For parents whose living rooms have turned into classrooms because of school closures, and for professors delivering lectures from home, a series of videos and podcasts from UWindsor’s Faculty of Education have proven to be unexpectedly timely.

With a team of teacher candidates, fellow faculty, and students in her Online Pedagogy Service Learning classes, professor Bonnie Stewart has developed a series called the #UWinToolParade. Each video or podcast in the series overviews a different digital platform.

#UWinToolParade had been intended for educators, but the brief, accessible reviews will appeal to parents, too, as families are staying home to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Stewart said.

The #UWinToolParade collection can be explored on a new Faculty of Education webpage called The Open Page. Teaching tools showcased include Mentimeter, Kahoot, Flipgrid, Canva, Piktochart, and Zoom. Parents looking for online lessons for their children may be interested in podcasts about the Khan Academy, Headspace, and Knowledgehook and videos about TED-Ed and Prodigy Math.

Funded by grants from the Office of Open Learning and the Centre for Teaching and Learning, #UWinToolParade was borne of Stewart’s desire to use the web to design assignments with real, relevant audiences.

“I saw my students doing great work evaluating digital platforms and realized that my future students, my own faculty colleagues, and the K-12 teaching community could all benefit from capturing and sharing that knowledge,” said Stewart.

“This was long before I knew we’d all be working from home and trying to complete a semester, or home-schooling our kids,” she said. “Now there’s an even wider audience.”

The presenters in the podcasts and videos are a diverse group in terms of their educational careers. That’s by design, Stewart said.

“We have both faculty and student presenters featured together on The Open Page, because pre-service teachers and faculty, as well as K-12 teachers, are all on the same learning curve with educational technology.”

—Sarah Sacheli

When UWindsor grad Milos Savic (BA 2015, MFA 2018) joined his girlfriend Elise LeBlanc (BA 2018) in heading to Los Angeles to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres show Game of Games, he went to win.

While the pair are bound not to reveal the results of their appearance — filmed last June but airing Friday in Canada — Savic says he treated it like an athletic competition.

He has some experience there. As an alumnus of Lancer track and field and volleyball teams, he set a school record in heptathlon to earn a bronze medal at the national university championships in 2016.

“I try to stay in the best shape I can,” says Savic. “I knew that if I stayed calm on the show, I could do well.”

LeBlanc, a self-described fan of DeGeneres, was spotted in the audience during a taping of her daytime talk show and invited to appear on Game of Games, which challenges contestants to answer questions while manoeuvring through obstacles to earn a chance at a cash prize.

“It was a lot of fun,” Savic says. “I’m excited at how we did.”

Even before they hit the soundstage, it was a great opportunity for the couple, both graduates in communications. LeBlanc owns a wedding videography service, White Lavender Films, and Savic runs his own photography business with plans to direct.

“We had both been to California before, but never with the Ellen treatment,” he says. “Basically, you’re rock stars.”

CTV will air their episode, “Another Brick in the Taj Mah Wall,” at 9 p.m. EDT March 27. In Windsor, CTV broadcasts on channel 42, Cogeco cable 13.

There was no free lunch this year, but the coronavirus pandemic could not keep Athletics and Recreational Services from recognizing the contributions of its student staff.

The department announced the recipients of its Blue and Gold awards, which honour the dedicated students who work there, Thursday after the cancellation of the annual luncheon, originally scheduled this year for March 20.

Eighteen student employees who will graduate this spring after years of service in leadership capacities received the Lancer Leader Award: Gord Hill, Isabella Jean, Mallory Martin, Dana Rosaasen, Shelby Johnston, Cameron Armstrong, Sikander Saleem, Christopher Zorbas, Christina Branton-Murphy, Cassell Jones, Stephanie Benninger, Olivia Emers, Fiona Rocheleau, Mason Sheppard, Matt Thompson, Shaina Gazarek, Ryan Burrows, and Keiana Johnston.

Major honours also went to:

• St. Denis Centre Employee of the Year Tereza Fountain, facility supervisor
• Lancer Recreation Employee of the Year Michelle Louwagie, personal trainer
• Aquatics Employee of the Year McKenna Sarafin, aquatic supervisor
• Intramurals Employee of the Year Jessica Arnds, sport supervisor
• Fitness Employee of the Year Michael Tran, Forge Fitness Centre
• Outstanding Customer Service Award Drew McLenaghan, Lancer Recreation supervisor
• Instructional Award Julie Carunungan, fitness instructor
• Dave West Student Manager of the Year Andrew Anderi, men’s basketball
• Bill Mitchell Student Therapist of the Year Allie Hoegl, women’s volleyball
• Student Marketing Award Eva Ou, Lancer promotions
• Blue & Gold Spirit Award Zach Evans, fan engagement
• Lancer Home Events Employee of the Year Asia Jones, events staff
• Rick Mallat ARS Student Employee of the Year Kevin Wilson, intramurals supervisor

Find more information, including brief biographical sketches of each winner, in the full story, “Lancers honour support staff.”

The University of Windsor is attempting to do all it can to help our community and region as we deal with the impact of the COVID-19 virus.

Health agencies or organizations looking for assistance are invited to contact the office K.W. Michael Siu, vice-president, research and innovation, at the University of Windsor: vpri@uwindsor.ca. 

For additional information about the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, visit http://www.uwindsor.ca/vp-research/.