Episode #51. Saturday March 20, 2021, 5:30 pm EST
The episode of Silver Linking for Learning expands our environment-related conversations to the forests of the world. Those attending this session with learn how the generation and advancement of open educational resources and open courseware is utilized for forestry education and forestry management. As climate change causes mounting changes and challenges, the expansion of educational resources and courses around the world is crucial. More details on this show are below the video.
With generous support from APFNet, the Asia Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism, established in 2011, is an international consortium of universities with a mission to promote forestry education and research cooperation through taking collaborative actions that contribute to furthering sustainable forest management. Establishment of the AP-FECM Executive Office (AP-FECM EO) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver is under the framework of the AP-FECM. The stated goals and inherent missions of AP-FECM are to increase regional cooperation in forestry education, improve capacity to practice Sustainable Forest Management in the Asia-Pacific region, and enhance the regional and international influence and reputation of APFNet.
A joint educational online program entitled Innovative Sustainable Forest Management Education in the Asia-Pacific Region (http://apfecm.forestry.ubc.ca/sfm-online-courses/), which began its development in 2014, is a series of fourteen online courses in Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) with its content as Open Educational Resources (OER). Under the framework of the Asia Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism (AP-FECM) sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet), the program has been led by UBC Faculty of Forestry in partnership with Beijing Forestry University (BFU), University of Melbourne (UM), University Putra Malaysia (UPM), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), University of Florida and UBC Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (UBC CTLT). The goal of the program is to improve access to education in the field of SFM, targeting enhancement of teaching quality, curriculum and research capacity among forestry universities, policy makers and practitioners in the Asia Pacific region.
Based on an international team of content experts and using central instructional design support from UBC CTLT, the program followed a modified ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) instructional design model to employ Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) framework ensuring the effective integration of technology into the content and pedagogy of course design and development. Since 2016, owing to the tremendous efforts of leading professors and experts from internationally recognized universities around the world, the only SFM online program of its kind has provided world-class forestry education resources to more than 15,000 learners from over 90 international economies. Join the show with the program team to hear their stories about how the program paved its way through a team-based approach from an initial self-directed OER learning program, to a current credentialed certificate degree program, and to a future Master’s degree program in Forestry.
Asia Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism (AP-FECM): https://apfecm.forestry.ubc.ca/
https://apfecm.forestry.ubc.ca/executive-office-of-ap-fecm/
Graduate Certificate in Forest Management and Conservation
https://forestry.ubc.ca/programs/certificate/forest-management-conservation/
JTF GCFE 49 Sustainable Forest Management Online Program – Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSCM4Zg-MxU&t=49s
AP-FECM open online courses: https://apfecm.forestry.ubc.ca/sfm-online-courses/.
Chris Crowley is the Manager, Learning Design with the UBC Center for Teaching and Learning Technology (CTLT). He has been involved with distance education at UBC for many years as a media specialist and learning designer. He has helped produce award-winning collaborative multimedia projects that involve the creation of online learning courses and resources for universities and colleges across BC. He can be reached at chris.crowley@ubc.ca.
Hailan Chen, PhD, is an educational learning design consultant with UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT). With a PhD in Educational Technology focusing on instructional design and distance education, Hailan is an experienced learning and instructional designer in Higher Education with years of experience. She manages the development and delivery of quality online learning courses and projects and is dedicated in working closely with faculty members to apply sound instructional design principles to their online learning courses. She ensures that course design and development meet best practice standards, accommodate for diverse learners, and incorporate appropriate learning technologies in facilitating and assessing student active learning. She can be reached at hailan.chen@ubc.ca
Anil Shrestha, Ph.D. is a lecturer and senior researcher at the Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia. I have been teaching forestry courses and instrumental in developing/facilitating an innovative suite of free, world-class sustainable forest management online courses since 2016, and attracted over 15,000 users from over 90 international economies. Recognizing this contribution globally, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) awarded this course the best forest education practice award in 2019. As a senior researcher, I am interested in socio-environmental synthesis research to the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems. I am interested in exploring the best practices in experiential learning and innovative learning techniques in online/classroom settings in pedagogy research. He can be contacted at anil.shrestha@ubc.ca.
Na (Joanna) Zhong, Ph.D. is Manager of the Asia Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism (AP-FECM) Executive Office, Faculty of Forestry, at the University of British Columbia.. Dr. Zhong’s doctorate is from the Faculty of Forestry (wood science specialization) at UBC (2017) and her BSc (2009) and MSc (2012) are from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China. Commencing her career with a Finnish Energy Company named St1 in 2017, she worked as a research scientist facilitating biomass-based liquid fuel industrial production. In 2018, she initiated the research collaboration between St1 and UBC while starting her industrial funded postdoc in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at UBC. She holds more than 10 years of research experience in biomass and bioenergy. After joining the UBC Asia Forest Research Center (AFRC), in addition to managing the projects in the AP-FECM Executive Office, Joanna is also coordinating the wood science/biomass related research and educational program. She can be contacted at na.zhong@ubc.ca.