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>> Hello Mohawk.
In this episode of MoCast we find out more
about a new initiative that's creating digital knapsacks
for our students.
We shine a spotlight on an upcoming fundraising concert
for our music program that's going to bring one
of the world's greatest guitarist here to Hamilton.
And then we take a road trip to a place
that Bruce Springsteen has called the land of open dreams,
our academic upgrading programs for students.
Alright so here at Mohawk starting this winter semester we
introduce something called E-Portfolios,
which I've been told is like a digital knapsack for students.
And to tell us more about E-Portfolios, we are joined
by an early adopter, KimAnn Laush.
Kim how are you?
>> Good.
>> Okay what programs are you teaching in?
>> Okay I teach in the child and youth worker program
and the educational support program.
As well as I'm involved
in the CYW apprenticeship program as well.
>> For folks who don't know anything
about what E-Portfolios are all about, what are they?
>> And so an E-Portfolio is a showcase for students,
but it's an electron forum for them
to highlight their strengths, abilities,
all of the experiences
that they've had while they've been here at the college.
>> What's the benefit for students having that,
for showcasing everything that they've done
in their time here at Mohawk?
>> Many benefits.
One is that it gets them organized in terms
of everything that they've done.
Any workshops, anything
that they've been involved in in the community.
They have links to their assignments.
Any portfolios.
So say they do an excellent assignment,
and they want to showcase that.
I can, as an instructor, I can click on that on E-Portfolio
on E-Learn and it can go right
on to their E-Portfolio directly.
And what we do is each course that we teach we try
and incorporate something that they can showcase
within the E-Portfolio.
So that way, all the instructors are building on it
with every course they teach.
And one of the beautiful things about it
that I absolutely loved hearing was
that you can actually link your E-Portfolio right
to a cover letter.
And, or you can send it in the context of an email.
So before an employer even sees the individual applying
for the job, they can look through their resume,
their cover letter, see what their accomplishments are,
their skills, their strengths.
So when I present it to students,
I want them to be prepared thinking okay,
what are the questions they could potentially ask.
They're going to ask you about your strengths, so let's think
about what y our strengths are.
What are your skills?
What are your abilities?
What are your goals?
What are your steps to achieve those goals?
So all of those things are highlighted.
So if they're already preparing it starting in semester one
with these things, building on it,
so by the time they're finished, they have all of that knowledge,
and it's organized for them already.
>> Okay now we're joined by one of the students,
who has started to use E-Portfolios.
Kayleigh Henry.
How are you Kayleigh?
>> I'm good thanks.
>> Okay, what program are you in Kayleigh?
>> I'm in child and youth work.
>> And first year, second year?
>> First year.
>> Okay. What do you think of E-Portfolios?
>> I think it's really useful for myself.
It's a good professional representation
of all my qualifications and experience I have so far.
>> Okay Kayleigh, so what would you say to classmates
who are sort of thinking, well should I
or shouldn't I start using an E-Portfolio?
>> I'd say yes, it's very beneficial for the future
and their future employers will see visually what they've done,
all their experiences, all their qualifications.
And it gives them a good idea of what kind of person they are
and to see who they truly are.
And how they're passionate about what they're going into.
>> Right. So it sounds like you've got it all figured out.
So I think you're going to do quite well once you graduate.
What are your plans for life after Mohawk?
>> I plan to work in a school setting as a CYW,
working with children with autism.
I really want to do that.
>> Alright, so there's a fundraiser happening.
First week of March for our music program.
And to tell us more about that, we are joined by Ken Wallis.
Ken is the Associate Dean for Media Entertainment.
How are you Ken?
>> I'm doing great, and I'm really looking forward
to Friday, March 7th.
>> Okay, so what's happening Friday, March 7th, Ken?
>> Well in the McIntyre Theater we have Robin Ford coming,
and we are very excited to have him here.
It's a fundraiser for the music program.
And Robin Ford is probably one of the premiere guitarists
in the world right now.
>> It's not just a fundraiser for the music program.
We actually have music grads showcasing their talents.
Is that correct?
>> That's going to be the great part of all of this.
Bump City, which consists of all music grads from the past couple
of years, will be the opening act
for the concert with Robin Ford.
And one or two of our faculty members will be playing
with Robin Ford as well.
And then on top of that in the lobby before the concert,
Andre Beeson [phonetic] and his Jaytones will be performing,
and they are all grads from the music program.
And they're all going to get to play with this guy
who has played with the likes of Kiss.
He's played with Bonnie Raitt.
He's played with George Harrison.
The list goes on and on.
There's tons of people that this man has played with,
and now he's going to play with Mohawk.
>> What else is he doing?
>> Well interestingly enough he's going
to perform a master class in the morning.
And the master class is basically
for the music students.
So they will come in,
and he will explain how he uses his guitar
and how he plays and what he does.
But what I think is a really great idea is
that Mohawk College has offered this up to the community.
So the doors will be open, and community members can come in.
And I've already heard from a few guitarists out there
that are so excited that they can come in and sit
and listen to Robin Ford.
>> You're not just the Associate Dean of Media Entertainment,
you are also, like, you have your own show.
What is that show?
>> I host a show called Blues Blast, which is a show,
a two hour show, on Tuesdays 4 to 6,
and it highlights the blues music.
I tend to concentrate on Canadian musicians,
because I'm trying to help
out those musicians get the exposure.
But of course I'm always playing tunes like Robin Ford.
>> So why the blues?
>> The blues is a unique small venue type of music that,
they always say we're keeping the blues alive,
because they think that the blues is dying.
But it isn't.
The blues is becoming ever more popular than ever,
and I'm quite frankly, I think what's called,
we're living the blues.
So Blues Blast, 4 to 6, Tuesdays.
And it's on the Hawk 101.5 The Hawk FM,
or 101.5TheHawk.castreamed live.
>> Alright so here we are in the J Wing in Fennell Campus,
one of the three homes
for academic upgrading at Mohawk College.
And it's also the home for second chances
and new beginnings for hundreds of students.
To tell us more we're joined by Lisa Alfano.
Lisa, how are you?
>> I'm great thanks.
How are you?
>> Never better.
What's your title Lisa?
>> I'm a Communications Professor and Assessor.
>> So Lisa, can you give us a snapshot of like the number
of students who are coming to Mohawk College
for academic upgrading?
>> Sure at our combined there campuses,
we serve around 300 students per year.
So there's typically three types of students
that come to our program.
So the first is usually students who want to go
on to post-secondary, specifically college,
and they don't have the academic prerequisites in order to get
into the program that they want.
So for instance they might need grade 12 English
or grade 12 Math or one of the sciences.
Another type of student would be an employment-bound person,
so they might want to get their grade 12 equivalency or GED
in order to get a better job
or to basically just enhance their employment prospects
within their current employment.
And the third type of student would be someone
who has their grade 12,
but maybe they got their grade 12 a few years ago
and they want to refresh.
Or maybe they just want.
>> I've forgotten everything I learned in grade 12.
>> Many people have.
And so that's why we're here.
And so for instance, there might be a student
who is missing just one course, say a science, or they need
to upgrade their English or their math
for a high demand program.
And they want to get a higher mark in order
to get into that program.
So those are typically the type of students we see.
>> So I imagine these are pretty serious focused students
who have a goal in the short for academic upgrading.
>> Absolutely.
So most of our students do have specific goals,
and we create an individualized plan all around that goal.
But some people may not be quite sure exactly what they want
to do.
So the beauty of our program is that they have the opportunity
to take some time to research that and make sure
that they're taking the right step for that.
>> Well if I came for academic upgrading for math,
I would probably be here for five years.
But what's the average length that students are staying
with us for upgrading?
>> You know, it really varies depending on the person
and the amount of subjects that they're taking and their goal.
So students can be here for approximately six months,
sometimes longer than that, sometimes less than that.
>> So you don't just offer classes for students.
I mean you bring a whole lot more to the table for folks
who are here for academic upgrading.
What do you offer?
>> Well one of the things that's pretty unique that we offer is
that students can take a post-secondary class while
they're in academic upgrading.
So right now there's a pop culture class that's happening.
>> I'd sign up for that class.
>> Me too.
>> I might be able to ace the class on that one.
>> I'm sure you would.
>> Okay what else do we offer?
>> We also offer the opportunity to audit a post-secondary class.
So students can basically go to a class, whatever choice,
whatever choices they want, and watch that class
and help determine whether that's really what they want
to do and study in the future.
And other things we offer, workshops to help apply
for college, apply for OSAP, and bursaries,
and that kind of things.
>> So joining us now is a recent grad from academic upgrading,
and a current student in academic upgrading.
And you are?
>> Steve Dunn.
>> Okay Steve and you are?
>> Belinda Emuna Namaganda.
>> Alright.
Steve, what was academic upgrading like for you?
>> Honestly it was scary when I first came here.
I graduated in 1997, so it was almost,
well over ten years since I graduated.
But thanks to the professors here I found it very,
very easy to get into it.
And they were great help.
And yeah, much like you, my math was very weak coming into this.
>> We should form a club.
>> Yes. And leaving this I ended up being one of the top students
when I went into Mohawk in my math programs.
>> Hey congratulations.
You should be my tutor.
>> I'd rather not, but.
>> I think I'd frustrate you.
You'd lose all your hair.
Okay, and Belinda, why are you here?
>> I'm here to basically get
into my personal support worker program.
>> Yep.
>> So I'm doing grade 10 math and English.
>> And how have you found it?
>> So far, I've enjoyed it,
which I don't usually enjoy being in a classroom setting.
So I've been to school several times, and I've always dropped
out because I got bored, and I didn't feel
like that connection with my teachers.
But, here it's different.
>> They sort of treat you like an adult here.
>> Yeah exactly.
Exactly. So they kind of let me do my own thing.
They're not hovering over me.
But they're encouraging me to do what I have to do
so that I can move forward.
>> So now here we are in the, the Ace Mathematics class
for academic upgrading and acing math was something I never did
in my five years at high school.
So maybe I'll learn something by osmosis while we're here.
And you are?
>> Ralph Calinao.
>> Okay Ralph.
And why are you taking academic upgrading at Mohawk College?
>> I need to upgrade all my prerequisites
to get in RPN program.
>> So how many courses have you taken so far?
>> So far I'm taking four.
I've already done English, math, and biology.
I am still currently working on chemistry.
>> Okay, and so as I understand it, you are working
as well as going here.
So are you like working a full-time or part-time job?
>> Full-time job.
>> Okay and you're here then how many days a week?
>> Three days.
>> How do you juggle it all?
>> Well I just have to do it.
I'm working the afternoon shift pretty much every day,
five days a week from 3:30 to midnight.
I get home probably around 1:30 in the morning.
Then I have to get up around 7:00 in the morning
to get ready to come here.
>> When do you do your homework?
>> During breaks at work.
That's the only time I have.
>> Alright Lisa, so I've met some
of your students, some of your grads.
Blown away.
So someone like Ralph.
He is working full time.
He is coming here three days a week.
He has a family to support and raise.
How do students like that do it?
>> You know what, I ask that question all the time.
And I'm amazed by the amount of perseverance and effort
that our students put into moving
on to getting what they want and getting their goals.
>> Yeah do you throw a party for these students?
>> Oh yeah.
We have a great party every year in June.
We have a graduation, and it's one
of the best days of the year.
>> This is where students get new starts,
and I can't even [inaudible] what is they get?
>> Second chance.
>> Second chance.
>> You're getting lots of [inaudible].
>> Thank you Lisa.
>> You make me feel so much better.
>> Well that's, that's what I'm here for. ------------------------------741d2b4c0edc--