Blog Archives - The Innovation Hub

What We Learned from the ‘Let’s Talk About Failure’ Project

The Innovation Hub partnered with the Division of Student Life Academic Resilience Initiative to learn about UofT students’ experiences with failure: how they define failure, how they endure it, and the impact it has on their lives. We explored existing data on the topic in our archive of over 600 interviews and reached out to students at UofT to take part in our dialogue-based feedback sessions. We approached this project with the intention of hearing from and listening to students’ stories surrounding failure in their own words and on their own terms.

Delving into the Digital Campus: Learning – and Growing – in Community

By Kethmi Egodage, Design Researcher

A photo of Kethmi, with a dark blue background. She's looking to the camera with long dark and red hair.

This blog post is the final post in the Delving into the Digital Campus series in collaboration with the Digital Community & Connectedness Project. It’s aimed at understanding how students find and make connections in digital spaces. Each post is a written reflection from our Design Researchers, sharing how the insights from their project has resonated with them in their own lived experiences. This post will discuss how the shift to online learning has impacted students, instructors, staff, and our design researcher’s own experiences at UofT.

Zoom School. That’s a buzzword students have been using to describe the transition to online learning. With a mix of synchronous and asynchronous classes and assignments, it’s no surprise that professors and students are overwhelmed and confused. Despite the best efforts made to continue providing a high standard of education, the question still remains: how do students feel about their community in the shift from in-person to online classes?

#DisplayYourPride 2021: Centering Resistance, Joy, and Creativity

Each year the Innovation Hub joins all three U of T campuses to celebrate Pride Month and #UofTPride with the annual #DisplayYourPride event. This year, our Senior Project Assistant – Kaitlyn Corlett (she/her/hers) is reflecting on what Pride means to…

A New Vision for TIL

Kaitlyn smiling to the camera, wearing a dark top and long pink beaded earrings.

Georgia is outside, smiling towards the camera and wearing. a dark blue shirt.

Written by Georgia Maxwell (Senior Research Assistant) and Kaitlyn Corlett (Senior Project Assistant)

Since it was established in 2017, the Transforming the Instructional Landscape (TIL) project has renovated an impressive 93 classrooms to date. While classroom renovation and technology enhancement continue to be important TIL initiatives, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the integration of digital technology into teaching and pushed us to reimagine what learning spaces can look like.

Share your experiences with classroom accommodations – Student Feedback Sessions

Tell us about navigating classroom accommodations! The Innovation Hub and Accessibility Services (St. George) want to know about your experiences navigating accommodation from instructors. Tell us about what happened, what works and what doesn’t, how it’s hard, and more. We want to hear from…

Share Your Experiences with UMLAP – Student Feedback Sessions

UofT wants your feedback on the University Mandated Leave of Absence Policy! The University of Toronto is seeking feedback for the University-Mandated Leave of Absence Policy (UMLAP)! The Innovation Hub will be hosting student-led, dialogue-based feedback sessions to collect your thoughts and feedback with…

Meet the Summer 2021 Team!

Julia Allworth smiling at the camera, wearing a striped shirt — Julia Allworth – Manager, Innovation Projects

The Innovation Hub is thrilled to introduce our Summer 2021 team, who will be using their knowledge, talents, passion and creativity to improve the lives of UofT’s students! Our multidisciplinary team will continue our work over the summer on improving student life through various partnerships and community collaborations.

Delving into the Digital Campus: The Many Faces of Vulnerability

By Ayaan Hagar, Design Researcher & Project Team Lead

This blog post is part of Delving into the Digital Campus, a four-part series in collaboration with the Digital Community & Connectedness Project, aimed at understanding how students find and make connections in digital spaces. Each post is a written reflection from our Design Researchers, sharing how the insights from their project has resonated with them in their own lived experiences.

What does it mean to connect in an age where we’re constantly connected?

It’s a question that’s been on my mind since the start of the pandemic; with a parent working on the frontlines, I heard accounts of the virus’ impact that didn’t give me much hope for returning to campus anytime soon. I had always had a bit of hard time finding my place on campus until I switched my program last year and became a part of a tight-knit, cohort of students. It wasn’t until the pandemic hit that I realized how much of that connection was forged over months of FaceTime, group trips to Kensington Market, shared triumphs and troubles over coffee, and daily lunches in the student lounge. With my younger brother entering university in the fall, I wondered what his experience and so many other new students would look like.

Transforming the Instructional Landscape: What We’ve Learned About Transcripts

Marcus is outside, wearing a dark blue suit and smiling towards the camera

Written by Georgia Maxwell (Senior Research Assistant) and Marcus Lomboy (Design Research Assistant for Transforming the Instructional Landscape)

For the past four years, the Innovation Hub has teamed up with the Learning Space Management (LSM) Team to examine how learning environments can be improved for both instructors and students.

Delving into the Digital Campus: Birds of A Feather, Do Flock Together

By Sanskriti Maheshwari, Design Researcher

Ever been told that opposites attract?

Through taking a course on Interpersonal Relationships, I uncovered something quite eye-opening. ‘Opposites attract’ is just a fantastical expression used to keep us invested in the romantic relationships and friendships that play out in front of our TV and movie screens. In reality, I have found that birds of a feather do in fact flock together. For example, in my own life I have observed that most of my closest friends have identical hobbies, personalities, political views, and so on. When meeting new individuals, any differences in interest or personalities can seem more pronounced than they really are. Possibly because a foundation built on a shared purpose hasn’t been established just yet. This is also something I learnt from my experience conducting the Stories from a Distance Sessions and The Digital Community & Connectedness Project.

Category: Blog

Category: Blog

What We Learned from the ‘Let’s Talk About Failure’ Project

Delving into the Digital Campus: Learning – and Growing – in Community

#DisplayYourPride 2021: Centering Resistance, Joy, and Creativity

A New Vision for TIL

Share your experiences with classroom accommodations – Student Feedback Sessions

Share Your Experiences with UMLAP – Student Feedback Sessions

Meet the Summer 2021 Team!

Delving into the Digital Campus: The Many Faces of Vulnerability

What does it mean to connect in an age where we’re constantly connected?

Transforming the Instructional Landscape: What We’ve Learned About Transcripts

Delving into the Digital Campus: Birds of A Feather, Do Flock Together

Ever been told that opposites attract?

Introduction

Category: Blog

What does it mean to connect in an age where we’re constantly connected?

Ever been told that opposites attract?