another faculty member of HCS who contributed to the school’s community of care is Debra Morrison.

Debra Morrison is the first-year co-ordinator and professor, in the Practical Nursing program. She also teaches in the Nursing Sciences: Anatomy and Physiology/ Pathophysiology and Critical Care Nursing e-learning graduate certificate program.

Ms. Morrison has been working with the placement and agency partners to determine when the students can resume clinical practice.

She says, “It will be a gradual process, but with the declining numbers of COVID cases, I hope that we will continue to have more agencies ready to take back the students. We are currently also investigating some options for virtual simulations.”

In HCS, all program teams have taken up the remote delivery challenge and the nursing program has been able to deliver all the theory remotely including the Virtual Practice Labs.

“CAFE has been a wonderful support for faculty as they navigate through virtual delivery. The use of Microsoft Teams and Virtual Classroom have worked very well for both lectures and demonstrations. The program now has three hybrid courses in place that have facilitated the transition, and all nursing textbooks are available as e-books and have been useful in the process.”

As a nurse, there are many skills that need to be learned and trained, such as sterile dressing changes, IV management and health assessment, to name a few. With that in mind, the delivery of the theory was easily switched to remote; however, the demonstration and practice of the skills required more creativity. The team has been able to successfully meet this challenge.

Kimberlee Neault

The third faculty member is Kimberlee Neault who teaches in both the PSW and Dental Programs. During COVID-19, Ms. Neault regularly updated faculty about CAFE workshops and where they could get support, as well as communicating how to use and determine which remote delivery platform is better tailored to the needs of the individual faculty member. She knew the importance of keeping faculty in contact with student communications about remote delivery expectations and important dates or updates on return to campus.

Ms. Neault used Teams, Bongo and Zoom platforms and provided guidance to compare each platform using the CAFE to navigate the new platforms. To ensure that all the resources were at faculty’s fingertips, she sifted through the information and selected a few pieces she needed to learn in advance to quickly pivot to remote delivery. The use of Respondus Monitor for exams has been successful in dental programs and the innovative delivery of case studies and virtual simulation have been successful in the PSW program.

She says, “First of all, I’ve taught myself by trial and error and I’ve expanded my previous online teaching skills. The transition period (timeline) was very intense with a lot to do and very little time to adapt. Developing new course outlines, tests etc. requires thoughtful development and doing so in isolation was a challenge. I personally reached out to my colleagues for discussion, collaboration and support. It was pretty awesome to see the teachers at our team meetings come together to assist each other with new thoughts and help student achievement at the forefront of all we’re doing.”

Ms. Neault also uses intelligent agent features to personalize student announcement and reminders, as well as discussion boards & the chat feature. She found that the students responded well, and used it in real time (live). The use of Respondus was also a useful tool for remote learning. Students are able to prepare and finish the course at a time that is suitable for them.

She says, “I enjoy engaging with students in a simulated environment that might be a “success supportive” atmosphere that I strive to build in our online classroom. I ensure that students benefit from well-practiced time management skills when they enter the workforce.”

Ms. Neault hopes to provide virtual office hours so that students realize that you have time set aside for them and she focuses on the positive in the virtual classroom by celebrating student success.

By Mike Evans, Jordanne Christie, Clayton Rhodes, Robert Savelle, and Nathan Wilson

Recently, we General Education professors participated in the CAFE facilitated Teaching Squares. Typically, faculty from different program areas make up a teaching square; they take turns visiting one another’s classes over a short period. As Neil Haave (2018) explains, having instructors from different programs is key to the square’s success. “The views and perspective of those who teach different kinds of content can be very helpful in providing new perspectives on the content being taught,” he writes. However, we wondered what could be gained by tackling Teaching Squares as a General Education cohort. The significant thematic variability within the General Education curriculum coupled with contrasting teaching styles satisfies Haave’s point about observing those who teach dissimilar content with different deliveries. The fact, though, that we approach our respective topics within a larger General Education framework led us to ask questions that would best be answered in a square. For example, “given that General Education classes are made up students from various disciplines at various points in their programs of study, how can I ensure the material speaks to each learner?” Additionally, “how do I ensure that my course reflects the spirit of the broader General Education mandate?” Moreover, “does that particular activity or teaching method that works well in one General Education course mean it will work well in mine?”

As General Education faculty, we develop and deliver our courses (on behalf of all Schools and programs) with certain requirements in mind regardless of our subject. First, General Education is interdisciplinary; topics, practices, and knowledge are outside a student’s chief area of focus and the students themselves are from various programs. Second, General Education does not teach technical skills, but rather the more abstract traits of recognizing social complexities, appreciating the many ways to make meaning in this world, and navigating the intricacies of interpersonal interactions. Third, General Education cultivates cognition by strengthening a learner’s broader critical and creative thinking competences as well as their problem solving and decision-making capabilities. Therefore, General Education in concert with a student’s main program of study, better positions graduates to contribute positively to their communities and workplaces — students have received education in both the hard and soft skills needed to be successful in today’s world.

Although our experience was cut short by the sudden transition to remote learning, the five of us did have enough occasion to gather ideas on how our teaching approaches differ and yet support the reason-for-being of General Education. We share the following with the hope that you find some applicability to your own practice while also considering the value that comes from forming a future Square with your School or program colleagues.

Mike Evans:

What drew me most to participating in a General Education-focused teaching square was that all General Education faculty aim to instill similar transferable skills (some of which are listed above) that are not necessarily taught in their core program courses (though some are) and that help prepare students to be not just an adequate candidate for a job, but the ideal candidate, and to be engaged citizens of their local and global communities. I was excited to see how my colleagues do this. Unfortunately, I was only able to visit one of my colleagues’ classrooms prior to all courses moving online, but it was an illuminating and rich experience. What I loved most about Jordanne’s Social Innovation course was that both the individual lesson components as well as the course as a whole were problem-focused, in that students were required to identify social problems, collaboratively brainstorm ways they could be addressed, and develop practical solutions drawing on theory, models, and ongoing opportunities to practice. Sitting in on a lesson reminded me of Paulo Freire’s (1970) work in advocating the problem-posing model of education that was so central to my teacher training at OISE. For Freire, knowledge is not “deposited” by the teacher into the student’s mind. Rather, it is created via a discourse between the two. Such active problem-focused learning in turn helps students develop a critical lens through which they view the world and free themselves and others from oppressive structures and practices. I was happy to see clear elements of Freire’s approach in Jordanne’s class and it inspired me to return to and reflect on Freire’s ideas as they relate to my own teaching practice.

Jordanne Christie:

Similar to others, I have had the opportunity to participate in Teaching Squares in the past with educators outside of my own discipline, and now more recently, as a General Education cohort. When reflecting on my Teaching Squares experience, one quote that stands out for me is from Lee Shulman (1993) who proposes that “We must change the status of teaching from private to community property” (p. 6). According to Shulman, “Learning is least useful when it is private and hidden; it is most powerful when it becomes public and communal. Learning flourishes when we take what we think we know and offer it as community property among fellow learners so that it can be tested, examined, challenged, and improved” (Shulman, 1999, p. 11). This notion of ‘teaching as community property’ resonates with me as it suggests that teaching should be made more visible and public. By making teaching public, there is a sense of community and belonging that can be fostered by open and constructive dialogue about teaching practice. To me, participating in Teaching Squares is a great example of making teaching community property as it provides you with the opportunity to make your own classroom practice public, and to learn from peers who are also opening up their classrooms as community property.

More specifically, participating in Teaching Squares as a General Education cohort, provided me with the opportunity to observe how my colleagues facilitate the classroom experience with a similar diverse student population and common breadth of learning outcomes. Although our subject matters ranged from interpersonal group dynamics, to climate change, and early human history, having a common thread of General Education provided a helpful lens to view the Teaching Squares experience. It was interesting to observe the variety of teaching styles and approaches, and to get a glimpse into the teaching practices of my colleagues as it allowed me to reflect on my own practice, and to gain new insights and practical strategies for my classroom. For two of my classroom visits, I attended with another member of the cohort, which also sparked engaging conversation and collaborative reflection on our experiences and a deeper understanding of our own practice and the aims of General Education. Overall, I feel that participating in Teaching Squares, whether you are in a discipline-specific cohort, or an interdisciplinary group, is a good step towards making teaching more public and encouraging open and ongoing dialogue about teaching practice.

Clayton Rhodes:

Teaching a General Education course is unique because the course subject and content is typically unique. However, the act of taking a unique subject and applying it to the development of a student’s communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities is a commonality between all members of the General Education faculty team. By participating in Teaching Squares for General Education faculty, I was able to verify some of my own course pedagogy but also consider new ways to build on my pedagogy.

For me, some of my best improvements on my own teaching has come out of casual hallway, office, or post-meeting conversations with my colleagues. However, being able to see and participate in my colleagues’ application of the teaching practices discussed in our conversations brought about a new level of understanding. While our General Education content may be unique, there was a great deal of value in seeing how other General Education faculty linked communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving into their courses.
I am very thankful and appreciative for the opportunity to see my fellow General Education faculty teammates in action.

Robert Savelle:

The nature of General Education courses, with their diverse academic content and student composition, makes them both stimulating and challenging for the instructor and learner alike. As unique breadth-focused courses, professors are able to shape the content and learning environment to their own academic and pedagogical strengths. As electives, students from different programs and years of study are able to choose courses that speak to their personal interest, or best suit their timetable. At the same time, with various academic backgrounds and student learning styles, it can be difficult to provide suitable teaching styles that engage students while providing course-relevant content and context.

Participating in teaching squares with a focus solely on general education classes provided an opportunity to observe how colleagues met the challenges of their classes. While the content of the courses differed considerably from one another and my own, it was clear from these observations that the classes themselves had similar varied student composition, providing comparable classroom opportunities and challenges. Having the chance to see the pedagogical styles of my colleagues gave me a chance to reflect on how my own style may be received by student learners in my classes. In addition, noting how each professor approached classroom activities was quite valuable. In some cases, while I was familiar with a particular activity, the ways in which it was managed in another course gave me ideas on how it could be tweaked to suit my own style effectively for use in future classes. On other occasions, I was part of classes engaging in entirely new activities with which I was not familiar, providing me with practical models for use when planning future lessons.

I have participated in teaching squares several times in the past, and while those experiences were overall valuable, the nature of some observed classes was so entirely different from my own that its value was limited to simply enjoying the lesson and the instructor’s rapport with the students. For this past occasion, each lesson delivered valuable insights into pedagogy that have already been applied to my own practices. I hope to continue this exercise in future semesters.

Nathan Wilson:

“Invitational teaching practices” was the phrase that kept coming to mind when observing my colleagues’ classes. Now, what “invites” students to learn is a question we all struggle with. Carol Ann Tomlinson in her 2002 essay answers that “in general, students have at least five needs that teachers can address to make learning irresistible: affirmation, contribution, purpose, power, and challenge.” How those things work themselves out in practice, Tomlinson concedes, varies depending on a host of factors. However, taking part in a General Education-oriented Teaching Squares provided occasions to see how my colleagues satisfied those five needs in their own practice. Take contribution as an example. The potential of contribution to further learning is especially key in a General Education classroom composed of students from various programs. A question like “what stood out as particularly important?” following a given activity is open-ended and subjective enough to invite a range of contributions from students without making anyone feel pressured that there is only one right response, especially when you give people a chance to first talk things out in a small group. I witnessed my colleagues checking in with those student conversations as they unfolded. Upon reconvening as a larger group, the professor could refer to what they had overheard: “So-and-so also noted…” or “So-and-so made a good point…” This affirmation allowed students to feel their contribution was valued without necessarily putting them on the spot. Moreover, deftly facilitated, the collective conversation became more purposeful — for example, in more precisely identifying themes from the observations made. Approaching Teaching Squares as a faculty cohort helped me reconsider and reflect upon how we invite students to learn and how effectively this is modeled by way of our General Education curriculum at Durham College.

References
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Herder and Herder.
Haave, N. (2018, July 31). Teaching squares bring cross-disciplinary perspectives. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/teaching-squares-cross-disciplinary-perspectives/.
Shulman, L. S. (1993). Teaching as community property: Putting an end to pedagogical solitude. Change, 25(6), 6-7.
Shulman, L.S. (1999). Taking Learning Seriously. Change, 31(4), 10-17.
Tomlinson, C.A. (2002). Invitations to learn. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 6-10.

Teresa Goff is a full-time faculty member in the School of Media, Art and Design at Durham College (DC). Teresa teaches Journalism – Mass Media Fundamentals to first- and second-year journalism students. Her courses include Critical and Opinion Writing, Writing for Broadcast, Feature Writing and Publishing. She also teaches new full-time faculty in the Curriculum Design and Development course, as part of DC’s College Teaching Certificate program.

Before starting her career at DC, Teresa worked as a media professional in radio and magazines for 20 years in Vancouver. After moving to Ontario in 2012, she began her career at DC as a faculty for the Music Business Management program and began teaching in the journalism program when it became available.

Teresa says, “That was the beginning and I am very lucky to be working with a great team of people.”

Teresa has comprehensive knowledge in the field of journalism and her teaching principles are focused on internationalization, indigenization and project-based learning.

She says, “Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to develop and deliver curriculum out of DC’s global class.”

Discussions with students in the global classroom with guests and post-secondary students from around the world build a global perspective that contributes to the creation of critical thinking skills that are important for future journalists and global citizens.

Teresa has also developed a passion for project-based teaching that helps her encourage students through real-life learning. In her Feature Writing and Publishing class, she collaborated with the #OshTeachingCity through the City Idea Lab to give students the opportunity to work directly with DC’s education contact at ARC GIS, a mapping and spatial reasoning platform, to redesign the City of Oshawa’s Culture Map in consultation with Kirsten Frankish, the Cultural Development and Programming Supervisor.

Teresa uses the Jumpstart Model of Learning: Connection, Content, Practice and Summary. For project-based learning, she provides students with examples and then a model of what is required to get to the final project. This follows the agile process, which requires students to split the project into its components and check in at each point for deadlines to hold students on the task.

Teresa is also committed to the indigenization of the curriculum at DC and over the last four years, has partnered with Julie Pigeon at the First Peoples Indigenous Centre (FPIC) and Jennifer Weymark at the Oshawa Museum on a project called #LandWhereWeStand. This provides students with an opportunity to learn about the history of the lands through a visit to the FPIC, an annotated city bus tour starting at a city intersection where the First Nations of Wendat had a village in 1450 B.C.E., followed by a guided tour of the Indigenous exhibition at the Oshawa Museum. Students then select their own stories and create a multi-media online article.

When asked about her motivation to teach, Teresa replied, “I get my motivation from my students.”

As a teacher, she further supports students by creating work-integrated learning opportunities. These authentic experiences enable students to determine what they excel at, and what they may want to do in their careers.

Teresa says, “I am able to adapt my classroom atmosphere so that everyone can be successful. From this place of trust and support, I am then able to build a bond that allows me to help my students produce their best work.”

According to Teresa, teachers should be open, vulnerable and genuine towards their students. Telling stories about the field experiences and making them relevant to the students’ learning can stimulate their development.

Teresa says, “Every day, my students make me a better teacher.”

Teresa uses a variety of educational technology tools to support student learning based on her students’ needs. In DC Connect, she sets up her courses for first-year students based on weeks and second-year classes based on themes and content. She uses polling tools to receive feedback on assignments. To group students for in-class activities, she uses an online randomizer and for writing assignments, an online timer. To give feedback on assignments, she uses video messages. FlipGrid is used as a Discussion Tool that is directly embedded in DC Connect. When using technology, she ensures that the universal design for learning is kept in mind and offers multiple means of representing and engaging content, as well as expressing what has been learned.

Teresa advises, “Don’t use technology simply because it’s cool, use it as a learning tool.”

As a journalist, Teresa has borrowed from the agile approach of working on projects and she claims that this method of splitting up a project into many stages and concentrating on continual collaboration and quality development would enable educators to build course content that meets the needs of our learners.

She says, “The move to online learning is a wonderful chance to reconsider the way we teach.”

Amanda Cannon, who works in the School of Justice and Emergency Services, found the inspiration to teach in an unlikely place: while working in the field of emergency communications.

Cannon is a professor and Program Coordinator for the 911 Emergency and Call Centre Communications program. She is a graduate of the program (class of 2011) where she went on to work as an emergency dispatcher at the Oshawa Fire Department.

Cannon says her professors at DC inspired her to become an APCO Institute Instructor in Safety Telecommunications, Fire Service Communications and Emergency Medical Dispatch.

It was when she began to train other employees as an emergency dispatcher that really sparked her interest in teaching. However, she knew she had more to learn.

“I enjoyed teaching so much but quickly realized how much technology and the classroom had changed since I had originally been in school, so, I decided to learn more about it,” Cannon explains. “While working full-time at [the fire department] and teaching part-time at the college, I returned to school full-time to first obtain a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Educational Studies and Digital Technology at UOIT specializing in Adult Education. Then, I went on to complete a Master of Education (MEd).”

Cannon’s dedication to developing her tech-skills paid off when she began working full-time for at DC. She says working with her students ignited a new passion for adult education in a digital age.

“Building strong connections with my students and watching as they make connections with the simulated and authentic life-related tasks in my classroom is the most rewarding experience,” says Cannon. “I really enjoy the challenges this career presents. I enjoy learning new technologies and different ways to teach for deep understanding and promote self-directed and lifelong learners.”

Cannon says her previous work in emergency communications made her a strong advocate for problem-based learning techniques. She says she focuses on exposing students to how to create solutions to real-life scenarios and problems.

“I strongly support education that focuses on the development of transferrable skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, listening skills, collaboration and leadership skills,” she says. “I believe these are just a few of the skills required in order to be successful in adult life, reach employment goals and ultimately promote lifelong learning.”

One of Cannon’s goals for her students this year was to find a way to provide them with hands-on experience in a real communications centre. While she doesn’t discount simulated experiences, Cannon says it’s hard to compare to the real thing.

Cannon connected with the Oshawa Fire Department and was able to bring in a small group of students to experience the training facility, allowing them to observe calls and dispatching first-hand.

However, Cannon, like many professors, had to make the switch to teaching remotely due to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the shift, Cannon says she already had experience completing a Master’s Degree online, so teaching remotely wasn’t an issue.

“Technology is very powerful – the challenge has been finding ways to do what we were doing in class in such a quick time frame. But it can be done,” says Cannon. “I worked quickly to develop a computer aided dispatch system online that the students could use to practice call taking and dispatching as we no longer have access to the labs at the college.”

Cannon held her weekly lectures in the Virtual Classroom and has simulated emergency calls using Skype and has had her student downloaded walkie-talkie applications to simulate radio calls. She says the experience has been fun.

“I think the biggest thing is being adaptable and having a positive attitude about learning new things and being open to change,” she says.

Since the outbreak, Cannon took the initiative to host panels of industry professionals to talk about the current issues amidst COVID-19. She says the experience has inspired her to have more virtual guests in the future, even when the need for remote teaching is gone.

“I held a COVID-19 panel where firefighters, paramedics, police and communications from EMS, Police and fire all came together to discuss the impact on their daily lives and their duty to serve,” she says. “I will definitely incorporate more virtual guests in the future, the options are endless.”