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String Quartets to Marching Bands!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 5 show art String Quartets to Marching Bands! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 5

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 5, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Musical Performances,” from string...

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Holiday Goodwill!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 4 show art Holiday Goodwill! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 4

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 4, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Acts of Goodwill,” and other vids...

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Presidents Home Alone!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 3 show art Presidents Home Alone! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 3

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 3, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Holiday Parodies,” including plenty...

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Holiday Contests and Competitions!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 2 show art Holiday Contests and Competitions! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 2

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 2, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s “Holiday Shout-Outs,” “Holiday Hand-Offs,”...

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Merry, Bright & Furry!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 1 show art Merry, Bright & Furry! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 1

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 1, Ken looks at a sprinkling of "Festive & Bright" campus events and tree lighting...

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Third Spaces on Campus show art Third Spaces on Campus

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our 5-part series on Forward-Looking Facilities concludes with a look at the informal communal spaces on campus, in-between faculty offices and labs, or student dorms and classrooms. These so-called "Third Spaces" are home to some of the most valuable interactions between students, staff and faculty alike... In Part 5, "Third Spaces," Ken describes the gradual evolution of higher ed campuses from "introverted" retreats to more extroverted "collision spaces," where informal and serendipitous interactions can spark revolutionary ideas and unexpected illumination. These learning commons and...

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Active Learning show art Active Learning

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our series on Forward-Looking Facilities continues with more detail on the ways that pedagogical change, and particularly the adoption of active learning, has transformed classroom time and classroom spaces on campuses. In Part 4, "Active Learning," Ken looks at the way thousand-year-old transmission theories of education created the design of modern lecture theatres, while pedagogical research from UBC's Carl Weiman Institute has paved the way for new approaches. New classroom designs, from Oregon State University's "Phil Donahue" theatres-in-the-round to learning studios and SCALE-UP...

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Online & Blended Learning show art Online & Blended Learning

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our series on Forward-Looking Facilities continues with a look at post-pandemic adoption of online and blended learning delivery, and what 600,000 students tell us about their preferences for learning modality. In Part 3, "Online & Blended Learning," Ken looks at the decade-long inevitability of adopting blended delivery approaches, which have demonstrably better learning outcomes for students, and can save institutions millions on classroom facilities and operating costs. Years ago, Napster and Netflix demonstrated that "everything that CAN be digital, WILL be," and now that libraries and...

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The Fluid Future of Work show art The Fluid Future of Work

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our series on Forward-Looking Facilities continues with a closer look at the new work experience of staff and faculty, and how that will reshape work-life balance and the nature of work – on campus and off - in what is going to be a very fluid future. In part 2, "The Fluid Future of Work," Ken looks at the fluidity and ambiguity facing PSE in the years ahead, employee appetites for remote and hybrid work, and the implications for office design and space. He emphasizes that mental wellness is a growing concern for students and staff alike, and that sleep deprivation is an often-overlooked...

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The Post-Pandemic Campus show art The Post-Pandemic Campus

Ten with Ken (Video)

Season 7 of Ten with Ken opens with a 5-part series looking at Forward-Looking Facilities, and the ways that campus design and architecture have responded to the lessons learned during the pandemic. In part 1, "The Post-Pandemic Campus," Ken reviews the turbulence and shifting context we've all learned to expect, and warns that the future will be even more fluid, thanks to climate change, extreme weather, zoonotic viruses and more. COVID19 thrust our society, and our institutions, a full decade into the future, forcing us to adopt technologies and remote approaches to work and learning,...

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Sheridan College, in the suburbs of Toronto, is world renowned for its creative programs, such as top-ranked illustration and animation degrees – and it has built its entire institutional brand on the slogan “Get Creative.”  This week, Ken Steele sits down with Janet Morrison, Sheridan’s president and vice-chancellor, to discuss how higher ed can cultivate creativity, equipping students with crucial skills for the future, and preparing staff and faculty across campus to embrace innovation and change.

 

Janet begins by explaining that Sheridan’s commitment to creativity goes far beyond the obvious creative programs.  Creativity relates to people, process, product and space. CEOs and thinktanks agree that creative thinking will be an essential skill for graduates in the new economy, and AI experts anticipate that more creative functions will be the last to be automated.  Creativity can a valuable “inoculator” against constant change and disruption, and provides tools to deal with ambiguity and complex problems. “The only certainty is that things are changing.”

 

Post-secondary education is a transformative experience, both personally and socially, beyond the undeniable economic impact on graduate earnings.  Higher education cultivates a sense of happiness, leading to more social engagement, political activity, and volunteerism.  “PSE is a public service. It does good things for the public,” Janet asserts. “How we foster engagement, teach and mentor them to be active citizens in a democracy really matters, maybe moreso today than ever.”

 

At Sheridan, they believe that creativity can indeed be taught: “it is totally possible.” More than 3,000 students, 300 staff, and 100 external community members have taken courses or workshops in innovation and creative thinking at Sheridan. Janet says the workshops “have fuelled creative thinking and innovation in not just our programs but our service delivery.” Sheridan’s mission is being “fuelled and accelerated” through training and development in creativity.

 

Sheridan is proud of its three “creative campuses,” which Janet explains authentically reflect the institution’s values. “Space matters… We want people to experience creativity from the minute they’re on our properties.” Sheridan has installations at its Creative Campus Galleries that challenge students, faculty and staff to reflect and rethink.  An annual “creative speakers” series has brought Ken Dryden, Roberta Jamieson and others to campus, to cultivate curiosity and allow people to see the world through a different lens.

 

Janet emphasizes the importance of listening, consultation and collaboration, and “capitalizing on the contributions that students, faculty and staff can make to move the institution forward.” She has led an Academic Planning and now also a Strategic Planning process at Sheridan that aim to be “the most open and engaged in Sheridan’s history.”  If you hire the right people, she observes, “they’re opinionated, well-educated, with great experiences” and inevitably disagree at times about the direction of their learning community. “When people care about the place, they’re going to express those opinions with a level of enthusiasm.” The task of the campus leader is to sift and sort, triangulate the input from across campus, and find “not consensus but a level of alignment and mutual agreement.”

 

Dr Janet Morrison championed student success at York University for 17 years, ultimately as VP Students, before joining Sheridan College in 2016 as VP Academic, and 2 years later becoming Sheridan’s President. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in History and Education.

 

Next week, Ken’s conversation with Janet continues, with a look at Mental Health and Student Success. So you don’t miss it, be sure to subscribe!  http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

 

Special thanks to Sheridan College for the onsite videography.  (If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.)