EVENTS | Masterclass​

Big Shiny Courses - LMS Transition as Opportunity to Uplift Digital Learning

Our university is in the midst of transitioning to a new Learning Management System. As part
of the transition, all course sites need to be converted and ‘made new’ in the new system. To
support this transition, our unit crafted a short micro-credential for faculty and staff that aimed
to make the most of the transition and uplift digital learning at our institution. And we may
have gone a little wild with it.
The Big Shiny Courses micro-credential aims to recreate the 90s spirit of MuchMusic’s
annual Big Shiny Tunes albums, which collected the year’s biggest and shiniest popular
music in Canada. These songs were energetic and catchy and they engaged listeners in a
big way. We thought we could try to catch that vibe for our new course pages. And if we fell
short, at the very least we showed that a little bit of fun and joy might just be possible in an
LMS. The course learning goal was to help faculty create digital learning experiences that
were smooth, appealing, and engaging. We broke this down into 4 modules:
-Ultra Navigation: So learners can travel through their courses with ease and never feel lost.
-Ultra Accessibility: So all participants can be fully involved.
-Ultra Multimedia: So both instructors and students have the base of skills needed to play
around with multimedia.
-Ultra Connectivity: So courses have enough engagement and interactivity to give a learning
community a chance to thrive.

 

And in keeping with the Big Shiny theme, we paired each module with a Big Shiny Tune for
our Ultra Sounds Playlist. We are hoping good things happens when Fat Boy Slim vibes are
embedded it into a learning management system. And the playlist grows as participants add
their own favorites to the list. Other features throughout the micro-credential include visits from the course DJ, an H5P Game Map of their “rock and roll” road trip through the course, a one-change challenge for each module, a check in visit at Speakers’ Corner and participants even leave with a goodie bag of things they can copy into their own courses like a discussion board “creative response menu” and a student multimedia guide. As previously mentioned, we went a little wild with it.
This workshop will include a tour of the Big Shiny Courses micro-credential, a discussion
as to how it fits into the broader professional learning landscape at our institution, an analysis
of the feedback received, and future plans for improvements. Q & A/Discussion time can focus on helping participants identify opportunities in their own context for uplifting digital learning or adding some fun and joy into their practice.

LANGUAGE & INTERPRETATION: Presented in English with French interpretation​

ORGANIZER: ACCP-CAID​​

DATE:

February 9, 2027

TIME:

12:00 pm (ET)

AVAILABLE TO:

Certified Members, Non-Certified Associates, Community Access, General Public

COST:

Certified Members: Included
Non-Certified Associates: $25.00
Community Access: $50.00
General Public: $50.00

PRESENTER:

Terry Greene

Terry Greene is Senior eLearning Designer at Trent University, where he spends his days helping people make digital learning less robotic and more human. He holds a B.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Alberta and a M.Sc. in Instructional Design & Technology from the University of North Dakota. He’s a longtime advocate for open pedagogy, creative experimentation, and technology that serves learning rather than the other way around. When he’s not designing courses, he’s probably talking about open pedagogy on his podcast, Gettin’ Air: The Open Pedagogy Podcast on VoicEdRadio, and trying to find a way to sneak a little hip hop into the conversation. With a background in instructional design, open education, and digital pedagogy, Terry loves attempting to make some joyful learning possible in these spaces.