Tuesday, June 1, 2021
The University of Waterloo was recently awarded almost $1.5 million from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) as part of their $50 million investment in virtual learning.
The 19 Waterloo programs funded through this award directly supports the University’s strategic plan of growing online learning and will allow for collaboration, both across Waterloo faculties and academic support units as well as externally with more than 15 Ontario college and university partners.
The Library will lead three of the projects:
- Mike Chee (librarian, learning, teaching and instructional design) successfully wrote a grant for a one-year Open Education Librarian position in further developing Open Education initiatives, including Open Education Resources (OER). Working closely with colleagues from Waterloo's Centre for Extended Learning and the W Store, this role will focus on understanding faculty and instructor needs and providing support for reusing, revising, remixing and creating OER. Acknowledging the evolving nature of Open Education and the larger open movement, the new librarian will assess and anticipate related changing needs in the Library and on campus.
- Kate Mercer (librarian, information services and resources) and Kari Weaver (librarian, learning, teaching, and instructional design) successfully wrote a grant to develop content for Critical Information and Digital Literacy Skills for the Engineers, in collaboration with University of Toronto, Queen’s University, and Waterloo’s Academic Integrity and Student Success offices as well as the Centre for Extended Learning. The modules developed will cover such topics as information overload, misinformation, and the importance of information diversity, and will be applicable beyond engineering to broader STEM fields.
- Mike Chee (librarian, learning, teaching and instructional design) and colleagues at Waterloo's Academic Integrity Office successfully wrote a grant to develop content for Academic Integrity for Undergraduate STEM Students. This project is being undertaken in broad collaboration with six other Ontario universities, and will include the development of five modules on academic integrity expectations and practices unique to undergraduate STEM students, with a focus on using real-world examples.
For more information about the award and the other projects this new funding will enable the University of Waterloo to undertake, check out this recent Waterloo News update.
